OnWriting: A Podcast of the WGA East – Details, episodes & analysis

Host Susan Kim sits down with children’s television writers Geri Cole and Bob Mittenthal to discuss balancing entertainment and education in children's storytelling, embracing restrictions – from budget limitations to writing for puppets — in creative ways, the ongoing fight for union coverage in animation, and more.

Geri Cole is a full-time staff writer and lead interactive narrative designer for Sesame Street, co-chair of the WGAE Black Writers Salon, she's won five Daytime Emmys, a Writers Guild Award, a Producers Guild Award, and an NAACP Image Award. Geri also hosted seasons 7-11 of OnWriting.

Bob Mittenthal has had a long career as writer and producer. Credits include Double Dare, KaBlam, and Bossy Bear. He created such shows as Welcome Freshmen, Think Fast, and Make the Grade. Other shows include It's Pony, Welcome to the Wayne, the Loud House, the Adventures of Pete and Pete, and the Naked Brothers Band.

Susan Kim is an Emmy-nominated and award-winning documentary and children’s television writer known for her work on shows like Dragon Tales, Thomas & Friends, Bea’s Block, Bubble Guppies, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and more. She is co-chair of the WGAE Animation Caucus, and a former member of the WGAE Council.

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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/

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Host Katie Rich sits down with Sophie Summergrad, Christina Cauterucci and Madeline Ducharme — three of the journalists and producers behind Slate's "Slow Burn" and other acclaimed podcasts — to discuss their paths into journalism, the process of turning an idea into a critically acclaimed podcast, how a strong union contract gives you the freedom – and time – to do the things you care about, and much more.

Sophie Summergrad is a producer at Slate currently working on season 10 of "Slow Burn". Before that, she worked on "Slow Burn" seasons 3 through 9, as well as the narrative podcast "One Year".

Christina Cauterucci is a senior writer at Slate who covers politics and culture. She's also the host of season 9 of "Slow Burn": Gays Against Briggs, the host and co-founder of "Outward", Slate's weekly podcast about LGBTQ life, and previously wrote for and hosted episodes of "One Year".

Madeline Ducharme is a producer for Slate's daily news podcast, "What Next". Before that, she produced season 4 of "Slow Burn", and has worked on other narrative shows at Slate including "One Year".

Host Katie Rich is a comedy writer known for her six-year tenure writing for "Weekend Update" on Saturday Night Live.

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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 Alison Herman talks to writer-director Sarah Polley about finding a balance between reality and allegory in a film adapted from a fictional novel based on true events, how her process has changed since becoming a parent and recovering from a head injury, what writing (and rewriting) this film taught her about rigor, and much more.

Sarah Polley a writer, director, and actor. She wrote and directed the 2006 film AWAY FROM HER, which earned her first Academy Award nomination for adapted screenplay, as well as the 2011 film TAKE THIS WALZ, the 2012 documentary STORIES WE TELL, and is the writer of ALIAS GRACE, the 2017 miniseries adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel.

Most recently, Sarah is the writer and director of WOMEN TALKING. The film is adapted from the Miriam Toews novel that was inspired by true events, and stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, and Frances McDormand as a group of women who have only two days to decide how to take action against a group of men who have been arrested for years of abuse toward the women in the remote and isolated Mennonite community.

WOMEN TALKING premiered in December 2022 and is currently nominated for the Academy and Writers Guild Awards for Adapted Screenplay, as well as the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Alison Herman is a staff writer for The Ringer, where she writes about culture in general and television in specific. When not fighting a losing battle against Peak TV, she tweets at @aherman2006.

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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

Caroline spoke with Solvan "Slick" Naim—writer, director, rapper, actor, and creator of the Emmy-nominated Netflix series IT'S BRUNO!—about the ways that music informs and shapes his work, the importance of diversity-focused mentorship programs in the entertainment industry, his advice to those who are just starting to try launch their careers in film & TV, translating his love of his dogs into his show, and much more.

Solvan "Slick" Naim is an Award winning Algerian-American writer, director and rapper who was born and raised in New York City. Slick's filmmaking career started by way of his music career: as a rapper, he wrote treatments to his songs and began directing his own music videos.

His debut feature, FULL CIRCLE, won 5 festival awards including the Audience Award at the 2013 HBO Urbanworld Festival and was acquired by EOne.

His short film "Stanhope" was one of five shorts selected by HBO for their 2015 HBO Short Film Competition and took home the grand prize for Best Film. The film won several other festivals including NBC Universal's Short Fest, receiving the Best Director and Audience Awards.

In 2015, Slick was selected by Sony Pictures as a finalist in their Diverse Directors TV Program. He was a second unit director for several episodes of the Netflix series THE GET DOWN. Slick was later selected for FOX and NBC for their TV Director programs, and eventually went on to direct shows for them as well. IT'S BRUNO! is his debut as a series creator.

IT'S BRUNO! - which premiered on Netflix in May - follows a Brooklyn native and his Puggle dog, Bruno, through the small adventures they encounter every day as they navigate their native Bushwick.

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Caroline spoke with playwright, screenwriter, and showrunner Gary Lennon about embracing rejection; the elements of a successful writers' room; his philosophy on putting real life in your fiction; the new seasons of POWER, HIGHTOWN, and EUPHORIA, and much more.

Gary Lennon's somewhat tumultuous childhood paved the way for the start of his writing career: his first screenplay, for the 1995 film DRUNKS, was an adaptation of his stage play, BLACKOUT – a series of semi-autobiographical monologues about alcoholism.

Since then, he has been a consistent fixture in the film and television worlds, with writing credits on shows like THE SHIELD, JUSTIFIED, and ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. He's currently the co-showrunner of the Starz crime drama POWER, and is an executive producer on the forthcoming Starz drama HIGHTOWN and the HBO teen drama EUPHORIA.

POWER tells the story of James St. Patrick, a ruthless drug-dealer under the nickname "Ghost", who wishes to leave the criminal world in order to support his legitimate business interests as a nightclub owner. The sixth and final season will premiere in August.

EUPHORIA, which premiered last month, follows a group of high school students as they navigate drugs, sex, identity, trauma, social media, love and friendship.

HIGHTOWN follows federal Fishery Service Agent Jackie Quinones, whose life of partying and less-than-enthusiastic relationship to her job are upended after she discovers a body in Cape Cod Bay, and finds herself at the center of the Cape’s gruesome heroin epidemic. It's tentatively set to premiere in early 2020.

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Caroline sat down with the one and only Tom Fontana (for his very first podcast!) to discuss his writing process, running less-than-traditional writers' rooms, mentoring writers, his latest series - CITY ON A HILL, and much more.

Tom Fontana's extensive résumé includes writer, producer, showrunner, and (co-)creator credits on several groundbreaking television series, including OZ, HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, THE PHILANTHROPIST, COPPER, and Netflix’s BORGIA.

He has received international recognition for his writing, including five Writers Guild Awards (three for Episodic Drama and three of the East's honorary awards), three Emmy Awards, four Peabody Awards, and four Television Critics Association Awards.

He is currently the showrunner for CITY ON A HILL, the crime drama series created by Chuck MacLean which recently premiered on Showtime.

CITY ON A HILL—a fictional account of the 1996 "Boston Miracle" that changed the city's reputation for violent criminals, racism, and corrupt law enforcement—follows Brooklyn-raised Assistant District Attorney Decourcy Ward as he and forms an unlikely alliance with corrupt yet venerated FBI veteran, Jackie Rohr. Together, they take on a family of armored car robbers in a case that grows to involve, and ultimately subvert, the entire criminal justice system of Boston.

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Caroline was joined by writing team Robert and Michelle King—creators of THE GOOD FIGHT, their new series, EVIL, and the Writers Guild Award-winning show, THE GOOD WIFE—to discuss the upcoming seasons of THE GOOD FIGHT and EVIL, the difference between writers' rooms in LA and NYC, life as a married writing team, and more.

Before their work on THE GOOD FIGHT and EVIL, the Kings co-created the political satire/science fiction BRAINDEAD and the police procedural IN JUSTICE.

THE GOOD FIGHT- a spin-off of the Kings' award-winning series THE GOOD WIFE - follows attorney Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) as she loses her employment after an enormous financial scam destroys both the reputation of her goddaughter Maia (Rose Leslie) and Diane's savings, leading them to join Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) at one of Chicago's preeminent law firms. The show's third season premiered on CBS All Access earlier this spring, and was recently renewed for a fourth season.

EVIL is the Kings' upcoming series which follows a skeptical female clinical psychologist who joins a priest-in-training and a blue-collar contractor as they investigate supposed miracles, demonic possessions, and other extraordinary occurrences to see if there’s a scientific explanation or if something truly supernatural is at work.

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Caroline was joined by writer and director Alex Ross Perry to discuss his upcoming film HER SMELL (which is in theaters on Friday, April 12), their shared Philly roots, his Kim's Video alum-heavy list of frequent collaborators and much more.

HER SMELL follows '90s punk rock superstar Becky Something as she grapples with motherhood, exhausted bandmates, nervous record company executives, and a new generation of rising talent eager to usurp her stardom - and eventually must retreat from the spotlight to try to recapture the creative inspiration that led her band to success.

Alex's career kicked off with the 2009 feature film IMPOLEX - an absurdist comedy inspired by Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow. Since then, he has written seven other features - five of which he also directed - including indies like THE COLOR WHEEL and QUEEN OF EARTH, as well as the 2018 Disney film CHRISTOPHER ROBIN.

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Caroline spoke with David Mandel - the showrunner of the HBO hit series VEEP - about his amazing career trajectory, his strong opinions on writers' rooms, and their mutual obsession with Robert Caro.

VEEP follows Selina Meyer, the Vice President (and, later, President) of the United States, and her team as they attempt to make their mark and leave a legacy without getting tripped up in the day-to-day political games that define the American government.

The Emmy- and WGA Award-winning series – which is an adaptation of the BBC satire THE THICK OF IT – is currently in its seventh and final season.

Before David Mandel’s tenure as VEEP showrunner, he was a writer, director, and executive producer for CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. Prior to that, he wrote for the seventh, eighth, and ninth seasons of SEINFELD; for the 18th, 19th, and 20th seasons of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.

He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 2003 film adaptation of THE CAT IN THE HAT, and was a writer and co-creator for CLERKS: THE ANIMATED SERIES.

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Caroline and WGAE Indie Film Caucus Director Jenna Bond sat down to speak with writer, director, and comedian Bo Burnham about his feature film debut, EIGHTH GRADE, which received a Best Original Screenplay nomination in this year's Writers Guild Awards.

EIGHTH GRADE follows Kayla - an anxious thirteen-year-old - as she tries to survive the last week of her disastrous eighth grade year before graduating to high school while simultaneously hosting a video blog on YouTube in which she gives life advice.

Bo's own career also started on YouTube, where he published a number of viral comedic music and skits starting in 2006. His online popularity quickly translated into an IRL career when he signed with Comedy Central Records in 2008.

Since then, he released a series of comedy albums and stand-up specials, appeared in a number of feature films, and co-created, wrote, and starred in the MTV comedy series ZACH STONE IS GONNA BE FAMOUS.

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Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:
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