Where are you currently employed?
Sony Pictures.
Current projects?
I’m going to assume Fight Club rules for anything that hasn’t been announced — but the ones that are already public knowledge include: “Django/Zorro,” “Labyrinth 2,” “Guinevere,” “Swiss Guard,” a remake of the Chinese comedy “Hi, Mom,” and “Sex and Vanity.”
Describe your job.
Reading. Lots and lots of reading.
I read screenplays, books, and graphic novels for the studio. Half the time, I evaluate these as submissions that I recommend the studio either consider making or not. My coverage (as the resulting work product is called) consists of a couple of pages of story synopsis followed by about a page of comments in which I consider what works, what doesn’t, and what effect any elements (attached cast, director, etc.) might have if this were to become a studio project.
After the studio purchases a piece of material, it becomes an active development project. If it’s been assigned as my project (sometimes I’ve read the material as a submission, sometimes not), I give notes on each draft, comparing it to the previous one. I follow the project until it goes into production or falls out of development. Notes are much more narrative-intensive, where I assess how changes in plot, characters, relationships, etc. affect the story, whether it’s a lateral change or an improvement or a step back, and what other changes would lead to the best version of this project.
Occasionally, I will do a detailed comparison of multiple drafts by different writers that will help the studio and the Writers Guild determine which writer(s) should receive screen credit and of what type (e.g., based on, story by, screenplay by, written by, etc.).
How did you first become interested in this line of work?
I have always loved reading, writing, and movies, and I’m also an aspiring writer/director, so there are only a few jobs that use those exact skill sets. It’s like being a pilot or an alligator wrestler: You are limited to almost exactly the one thing you know.
Who gave you your first break?
Ali Bell, who was at Nickelodeon at the time, gave me my first coverage job in LA. I had just finished film school at NYU, and as part of the program, I interned at a production company during the school year. So I learned to read scripts and do coverage during that internship and discovered I had a knack for it. Because I had focused on a writing and directing track, I was already interested in narrative, structure, and writing. Working as a reader also gave me a way to get paid for doing what I already loved and needed to do: reading a ton of scripts that were getting made, getting people signed, and getting people jobs.
What was your first union job?
Sony is my first union job. Before Sony, I worked as a freelancer for multiple production companies and agencies, such as Amazon, Participant Media, UTA, and Paradigm.
What credits or projects are you proudest of, and why?
Development can be such a long process, and I haven’t been at Sony long enough to see many movies through to production. That said, “The Woman King” was one project I was really happy to work on. That script came in great shape from the beginning.
What was the biggest challenge in your job (or on a particular project) and how did you overcome/solve it?
We’re doing a remake of “Hi, Mom,” a comedy that was a huge hit in China. But even though most of the elements in the script were exchanged for American equivalents, and even though the heart of the story is universal, something seemed to be missing in the translation. Some of that was cultural humor and stakes, but there was something else that wasn’t landing. So rather than just read the drafts that came in, I asked to watch the original film to see what the essence of the story was and, I hoped, how it was eluding us. That helped unlock a key moment, where a twist that seemed to break ordinary screenwriting rules on the page was made effective by how it visually pulled one character’s perspective into another. It was hard to see how it worked on the page, but seeing the original film and how they pulled off that reveal was pivotal.
What was the most fun you’ve had at work?
Well, back when we were still working on the lot, our offices were right next to PlayStation’s …
Jobwise, what do you hope to be doing five years from now?
I’d like to have my own movies as an actor-writer-director going through the system.
What are your outside activities, hobbies, passions?
Most of my outside hobbies and passions align with my job skills and career goals: reading, writing, directing, and acting. Essentially, anything to do with movies and books. Those are enough to consume almost all my waking hours.
What else? I got into watching basketball last year. Go Lakers! (Update: Sad Lakers… )
Favorite movie(s)? Why?
“E.T.” hits all the feelings that make you want to go see movies. The frog scene, the entire end sequence — pure movie magic in its most distilled form. I’d say this is probably the movie that made me fall in love with movies.
“La La Land” — the perfect love letter to this city, to the industry, and to dreamers in general. I normally don’t like musicals, but that one captures all the bittersweet striving and love in a way that was pure inspiration.
“Fight Club” — raw, dark, thought-provoking, and with an edge you hardly ever see.
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” – “I would have been happy doing laundry and taxes with you” gets me every time. And the rocks… how could they make me care so much about two rocks? It’s one of the most inventive, bombastic, and original movies I’ve ever seen.
“Titanic”/”Terminator”/”Avatar: — all James Cameron movies are like poetry expressed as action. Watch one second and you’re hooked. Suddenly, three hours have gone by and you’ve just mainlined the adrenaline of survival, falling in love, or saving humanity — or all three in a row. His movies are all instinct: perfect story instinct, character instinct, and shot composition like it’s from the mind’s eye. You know a movie is great when you can come in at any point and literally not be able to walk away. Also, the behind-the-scenes stories are almost as fascinating as the movies themselves.
“The Matrix” – this might be my idea of a perfect screenplay. Perfect opening. Perfect structure. Wildly original, risky, redefines the genre, captivating, and the action: ballet meets crack meets God.
“Her” – Achingly poignant, it feels like today and tomorrow, like your heart expanding and being squeezed all at the same time.
Favorite TV program(s)? Why?
“Game of Thrones”— The greatest show in the history of TV. The first season was a masterclass in acting, writing, and directing. The melding of history, fantasy, primal power struggles, and character development was this new concoction that no one has done since, not even the other spin-offs. Their best scenes are immortalized in my mind.
“Lost” – Everyone thinks about the big plot twists and the mystery, but that show, especially the first season, gave us the most intriguing characters, whose layers were peeled back one by one. Every episode that season was like a perfect glimpse into how each character was shaped. The balance of mystery, sci-fi, and characterization was hypnotic and trailblazing.
Do you have an industry mentor?
I have been super lucky to have a mentor in Melinda Hsu Taylor, a TV writer/producer who has really believed in me as a writer.
What advice would you offer to someone interested in pursuing your line of work?
Admittedly, I’m terrible at networking, but I would advise people to get to know the community and build those relationships. You know those stories about how someone goes to a party, meets a producer, and suddenly sells their TV show? That kind of thing never happens to me. But I got into Sony after I went to a story analyst mixer and randomly met someone who asked me to send her my resume and samples. I didn’t think anything of it — I’ve done that a million times before and never had anything come of it — but she sent it to someone she knew who was working at Sony. And that’s how I got in.
Then I got someone else in at Sony after hearing him speak at a meeting for freelance readers, so it came full circle.
Was there ever a circumstance when you had to rely on the Guild for help or assistance?
I had a week where I worked an insane amount of overtime. All the overtime rates and penalties were so confusing that I asked a field rep to go over contract rules with me, and she was incredibly helpful.
Is there anything you’d like to say to your fellow Guild members, some words of encouragement?
It’s felt like a sea change in the industry, and many people are anxious or unsure about what’s ahead. But the greater the threat, the stronger the community. I think people have been really unified in dealing with the threats from AI, constant mergers, and a seemingly endless contraction. Layoffs hit my own company hard recently, and I know of at least two other major companies that will be hit hard as well. It could feel like the Hunger Games out there, but I think people have been handling all this with a lot of grace and helping each other. Ultimately, the communal shared experience of watching a movie or TV show together is fundamentally a human experience, and one that can only be created by the collaboration of people.
-Compiled by David Bruskin
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