Zoom Q&A This Saturday!

Carlos Foglia has all the A's.

Write Stuff

I’m teaching another introductory “Televisionary” class with Script Anatomy (over Zoom, so anyone can take it) starting September 10 and running for five glorious sessions. I just completed my second of these intro classes, and this one really grew on me! The class covers the basics of pilot writing—1/2 hour or hour-long—and it’s material that find myself returning to frequently in my own work. Plus, I’m really invested in the scripts my classes have been writing! Of course, that’s down to the classes themselves, so I’m hoping to get lots of smart, interesting, interested, cool people in this fall course. That’s you, I suspect. You can learn more and sign up here.

I’m also doing another Draft Intensive on Zoom, which is the three-session class that follows the intro course. This one starts Oct 22. Mostly, I’ll probably have my Televisionary students in it, but if you have a solid outline that you think is ready to go to script, then it’s worth signing up. These ones fill up fast, as they are smaller and more collaborative. Sign up here.

Mr. Nice Guy

Even if we hadn’t become such good friends, even if had never done anything else for me, I’d forever be in Carlos Foglia’s debt for haranguing me until I watched Casa De Papel (we do not speak the abhorrent English title of the show).

Carlos Foglia is a good friend and a great writer. Or maybe he’s a great friend and a terrific writer. Either way, you’re going to learn a lot from Saturday’s Q&A with Carlos.

I first met Carlos in 2017, when he was the Writers’ Assistant on the really great Exorcist TV series (which is definitely worth your time, if you haven’t seen it). Carlos introduced me to the showrunners, and it was lovely to see their relationship when I went to their offices to record. These guys clearly regarded him as a peer.

So, it’s been utterly unsurprising to witness Carlos’s success in a short period of time. After The Exorcist, he was quickly staffed on Lore and Two-Sentence Horror Stories before becoming an integral part of, most recently, the rooms for Wolf Pack and Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.

All the while, Carlos worked so damned hard developing and selling his own material. As he discusses below, before the strike hit, he had (I believe) five series in various states of development. Like, actual development with people who wanted his shows.

I can attest to the fact that Carlos is a great writer, and his continued success and the fact that he is so in demand for staffing proves he’s an asset in any room. But I’ll tell you the best thing about Carlos: he loves this job, and he wants to see everyone succeed like he has.

Among other things, he has a background as a musician and in graphic design, and if you need help putting together a pitch deck, or music cues for your podcast, Carlos is there for you. He’s given invaluable notes to me and to other friends on their scripts. Hell, when Acker and I were producing Cut & Run for Audible, Carlos dug in and not only did some much-appreciated Spanish translating for us in the script, but he sat in the booth with our star, D’Arcy Carden, and helped her with pronunciation. This is a guy who just wants to make cool stuff.

Four months after we met at the Exorcist offices, I received this earnest and lovely email from Carlos, which I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing now:

Indeed, a year later, Carlos was a guest on The Writers Panel. It’s a really strong episode, well worth your time.

As will our chat be! Hope you can join us on Saturday, Aug 5, 11am PT. Link is below the interview for paid subscribers. Not a paid subscriber? Become one now and join this live Zoom Q&A, all future Q&As (we’ve got another one coming on Aug 21!), and get access to the recordings of all past Q&As, including sessions with Jane Espenson, Sera Gamble, Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Jose Molina, Akela Cooper, and more!

6 Questions with Carlos Foglia

1. What you working on right now?

My tan on the picket line. 

Besides that, I’m definitely taking this time to work on a couple of new specs, including some features I’m muy jazzed about! I have a literary murder mystery set in Boston. (Yankees suck), a sci-fi pilot, and I secured the rights to an amazing book series that is waiting till it’s officially time to dig in so I can get it ready to pitch 

My mentor and I are working on a real fun feature as well and, since we’re all unemployed, we have the time to really dig into it. 

What I was working on right up until we declared a strike was an amazing show (tba) as Co-Ep with some of the best writers in town. The thing I miss most is the incredible amount of talent I was lucky enough to surround myself with every day. You never stop learning and this room was another master class with some of the best pros out there. Hoping we get to pick up where we left off the minute the bell rings.

Maybe sooner than anticipated!

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

Besides motivation and exhaustion slapping up against the existential career fear of our whole industry evaporating due to the greed of some vesty tech bros who want to turn us into UBER? Nothing. Well almost nothing. 

Creatively, it’s always a juggling act in diving deep into the kernel of an idea you’re revved up for but also listening to your team and their notes, which come from a place of love and support. Sometimes they can clash and, even after almost a decade of this, finding the delicate balance is magic in it of itself. Mandates, quadrants, what’s hot, etc, can sometimes bump up against an idea, but a cool part of the craft is walking that line while staying true to your voice, vision, and story. 

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

Write. Write all kinds of samples. Your voice will shine through, and your craft will get better. There is literally no drawback to writing as much as you can. Your career is an actual blue sky and all you have to do is learn while you hustle to get in the door. 

Some blue-sky writing.

Hustle, but don’t make everything a transaction. I’ve met / mentored / read hundreds of writers, and I’ve been so lucky to pay it forward and get quite a few people into their first rooms. Most have panned out. Phew. With that track record comes a lot of people who want just that… and that alone, and sometimes it’s so transparent that it leaves a bit of sour taste since you’re known for being so open and welcoming. If you make a relationship with an upper level writer purely transactional don’t be surprised if the lines of communication dry up.  

Save. Save money when you can. I know at the entry level and with our economy it's bananas to even think that, but the sooner you have a 6 month nest egg squirrelled away or invested... the sooner you won't freak out when you have the inevitable dry spell that development can be. (Exhibit a: ALL OF US RIGHT NOW)

Don't be a dick. Don't shit on other projects online... seriously. If you want to be a critic, go be a critic... If you want to pontificate... go be a pope. If you want to be a writer... write more.

No one actually cares that The Rings of Power hurt your feelings or if you think you could improve on the pacing in between your shitty tweets... and if anything... all these writers who also love being brutal critics online... you think people want to work with them?

An adage I’ve heard a million times from peers I love and respect is “you can teach someone to be a better writer… you can’t unteach a natural asshole.” I’d rather spend time and help a writer who is rough around the edges than work with someone toxic. Now since this is the internet... the caveat is… If a project bothered you because of social issues... appropriation... racism... misogyny… Elon, etc... then yeah, go nuts and never censor yourself... but if you just wanna ridicule the writing process or teams involved because you would have done it differently... leave it out.  

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

Scour social media… and ignore it all. Even great writers tend to put on a show online (and unfortunately some are just in it for adulation).

If you're serious about writing, truly... Instead of doom scrolling, set a timer and use your usual social media time to READ. You love that writer on twitter? Get their scripts and consume them that way... that's all you'll need to know about their craft. 

And after you've read it... and watched it... here's a little secret my mentor gave me a decade ago and it was the greatest learning tool for beginners. (YMMV!!!)

Find that awesome episode of TV you love and write it out. Yeah. With a pen and paper. Write out everything that happens in an episode... with your hand on paper. 

hurried footsteps splash in a puddle. they stop...they're at an abandoned factory...someone is being followed and they're desperately trying to find an open door. Another set of footsteps...these much calmer and with an ominous gate march through the same puddle. 

That's the opening (from what I can remember) of Luther episode 101. And it really taught me about pacing and character before I knew what pacing and character were. 

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

I think I'm supposed to say “resonant themes” and “character” but really what makes me jump out of my seat is dialogue. The actual words spoken when done in a unique way can say the same thing every show/movie/play has been saying for centuries but make you jump out of your seat. We've all read King Lear, or at least pretend we have, so there's nothing new about Succession plot wise. But my goodness it was a perfect fucking show… and it all started, imho, with the text. 

The beautiful dialogue of Succession.

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

The Bear. Sheesh, talk about perfect words, cousin. Tho they could use some more cameos imho.

I just started re-watching the entire Jack Ryan movie series because I finished the final season of the show and DAMN they have some amazing moments. I didn’t realize how deep the “I’m just an analyst” joke went and I love it. 

HI/JACK. As you can tell from my earlier Luther reference, this is really an Idris Elba fan page and I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, but right from there Pilot I was VERY IN. This series has some of the best cliffhangers of the year.

Slow Horses. One of the best shows on television, and I hope Gary Oldman does it for a decade. It’s so “London” and doesn’t reinvent a genre, but it does what we know and come to expect from a British Spy Thriller with such a relevant twist that it belongs in the same conversation as all other LeCarre/Fleming inspired classics. 

Industry was on my list earlier this year but they’re currently filming so I’ll pass. Same with House of Dragon and anything with a “waiver.” (YMMV!)

I’m VERY EXCITED for this new show on Amazon called Harlan Coben’s Shelter. The trailer looks incredible. It comes out in a couple of weeks, and I think you should all watch it.

The Tower. I just finished bingeing the entire series and am stoked it looks like it got renewed. My good friend Emmett is one of the leads and the cast is beyond talented. Very British in that “point at a random place on a map and make it an unsolved murder mystery,” but that’s what we love about our mates over there!

I haven’t Barbenheimer’d yet but I did Barbindianaimpossibleverse and loved them all for different reasons and damn it feels like movies are back! Oh wait.. the strike. Never mind. They’re dead again. 

I can’t share details yet but I created a  supernatural podcast for one of the “big players,” and the best part was getting one of my mentees on board to write with. A cool little bonus is that I’m currently composing the score! Can’t wait to share the announcement and trailer for you soon!

I could go on and on. You can find me not on Twitter or whatever it’s called but I keep a tiny rarely used office on threads and bluesky. I think I’ve been watching and reading more because I rarely use social media now, and my goodness I can’t recommend that enough.

Wish I could quit you.

It’s me again! Did these 6 Questions inspire you to tears? Because I am a bit weepy! Thanks to Carlos for such great answers. Link for Saturday’s Q&A is below! Upgrade to join us or listen later.