The Craft
Writing for Film and Television 2021-2019
September 24
The American Revocation
Justin Chon’s Blue Bayou dramatically elucidates the tragic reality of immigrant children adopted by U.S. families and raised thinking themselves as Americans, only to be deported as adults.
Written by Dylan Callaghan
August 09
Sex and the Single Black Female
Leigh Davenport recounts how a conversation about Steve Harvey inspired her to create the STARZ hit Run the World and dishes on the racial and sexual politics that simmer beneath the show’s glittery surface.
Written by Louise Farr
July 12
Kevin and Hell
Kevin Can F**K Himself creator Valerie Armstrong talks about the challenge of writing two shows in one and how she was able to overcome feeling guilty about not writing.
Written by Louise Farr
June 24
Closed Cases
Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby delves into the origins of his acclaimed HBO series about a damaged, small-town Pennsylvania police detective trying to solve the mystery of a missing local girl while reckoning with a personal tragedy she’s fought hard to ignore.
Written by Dylan Callaghan
May 06
Fighting Back
Co-showrunners Christina M. Kim and Robert Berens take on issues of inclusion, representation, and racism in their reboot of the ’70s hit series Kung Fu.
Written by Louise Farr
February 05
Lessons in Consent
Hannah Fidell’s FX drama A Teacher goes beyond the sensationalism of an illicit teacher-student affair to examine the toll of sexual abuse after the headlines fade.
Written by Paul Brownfield
January 21
The Way
Jon Favreau on what it took to bring The Mandalorian’s “Baby Yoda” to life, season 2’s stunning season finale, and why, to him, writing is still the hardest—and most rewarding—discipline.
Written by Dylan Callaghan
November 23
In the Army of the Lord
Ethan Hawke and Mark Richard team up to create The Good Lord Bird, Showtime’s adaptation of James McBride’s irreverent novel about a young freed slave caught up in the murderous escapades of abolitionist John Brown.
Written by Paul Brownfield
October 30
Sketch Artists
Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin bust out of development hell to create Sherman’s Showcase and South Side, two comedies that fearlessly, and hilariously, take on issues of Black culture and race.
Written by Louise Farr
October 16
The Buddy System
PEN15’s co-creators/stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle are real-life best friends who bonded through writing and being brutally honest about how heartbreaking and hysterically funny life is for 13-year-old girls.
Written by Dylan Callaghan