My Job is to Play (Conversations on Creativity wit

Today we have MADHURI SHEKAR on the show. Madhuri is a playwright and screenwriter. She wrote the Amazon/Blumhouse feature EVIL EYE produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas based on her Audible original audio drama. Her TV credits include THREE BODY PROBLEM on Netflix, the HBO fantasy epic THE NEVERS and she, along with John Wells is currently co-showrunning UNACCUSTOMED EARTH for Netflix, based on Juhmpa Lahiri's Collection of Short Stories. Her play A NICE INDIAN BOY was adapted into a film starring Jonathan Groff and Karan Soni and is available on streaming services now. Evil Eye (Audioplay) Madhuri's Website Madurai's Instagram Erin's Website Erin's Instagram

This week we're happy to have ELEANOR BURGESS on the show. Eleanor is a playwright and screenwriter.  Her work has been produced at theaters across the United States, including Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Rep, Geffen Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, Huntington Theatre Company, Writers Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center and so many more. Her work in film and television includes Perry Mason for HBO, WeCrashed for Apple TV+,  Interview With The Vampire for AMC, and the upcoming Little House on the Prarie for Netflix, plus screenplays for Bad Robot, Amblin, and Anonymous Content. In this conversation we dive deep into the power history has on the work we create today, the influence of AI on the industry and so much more. I hope you enjoy the discussion as much as I did.  Eleanor's website: http://www.eleanorburgess.com/ Erin's website: https://www.erinmallon.com/

HANNAH BOS and PAUL THUREEN are the creators and showrunners of Somebody Somewhere, HBO’s Peabody Award-winning, critically acclaimed comedy series starring Bridget Everett. The Boston Globe declared the series a “revelation” that “exudes compassion” with a “nuanced take on the everyday.” The Daily Beast called the show “TV’s sweetest slice of life.” They received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for “Best First Screenplay” for their feature Driveways. Together they have also written for HBO’s High Maintenance and Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle. And along with Oliver Butler, Hannah and Paul were founders/co-Artistic Directors of The Debate Society, a multiple-Obie award winning theater company. Somebody Somewhere/HBO Hannah's Website Paul's Instagram Erin's Website 

Today we have SARAH MCCARRON on the show.  Sarah is a Los Angeles-based writer, producer, and director who works in television, film, and theatre. TV projects include: currently executive producer of a one hour drama in development at Showtime (hopefully to be announced soon!); co-executive producer on Netflix’s forthcoming THE ABANDONS, starring Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey; HBO Max’s Emmy-nominated series STATION ELEVEN starring Mackenzie Davis and Himesh Patel; the single camera comedy MADE FOR LOVE, adapted from the book by Alissa Nutting and starring Ray Romano; producer and writer on HALO Season 2 on Paramount, and more. Sarah is also the writer and director of THE BEND, a short film about a trans man migrating to a sanctuary city, which premiered at Provincetown and has won many awards on the festival circuit, including Best Short Film at Twin Cities Film Fest. She holds an MFA in Ensemble Devised Phyisical Theatre from the movement-based Lecoq pedagogy, and teaches Writing From The Body. Sarah's Website: http://www.sarahmccarron.com/ Erin's Website: https://www.erinmallon.com/

Anna Ouyang Moench is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays have been produced at La Jolla Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, NAATCO/The Public Theater, the Geffen Playhouse, the Playwrights Realm, East West Players, InterAct Theater, Theater Mu, and many other theaters across the country and around the world.  In television and film, Anna has worked with Apple TV+, HBO, A24, 3000 Pictures, Netflix, Fifth Season, UCP, eOne, PictureStart, and Universal. Anna was a member of the pilot cohort of the WarnerMedia Access Showrunner Program, wrote on Season 1 and 2 of Severance and is currently in the writers room for Beef Season 2.  Anna's website Erin's website

Darcy Fowler is a writer, actor, and producer who co-created and co-wrote the animated horror comedy Little Demon on FX/Hulu, voiced by Danny DeVito, Lucy DeVito, and Aubrey Plaza, and executive produced by Dan Harmon. She was a writer on the last (and never aired) season of Netflix's Glow, and has developed, collaborated on, and sold shows to networks including Comedy Central, TBS, and AMC, as well as to studios such as Red Hour and Picturestart. Darcy and I actually go way back. We first connected in our early theater days in New York City and got reunited this year when I signed up for the amazing TV Writing workshops she leads. Darcy is generous, kind and full of so much wisdom when it comes to honing your original voice and crafting great stories for TV.  Darcy's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darfow/ Erin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mallonerin/

Gina Fattore is a TV writer, producer, and showrunner. Some of her many credits include Dare Me, Gaslit, Better Things, UnREAL, Masters of Sex, Parenthood, Californication, Gilmore Girls, and my eternal favorite, Dawson’s Freaking Creek. Her debut novel The Spinster Diaries was published in 2020 by Prospect Park Books and is a total delight (a fun bonus - the audiobook is narrated by friend of the podcast Tanya Eby). I can't tell you how much fun I had spending time with Gina for this interview. She's generous and funny and has so much knowledge about how this industry works. Plus she was kind enough to let me completely geek out over Dawson's Creek and thank her for shaping my worldview on romance as a teen. I did not keep my cool and I'm totally okay with that.  Gina's Website: https://ginafattore.com Gina's TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4nc6lYufVI Erin Mallon's website: https://www.erinmallon.com/

This is our 40th episode and the end of Season One! This first year of the podcast has flown by. I'm so grateful to everyone who has tuned in, shared episodes, rated us, reviewed us... it's all meant so much to me. For this final episode of the season we thought it would be fun to go back in time and celebrate some of my favorite moments from this first year, so that's what we're gonna do!

Today we have Natalie Naudus on the show. Natalie is a brilliant Audie-Award winning narrator of over 400 books. We get into that a little in this interview. But mostly we talk about her writing and celebrate the release of her debut novel. It's called "Gay the Pray Away" and it is the #1 Best Seller in Coming of Age Fiction for Teens on Amazon this week. I loved talking shop with Natalie and getting to hear all about her process of bringing this book to life. 

Today we have my friend Eliza Bent on the show. Eliza and I go way back. She is a playwright and a performer whose Bentertainments include solo works, plays, adaptations, and hybrid affairs. She makes short films. She speaks Italian. She has degrees in philosophy and playwriting and she's on faculty at Northwestern University’s Radio TV & Film department. She's a cool as hell person with a lot of weirdness and wisdom to share. 

Today we have my friend Amy Staats on the show. Amy is an actor, writer, producer, director... you name it, she does it. This conversation was so much fun for me. We talk about Van Halen, understudying on Broadway, writing plays, developing projects for TV and film, and overcoming perfectionism. Amy's currently doing an experiment where she shares a piece of brand new writing every single day on social media. It was really cool talking about how this practice is affecting her as an artist. Be sure to hang with us until the end because Amy even busts out some artistic wisdom inspired by bird mating dances that blew my mind. Yup, you heard that right. 

Today we have NY Times Bestselling Author Jodi Lipper on the show. Jodi is a Collaborative Writer, also known as a Ghostwriter. I've always been interested in how this process works but I thought it was super secretive and I didn't want to pry. Well Jodi let me pry for this podcast episode and I'm so happy she did. I'm amazed at how many skills it takes to be successful in this career. I already had a lot of respect for ghostwriters, but this conversation with Jodi has sent my admiration through the roof.

Today our guest is my dear friend Thérèse Plummer. If you are an audiobook listener there is a very strong chance you've had this lady's voice in your ears. She's a beautiful storyteller, a kind soul and a hella strong human being. Almost three years ago she was in ahead-on car collision with a drunk driver and she's been on a relentless journey to recovery. We talk about that process in this interview as well as how she got her start in audiobooks and where her creative brain is at now. I love her so much and every chance I get to spend time with her is a gift. FYI, I had some technical difficulties on my side of the recording for this episode, so you'll notice my voice isn't as clear as it could be (sorry about that!). Good new is, Therese's glorious voice is clear and beautiful as a bell, and that's who this episode is all about. 

Today our guest is Charlie Pollock. Charlie is an incredible singer and actor. He's worked with the likes of Dolly Parton, David Bowie, John Mellencamp... the list goes on. Every time I see him onstage whether in a Broadway show or playing in his awesome band, I'm so jazzed by how he operates. Charlie is just one of those magnetic artists you can't take your eyes off of when he performs. This conversation is such a fun peek behind the curtain on the journey of a musical theater actor. I'm thrilled I got to spend this time with him and hear his stories. 

I am so excited for today's episode. If you've ever talked with me about TV, you know my absolute favorite show of all time is This is Us. It's one of those shows that's so deep in my bones I have to hold myself back from referencing it on a daily basis to my friends and family. Well today I got to take a deep dive and talk about it as much as I want, because Siddhartha Khosla, This is Us' amazing composer is on the show. Siddhartha Khosla is a 6 time Emmy-nominated film and television composer, singer/songwriter, and producer of the critically acclaimed band, Goldspot. His 3 Primetime Emmy nominations in 2022 were for "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series" and "Outstanding Main Title Theme" for "Only Murders in the Building," and "Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics" for his original song and #1 iTunes single "Forever Now" (which he co-wrote with Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith). I was so thrilled he joined me for this conversation and let me pelt him with questions about my favorite show and how he creates his particular brand of musical magic. 

Today we have my dear friend Lia Romeo on the show. She's one of the smartest and most generous playwrights I know. Her new play STILL is having its New York Premiere right now. It opened last night at the DR2 Theater in Union Square. It's presented by Colt Coeur with direction by Adrienne Campbell-Holt and features performances by Jayne Atkinson and Tim Daly. In this conversation we discuss bringing STILL off-broadway and we get into all sorts of writer talk about navigating the playwright life overall.

It's week two of my Spring Break and we're back with another great replay. Today we're heading back to the very first episode of the podcast where I got to talk to Amy Daws, romantic comedy author extraordinaire.  Amy is a #1 Amazon Bestselling author. She's written over 20 books and they're all hilarious, sexy and playful as hell. This is perfect timing, because just yesterday Amy released her latest and greatest book, Nine Month Contract. I was lucky to narrate the audiobook with my good friend Teddy Hamilton. We had an absolute BLAST with this story and these characters. If you're an audio lover, I know you're gonna love this one. You can find Nine Month Contract on Audible whenever you're ready to listen! For now, I hope you enjoy this conversation with Amy as much as I did.

I am on a Spring Break for the next two episodes, so we're revisiting two of our early conversations from back in September when we launched the podcast. First up for our replays is the wonderful Kristoffer Diaz. Kris and I go way back. Kris is a Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright, a screenwriter and an educator. People call his work "Brilliant theatrical innovation" and "A fist-bumping adrenaline-filled ride." This feels like perfect timing to revisit this interview. "Why?" you ask? You'll hear us talking about "Hell's Kitchen," the new musical Kris wrote and developed with Alicia Keys. At the time of this conversation they were getting ready to open at The Public Theater in NYC. Now? They're in previews on Broadway. I couldn't be happier for Kris and the whole team of Hell's Kitchen. If you can a ticket, please go. It's a really beautiful and exciting show. Kris is a super smart and generous guy and I'm so thrilled to share this conversation with you again.

Today we have my buddy Mike Houston on the show. He is an incredible actor who works in Theater, Film and TV. Mike spent four seasons on Orange is the New Black as Lee Dixon and recently played Harvey Weinstein in the feature film "She Said" starring Zoe Kazan, Carey Mulligan and Patricia Clarkson. In this episode, Mike and I really "talk shop" and get into what collaboration looks like inside a theater rehearsal room.  Anytime I get to work with this guy is a treat and this conversation was no exception.

Today we have the great Theodora Taylor on the show. I first learned about Theodora's work a few years ago when I picked up her book "7 Figure Fiction: How to Use Universal Fantasy to Sell Your Books to Anyone." With a title like that, why wouldn't I buy it, right? I expected lots of cool tips on selling my books - which I certainly got - but I got so much more. Theodora cracked my brain open to a whole new way of thinking when I'm plotting and crafting my books. Once she makes you aware of the Universal Fantasies that are slathered like butter throughout nearly all the bestselling movies you watch and books you read, you can't unsee it. Getting to spend this time with Theodora was such a treat for me. She knows what she's talking about and she was so generous to share so much of her widsom with us in this episode.