ROB BURNETT is the writer/director of the feature film The Fundamentals of Caring, which was the closing night film at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. He is as a five-time Emmy Award-winning executive producer and head writer of The Late Show with David Letterman. In the course of his career he has received 34 Emmy nominations. Burnett began his career with David Letterman in 1985 as a 22-year-old intern.  In 1988 he joined the show’s writing staff, and at 29 became its head writer.  In 1996 he became the show’s executive producer.

Joining forces with former Late Show head writer Jon Beckerman, Burnett created two critically acclaimed series for network television.  Ed aired on NBC from 2000-2004 and won Burnett and Beckerman a People’s Choice award and earned them Emmy and WGA nominations for excellence in writing. The two teamed up again in 2006 to create the ABC half-hour, single-camera comedy, The Knights of Prosperity, which garnered glowing reviews, including Entertainment Weekly calling it "TV's best new show of the season."

In this episode, we talk about:

• How a writing submission to the David Letterman show led to an Internship at 22 years old

• Being hired by Steven Spielberg to write a movie in his 20s

• His routine in his 20s - waking up at 5am, take the train to his friend to write for 2-3 hours, go to Letterman at 10am, be the last person to leave

• Becoming Head Writer at 29 years old and what principle helped him in that tentative transition

• What he thinks of Late Night shows right now in comparison to Late Night with David Letterman

• 4 main pillars of Directing to keep in mind

• Why he decided to pass over Timothee Chalamet for Craig Roberts in The Fundamentals of Caring

• The incredible Paul Rudd and in what ways he added to the movie

• How incredible it was to be a Writer/Director at Sundance

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