6 Questions with Justin Halpern

Join Halpern & Schumacker for this Sunday's Q&A!

Before we get into today’s terrific newsletter with Justin Halpern, I want to alert you to this special episode of Dead Pilots Society, the table read podcast I produce with Andrew Reich (Friends; All About the Washingtons), and invite you to be a part of it.

Andrew and I want to answer YOUR questions about dead pilots, the pilot process, including pitching, writing, notes, and anything else that’s on your mind. Or, ask us questions about the show itself! Or just any pressing questions you might have about television or the TV industry.

Leave your questions below, and we’ll add them all to the list! The Dead Pilots Q&A episode will be out in March.

As I mentioned last week, the first time Justin Halpern and his writing partner Patrick Schumacker appeared on The Writers Panel is a must-listen. Justin is self-effacing and very funny about how his “$#*! My Dad Says” twitter account went viral, he got a book deal from it, and then the book was bought by CBS for series. Halpern and Schumacker had no control over the property, but they were hired to write for and executive-produce the show, their first television gig.

Their story is a great lesson on maintaining creative control and collaboration:

Halpern: I’d written a book that I was really proud of, and I thought the book turned out really well. But nobody who was involved with the show had read the book, which is what the show was based on. …I should’ve been a stronger voice in the room, and really said, '“here’s what I think will work. Here’s what worked in this book.” But... I wasn’t.

Schumacker: one of the things that really worked in the book is that you have this father character who is highly educated, but he speaks like a farmer and drops F-bombs like it’s Wolf of Wall Street. That show doesn’t necessarily live best on CBS as a multi-camera.

Halpern: It just turned into "grumpy dad that fucked whores". It wasn’t my dad.

You can listen to the whole episode, which also features Community’s Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna and White Collar’s Joe Henderson, here.

Luckily, Halpern and Schumacker took those early lessons to heart, and they were able to, over the years in various shows they created including Surviving Jack and the underrated Powerless, exert more of their perspective and personality.

Powerless was about non-superheroes in a superhero world, and was really fun!

Halpern and Schumacker refined their processes and showrunning over the years leading up to the terrific Harley Quinn, on Max, which feels like the most Halpern-and-Schumacker show there could be. It’s funny, crass, weird, and sweet.

They’ve also brought their prowess as producers to the wonderful Abbott Elementary, helping others to bring their own visions to the screen in a way that was denied to them in those early experiences.

Learn how they do it on March 3, 6pm PT, when Halpern & Schumcker join our live Zoom Q&A! YOU ask the Q’s, they provide the A’s. Info below the paywall below.

6 Questions with Justin Halpern

1. What you working on right now?

Right now, aside from Abbott Elementary, we’re working on a few different pitches we hope to take out in the next few months. Two half-hour comedies and one hour-long procedural built around talent that we’re super excited about. 

2. What challenges are you facing specific to your current writing project?

Honestly, the challenge right now is that the business is in a pretty tough place. Companies have pulled way back on what they're buying and making, so every project you take out seems like it has to either magically thread the needle of exactly what they’re looking for, or be packaged within an inch of its life with giant stars that that specific company loves.

The toughest part about this is that considering any of the above is an absolutely terrible way to write, in my humble opinion. So the challenge is writing something that you love and believe in and not letting all the dreary doom and gloom of the business change the thing that you love. 

3. What advice about the business of TV/film writing can you give to someone starting out now?

I think making sure your representatives are aggressive in staffing.

Staffing is hard, and they’ll probably tell you it’s harder than it’s ever been, but it’s always been incredibly hard. Now, though, many times representatives just won’t focus on it because it’s not where their bread is buttered. But it’s how careers are built. and it’s still possible. So don’t let them just paper over staffing. Give them the material they need to get you in these rooms and make it clear to them how important it is. Also be specific about where you’d be a good fit and why. You have to do a lot of that leg work on your own now, but I think that’s always been an important part of the job.  

4. What advice about the craft of writing can you give to someone starting out?

Write stuff you love. It sounds stupid, but everything I write, at some point, I fucking hate. And if I started out loving it, it takes longer to get to that point where I hate it. And then usually I can push past hating it and come back to maybe at least liking it. But if I reach that point where I hate it too early, then it's just drudgery the whole way and the product sucks and you can feel it in my writing.  

5. What do you respond to most in a piece of writing?

Something that’s incredibly funny. That’s it. If it’s incredibly funny, then I’m in, because it’s really hard to make something incredibly funny. 

6. What are you watching/reading/listening to lately that’s getting you excited or inspired?

Lately I’ve been reading this novel called Bee Sting by Paul Murray. It’s a character study of a family that’s falling apart because of a financial crisis in Ireland, but it’s really funny and the characters are so well drawn that I can’t put it down. It’s some of the best character work I’ve read in years.

I also just listened to a podcast about Henry Kissinger’s life. It was a good reminder that some of the very worst people this planet has ever offered are just allowed to go on being members of our society if they run in the right circles. 

Join us Sunday, March 3, 6pm PT for the Q&A with Justin and Patrick! Info below. If you’re not already a paid subscriber…