How I Broke Into: Michael Prywes Interviews Artists and Entrepreneurs About Their Big Break

Janae Bakken grew up in Minnesota - where she spent too many frozen winters on the cross-country ski team, and went to college in Chicago - where she rarely saw the sun, so she made her escape to Los Angeles soon after graduation.  She worked on the production staffs of such shows as Mad About You, Caroline in the City, and Malcolm in the Middle before making the jump to writer, where she spent eight years writing on the critically-acclaimed Scrubs, rising from a Staff Writer to Co-Executive Producer.  Janae was twice-nominated for an Emmy Award with the other Scrubs writers.  In addition, she has written & sold television pilots for Warner Brothers, ABC Studios, MRC and ABC Network.  Janae was most recently a Co-Executive Producer on Freeform’s Baby Daddy for four years, and before that a Co-EP on Anger Management and Gary Unmarried.  In 2007, she was selected to participate in the WGA Showrunner Training Program.  In 2011, Janae was a guest professor at her alma mater Northwestern University, teaching Television Writing to the MFA Creative Writing students.  Notes from the show: Grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis St. Paul, MN. She discovered "The Wonder Years," her favorite and my favorite television show. Northwestern University's "Creative Writing for the Media" program - selected 12 people each year, was in the program with me, Breen Frasier ("Criminal Minds") Heavily influenced by the show "Friends." A lot of her friends back home in MN got married in their early 20s. She lived in London, England after college. Hollywood will always be there, but you're better off going without attachments. La-La Land. If you want to be in television, you need to be in Los Angeles. 20 years later, she loves Los Angeles. "Everyone's starting over... you're in it together." It helps there are so many alumni there. Has been in the workforce since the age of 14, but all Los Angeles jobs were "in the industry." First screenplay was a comedy. First TV job was a comedy. Gave a funny speech at high school graduation. First job she had in L.A., she got fired. Agency job is a good foot in the door. On her resume, she mentioned her job as "Gedney the Minnesota Pickle." William Morris called about it. Interview with Pang-Ni Landrum; Mascot life got her the job. Unruly: most people can't do funny. At least 70% who made it in television comedy went the assistant route. During all down time, she wrote scripts. Every night, after work, would stay at desk and work on own scripts. Skills went "through the roof" being in the room with great writers. Had "interview" with UTA, thought she was being interviewed. "The longer I have done this, the more I realize how hard it is to run a show. And it's really easy to see who does it well and who doesn't." "I'm not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde "Baby Daddy" is over, and she can't wait to get back in a writer's room. "The TV Writer's Workbook" - Ellen Sandler "Writing the TV Drama Series 3rd edition: How to Succeed as a Professional Writer in TV" - Pam Douglas Take a UCLA Extension class or Santa Monica Community College class

Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a writer who has contributed compelling non-fiction features to major publications such as the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Cosmopolitan, Los Angeles Times, SElf, and so many more. Taffy is also the author of the forthcoming Random House novel, Schrödinger's Marriage. Taffy has been a finalist for multiple awards, including the James Beard Award and the Mirror Award, and has won awards from the New York Press Club, the Los Angeles Press Club, Society of Feature Journalists. She also teaches a phenomenal writing class, but the class we discuss in this interview unfortunately sold out before we launched. Subscribe to "How I Broke Into" on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, I Heart Radio, or Google, or listen to the entire podcast here: Notes from the show: John Cheever's short stories Inspired by writer Lauren Slater. "It’s also telling that I’m not a trained journalist.  I have a degree in screenwriting from NYU. The highest priority when I’m writing is on storytelling, not voice, but storytelling.  That’s my business.  Voice comes easily to me because it’s easy for me to write how I sound.  And structure is the thing that I think about the most.  ‘What is the beginning, middle, and end of this?’ " Loved the soap opera Santa Barbara, and got a job at a Soap Opera publication Worked at Mediabistro in Los Angeles PTSD from giving birth "Moving Swift-ly on? Giggling Tom Hiddleston is spotted bidding farewell to a mystery brunette during evening stroll back in London" - Daily Mail "Chasing the New American Dream" "My Color Story" "Obsessive-compulsive disorder nearly ruined her life" by Sarah Maraniss Vander Schaaff "Who Controls Childbirth?" - Self Magazine "We Have Found the Cure! (Sort Of)" - Outside Magazine Water's Edge (The story of Bill May, the greatest male synchronized swimmer who ever lived, and his improbable quest for Olympic Gold) - ESPN Magazine The Art of War by Steven Pressfield Interviewing celebrities is never not weird. Classes at: taffyakner.com/classes (but August 2017 class is sold out)

Jordan Matter, a Manhattan portrait photographer, is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Dancers Among Us, a collection of photographs of dancers in everyday situations around the world, and his collection of photos of nudes in public places, Dancers After Dark, is a monumental achievement, in my humble opinion. He and his work have been featured on television, in print, online, and in exhibitions throughout the world, including Buzzfeed, ABC World News Tonight, Today, The Tyra Banks Show, the BBC, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, #1 on Reddit, Daily Mail U.K., O, The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Lincoln Center, and the Savina Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, Korea. Matter lives in New York with his wife, two children, dog and cat. Notes from the show: Serendipity Dancers Among Us: A Celebration of Everyday Life My interview with my father. My interview with ballet champion Brooklyn Mack. Behind the Scenes "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats The Professional Photographer's Legal Handbook by Nancy Wolff Henri Cartier-Bresson Uncovered: Women in Word and Image The Beauty Myth - Naomi Wolf Camera + App actually DOES work with the iPhone 7 Plus dual lens system (but not "Portrait Bokeh" mode) Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs    

Nelson Ruger grew up along the beaches of southern New Jersey, finding his stomping grounds among Ocean City’s 7th Street and North Street beaches and boardwalks.  Loving art from an early age, he dove into a career as a theatrical artist, designing scenery and lighting for stage productions up and down the eastern United States, lending his creative style from tiny one-room shows to huge regional theaters. In 1998, he fulfilled his dream of designing on Broadway.  With this life goal achieved so young, Nelson began searching for new horizons and artistic possibilities. Nelson eventually left the theatre industry to pursue his surf painting and zen watercolor art. He formed the ‘Nelson Makes Art!’ Studio in Virginia, where he spent several happy years developing commissioned pieces in his flip-flops. ‘Nelson Makes Art!’ then led him far far west to the opposite coast of sunny Los Angeles.  As Creative Director at RGH Themed Entertainment, Nelson worked with a diverse team of artists across many disciplines, designing theme parks and attractions around the world.   In 2014, Nelson discovered a passion uniting two of his favorite things - painting, and tropical beverages.  This led him to his most exciting works to date - the Huli Pau Glassware series - painted glassware featuring the beautiful waves of oceans from around the world. He's the guy who believes you deserve to live the life you've always wanted.  And he's gonna do everything he can to help get you there. Notes from the show: He didn't like the "drama" offstage of theatre. He went to work for Apple. He was invited to build a theme park in Los Angeles. He opened an Etsy store. Can Infringement on Etsy, Ebay, or CafePress be Considered "Fair Use?" Helped by Amy Colella Kim Bloomberg Designs The One of a Kind Show Winsor-Newton paintbrushes Liquitex enames to be discontinued. Gordon Firemark Jason Fellerman Glass Buck's Rock Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss 1000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly James Schramko's SuperFast Business SoCal vs. Hawaii Ocean City, NJ A Crash Course on Taking on Centuries-Old Brands... and Succeeding The Virgin Way by Richard Branson Simon Sinek's TED talk No, No, No, No, No, Yes. Insights From a Creative Journey: Motivation & Self-Improvement (Creative & Innovation series Book 1) by Gideon Amichay etsy.com/nelsonmakesart facebook.com/nelsonmakesart instagram.com/nelsonmakesart NelsonMakesArt.com