“If a TV show gets produced, it’s a miracle.”
When EJ DeBrun said those words while speaking on a panel at the San Francisco Writers Conference several years ago, I knew she was speaking the truth. I just had no idea to what degree.
My writing team and I found out over the next two years as we continued the adventure of writing our sci-fi thriller TV series, THE RECORD SHOP, recently bought by Knight Studios. Unlike most other forms of writing, screenwriting, and getting a TV show produced in specific, involves dozens of people across a variety of subjects: the writing, the feedback, the querying, the business planning.
EJ, who is a past animator at Nickelodeon and Lucasfilm Animation and current independent developmental editor and author, organized the screenwriting track for the conference. That’s where I met Rocky Lang, an instrumental consultant for me and my team and someone I’ll talk about in an upcoming post.
After the conference, I called EJ and she very generously talked with me in the way I like best: positive (I felt inspired after talking with her, rather than deflated) and straightforward. She avoided jargon and helped me focus on what’s most important about our concept: how it’s unique.
Dialing down on that one aspect helped us pivot and go hard toward what proved to be the show’s strongest selling point.
The moral of our story is that you can’t do a large project like this alone, so be that person who reaches out to others for help. If you’re willing to listen and learn, each person will offer up nuggets of wisdom that prove absolutely crucial to the eventual success.
If you’d like more information about EJ, check out her website or this interview with Jacqueline Prata.
Thank you, EJ!
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SCATTERED LIGHT, a novel, sequel to WINTER LIGHT (Nov. 2025)
THE FALCON, THE WOLF AND THE HUMMINGBIRD a historical novel
BLISS ROAD, a memoir
WINTER LIGHT, a novel, in paperback and audiobook
THE WIND THIEF, a novel
GROWING GREAT CHARACTERS, a resource for writers
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