OnWriting: A Podcast of the WGA East

Geri hands it over to guest host Melissa Silverstein, the founder and publisher of Women in Hollywood, for a conversation with THE DROPOUT creator and showrunner Liz Meriwether. Liz Meriwether is a writer, showrunner, and producer known for her work as the creator and showrunner of the hit comedy series NEW GIRL and the sitcom BLESS THIS MESS, as well as for writing the screenplay for the 2011 romcom NO STRINGS ATTACHED. Guest moderator Melissa Silverstein is the founder and publisher of Women and Hollywood, an initiative and website that educates, advocates, and agitates for gender diversity and inclusion in Hollywood and the global film industry. THE DROPOUT is a Hulu limited series based on the ABC podcast of the same name. The series follows the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her company, Theranos. The series premiered in March 2022 and is available to stream on Hulu. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host Geri Cole speaks with Jonathan Tropper about The Adam Project's eight-year journey to the screen, how to write a great action scene, the rules of writing time travel, and why you don't tell Bob when to drink the Coke. Jonathan Tropper is a screenwriter, novelist, and producer. He is the internationally-acclaimed author of six novels, the two most recent of which—This Is Where I Leave You and One Last Thing Before I Go—were both New York Times bestsellers. His screenwriting credits include THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU (the 2014 film adaptation of his novel), the 2017 feature KODACHROME, showrunner of the sci-fi series SEE, co-creator and showrunner of the action series BANSHEE, and creator and showrunner of the martial arts drama series WARRIOR. Most recently, he wrote the screenplay for the sci-fi adventure film THE ADAM PROJECT. The film follows time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed who, after accidentally crash-landing in the year 2022, must team up with his 12-year-old self on a mission to save the future. The film was released in March and is now streaming on Netflix. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host Geri Cole is joined by PACHINKO showrunner, writer, and producer Soo Hugh to talk about how the writers adapted the acclaimed novel to keep it focused on family over colonialism; the process of crafting a complex, authentic story that couldn't have been told the same way a decade ago; and the power inherent in telling extraordinary stories of ordinary people. Soo Hugh is a writer and producer whose past credits include sci-fi and horror drama series like CBS sci-fi mystery UNDER THE DOME, ABC sci-fi drama THE WHISPERS (which she created) and AMC horror anthology THE TERROR (for which she was co-showrunner), among others. She is currently serving as creator, writer, showrunner, and producer of the Apple TV period drama PACHINKO. Based on the acclaimed novel by author Min Jin Lee, PACHINKO chronicles the hopes and dreams of four generations of a Korean immigrant family. The story begins with a forbidden love, and crescendos into a sweeping saga that journeys between Korea, Japan, and America to tell an unforgettable story of war, peace, love and loss, triumph and reckoning. The series’ first three episodes premiered in March 2022, and new episodes are streaming weekly on AppleTV+. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host Geri Cole talks to writer-director Mariama Diallo about the uncanny—and all-too-real—experience of navigating predominately white spaces as a Black woman, the complexities of identity, the importance and necessity of your community, and more. Mariama Diallo is a writer and director whose short film “Hair Wolf” premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival—where it won the Short Film Jury Award—and was then released on HBO and the Criterion Channel. Diallo also co-wrote, co-directed, and co-starred in the short film “White Devil,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and is a writer-director on the Peabody Award-winning HBO series RANDOM ACTS OF FLYNESS. Her latest project—and feature debut—is MASTER, a supernatural horror film about three Black women striving to find their place at a prestigious New England university whose frosty elitism may disguise something more sinister. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and will arrive on Prime Video (and in select theaters) starting March 18. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host Geri Cole welcomes THE HANDMAID’S TALE creator, showrunner, writer, and EP Bruce Miller and writer and EP Yahlin Chang to the show to talk about how real-world refugee stories give the show inspiration and guidance, the ways in which writing can be both cruel and cathartic, and how the show encourages everyone—both above and below the line—to bring their A-game. ** - Please note: This episode comes with a spoiler alert as well as a content warning for a discussion of sexual violence against women and other traumatic topics. - **  Bruce Miller is a television writer and producer who, before HANDMAID'S, was well known for his work as showrunner and writer for popular sci-fi series like EUREKA and ALPHAS. For his work on The Handmaid's Tale, Miller won the 2017 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Yahlin Chang is a writer and producer who wrote on several series including DIRTY SEXY MONEY, PAN AM, and SUPERGIRL, before joining the writers' room of THE HANDMAID'S TALE. She was nominated for a 2021 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama for the series. THE HANDMAID'S TALE is a dystopian television series based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel of the same name. The series portrays life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was the United States which is ruled by an ultra-religious fundamentalist regime. Faced with a world devastated by environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude. One of these women, Offred, is determined to survive the terrifying world she lives in, and find the daughter that was taken from her. The series—which has received multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, Writers Guild Awards, among many others—premiered on Hulu in April 2017, and is currently in production for its 5th season. Seasons 1-4 are available to stream on Hulu. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Geri Cole turns it over to Michael Cyril Creighton for a special conversation with showrunners Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen to discuss their series, SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE. Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen are a writing duo whose credits include HIGH MAINTENANCE, MOZART IN THE JUNGLE and DRIVEWAYS. Moderator Michael Cyril Creighton is a writer and actor known for his recent performance as the cat-loving Howard Morris in ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING and his roles on HIGH MAINTENANCE and SPOTLIGHT, as well as for creating and starring in the Writers Guild Award-winning web series JACK IN A BOX (which, incidentally, Hannah and Paul also worked on). SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE is a new comedy series that follows Sam, a true Kansan on the surface who, beneath it all, struggles to fit into the hometown mold. As Sam grapples with loss and acceptance, singing is her saving grace and leads her on a journey to discover herself and a community of outsiders who don't fit in, but don't give up, showing that finding your people and finding your voice is possible anywhere somewhere. SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE is streaming now on HBO and HBO Max, and was renewed for a second season earlier this month. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host Geri Cole talks to Zach Baylin—screenwriter of KING RICHARD—about how a serendipitous meeting before heading to the US Open led to the script landing in the hands of Will Smith, his experience collaborating with the Williams family, and the importance of writing every day, because even a few lines can feel like a success. Zach Baylin is a screenwriter whose script, KING RICHARD, was #2 in the 2018 Black List survey, and is his first produced writing credit. His next project is CREED III, which is currently in production for MGM. KING RICHARD is the true story of how Venus and Serena Williams were raised and coached by their parents to become the tennis legends they are today. Zach's screenplay won the 2022 Black Film Critic Circle Award and is currently in the running for a Writers Guild Award, a BAFTA Award, and an Academy Award. KING RICHARD was released in November 2021. It's currently playing in theaters and available to stream on VOD. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Geri Cole turns it over to David O. Russell for a conversation with Adam McKay about his latest project, DON’T LOOK UP. David O. Russell is the Oscar- and Writers Guild Award-nominated writer and director best known for his work on titles like FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, THREE KINGS, I HEART HUCKABEES, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, AMERICAN HUSTLE, and most recently, JOY. Adam McKay is a writer, director, comedian, and co-founder of the comedy group Upright Citizens Brigade. He kicked off his film & TV career in the ’90s as a head writer for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE before rising to fame in the 2000s for his collaborations with fellow comedian and SNL alum Will Ferrell, with whom he co-wrote the hit comedies ANCHORMAN, STEP BROTHERS, and THE OTHER GUYS. In the 2010s, McKay ventured into more dramatic waters as co-writer & director of the 2015 dramedy/biopic THE BIG SHORT—for which he and Charles Randolph received the Academy and Writers Guild Awards for Adapted Screenplay—and as writer & director of the 2019 Oscar- and Writers Guild Award-nominated Dick Cheney biopic VICE.   His most recent project is DON’T LOOK UP, a comedy-drama and cautionary tale written and directed by McKay and based on a story by himself and David Sirota. The film follows two astronomers who discover a comet orbiting within the solar system and which is set on a direct collision course with Earth. The problem? No one really seems to care. Turns out warning mankind about a planet-killer the size of Mount Everest is an inconvenient fact to navigate. The astronomers embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an indifferent President and her sycophantic son and Chief of Staff to the airwaves of upbeat morning show The Daily Rip. With only six months until the comet makes impact, the team struggles to manage the 24-hour news cycle and gain the attention of the social media-obsessed public—before it’s too late. DON’T LOOK UP was released in December 2021 and is available to stream on Netflix. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host Geri Cole is joined by four writers from THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH: supervising producer and head writer Zhubin Parang, writers Kat Radley and Josh Johnson, and correspondent Roy Wood Jr. The writers and Geri cover what it takes to put together an episode of THE DAILY SHOW… and to do it daily, how being encouraged to bomb creates a sense of community in the writers’ room, and how segments like “CP Time” help teach chapters of Black history you won’t find in a textbook. THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH is the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning evening news program that examines the day's biggest news stories in politics, pop culture, entertainment, sports and more. In each episode, Trevor and his team of correspondents provide coverage of (and catharsis from) daily events through a sharp, reality-based lens. Episodes of THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH air live on Comedy Central nightly. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host Geri Cole is joined by Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky—writers and executive producers of AND JUST LIKE THAT—to talk about how they first came to work on SEX AND THE CITY, their very intimate writing process for AND JUST LIKE THAT, and how success can sometimes feel like being lost in L.A. Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky are long-time collaborators whose credits together include SEX AND THE CITY, SIX DEGREES, SMASH, ODD MOM OUT—where they also served as co-showrunners, and DIVORCE. Their latest collaboration is on the new limited series AND JUST LIKE THAT. The ten-episode revival of SEX AND THE CITY follows Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s. AND JUST LIKE THAT premiered in December 2021 and is currently available to watch on HBO and HBO Max. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast