The Beat Sheet

Happy King Day! I hope you're spending today doing whatever is revolutionary for you. If that's taking a nap, volunteering in the community, or leading a march- I support you. 

On today's episode, we're talking about what makes someone a writer that other writers want to work with. Over this past semester, I've been able to identify what makes writers trustworthy or someone that would be a good brain trust. 

I hope it's helpful to you or someone who is wondering why they haven't been able to get people to collab with them. So, let's dive in. 

Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier.

If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to [email protected]!

Need to read more scripts? Join my club- we read scripts together every week! My profile name is @aquilliam and the club is called Beat Sheet Pod. 

You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher!

You can click here to subscribe to the podcast everywhere via this RSS feed!

The official hashtag for the podcast is #beatsheetpod

Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere:

Instagram | @beatsheetpod

Twitter | @beatsheetpod

Facebook | The Beat Sheet

I believe in TV as a communal experience. I believe that it has the power to have loved ones and strangers engage in conversations that they wouldn't otherwise. Books are my favorite medium of story, but I do recognize the power of shared stories that everyone can experience at the same, as a collective. That's what TV does. So, without further ado, and at the risk of aging myself :)- here are my favorite TV shows of all time. 

Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier.

If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to [email protected]!

Need to read more scripts? Join my club- we read scripts together every week! My profile name is @aquilliam and the club is called Beat Sheet Pod. 

You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher!

You can click here to subscribe to the podcast everywhere via this RSS feed!

The official hashtag for the podcast is #beatsheetpod

Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere:

Instagram | @beatsheetpod

Twitter | @beatsheetpod

Facebook | The Beat Sheet

Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier.

If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to [email protected]!

Need to read more scripts? Join my club- we read scripts together every week! My profile name is @aquilliam and the club is called Beat Sheet Pod. 

You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher!

You can click here to subscribe to the podcast everywhere via this RSS feed!

The official hashtag for the podcast is #beatsheetpod

Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere:

Instagram | @beatsheetpod

Twitter | @beatsheetpod

Facebook | The Beat Sheet

I'm somewhere between- why strive and who gon' stop me, huh?

Earlier this year, I had Amy Aniobi on the beat!

And the insight she shared, her episode is NUMBER ONE most listened to episode of The Beat Sheet. 

When I talked to Amy earlier this year, this was her most updated bio at the time:

Amy Aniobi is an writer/director best known for serving as Executive Producer on HBO’s groundbreaking comedy series, “Insecure,” starring Issa Rae. She has multiple projects in development, including two studio features, a limited series at HBO starring Laura Dern and Issa Rae and another TV project developed with Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine. Amy recently directed the short film, "Honeymoon." She also co-created, co-directed and starred in web series “Lisa and Amy Are Black” and “The Slutty Years,” and she wrote for both seasons of the hit YouTube series, “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.”

Amy is Nigerian, hails from North Texas, graduated from Stanford University and UCLA, and has lived both in the US (New York, the Bay Area) and abroad (France). She has mentored for several Sundance programs, including the Sundance New Voices Lab (2017, 2018) and Sundance Episodic Lab (2017), and has taught TV writing in the prestigious UCLA MFA Screenwriting Program. She enjoys travel, baking cookies and drinking whiskey.

Amy ALWAYS has projects in the queue- so we will have to wait and see what she's been creating and producing recently. 

In this episode, we talk about:

• creating fearlessly
• how she made her hobby her day job
• the journey that WOC writers go on to "move up" in the room
• how she's grown as a producer

and more!

Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier.

If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to [email protected]!

You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher!

You can click here to subscribe to the podcast everywhere via this RSS feed!

The official hashtag for the podcast is #beatsheetpod

Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere:

Instagram | @beatsheetpod

Twitter | @beatsheetpod

Facebook | The Beat Sheet

Last year, I had Racquel Baker on the beat!

And the insight she shared made her episode the second most listened to episode of The Beat Sheet. 

When I talked to Racquel last year, this was her most updated bio at the time:

Born and raised in LA, Racquel Baker began creative writing at six years old as a way to bring all of her imaginary friends to life. When she wasn't writing as a way to escape, she was watching way too much adult TV, unsupervised. The combination of these two led her to major in Media Studies at UC Berkeley for her Bachelor's degree, and Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago for her Master's degree. After grad school, Racquel worked in advertising as a strategic planner where she constantly read scripts for one of her clients, NBCUniversal. She became captivated by this form of storytelling and began to obsessively download TV scripts from the WGA site. She even wrote an original hour long pilot for a fellowship contest in a week. Though technical difficulties prevented her from applying, she experienced an unprecedented feeling of purpose while writing and knew it was her calling. Before quitting her job, she reached out to various writers on social media for advice on breaking into the industry. The only writer who responded was Lena Waithe. From 2015 to 2016, Racquel formed a relationship with Lena as her intern. She initially impressed Lena with her strong script coverage skills and quick turn around in completing tasks. Racquel's tenacity for learning from Lena while supporting her was unmatched, and in 2017 Racquel became Lena's full time assistant. She was primarily responsible for managing her schedule and providing creative feedback on projects in development. While employed as her assistant, Lena gave Racquel the opportunity to co-write an episode of the TV series Boomerang. Her episode, "Back in The Day", premiered on March 12th, 2019 to stellar reviews on Twitter. In April 2019, Racquel ended her time as Lena's assistant and became the Writers Assistant on the upcoming series Twenties. Once Twenties wrapped, she served as Writers Assistants on Season 2 of Boomerang,  where she was granted the opportunity to freelance write the season premiere. Since wrapping on Boomerang, she’s continued to developed a number of her own projects.

Since then, Racquel has become a staff writer on GOOD TROUBLE. 

We talk about:

• what it takes to be a phenomenal writer's assistant
• how a serendipitous DM to Lena Waithe helped jumpstart her career
• the beginning and the purpose of Hillman Grad Mentorship

and more!

Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier.

If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to [email protected]!

You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher!

You can click here to subscribe to the podcast everywhere via this RSS feed!

The official hashtag for the podcast is #beatsheetpod

Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere:

Instagram | @beatsheetpod

Twitter | @beatsheetpod

Facebook | The Beat Sheet

Last year, I had Erica Michelle Butler on the beat!

And the insight she shared made her episode the third most listened to episode of The Beat Sheet. 

When I talked to Erica last year, this was her most updated bio at the time: 

Erica Michelle Butler is a TV writer currently living in Los Angeles. Hailing from Third Ward, Houston, Texas, Erica received her B.S. in Communications from the University of Miami and was employed as the Writers’ PA on Season 1 of Shooter (USA/Paramount). She then joined the Greenleaf (OWN/Lionsgate) staff in Season 2 as the Writers’ PA, and has since been promoted to Story Editor for Season 4.

Greenleaf sadly ended- I love that show! But, she is now working on a new show called DELILAH that will be coming to the OWN Network soon. 

We talk about:

• her journey to her first writer's room position
• the initial discomfort that comes with pitching
• taking on strange jobs while working towards her screenwriter's dream
• how a Year of Yes helped change her career trajectory 

and more!

Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier.

If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to [email protected]!

You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher!

You can click here to subscribe to the podcast everywhere via this RSS feed!

The official hashtag for the podcast is #beatsheetpod

Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere:

Instagram | @beatsheetpod

Twitter | @beatsheetpod

Facebook | The Beat Sheet

This week on #beatsheetpod, I talk with Dayna Lynne North!

Dayna Lynne North is a film and television writer, producer, cultural curator, and self-described ‘Delightful Disruptor’ of the status quo. Currently, she is co-writing and executive producing YOUNG LOVE, the much-anticipated series adaptation of the Academy Award-winning short HAIR LOVE for HBO Max. Dayna is also in development with writer/director Morgan Cooper and Gabrielle Union’s I’ll Have Another Productions on the Quibi comedy BLACK COFFEE. Most recently, Dayna was a writer/Executive Producer and showrunner on HBO’s Emmy-nominated, zeitgeist-shifting INSECURE, co-created by and starring Issa Rae. She was a Consulting Producer on the Television Critics Association and Peabody Award-winning SWITCHED AT BIRTH. 

Prior to that, she was co-showrunner and Co-Executive Producer on VH1’s SINGLE LADIES. Dayna was also a Co-Executive Producer on the ABC Family drama, LINCOLN HEIGHTS, which garnered the NAACP Image award for Best Drama, as well as the Gabriel Award for Best Entertainment. She was on the writing staff for the first two seasons of the CW’s pop culture phenom, VERONICA MARS, starring Kristen Bell. She also wrote the holiday-themed Lifetime biopic, AN EN-VOGUE CHRISTMAS. In 2019, Dayna teamed up with founder/CEO Bridgid Coulter on the founding advisory board of Blackbird, House of Coworking – the first-ever private global coworking space designed by and for women of color. She is also on the Entertainment Committee for Time’s Up and a member of Time’s Up Women of Color, which aims to create a society free of gender-based discrimination in the workplace and beyond. Dayna is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, and a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

We talk about:

• Why becoming a writer’s assistant may help you up the Hollywood ladder
• What it’s like to write on the final season of a show
• What it’s like to create in the “era of the multihyphenate”
• Her process of adapting books for the screen

And more!

Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier.

If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to [email protected]!

You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher!

You can click here to subscribe to the podcast everywhere via this RSS feed!

The official hashtag for the podcast is #beatsheetpod

Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere:

Instagram | @beatsheetpod

Twitter | @beatsheetpod

Facebook | The Beat Sheet

Peabody-award winning writer/producer Wendy Calhoun’s unique career spans one-hour dramas, unscripted series, VR, and gaming. Currently, she serves as Consulting Producer on FBC’s PRODIGAL SON. Her scripted drama credits include Co-Executive Producing and writing the historic first season of Fox’s EMPIRE, as well as debut seasons of ABC’s STATION 19, NASHVILLE, REVENGE, and FX’s JUSTIFIED. Calhoun’s developed and sold seven drama series pitches since 2015 with buyers including Touchstone TV, WBTV, NBC, The CW, Netflix, FX, Twentieth, and ABC Signature Studios. She’s produced and directed over forty hours of unscripted prime-time content. Calhoun wrote and directed the virtual reality short, Left Behind, which screened at the 2016 Austin Film Festival and won “Best in VR” at Digital Hollywood. She was also the Narrative Consultant for Electronic Arts’ Battlefield Hardline video game. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Calhoun is an honored film and television alumni of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She enjoys gardening, relaxing her family, and writing with her sweet dog, Olaf, by her side.

We talk about:

• Her love of pitching- and what to do if your pitch is
• How to effectively use your film school network (if that’s the path you’ve chosen)
• What you can do when you’re “dying of encouragement”-but not getting hired
• What world building looks like in unscripted television

And more!

Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier.

If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to [email protected]!

You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher!

You can click here to subscribe to the podcast everywhere via this RSS feed!

The official hashtag for the podcast is #beatsheetpod

Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere:

Instagram | @beatsheetpod

Twitter | @beatsheetpod

Facebook | The Beat Sheet

Ihuoma Ofordire was born and raised in Washington DC to Nigerian parents and is one of seven children. Highly imaginative, Ihuoma is an HBO award winning actress, writer and filmmaker. Ihuoma has written for HBO’s highly anticipated series LOVECRAFT COUNTRY and FX’s SNOWFALL. She’s currently developing multiple projects including her directorial debut. Ihuoma pulls her creativity from her multicultural background infusing artistic inspiration from her ancestral land and also from her American upbringing. Ihuoma splits her time between Los Angeles and Lagos, Nigeria.


We talk about:

• Creating a mood board to enhance her writing
• Why editing is her favorite (!) part of filmmaking
• Submitting and creating a period drama piece with Issa Rae’s ColorCreative
• her love of Black people in period pieces
• her writer's playlist

And more!

Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier.

If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to [email protected]!

You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher!

You can click here to subscribe to the podcast everywhere via this RSS feed!

The official hashtag for the podcast is #beatsheetpod

Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere:

Instagram | @beatsheetpod

Twitter | @beatsheetpod

Facebook | The Beat Sheet