Understanding Act Structure and Act Breaks

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Niceole Levy is a television producer, television and feature writer, and author of The Writers' Room Survival Guide. Niceole has written for shows such as Ironside, Shades of Blue, Cloak and Dagger, S.W.A.T. and The Recruit, just to name a small few. Though we mostly talked about her book today, our conversation unveils ideas and strategies that go beyond the world of writing.

Niceole starts by sharing the amazing story of how she forged her non-traditional path to being a writer in Hollywood after beginning as a police dispatcher and baker among many other seemingly unrelated jobs to the industry. But despite her lack of industry experience, Niceole shares with us today the exact ways she was able to reframe her life experiences as relatable skills to the job she was seeking (and even shares her checklist you can use if you’re looking for your own opportunity to break in).

Our conversation is as non-traditional as Niceole’s pathway to Hollywood, but I have no doubt you’ll receive even more advice on breaking into the industry (or further climbing your current ladder) because of it. You’ll learn about how and when to place boundaries, how to use Act Structures to succeed in interviews, the unspoken rules of the writing room, and even what to ask yourself if you’re on the verge of giving up. If you find yourself struggling to achieve your break into whatever industry you’re seeking, this episode is for you.

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Here's What You'll Learn:

• How Niceole broke into the industry (after being a police dispatcher and a baker?!)
• Want to break into the industry as a writer? You’ll hear Niceole's recommendation on what to write (and how much)
• Niceole's checklist that will help you be ready for your own opportunity to be in the writer's room
• The unspoken rules of the writer’s room you need to know (like why you shouldn’t bring new ideas to the table for an established show)
• Why having a representation is important, but what you can do via networking if you don’t have one
• Lacking specific job skills for your resume? Here’s how you can reframe your own life experiences as transferable skills
• How to understand the structure of acts and use that to your advantage in your interview (especially for the dreaded prompt, “Tell me about yourself”)
• How to better determine your own “line in the sand” and understand the proper balance between your boundaries and how much you’re willing to give up
• Why it’s equally important to develop the “soft skills” of being a human as it is the hard skills of your job
• How Niceole wrote a book she didn’t even want to write (and why she even did that in the first place)
• Niceole's one question to her younger self that can also be a game changer for you when you feel like giving up

Useful Resources Mentioned:

The Writers’ Room Survival Guide by Niceole Levy

Hollywood Game Plan: How to Land a Job in Film, TV and Digital Entertainment by Carole M. Kirschner

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Guest Bio:

Niceole Levy

After growing up near China Lake Naval Weapons Center in the middle of the Mojave Desert, Niceole Levy escaped to the bright lights of Los Angeles. While studying acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she realized her true love was writing stories, not playing them out. She worked as a police dispatcher to pay her way through USC undergrad and then completed the Master of Professional Writing program, also at USC. An alum of the CBS Writers Mentoring Program, NBC's Writers on the Verge, and the WGAW Showrunner Training Program, Niceole has written on Ironside, Allegiance, The Mysteries of Laura, Shades of Blue, Cloak & Dagger, Fate: the Winx Saga, S.W.A.T, and The Recruit. She also co-wrote a feature, The Banker, with former Allegiance showrunner and director George Nolfi. She is now writing Spark, a film inspired by the life of Claudette Colvin. Niceole is currently a co-executive producer on Empire of Mali, which will air on Netflix, and has several TV and feature projects in development. Her first book, The Writers’ Room Survival Guide, was released in October of 2022.

Show Credits:

This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared by Debby Germino and published by Glen McNiel.

The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).