6 Questions with Simran Baidwan
The Pitt EP answers all of my obsessive questions
Leave Your House
First thing’s first. We have a really fun couple of scripts lined up for our live Dead Pilots Society on Sunday, May 18, 3-5pm, at the Elysian Theater.
The scripts are by the hilarious and wonderful Ilana Peña (creator of Diary of a Future President) & Anne Sundell (upcoming: Single at the Wedding) and by the reliably funny Chris Marcil & Sam Johnson (How I Met Your Mother; Frasier).
And the casts are already bonkers good.
Peri Gilpin (Frasier), Josie Totah (The Buccaneers; Saved by the Bell), Isabella Gomez (One Day at a Time), Brendan Scannell (Loot), Mike Liebenson (Fairfax), Clancy Brown (Highlander; The Shawshank Redemption), and more to be announced!
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW to ATTEND LIVE OR WATCH ON DEMAND
The Job That Keeps On Giving
I’ll be brief here, because I’m busy as hell and aren’t we all just tired?
But I’d been planning to ask Simran Baidwan to be a Q&A guest since I started doing these monthly Q&As. When I saw that she was an executive producer of The Pitt, her name moved immediately to the top of my list.
Simran will be our guest this Saturday, April 26, at 11am PT/ 2pm ET. Details below.
I met Simran when she was working on Ordinary Joe, a show that seemed to have the nicest writers’ room in the industry. By that point, she’d been through TV med school, having started as an assistant on House, then going on to write for Royal Pains, Chicago Med, and The Good Doctor, as well as genre shows like Manifest.
We had a great conversation on the podcast about authenticity and voice, even in someone else’s show. “The more you can get into really defining things on their most honest level,” she said, “that's what really makes characters pop and makes your world look and feel real. Those touchstones are things that audiences like to see. Yes, they want there's escapism, but they also want to have it relatable. …The more you put yourself in, the better.”
6 Questions with Simran Baidwan
1. What you working on right now?
Currently I am a writer and Executive Producer on The Pitt. Season 1 is airing now and we are knee deep in preparing for Season 2.
2. What challenges are you facing specific to your current writing project?
Time! I only half joke because I always wish we had more time to brainstorm in the writers’ room, talk to experts and write. We have an embarrassment of riches with our wonderful cast and would truly love to write more for each of their characters.
3. What advice about the business of TV/film writing can you give to someone starting out now?
I’m not going to lie – the industry is in a very rough place right now. In recent years, Hollywood has had to contend with COVID, work stoppages, and now the most recent LA fires which have all contributed to the contraction of jobs (and this goes well beyond writers to all entertainment workers).
But I firmly believe it will get better. The thing I love most about this industry is that there is no single path to becoming a writer. So continue writing, continue meeting other writers and continue living life even if that isn’t directly in the entertainment sector right now.
4. What advice about the craft of writing can you give to someone starting out?
People have always said to write what you know; but I would add, perhaps more importantly, write what you love. If you are passionate about competitive underwater basket-weaving, go write about it! I’m also a big believer in telling authentic stories – dig deep with your characters, peel back the layers of their personalities, and carve out what makes them specific and unique.
And make sure when you do sit down to write, you have a big chunk of uninterrupted time to really let your ideas percolate and get them on the page.
5. What do you respond to most in a piece of writing?
Character, character, character! I like ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. I like characters that have a point of view – good, bad, ugly, whatever… if they have depth, dimensionality and reasoning (flawed as it may or may not be) behind why they feel and act the way they do, then I’m ready to go on that journey.
6. What are you watching/reading/listening to lately that’s getting you excited or inspired?
I have an aspirational stack of books on my nightstand I swear I will read some day. As for TV shows, I adore Hacks and Abbott Elementary – the storytelling continues to get better and better every season, which is no easy feat.
I also really love Slow Horses, Pachinko, Somebody, Somewhere, Colin From Accounts, The Bear. Shrinking broke my heart in the best way in Season 2. The Studio is so delicious… the list is long. And I would be remise not to include Top Chef, The Amazing Race, andSurvivor – these are “must see” TV shows in my household.
As for podcasts, I’ll listen to Malcolm Gladwell (“Revisionist History”, “Broken Record”) anywhere, anytime. He’s insightful, funny, brilliant… and that voice…!
And I was able to go to New York a couple of months ago and saw Maybe, Happy, Ending, Gypsy, and Cult of Love. All so special and moving in their own ways. Nothing gets me more inspired than theatre, be it Broadway or a regional production or my kid’s elementary school show, seeing live performances truly fills my cup.
This is going to be a really fun and helpful Q&A! Bring all of your character questions this Saturday, April 26, 11am PT/ 1pm PT. Info below. If you’re not already a paid subscriber…
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