OnWriting: A Podcast of the WGA East Writers Guild of America East

John Hoffman and Amy Schumer sit down to talk about the joys and challenges of leaning into the personal in your writing, the importance of finding the right collaborators, confronting the hardest parts of life with both vulnerability and confidence, and much more.
John Hoffman is the co-creator and showrunner of the critically acclaimed and award-winning comedy-drama mystery series Only Murders in the Building.
Amy Schumer is a writer, actor, director and producer known for creating and starring in the sketch comedy series Inside Amy Schumer, writing and starring in the 2015 comedy film Trainwreck and creating and starring in the comedy-drama series Life & Beth.
Only Murders in the Building and Life & Beth are both currently available to stream on Hulu.
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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

Acclaimed comedy writers Meredith Scardino and Paula Pell sit down together for a conversation about their journeys to WGAE membership, their journeys to the WGAE office, how producing differs from other positions in the writers room, the importance of both deadlines and procrastination in the creative process and much more.
Meredith Scardino is a screenwriter, showrunner and producer who has written for multiple TV comedies, including The Colbert Report, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Mr. Mayor. Most recently, she created and is the showrunner of the Peacock/Netflix musical comedy series Girls5eva.
Paula Pell is a writer, actor and producer known for her work as a writer and supervising producer on the late-night sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, a writer and producer on the comedy series 30 Rock, and as the writer of the 2015 comedy film Sisters. Paula received the WGAE's Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence at the 2020 Writers Guild Awards. She also currently stars as Gloria in Girls5eva.
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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 and WGAE Nonfiction Women of Color Caucus Chair Chinisha Scott talks with WGAE members Gautam Singhani and Sarah Katz, who both recently worked at the nonfiction television production company Story Syndicate. Story Syndicate is one of the latest nonfiction television shops to join the Writers Guild of America East and they are currently negotiating their first collective bargaining agreement. 
This week, we focus on nonfiction television, lovingly described as the Wild West. Chinisha, Gautam and Sarah discuss advocating for the truth, both in nonfiction production and the labor movement, why the time to unionize is now and what it means to be fairly compensated in nonfiction television.
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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 T Cooper is joined by Ron Nyswaner to discuss having the confidence to push Hollywood's boundaries, staying flexible during the unpredictable reality of being on a TV set, telling authentic LGBTQ+ stories without always centering suffering, and more.
Ron Nyswaner is the 2024 recipient of the WGA East’s Walter Bernstein Award, and creator of the Showtime series Fellow Travelers. He is known for his feature screenplays, including Smithereens, Philadelphia, and My Policeman. He is also known as a writer and producer of the Showtime series Ray Donovan and Homeland. Over the course of his career, Ron has been nominated for numerous awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
His most recent project is the Showtime series Fellow Travelers. Based on the 2007 fictional novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon, the historical drama follows the paths of political staffers Hawkins Fuller and Tim Laughlin, whose paths converge at the height of the Lavender Scare of the 1950s. Despite the constant threat of getting caught, their searing love for each other only intensifies in the tumultuous decades that follow. Their volatile romance spans the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the drug-fueled disco hedonism of the 1970s and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, as they face obstacles in the world and in themselves.
This episode is hosted by T Cooper, a Writers Guild of America East member with credits including The Get Down and The Blacklist. T. also serves as co-chair of the Guild's LGBTQ+ Writers Salon.
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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 Greg Iwinski is joined by CBS New York writer-producer Kathy McGee and CBS Chicago writer-producer Beth Godvik for a conversation about their work in the Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News sector. They discuss the winding paths that make a career, trusting your instincts in a fast-paced news environment, and keeping up with a constantly evolving media landscape.
Kathy McGee is a news writer-producer at WCBS-TV with more than 30 years of experience in broadcast journalism — and over 20 years of experience as an active leader in the WGAE. She writes stories about theater and cultural arts, has served as shop leader at CBS News New York since 2007, and was on the negotiating committee for four CBS contracts.
Beth Godvik is a news writer-producer at CBS Chicago, WBBM-TV, where she has worked since 2004. Beth currently works on the 4:30 to 7 A.M. show cut-ins and 9 A.M. and 11 A.M. newscasts, and she designed the format for WBBM-TV’s weekend morning shows. She’s a union co-steward in her newsroom and has served on three negotiating committees for CBS News contracts.
Kathy and Beth also both serve on the WGAE Council – Beth as a Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News sector councilmember, and Kathy as the Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News Vice President.
This episode of OnWriting is hosted by Greg Iwinski. Greg is an Emmy-winning comedy writer and no-award-winning performer whose writing includes LAST WEEK TONIGHT and THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT. He recently finished writing the first season of GAME THEORY WITH BOMANI JONES on HBO, and can be found on Twitter @garyjackson
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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 Geri Cole sits down with documentarian John Wilson to discuss How To choose episode titles that will make for good stories, How To make your writers room feel like a therapy session, How To find serendipitous interview subjects, and more.
John Wilson is a New York City-based documentary filmmaker known for creating and hosting the acclaimed comedy-docuseries, How To with John Wilson.
How To with John Wilson chronicles self-proclaimed "anxious New Yorker" John as he films his fellow New Yorkers while attempting to give advice on topics ranging from “how to watch birds” to “how to put up scaffolding.”
The HBO series premiered in October 2020 and has received widespread critical acclaim and several accolades, including Primetime Emmy and Writers Guild Award nominations. The third and final season concluded in September 2023, and all three seasons are available to stream on HBO Max.
This episode of OnWriting is hosted by Geri Cole, a writer and performer based in New York City. She is currently a full-time staff and interactive writer for SESAME STREET, for which she has received Writers Guild Award and two Daytime Emmys. She also performs sketch and improv at theaters and festivals around the country.
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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