Dead Pilots Society

Our episode this month is Training Room from Brig Muñoz-Liebowitz (People of Earth, Brooklyn Nine-Nine). Jamie (played by Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Melissa Fumero), the female physiotherapist for a men's pro soccer team, has always been a guys' girl. But when the team acquires a new star player who challenges Jamie's place on the team, Jamie is forced to seek support from a group of coworkers she's always avoided: the other women. Training Room was produced with Greg Berlanti and former professional soccer player, Robbie Rogers. In Andrew's interview with Brig, you’ll hear about her circuitous route from Santa Clarita to comedy writing…  how some bold moves got her foot in the door… why she likes writing stories about women in men’s worlds... and the impact #MeToo has had in comedy writers' rooms. This episode has it all: dick jokes and a discussion of second versus third wave feminism! Enjoy! Training Room stars Melissa Fumero as Jamie Burkholder, Tony Cavalero as Ryan, Roberta Valderrama as Tawny, Matt Walsh as Coach Vince, David Fumero as Mario, Chelsea Devantez as Tima, Yassir Lester as Kyle/Teammate 1/Sledgehammer Guy, Asif Ali as Jamie’s Dad/Victor/Teammate 2/Bouncer/Nacho, Brendan Scannell as Nick/Frosted Tips/Teammate 3/Waiter, Ed Weeks as Iain, and Andrew Reich with stage directions. Also, we have a date for our next live show. This one will be at Westside Comedy Theatre on Saturday, February 29th at 2PM. We’ll be reading pilots from Allison Bennett (You’re The Worst, Single Parents) and Sally Bradford-McKenna (Ghosted, The Goldbergs) Tickets are going to go fast with this one. Lineup is going to be great as usual! Get your tickets here: https://www.westsidecomedy.com/events/event/dead-pilots-society/ For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast! Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com  

We’re kicking off 2020 with another true insider look at how television gets made! Andrew sat down with seasoned television executive, Samie Falvey. Samie spent many years as Head of Comedy at ABC, where she played a huge role in developing shows like Black-ish, Fresh Off The Boat and The Goldbergs. She is now on the selling side as Chairman at Imagine Television.  In this interview, you’ll hear her speak openly about running a network comedy department…  what it was like to hear David Caspe pitch Happy Endings… what made the Black-ish pilot so irresistible... the finesse involved with telling a comedy writer their script isn’t funny... and the one plot point she thinks writers should never use in a pilot. A lot of valuable insight for writers from someone with a ton of experience developing and producing comedy for television. Enjoy, and we’ll be back with a new dead pilot next month! We have a date for our next live show. This one will be at Westside Comedy Theatre on Saturday, February 29th at 5PM-7PM. The ticket link will be up shortly but make sure you block it out on your calendar. We’ll be reading some great pilots! For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast! Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com

This month’s pilot is a mock rockumentary, or, as we like to say, a mrockumentary. It's called "Whatever Happened to... Gigi’s Pants" and it's written by Jennifer Crittenden & Gabrielle Allan (Veep, Divorce).  After twenty years of bad blood, a super cool girl band from the nineties, Gigi’s Pants, tries to reunite despite the fact that they are no longer girls and no longer cool.  Andrew sat down with Jen and Gaby to discuss how seeing the drummer of The Go-Go's wearing sweatpants at a reunion concert inspired this show. They also share some war stories from the comedy writing trenches. Want to know what to do when an executive you're pitching to falls fast asleep in the meeting? So do Jen and Gaby, because it's happened to them. You'll hear about the pitch where they had to use dolls to demonstrate because there were "too many characters" (even though there weren't that many characters), and lots more. Enjoy! Whatever Happened to… Gigi’s Pants stars Mary McCormack as Didi, Michaela Watkins as Kat, Felicia Day as R.E.L, Casey Wilson as Sharon, Nat Faxon as Mitch Kepler, Daniel David Stewart as Jake Bonerz/Teenage Boy/Male Fan/Cranky Writer, Nichole Bloom as Dr. Judy Li/Hudson/Patty Smyth, Mark Feuerstein as Greg Bonerz/Security Guard, Nick Peine as Alan Ganz, and Andrew Reich with Stage Directions Don’t forget to buy tickets to our live show this Saturday 12/7 at 4:30 PM at The Hollywood Improv. Doors open at 4pm. We're reading pilots from Joe Port & Joe Wiseman and Brig Munoz-Liebowitz. Our cast for this show includes:  MELISSA FUMERO (BROOKLYN NINE-NINE), TONY CAVALERO (RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES), MATT WALSH (VEEP), ASIF ALI (WRECKED), BRENDAN SCANNELL (HEATHERS), VELLA LOVELL (CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND), ED WEEKS (THE MINDY PROJECT), BRIGA HEELAN (GREAT NEWS), YASSIR LESTER (BLACK MONDAY), MINDY STERLING (AUSTIN POWERS), DAVID FUMERO (BROOKLYN NINE-NINE), CHELSEA DEVANTEZ (BLESS THIS MESS), AND MORE! BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast! Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @deadpilotspod, on twitter @deadpilotspod, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com.

This month’s dead pilot is over ten years in the making. It’s called The Rich Inner Life of Penelope Cloud and was written by Jeff Greenstein (Will & Grace, Parenthood, Desperate Housewives). The story centers around Penelope Cloud, a woman who who has been struggling for 15 years to deliver the follow-up to her celebrated first novel. In that time, she's become dependent on a cocktail of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications to get through the day. The story begins when Penelope, desperate to unblock herself, decides to go off all her meds at once and rejoin her life, already in progress. Andrew sat down with Jeff to talk about the ups and downs of developing this project for over ten years. From shooting a pilot for CBS starring Marisa Tomei, to writing six episodes of it for Amazon that were ultimately passed on after a heated back and forth. Jeff also talks about his experience staffing on shows like Friends, Desperate Housewives, and Will & Grace, and his path into becoming a sought-after television director. It was a colorful and at times emotional conversation about a pilot that was really put through the ringer. Enjoy! The Rich Inner Life of Penelope Cloud stars Michaela Watkins as Penelope Cloud, Jon Cryer as Dr. Birkin/Passenger/Student, Mary McCormack as Eva, Daniel David Stewart as Ivy, Malcolm Barrett as Claude, Nichole Bloom as Geogia/Counselor, Felicia Day as Kendall, Navid Neghaban as Dr. Hakim, Kelsy Sandoval as Adoración, and Andrew Reich with stage directions. For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast! Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @deadpilotspod, on twitter @deadpilotspod, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com.

We're back to business as usual in this month's Dead Pilots Society episode. Our dead pilot is Sterling, written by Dan Sterling (The Sarah Silverman Program, The Office, Girls, South Park, The Interview, Long Shot). Sterling is about a TV news producer whose life is turned upside down when he is paired up with a beautiful, loose-cannon reporter. Andrew sat down with Dan to talk about his impressive career: Getting the job running The Daily Show after hitting it off with Jon Stewart at a Comedy Central Emmy Party, despite never having worked in late night...The decade long journey from his script Flarsky to Long Shot... Writing The Interview and getting caught in the middle of an international diplomatic firestorm, and why the writer is the only one who doesn't get a bodyguard... How Sterling was partly inspired by his working relationship with Sarah Silverman... and much more! Sterling stars Nat Faxon as Philip Sterling, Hannah Simone as Scarlett Lacy, Malcolm Barrett as Jack Winthrop, Jon Cryer as Lloyd Foote/Grebs/Harting, Felicia Day as Faye/Norah O’Donnell, Nichole Bloom as Shelby/Fox News Anchor, Daniel David Stewart as Mitch/Bartender, and Andrew Reich with stage directions.  For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast! Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @deadpilotspod, on twitter @deadpilotspod, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com.  

No dead pilot this month, but we have something special instead! On this episode we get to hear a network executive's side of the story. Andrew sat down with television comedy executive, Jamila Hunter. Jamila was the Senior Vice President of ABC Comedy before leaving to head up Kenya Barris's production company at Netflix. In this interview, you'll hear her speak openly about running a network comedy department... What it's like to hear 10 to 12 comedy pitches every single day for months...The number one thing she looks for in a pitch... Embarrassing mistakes writers make and how to avoid them... How the pilot pick-up decisions are actually made... She also reminisces about some of the great pitches she's heard in her career, like Kenya Barris' pitch for Black-ish. Lots of valuable insights for writers, and lots of great perspective for television fans. Enjoy, and we'll be back with a new dead pilot next month! For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast! Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @deadpilotspod, on twitter @deadpilotspod, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com.

Our pilot this time is Small Town Love by Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern (Trophy Wife, Booksmart). Small Town Love is about a sparring mother and daughter in rural Michigan who are forced to lean on each other when they become pregnant at the same time. Listen to Andrew’s interview with Sarah and Emily to hear about how the first script they wrote together, Booksmart, took eleven years to reach the screen; what Emily learned from working with David Mamet; why they made the transition from film to TV; and how you can tell when an idea will actually make a good TV show. Enjoy! Small Town Love stars Busy Phillips as Annette, Shannon Woodward as Fanny, Asif Ali as Curtis, Paul Adelstein as George, Rob Huebel as John, Parvesh Cheena as Mr. Karr, Nicole Sullivan as Reality Woman/Ruthie, Liz Jenkins as Beth, Ali Ghandour as Pimply Teen Manager, Greg Santos as Rude Customer, Syd Steinberg as Waiter/Bartender/Store Manager, and Andrew Reich with stage directions. We're having another live show in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 14th, at 2pm! It’ll be at the WGAW HQ 2nd floor event space on 3rd Street and Fairfax!!  Ticket link and information to come soon but mark your calendars!! For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast! Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @deadpilotspod, on twitter @deadpilotspod, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com.

This week’s episode is called Lenny’s Doing Great and His Family’s Terrific written by Alex Cuthbertson & Matt Fusfeld (New Girl, Community). The log-line for this one one goes something like: a young man who’s been helicopter-parented within an inch of his life reconnects with his selfish, absentee grandfather—in the process bringing an estranged family back together in ways no one wanted, but everyone needed. Listen to Andrew’s interview with Alex and Matt for a fun conversation about their real grandfathers whom inspired this pilot, how they got their first gig on American Dad, their keys to writing together as a team, and so much more! Enjoy! Lenny’s Doing Great and His Family’s Terrific stars Jack McGee as Lenny Murphy, Parvesh Cheena as Reno, Busy Phillips as Gloria, Drew Tarver as Evan Murphy, Rob Huebel as Marc, Sabrina Jalees as Sabrina, Nicole Sullivan as Joanna, Liz Jenkins as Regina, Greg Santos as Teddy/Waiter/Student/Officiant, Sydney Steinberg as Customer/Waitress, Ali Ghandour as Insane Looking Man/Police Captain, and Andrew Reich with stage directions. We're having another live show in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 14th, at 2pm! It'll be at the WGA West Theater!! Ticket link and information to come soon but mark your calendars!! For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast! Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @deadpilotspod, on twitter @deadpilotspod, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com.

Our pilot this month is called Sexy Justice and it’s written by Johanna Stein. Johanna has written on many TV shows including Kung Fu Panda, Jaws of Destiny and so many more! She’s also the author of the novel How Not to Calm a Child on a Plane. Sexy Justice is a 1/2 hour cop show comedy featuring a pair of sizzlingly sexy female undercover cops on the streets of Los Angeles in its prime: the early 80’s. Think “Cagney & Lacey” meets “Charlie’s Angels”, and put through an “Archer” blender on high speed. Stay tuned for Andrew’s interview with Johanna where she talks about the development of Sexy Justice, her experience writing on children’s shows, and the world of animation. Enjoy! Sexy Justice stars Tiya Sircar as Didi Cates, Amanda Lund as Jennifer Von Knoblach, David Walton as Father Jim, Ian Gomez as Captain Gomez, Andy Ridings as Father O’Reilly/Officer Cappizzi/Store Clerk/Man, Brad Morris as Gentle Willy/Officer Manning/Radio, Keiko Agena as Chicky Jackson, Ethan Peck as Manly Nun/Punk/Ice Cream Truck Driver, and Andrew Reich with stage directions. We have a LIVE SHOW on Saturday, June 8th at 5pm at The Hollywood Improv! We'll be reading pilots from Sarah Haskins & Emily Halpern (Booksmart, Trophy Wife), Alex Cuthbertson & Matt Fusfeld (Community, New Girl) and probably more! Our cast is going to be incredible for this one so you don't want to miss it!! TICKET LINK: https://tinyurl.com/yyqkjqdx For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast! Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @deadpilotspod, on twitter @deadpilotspod, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com.

Yogurt World stars Britt Lower as Audrey Mills, Danny Pudi as Chris, Amanda Lund as Lisa Hewitt, Brad Morris as Bucky Simmons, David Walton as Seph, Andy Ridings as Vet/Guy #2/Newscaster/7-11 Employee, Ethan Peck as Guy #1/Chuck/Tough Guy, Keiko Agena as Hot Girl, and Andrew Reich with stage directions.  This month's episode is from the great Colleen McGuinness! Colleen has written on 30 Rock, Friends From College, and Forever.  Her pilot is called Yogurt World. It centers around a woman who works in a frozen yogurt shop whose life is going nowhere, until she discovers that she is telekinetic. Listen to Andrew’s interview with Colleen about developing Yogurt World with Matt Damon, attempting to make a comedy version of “Carrie”, her experiences writing on 30 Rock including some inside scoop on creating that show’s finale, and so many more golden nuggets of insight for writers! Enjoy! For more Dead Pilot Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast! Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com