Getting hired as a TV writer
Staffing meetings 101, plus recommendations of what I'm loving this week.
If you missed my last post, I wrote about coping with my fear of judgment as an artist whose livelihood depends on sharing my work. I was happy to see it resonated with a lot of people. I hope you check it out if you haven’t:
I grew accustomed to the panic that arose before releasing a new video. But a funny thing happened. I realized the panic was a warning sign: It only happened if what I was releasing was very good. The panic indicated that sharing it required sharing part of myself, which meant it was intensely vulnerable, which meant it would naturally resonate with an audience.
The fear taught me something. It showed me what to move towards. What resonated with my soul, my values, what felt true and real. If there was no fear, it told me that I’d created something for somebody else: Our audience, my boss, the unyielding quota. The panic, I realized, was a gift.
One of the very first essays I ever wrote here also got re-shared by some readers this week:
For women, finding love is often considered the end of our journey, the last thing for which we must search. But having a partnership does not mean that my commitment to enriching my own soul is over. My soul is mine. And it craves adventure, freedom and solitude as much as it craves love and partnership. It craves the strength I feel when I face the fear, say fuck you to it, and move forward standing on my own two feet.
Staffing meetings 101:
Today’s newsletter is the second in my series about MEETINGS!
The first post about meeting with agents and managers is here.
Now we’re shifting focus to “staffing meetings,” which are essentially job interviews for TV writers. I am writing this as somebody who’s only ever been on the side of getting hired — not doing the hiring.
There is no formula here that I’m aware of: I’ve had staffing meetings that lasted 10 minutes on Zoom and resulted in me getting hired; I’ve had staffing meetings that lasted an hour in person and resulted in me not getting hired. But certain things have been true of every single meeting.
SETTING UP THE MEETING: