The Social Screenwriters Podcast

Writing Animation For Nick, Dreamworks, Netflix, & More with Screenwriter Ellie Guzman

Welcome to Episode 54! Very stoked to have screenwriter, Ellie Guzman on the pod! In this episode, we talk about Ellie's humble beginnings writing a comedy blog by day, and working in emergency rooms by night. The success of her blog later spawned into a full-blown TV writing career. We dive into her story of landing a rep, her writing process, and her now crossing into live-action (while still working in animation), and more! Hope you enjoy the episode!

 

You can follow Ellie Guzman on IG and Threads at @ elliemariaguzman, on X at @ ellie_guzman

 

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ellie got her creative start in the 2010s by living a double life: running a successful comedy blog by day, and working in an emergency room by night (and also day). After realizing that writing made her feel more alive than literally watching someone's heart get restarted, she transitioned to the entertainment industry as a production assistant in animation, learned the ropes, and worked her way up to TV writer. Now she's written episodes for Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, Netflix, Peacock, Disney, Apple+, Mattel, and others, and has also developed studio IP for Dreamworks, SpinMaster, and others. She enjoys writing unhinged comedy in different mediums for all audiences, whether it's a kids 11 minute animated series or a live action adult half hour. She's repped at Sweater, speaks Spanish, and only cried once this week.

 

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0:00 - Intro to Ellie Guzman

14:23 - How Ellie Got Started in Screenwriting

23:37 - Ellie's Brand

25:08 - 3 Films/TV Shows that Inspired Her

30:49 - Landing a Rep

40:18 - Writing Routine

43:18 - Writing Process

48:39 - How Long to Write a 30-minute Pilot

53:32 - Ellie's Hobbies

59:13 - Ellie's Favorite Script

1:06:18 - Ellie's Advice for Screenwriters

Winning the Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting w/ Filmmaker R.J. Daniel Hanna (SUCCUBUS, HARD MILES)

Welcome to Episode 53! Very stoked to have screenwriter, director, editor, and 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellow, R.J. Daniel Hanna on the pod! In this episode, we talk about Daniel winning the Nicholl, his films SUCCUBUS (Starring Ron Perlman and Rosanna Arquette), and HARD MILES (Starring Matthew Modine and Sean Astin), his thoughts on screenwriting contests, and more! Hope you enjoy the episode!

You can follow R.J. Daniel Hanna on IG at @ rjdanielhanna.

Maybe it was growing up in Arkansas as a Canadian, or the summers in rural Ireland with his grandparents, but Daniel has always been drawn to out-of-place characters, strange environments, and the unique rhythms of how people talk. He just completed post on his horror film “Succubus,” starring Ron Perlman and Rosanna Arquette, to be released in 2024. Crossing over 500 screens in the U.S. and beginning its run in the U.K. is his feature “Hard Miles,” starring Golden Globe-winner Matthew Modine and Oscar-Nominee Sean Astin, which has won multiple awards and screened at prestigious festivals including Chicago International, Heartland Film Festival, and Cinequest. Prior to that, Daniel directed the true-story feature “Miss Virginia,” starring three-time Emmy-winner Uzo Aduba, Oscar-Nominee Aunjanue Ellis, and Vanessa Williams. The film was listed as a New York Times and USA Today Must-See Fall Movie, won the Audience Award at The Naples Film Festival, and received a limited theatrical release, cable premiere on BET, and streaming deal with Netflix.

As a writer, Daniel is a winner of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, as well as the Slamdance, ScriptPipeline, and Screencraft writing awards. He also explores storytelling as an editor, with ten features under his belt, including horror film “What Lies Below,” starring Mena Suvari, which hit #1 on Netflix, and “Supercell” starring Alec Baldwin, Anne Heche, and Skeet Ulrich, which hit #1 on Hulu. Daniel hopes to continue telling cinematic, character-driven stories long past the time any sane person would have retired. He lives on the east-side of L.A. with his excessively-vocal cat “Dottie.”

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CHAPTERS

0:00 - Intro

5:57 - Daniel's Bio

9:08 - Nicholl Fellowship

12:01 - How'd You Get Into Screenwriting?

13:52 - Contests

16:45 - Winning the Nicholl

25:33 - Describe Your Brand

27:39 - Specs vs Assignment Work

33:04 : Three Favorite Films or TV Shows?

37:02 - Breaking In

39:46 - Writing Routine / Process

50:48 - Daniel's Film, SUCCUBUS

51:48 - Daniel's Film, HARD MILES

52:33 - Directing Famous Actors

57:37 - New Ideas

1:02:01 - Brand New Draft

1:05:26 - Daniel's Hobbies Outside Writing

1:07:04 - Advice for Fellow Writers

Writing, Directing, & Making Short Films w/ Filmmaker Jackie Mahoney (HALF A CENTURY)

Welcome to Episode 52! Very stoked to have screenwriter, director, producer, and editor, Jackie Mahoney on the pod! In this episode, we talk about her new short film, ALL THE BEST, starring Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (MODERN FAMILY), her screenwriting process, her beloved, LOST, and more! Hope you enjoy the episode!

You can follow Jackie on IG at @jackiemahoney, and subscribe to her YouTube at ‪@digitalblueproductions‬ !

Jackie is a writer-director from Phoenix, Arizona currently based in the Greater New York City Area. A graduate of the London Film School's Master's in Screenwriting program, she has a skillset that spans writing, directing, producing, and editing. With a solid foundation in storytelling, Jackie is dedicated to creating compelling human stories using intentional filmmaking throughout every stage of the development process. Her short films have screened at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Cinequest, HollyShorts, and Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival. Most recently, Jackie's comedy pilot, Toxic, won The Art of Brooklyn Screenwriting Competition and was named one of Coverfly's Top 20 Comedy Pilots in December 2024. She has co-written with Gonzalo Maza (Gloria, Una Mujer Fantástica) and, in another life, worked as an advertising specialist for BuzzFeed and MediaStorm LLC.

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Writing & Producing on ABBOTT ELEMENTARY w/ Screenwriter Joya McCrory

Hey there, everybody!

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Welcome to Episode 51! Very stoked to have screenwriter and producer on the hit ABC series, ABBOTT ELEMENTARY, back on the show. In this episode, we talk about writing on Season 5 of Abbott, the ways in which her view of writing for television has evolved over these 5 seasons, and much more! Lots of great nuggets of wisdom in here for aspiring television writers. Hope you enjoy the episode!

Joya McCrory is a comedy writer from Detroit who likes to tell sneakily heartfelt stories full of weird humor about identity and figuring out one’s place in the world. Joya is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she received a Summer Hopwood fiction award for her collection of short stories. She also studied screenwriting at UCLA. She is an alum of the 2021 Warner Bros. Television Workshop, where she was one of three comedy writers. She is currently a Writer/Producer on the award-winning show, ABBOTT ELEMENTARY (ABC). She would like it be known that she usually doesn’t refer to herself in the third person.

Watch ABBOTT ELEMENTARY Wednesday nights on ABC, or the next day on Hulu!

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Making Back to Back Viral Short Films w/Luke Barnett (THE CROSSING OVER EXPRESS & OVATION)

VIDEO PODCAST AVAILABLE at YouTube.com/@AndyCompton! Please watch and subscribe to the channel for more video episodes!

 

Hey there, everybody!

Welcome to Episode 50! What an achievement! Very stoked to have screenwriter, director, producer, and actor, Luke Barnett back on the show. In this episode, we talk about his two most recent short films, THE CROSSING OVER EXPRESS, and OVATION. Both have been viral success stories covered in Variety, and released on Twitter. We talk all about his shorts, from conception to reception, and his strategy for releasing shorts on unconventional platforms. Hope you enjoy the episode!

Luke Barnett is best known for "Faith Based", the satire of the Christian film industry he wrote and starred in opposite Jason Alexander, Lance Reddick, Margaret Cho, and Tanner Thomason. "Faith Based" was critically acclaimed, quickly reaching 94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and garnering a cult following. Before "Faith Based", Barnett spent nearly a decade behind the camera, with writing and producing credits that include the Angus Cloud thriller "Your Lucky Day", the Abigail Breslin horror-comedy Fear, Inc (Tribeca), Loitering with Intent (Sam Rockwell, Marisa Tomei), and an exhaustive amount of topical comedy content from his time with Will Ferrell's "Funny or Die". Barnett can next be seen in "Tapawingo" opposite Jon Heder, the Critic's Choice nominated "List of a Lifetime" with Shannen Doherty, "Tonic" with Lori Petty, and guest starring on shows like " For All Mankind" and "NCIS: Los Angeles".

From Making the 2022 and 2023 Annual Blacklist to Having His Script Directed by Peter Landesman w/Kevin Sheridan (ELEVEN DAYS)

Hey there, everybody!

Today on the show, we have actor turned screenwriter, Kevin Sheridan. I've known of Kevin for awhile from Twitter but we hadn't interacted much until now. Just friends and fans from afar. It was great getting to talk to him and learn about his history as an actor, working on some huge shows of the 2000s, and then his more recent success as a screenwriter. 

Sheridan is a successful screenwriter whose scripts Colors of Authority and Backcountry appeared on the prestigious Black List in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Sheridan is known for his dedication to research and authentic storytelling. For his script Colors of Authority, which depicts police corruption, he conducted extensive research by doing ride-alongs with law enforcement and walking through prisons. His upcoming feature ELEVEN DAYS stars Taylor Kitsch and is being directed by Peter Landesman. 

Hope you all enjoy the episode! And don't forget to say something nice that Kevin said or something dumb that I said on socials!

@SocialWriterPod on IG, Twitter, and Bluesky.

From Acting in MAJOR PAYNE to Writing, Directing, Composing, AND Acting in BITTERSWEET (Apple TV) w/Steven Martini

Hey there, everybody!

Today on the show, we have writer, actor, director, composer, editor, and singer/songwriter Steven Martini. I met Steven on Twitter and quickly realized, "OH MY GOD, THAT'S CADET ALEX STONE FROM MAJOR PAYNE!" I was a big fan in my childhood, so it was a thrill to meet Steven now, 30 years later. And it's been an interesting three decades for him as he's built himself a nice career as an indie filmmaker, even getting Martin Scorcese on his side. No, really--Scorcese EP'd his first two features. Steven has lived a life in the biz and we get into all of it. 

Steven Martini is a writer, actor, composer, editor, and singer/songwriter. His first break as an actor was as Cadet Alex J. Stone in Major Payne. He and his brother Derick Martini wrote the films Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire and Lymelife. Based on experiences from the Martinis' childhood, Lymelife won the FIPRESCI award at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, and premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Martini is also known for being the singer/songwriter for the Los Angeles–based band The Spaceship Martini.

Hope you all enjoy the episode! And don't forget to say something nice that Steven said or something dumb that I said on socials!

@SocialWriterPod on IG, Twitter, and Bluesky.

The First Room: A TV Writer's Experience w/Edith Rodriguez (DEXTER: RESURRECTION on Showtime, MATLOCK on CBS)

Hey there, everybody!

Today on the show, we have a returning guest, Edith Rodriguez. Edith and I first spoke on the pod right after we both landed our first managers in late 2021. Now, we're back and Edith has been in two different writer's rooms and shares her experience!

Edith Rodriguez grew up between the sunny beaches of Puerto Rico and cold winters of Wisconsin. She learned early on that if you’re going to speak up in a big Caribbean family, you better be able to tell a good story. After years of leading corporate strategy, she left the business world and made the move to Los Angeles to pursue her passion of writing for television. She is a fellow of the Paramount TV Writers Program, Mentorship Matters, and The Gotham. She was most recently staffed on the upcoming 'Dexter: Resurrection' Showtime series and is currently a writer on Matlock Season 2 for CBS. Edith is represented by IAG.

 Hope you all enjoy the episode! And don't forget to say something nice that Edith said or something dumb that I said on socials!

@SocialWriterPod on IG, Twitter, and Bluesky.

Advice for Screenwriters from a Literary Manager w/Allard Cantor (Epicenter)

Hey there, everybody! Today on the show we have a very special guest--literary manager at Epicenter, and one of my managers, Allard Cantor! 

 

New York City born, New Jersey bred, and University of Wisconsin educated, Allard Cantor started life as an envelope salesman in Manhattan before choosing to follow his passion for film and moving to Los Angeles.

He attended the American Film Institute, where he received his MFA from their prestigious producing program. There, he discovered an aptitude for helping writers develop their material—a skill which, combined with his years of sales experience, led to an organic shift into management. In 2012, Allard met his partner Jarrod Murray, and EPICENTER was born.

STATE OF THE POD UPDATE

Hey, there everybody! This is just an update episode on why I've been away, what I've been up to, and the future of the podcast. If you're reading this, thanks for sticking around through my absence! Life got busy. But, I'm excited to give an update on the pod.