Charlie Covell (Kaos)

+ Sunday's Retrospecs line-up! Playlists!

Spec-Tacular

I really didn’t think this one was going to come together. For the past six weeks, I’ve had actors drop out or become unsure of their schedules. I had a couple of stalwarts—Paul Scheer and Sherry Cola might be the loveliest people in Hollywood—but for every part in these terrific scripts I reached out to probably a dozen actors.

But it always comes together. It’s always just about asking the right person in the right moment. I am so excited for the final casts for these Seinfeld and Succession reads in Sunday’s Retrospecs. It’s from 2-4pm at the Elysian Theater. Please join us or watch on demand! GET TICKETS HERE.

We’ve got: Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, She-Hulk), Paul Scheer (The League), Sherry Cola (Joy Ride), Flula Borg (Pitch Perfect), Beth Dover (Orange is the New Black), Brendan Hines (Locke & Key), Saagar Shaikh (The Marvels), Andrew Lopez (The Bear), Chris Grace (Superstore), Cyrina Fiallo (The Vindicators), Ayden Mayeri (Mr. Throwback), Humphrey Ker (Welcome to Wrexham), Jaime Moyer (AP Bio), Sandeep Parikh (The Guild), and more!

The scripts are so funny too. David Iserson (New Girl) wrote this Seinfeld when he was 17. And the Succession by “Fake Carol Lombardini” is truly hilarious.

Seriously, don’t miss this show.

Kaos Theories

A seriously great Writers Panel episode today with Charlie Covell, creator of Kaos and The End of the F***ing World. Charlie discusses their influences in retelling classical myths, creating a "contemporary kinked" world, threading the tonal needle, why they love first drafts, and more.

Get the podcast via Apple or Spotify or Acast or your favorite podcast app.

Charlie also talks about making playlists for their characters as a way to start creating them, and they were kind enough to share one with us. This one is for the character of Caeneus, played in the show by Misia Butler.

I’m a big fan of using playlists as a way of immersing yourself in the world of your show or getting to know your characters.

For me, it’s about reminding myself of the tone of the project, or keeping myself inside the vibe of the thing I’m writing. I shared with you previously the playlist I made for my 90’s-set teen dramedy, the one that made me realize that, if I wanted to successfully execute this show, I’d need to learn to direct. (Still working on it!).

And author Mallory O’Meara shared with us the playlist she listened to while writing her very charming and informative Girls Make Movies.

Keeping yourself in the headspace of the project can be difficult, as we’re all overwhelmed with both creative projects as well as, you know, life.

Things in entertainment, and outside of it too, are disheartening, frustrating, and feel kind of pointless. It’s hard not to feel that way. Between this last summer and this summer, my partner and I wrote three new feature scripts and one new pilot. We have a pile-up of material from the past few years that haven’t really been properly exposured due to the one-thing-after-another state of the industry.

It’s frustrating.

Especially because I really love our recent projects. I think they’re some of the best work we’ve done.

One of them is particularly close to me. I had more fun writing it than I have had writing anything in a few years. I love the characters, and I can’t wait to cast brilliant, funny, weird young actors to play these parts. It’s a sci-fi comedy about a time-traveling bachelorette party.

I kept myself in the space of the movie by making this playlist and listening to it on a loop. Hopefully you like the vibe!

Do you like the vibe? Let me know!