Category Archive for ‘Writers Breaking In’

After years in the military and in finance, screenwriter Chandus Jackson came to Los Angeles in pursuit of a screenwriting career. Taking many turns, and generating endless close calls, Chandus finally landed his first writing assignment in 2020, and got staffed in 2021! Check out my breaking in interview with him to see how he did it.

The below post was written by Amadou Diallo, who, in what would be considered lightening-fast, went from new to repped writer (also winning a big screenwriting competition along the way) in just a year and a half. In this Real Writers Break In! guest blog, he breaks down what worked… read more →

Every screenwriter would love a spec sale. But we hear it constantly: You have to have an agent. You have to have a manager. Most specs just don’t sell. But that wasn’t the case for Alan Horsnail, who, without any industry representation in place, managed to sell his feature spec.

Felischa Marye left a successful Chicago career in PR for the pursuit of a screenwriting career. In our conversation, we take a deep dive into the programs she participated in and the steps she took to go from unknown screenwriter to showrunner.

My heart has always been with writers breaking in. And one such writer is Kim Garland, who showed up in Los Angeles with determination and discipline, developed her brand and worked her way into her first writers room.

While building a screenwriting or TV writing career is never easy, I see writers from all walks of life do it all. the. time. Lucy Luna is that writer who went for a dream and came to L.A. with no industry connections or pedigree to speak of, and rode it all the way to her first staff writing position.

Even with the abundance of shows currently on the air, getting your first bona fide staff writing job can seem insurmountable. So how do you do it? Here are the various ways my writers have gotten their first staff writing gigs over the years.

Hardly anyone ever breaks into screenwriting or TV writing faster than they expected. It takes more time and efforts than most initially would predict. Therefore, it’s important to prepare yourself for the grueling marathon ahead.

When it takes longer to break in then you had hoped, how do you keep motivated for fighting for the career that you want?

For every writer, there is a moment when she wonders: I work really hard writing and networking. But do I really have a chance to break in? In my latest blogpost, I answer just that question based on years of experience.