Crafting Comedy: A TV Writer's Journey

Up-and-coming television comedy writer, Julia Lindon sits down with host Candice Bloch in this episode to chat about her journey in writing. You’ll learn more about the dynamics of the writers’ room, hear stories about leveraging connections to get in the door, and get a glimpse into the process of honing her comedy chops and bringing stories to the screen. Julia began by working at NBC’s Saturday Night Live and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, and has gone on to work on such hit series as Netflix/A24’s Survival of the Thickest and Apple TV’s Ted Lasso. She is currently writing on Peacock’s NPR parody, In The Know.

To learn more about Julia, you can visit her website at: https://www.julialindon.com/ and follow her on Instagram @julialindon

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Transcript

00:00 - VO (Host)
One, two, three and action. Welcome to Media and Monuments presented by Women in Film and Video in Washington DC. Media and Monuments features conversations with industry professionals speaking on a range of topics of interest to screen-based media makers. 

00:24 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Thanks for joining us. I'm your host, Candice Block, and today I'm joined by Julia Linden, an LA-based comedy writer who has recently written on In the Know, Peacock's new stop-motion NPR parody and Netflix's Survival of the Thickest. She's served as the writer's assistant on season three of Apple's Ted Lasso and created Lady Liberty, a TV pilot that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. Welcome to the show, Julia. Thanks so much for having me, Candice. So I guess just jumping right in, because we're going to talk a lot about, you know, writing and TV comedy writing, and everyone's story is different. But how did you get into writing? Like, how did you break into this business? 

01:00 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Yeah, well, it started kind of with a general love of comedy. And I fell in love with comedy in college when I joined one of those famed improv comedy groups and that just kind of gave me the bug. And it was once I actually moved to New York City after college and started taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater Citizens Brigade Theater that's both in LA and New York. But I was in New York and was taking sketch writing classes and improv and doing stand up and just kind of got a sense of what I wanted to do, which was write comedy in any shape or form. So I was working at NBC as a page so like very similar to Kenneth the Page from 30 Rock and was working at SNL and seeing how those sketches came together and getting a taste of the late night world there. But then ultimately, yeah, moved out to LA and that's where I got my start in scripted comedy rooms the past few years. 

02:02 - Candice Bloch (Host)
That's really cool. That's, I know a lot of people, myself included, listening or jealous of that experience, because it's so cool to be a part of that and to see it. So I feel like nearly every successful comedy writer has a background in improv, yourself included. Why do you think improv is so important for incubating comedic thought? 

02:22 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Yeah, I mean, there's something so collaborative about it and that's what drew me to it. Um was it's one thing when you're, you know, a kid playing alone or with a couple of friends, but um, who thinks you're the funny one, or something. But when you join a group of people where you're all really invested in building something together and making each other laugh and then ultimately performing for an audience, I think it helps everyone play at the top of their intelligence and it then becomes really similar to what you're actually doing in a professional writer's room, where you're all just trying to build something together and pitch ideas and say yes to it, and build and find whatever the best thing is you talked about how you got a little bit into that and near these, these writers rooms and all of that. 

03:07 - Candice Bloch (Host)
So was there an initial first big like job or milestone or something where you realized you could make a living as a writer and that this was going to be your path? 

03:19 - Julia Linden (Guest)
I think I kind of took a big risk a few years back and I had a script that I had written that I put a lot of effort and time in and funds to actually get made, and that's this project, lady Liberty, and so I kind of went all in on that and it got some really nice traction at the film festivals and we premiered it at Tribeca Film Festival and that kind of made me feel, ok, maybe there's, maybe I can do this. Maybe, you know, if I was able to like pop on this circuit, maybe I could if I just keep hustling find ways to do it again in other shape and forms. 

03:59 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Speaking of Lady Liberty, you also you premiered it as a TV pilot, but it's only been just that pilot, so far, correct. There's not any additional episodes or anything. So the choice to call it a TV pilot and the fact that you do mostly episodic TV is that something that? Do you prefer episodic stories over, like films, for example? Is that? Do you like that sort of like more open runway to keep a narrative going, or what draws you to TV? 

04:25 - Julia Linden (Guest)
I think I do, and I think it's exciting to me in terms of just building something that could, because a TV show, you know, means that you could end up putting an entire room of writers together from with all different experiences. It means that it could go on for seasons. It means that you know an audience could grow over time, and there's something that I just love about that world. So I was interested in positioning it as a pilot that could grow and expand in different directions, versus just a short film that lived only kind of in that time and place in that you wrote it but you also star in it. 

05:03 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Is acting something you want to do more of? Or is it just something you kind of did to service the piece, to get it made and you stay more behind the scenes? Or where do you see potentially? 

05:15 - Julia Linden (Guest)
acting again in your future. Yeah, I mean, it was definitely something that I knew I wanted to do for that piece and I'd been performing with improv and everything before that. But since Lady Liberty, I've been a lot more focused on writing and feeling more comfortable behind the scenes. I do love like hosting and kind of just playing a version of myself, so that is something that I'd love to do more, but I think the going so deep into a role that I feel very far away from is not what I'm searching for. 

05:44 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Yeah, so you tried it. You like writing better? Yeah, that's cool. And speaking of writing, do you, how would you describe like your writing method or process? Because you do comedy, do you keep a notebook around to write down funny things, or how does that look? 

06:01 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Oh, yeah, for sure, I feel like I have probably since high school I've been keeping notebooks, so I've got all my old ones still with me that I carry around in my house. But yeah, just whatever inspiration strikes, or if I get excited about you know a little thing that feels like it could be a whole idea, like a whole movie or book or show, just trying to immediately carve out some time to brainstorm it and maybe write an outline or other thoughts that come off of it. So I'm just constantly looking to be inspired and yeah, and going back, even through old notebooks and what was funny to me 10 years ago and what perspective do I have now that I can comment on it? 

06:45 - Candice Bloch (Host)
What is the visual element of writing for screen-based media? How does that kind of enhance the process to you or change how you write versus, example, if it was just like a funny essay or something? 

06:57 - Julia Linden (Guest)
oh, yeah, for sure. Um, so the show that I worked on most recently features stop motion puppets. So that was something where it was just so fun to always be thinking of what would this actually look like? And animators are going to have to move this puppet in a certain way, so thinking of you really funny physical choices that could happen, and you know that you're writing into the dialogue or, sorry, into the stage directions that just make the scene come to life. So it was really fun to do with animation. And then in the past, like I was working on Ted Lasso this final season and that's a show that people just love the character so much and I do too. So I think that's really fun when you get to envision the actors and the way that they're going to bring what is specific to them to it. So I like doing it both in live action and in animation animation, yeah. 

07:56 - Candice Bloch (Host)
So in animation do you find you have more freedom because you're not constrained in any way by like physical, like physics or budget for certain setups perhaps? 

08:03 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Yeah, I mean, I think it's really different, the like 2D animation versus actually having to. How do we make this happen? With the puppets, there was something even as simple as a character whose hair had always been short the entire season. We had this idea that she was really letting loose and all her hair is gonna like come out at once, even though we didn't know she had all this hair. Um, which is such a fun, simple idea. But then it was like oh, we have within um stop motion animation, there's like an entire department of costumes and hair and face. So trying to figure those things out actually aren't as like immediately simple as possible, but are definitely really gratifying because there's so much like love and attention. 

08:45 - Candice Bloch (Host)
And stop motion is different than regular digital. I mean, I used to dabble a little bit in stop motion when I was young because I'm a visual artist as well and, yeah, it's definitely a constraint and I have so much respect for the artists who create it because you can tell when it's digital versus actually handmade and it's I don't know. I think it enhances the quality. So, yeah, you also talked about coming into Ted Lasso in season three. What is it like to join a writer's room after, like that sort of group has been creating a story for a couple of seasons beforehand and you're coming in like at the end? Was that welcoming or weird, or what was that like? 

09:25 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Yeah, I mean it's a really it was. It was really fun, unique experience. I think there had been this bond of the group that had you know they were the first season, they had no idea what show they were working with. And then by the group that had you know they were the first season, they had no idea what show they were working with. And then by the time that I came into season three it was like a national, global phenomenon. So that was just really exciting. I felt really honored and lucky to kind of see how it was all working. 

09:49
Something cool with that show was I got my start like right after SNL. I worked for Jason Sudeikis for a few years in New York and he was actually developing Ted Lasso in like the very early stages back then. So it was fun because it was something where I got to know a lot of those people before the show was even picked up by Apple or anything like that, seeing the seeds of it and then returning to it when it was already, you know, blooming, and then getting to have a small part of that final season and contribute a bit. How fortunate. 

10:23
Yeah, I feel really lucky. 

10:25 - Candice Bloch (Host)
It's like you got to know them in college before they got famous, or something like you've got to know them a little bit before. That's funny, but yeah, so for our listeners who don't really know what a writer's room is like, I mean, can you break it down, because on Ted Lasso you were a writer's assistant. 

10:40 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Can you explain the different positions and roles, like know, really the head honcho and they're dealing with the network and the studio, but they're also ideally the one who's in the writer's room every day, kind of setting the agenda of what we're going to be working on and making the big choices of, like, what direction the story is going to be going in. 

11:09
And then you've got, you know, around a big table the team of writers, and that can be anywhere from maybe like five people to 12 people it really varies and they've all worked on other shows and have, you know, technically different titles, but at the table everyone is pitching and contributing and you know, in similar ways. And then you have the support staff and it can, you know, look pretty different on different shows, but on a show that has all those positions there, you've got a script coordinator, a writer's assistant and a writer's PA, production assistant, and the writer's PA is doing a lot of the things we think of for PAs, so they are stocking the kitchen with snacks, making sure the lunches get there. You know all of that. 

11:57 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Maintaining the writers. 

11:58 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Maintaining the writers exactly, keeping the room clean, all that. And then you know it works different on different shows, but the writer's assistant and script coordinator often work together and that was the case on my experience on Lasso. I was able to learn a ton from our script coordinator because she had also been a writer's assistant years before, and the idea is that we kind of work together to make sure that we're getting all the important notes down of everything that's pitched in the room, all the possibilities. If there's a really funny joke pitch, making sure that we get it down word for word. So you know, we can kind of just give that to the writers when they go off on script and have them put that in there and ideally it makes everyone laugh on set the way that it made all the writers laugh in the room. So we're kind of just the scribes of all that is said, while also not just being, like you know, taking down everything like we're in a courtroom, but trying to synthesize it in our heads of okay, this goes on theme with this or organized. Now we're talking about this character and this possibility. So it's a really fun job and it's a way that I really learned how to listen in the room about what was important and what idea we were sticking with and then what we were dropping and picking up just different threads and story arcs and character, then what we were dropping and picking up just different threads and story arcs and character. So it's a really great learning job because then, um, you know, a lot of times after being writer's assistant, people will be the script coordinator and you're the one who's proofreading the scripts as they get sent out to the network, um, and to the studios. 

13:33
And, yeah, some shows it's really separate, like what the those two positions do. Sometimes they work together. But, yeah, this and I've done, I've been on shows as well where I've been the writer's assistant and there hasn't been a script coordinator, so I'm the one who's proofing and sending stuff out and, um, those have been, yeah, really great learning experiences. And then I've since then, you know, got bumped up to be writing on the animated show and that was a similar experience where I started as the writer's assistant and was able to, you know, be in the room and then also be pitching ideas and contributing and after, you know, enough time of doing that, my bosses were very, very sweet and, you know, told me they wanted to credit me as a writer on that, and so that's just been a really nice evolution of getting to work on shows and you know, forming relationships with the people and telling them what I'm interested in and and then, yeah, and hoping that an opportunity to move up arises. So it's been cool. 

14:32 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Yeah, it seems like that's a common thread in this industry. Just, you know you find the people you work well with and click with and improve yourself on projects. So is that how you would get from one project to another project, just like kind of referrals and word of mouth, or is there something that you would try at, like audition for or submit things for, or how do you get the next steps? 

14:51 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Yeah, I've got a manager and so that company has been super helpful where they represent a lot of comedians. So the Ted Lasso job came from my relationship that I had had with Jason back in New York. But the other shows I worked on were high up people on that show who had created the show were also at the management company. So that was really helpful to me to feel like I could enter a space and then be a little bit more like thought of for opportunities just by being a part of that company. 

15:23 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Have you noticed any major differences pre or post strike in terms of writer rooms, in terms of like size of them, or the business of it all? 

15:31 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Yeah, I think there's a lot going on and no one really knows exactly what it is, other than everyone's got like a little bit of a hmm, things seem weird. Right, yeah, they do seem weird. So I have no no, you know wise perspective on it, other than I think things are still weird and people were really hoping that post-strike um, you know, problems would be solved that existed before, but in some ways, um, you know, 2024, we've got a whole new set of, you know, the company, everything just contracting and there being less opportunities, kind of at all levels. So it's been strange and I don't think people know what exactly is next. 

16:12 - Candice Bloch (Host)
That's yeah, that sounds frustrating. It's like not weird in a good way and that's hmm, but hopefully, hopefully things will figure it out like it'll settle into something that is good. 

16:23
Yeah, and I think that it's the kind of industry that is always changing, and we're just in one of those moments right now show where, like the main characters, where you don't necessarily have a lot of the same lived experiences of them and you know, like, for example, for people that don't know the show, it's like a larger body, woman of color, that's like the main character. You are not those things. So how do you respect that and keep that into consideration when that's kind of like a theme of a story? 

17:00 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Yeah, no, that's a great question. 

17:02
I think what's so great about that show is Michelle Buteau created it along with Danielle Sanchez-Whitsall, and the two of them just had a really clear vision of trying to make the show about that, but also about the theme of inclusivity in general. 

17:17
So we had other characters and storylines that were about those things and kind of a celebration of queerness and you know a bunch of things in there, and ultimately I felt like Michelle was in the room with us all the time. 

17:32
So part of the job as a writer is to just really understand who you're writing for and what the show is about and who is your main character you're writing for and what the show is about and who is your main character. And so she just showed us herself, you know, from every angle, and it was so wonderful and funny and great that immediately you're like, oh my God, I love this character and how do I absorb as much of her to, you know, put it into these scripts and into the pitches and things like that. So I think, yeah, it all ended up feeling pretty natural, but, you know, having really good mix in the writers room of people who have a similar background and different backgrounds, so that we can create a show that's an ensemble that has this larger theme of inclusivity, but with characters who are from different backgrounds and shapes and sizes. 

18:21 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Yeah, that was great. I mean, I've seen the show. It's very uh. It's it's refreshingly like super inclusive. It's very open and loving. I love it. I actually also really liked that. Uh, the main character, um, I don't want to give anything away, but, um, she like her best friend is like she's straight and her best friend is a guy who's straight and there's nothing weird about that and they're just best friends. And I love that, because I have a lot of really good, close male friends and everyone's always like how's it? Like people think it has to cross lines sometimes I'm like it doesn't, and I love seeing that represented. That it's another thing that you don't see very often. 

18:55 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Yeah, no, it's really nice and we talked a lot about that that. You know that the idea of their relationship was they went way back and they were just really supportive of each other. And you know, they talked about relationships, talked about work and family and all the things. And yeah, I think that Tone Bell, who plays the character of Khalil, is so, so charming and sweet and funny. So I think that relationship was really nice. 

19:19 - Candice Bloch (Host)
So keeping things comedic. Since you do comedy writing instead of just general writing, you're in that specific niche. How do you continue to hone your comedic voice? You said, maybe, that you do stand up. Is that correct? Do you continue to do that? 

19:32 - Julia Linden (Guest)
That was stuff that I was performing was more when I was in New York and here it's like I'm constantly going. I find myself going to shows as much as I can and I'm still kind of new to LA, I've just been here a couple of years. But discovering the different comedy theaters here and, you know, following comics that I've followed for years and then discovering new comics has just been very fun. And, yeah, collaborating with different comics and working in different mediums, whether it's like writing a feature or a children's book, like I'm a little bit all over the place, but I think yeah, but it's nice to spread it around, Exactly exactly. 

20:16
But yeah, just continuing to like be out there and talk with people and you know, figure out what I think is funny has been really an enjoyable experience. 

20:24 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Yeah, so it sounds like you like absorb a lot more. Are there any like? Do you ever continue? Or maybe initially did you do any like workshops or classes or read books or anything that might be good to recommend for people that might want to get into writing or comedy? 

20:38 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Yeah, so I mean, the Operate Citizens Brigade Theater was a great spot for me. It's both in New York and LA and I think their sketch writing classes are so great because you almost get, you know, you're not expected to walk out of there with 30 pages of a script, but maybe a really funny, a couple of funny five page scripts, couple of funny five page scripts and you get the chance to actually, you know, have your scripts read out loud at the table and critique and critique others, and so you almost get this really nice writer's room environment where you get to practice pitching and taking notes and drafting and all that. So I think their classes are great. 

21:18 - Candice Bloch (Host)
That's awesome, yeah. Getting back to improv, like, do improv people? Yeah, it's good for other things in life too, beyond writing. 

21:26 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Yeah, a lot of public speaking and just being in the moment, and I always found it to be well, both, very just like whatever was on my mind that was stressing me out. It was just the best stress reliever. And all of a sudden you're in a silly world with silly people and not thinking about the thing that you've been you know pissed off about all day. 

21:45 - Candice Bloch (Host)
It seems like any any form of like the arts, be it, like you know, immersing yourself in comedy or painting or whatever, just like getting out of your head and into something, is very therapeutic. Yeah, so yeah, do you, do you have any kind of on that tone of advice? Do you have any advice that you wish you had gotten when you started out, or any words of encouragement for anyone wanting to break into writing? 

22:10 - Julia Linden (Guest)
There was some, some stuff. I really loved that the comedy writer told me about taste and how, like, your taste always evolves and but like you can't judge where you're at now, so, like, write the best thing you can write now and if in 10 years you read it and you're like holy crap, that's embarrassing, um, it's okay and it's what got you to the thing that allows you to now think that's embarrassing. 

22:33
Yeah, it shows evolution and growth exactly exactly, instead of just stopping at you know, this is all I can. Oh, I should. I shouldn't do this because you, you know I'm not good enough or whatever. It's like you get, you get better. And if you love the thing, like, let the passion could take you. And then I think the other thing that I continue to have to remind myself is like it's a really weird industry, it's a really weird world, and so I think every industry is weird. Every industry it's weird. Yeah, hollywood, specifically, is just um, you know, more and more feels like this frustrating gamble that you're always like waiting to pay, have payoff, um. But yeah, there's a lot of if. If you do it long enough and create connections with people all over the board, there's gonna be all types of opportunities that are gonna like allow you to express yourself and grow and get paid and all of that. So, just kind of, if you're in it, keep holding on and keep staying on the ride. 

23:29 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Yeah, hang in there people. Yeah, no, that's, that's great. Is before we wrap things up, was there anything you wanted to talk about, about any like exciting projects you have coming up, or yeah, you know, just reminding us of where to check, for sure, for sure. 

23:45 - Julia Linden (Guest)
I'll definitely plug this animated show that just came out a couple of weeks ago on Peacock. I think it's really really smart and funny and weird and great and yeah, I'm hoping that more people discover it, I think especially in like the DC area. It centers on the world of NPR, so I think it's you know big in DC. 

24:08 - Candice Bloch (Host)
A lot of NPR listeners around these parts. 

24:10 - Julia Linden (Guest)
Exactly exactly, but it's a really fun silly show. And then it incorporates a lot of celebrity interviews as well, so that kind of has people excited about it too. But, yeah, so check out In the Know on Peacock, there's six episodes and they're all streaming now. And then, yeah, rewatch Survival of the Thickest, if you haven't checked it out on Netflix, and there's going to be a season two of that. So that's super exciting. And then enjoy, you know, a binge of Ted Lasso. And, yeah, I'm just on Instagram. So if anyone ever wants to reach out or has questions, I'm just at. 

24:46 - Candice Bloch (Host)
Julia Linden yeah, so it's exciting to hear that there's going to be a season two of survival of the thickest, and I also recommend watching Ted Lasso even again if you haven't. I just rewatched it all again recently. Love that show. Yeah, and we'll put your information in the show notes as well. And just thank you so much for chatting with us. It's it's really exciting and it seems like you're where you're supposed to be and that we're going to see a lot more from you. So I'm excited to to see what other fun stuff you write for us to entertain the world. 

25:15 - Julia Linden (Guest)
That's so sweet. Thank you so much. This is really fun. 

25:18 - VO (Host)
Thank you for listening to Media and Monuments, a service of women in film and video. Please remember to review, rate and subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast. For more information about WIF, please visit our website at wifasandfrankvsanvictororg. Media and Monuments is produced by Sandra Abrams, candice Block, brandon Ferry and Tara Jabari, and edited by Emma Klein and Juliana Yellen, with audio production and mix by Steve Lack Audio. For more information about our podcast, visit mediaandmonumentscom. That's a wrap.