JULIA:<\/strong> While I was in school at Chapman, I interned like a motherf**er. During that time, I became extremely fortunate to secure internships at places like Comedy Central, FX, and five different departments within Warner Bros (I KNOW!!). Though I was a Film Studies major, I knew that I wanted to go into the comedy world in some way, but was still figuring out my specific career path. I started writing sketches on a lark, doing stand-up on-campus, and coming up with web series. I didn\u2019t quite know what I was doing, but I just knew that I should keep writing.<\/p>\n Then one day I mentioned all of this to one of my intern supervisors at WB and they very generously set up a meeting with the head of the Writer\u2019s Workshop just to chat about being a young writer trying to get into comedy, and what that could look like for me. I walked in the meeting with very, very low expectations, and walked out with a job interview for a new show on Cartoon Network. This stuff doesn\u2019t happen, and I\u2019ve never once forgotten my great fortune.<\/p>\n I ended up getting to write on\u00a0Mad<\/em>\u00a0for Cartoon Network shortly after graduating Chapman, and that kind of accidentally set me on a career path for writing kids television. From there I went to\u00a0The Aquabats! Super Show!<\/em>\u00a0on The Hub, which also allowed me my first on-screen TV role (I played a crazy cat lady whose cat gets snatched up by a supervillain named Kitty Litter!);\u00a0Mutt & Stuff<\/em>\u00a0on Nick Jr;\u00a0Future-Worm!<\/em>\u00a0on Disney XD; and currently I\u2019m writing on a show being produced by Hasbro and animated by Titmouse Studios. There were a lot of little things in between there, because being a professional writer is truly \u201cfeast or famine\u201d more than a lot of other creative careers. I kept afloat by writing articles for\u00a0VICE<\/em>, sketches for\u00a0Awesomeness TV<\/em>, web series produced by The CW, stuff like that. The one thing that I\u2019ve maintained as a general rule throughout my career is to always have three active projects you\u2019re working on \u2014 no more, no less. You never know which one is going to be the next thing to carry you through the coming chapter, and you never want to get lazy with your own creativity.<\/p>\n DODGE: What was the biggest adjustment you faced after graduation and how did you overcome it?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n JULIA:<\/strong> I was not \u201cguaranteed\u201d anything, especially as it pertains to a writing career. There was a good year after my first job where I had no real writing jobs coming in. I also was INCREDIBLY green, but you know, didn\u2019t fully consider myself that at the time. I had \u201cWriter\u201d as a credit on something! So I made it, right? \u2026Uh, not quite. I still had a ton to learn, and so I\u2019m grateful I actually had that large stretch of time where I had to really sharpen my tools and strengthen my exterior for rejection, because it was a\u2019comin\u2019 and it will continue to come until I decide to hang up my pen and get into accounting, or banking, or some other office job that\u2019s more \u201csecure.\u201d<\/p>\n I overcame it by just sticking with it, and commiserating with other writers I knew who were going through a similar thing. It also helped that I was pursuing a stand-up career at the same time, so at any given moment I could just focus on the other thing that was lacking. No writing jobs? Not a problem! Let me just go on tour and focus on crafting a 45 minute set. Can\u2019t tour? No sweat! I\u2019ll just take a writing class and focus on my original pilot. There should always be a \u201cPlan B\u201d to anything you do, and while you\u2019re working on that Plan B \u2014 come up with ANOTHER Plan B. I liken it to creating a bridge while you are standing on said bridge. Terrifying analogy? Possibly. Does it work? For me it does! So there\u2019s that.<\/p>\n DODGE: What is the best advice you have received and\/or what advice would you give current students?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n JULIA:<\/strong> Write what makes you laugh. Write what YOU like, as opposed to what you think other people will like. I spent years (YEARS) of my life writing spec scripts for shows I didn\u2019t much care for, but that I knew were \u201cthe specs\u201d to write at the time. And you know what? They didn\u2019t get me anywhere, save for the experience of writing another script. Because people can TELL when they\u2019re reading something that YOU (the writer) don\u2019t \u201cdig\u201d.<\/p>\n Writing is like voting \u2014 do it early, and often. You have a ton of crummy scripts on top of the good ones, but just remember \u2014 the good scripts inside of you are there, they\u2019re existing. They\u2019re just buried deep. You have to get the bad scripts out of the way in order to get to the good. You just have get it out of your system, and then once it is \u2014 you can finally breathe that heavy sigh of relief that you are finally, FINALLY writing something that you are in fact a fan of and that other people will be a fan of, too. I think of this famous Ira Glass quote all the time that my friends and I are constantly referencing (and yes I\u2019m copying and pasting the whole damn thing, because it\u2019s just that good):<\/p>\n \u201cNobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it\u2019s just not that good. It\u2019s trying to be good, it has potential, but it\u2019s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn\u2019t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I\u2019ve ever met. It\u2019s gonna take awhile. It\u2019s normal to take awhile. You\u2019ve just gotta fight your way through.\u201d<\/p>\n I love this so hard, because it\u2019s entirely my life. At one point, way before pursuing a writing career I thought to myself, \u201cOh! I have ALWAYS been a comedy nerd, and I know what the eff I\u2019m talking about and I would love nothing more than to bring good comedy in the world \u2014 so I should just become a Development Exec, right?\u201d But then it hit me one day, like a truly embarrassing ton of bricks. Like when you realize you need to break up with your crazy-moody boyfriend and when you do the rest of your friends all chime in with, \u201cHE SUCKED!\u201d and you wish you had seen what the rest of the world did, but that\u2019s just not how it works. I realized I was a writer, but that I was scared. When I came to terms with this, I remember saying it to my Mom over the phone and my Mother, a very proper, polite woman cackled out a, \u201cDuh!\u201d. I was just so scared.<\/p>\n I was scared of not being good, of not meeting my own sharp comedy tastes. Worse, what if I NEVER got good and I wasted my entire life on something that never amounted to anything? These are all fair questions, and lemme tell you \u2014 they never leave. No matter how much success you achieve, how many jobs, how many shows you sell, how many hands you shake \u2014 you will always feel like you are chasing this feeling. So it\u2019s best to not define success by arbitrary things you have no control over.<\/p>\n The one thing that I\u2019ve absolutely loved learning since graduating from Chapman, is that even our heroes feel like failures. I\u2019ve recently started hosting a podcast about\u00a0The Simpsons<\/em>\u00a0called \u201cEverything\u2019s Coming Up Podcast!\u201d and we got former show-runner and brilliant person Mike Scully on as a guest. Mike Scully, arguably one of the more successful comedy writers in our modern age. During our conversation with him, he described to me the feelings I\u2019ve felt over and over and over as I pursue a writing career. He told us that the first month on\u00a0The Simpsons<\/em>\u00a0he was scared every day of getting fired. He kept telling his wife, \u201cThey\u2019re going to figure out they made a mistake in hiring me! I\u2019m done.\u201d (or something to that effect). HOLY CRAP was this comforting to hear. For this guy, who by all accounts had and should never have ANY reason to doubt his own ability was experiencing \u201cthe Phony effect.\u201d That was super inspiring for me, in the simple fact that it became this great equalizer.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t give up. That\u2019s the only way you\u2019re guaranteed to never reach your own version of success. Your timeline is your timeline, stop comparing it to other people\u2019s. Sure, yes, a person who has been writing for a shorter time than you have will get \u201cthe big job.\u201d But you know what? Your \u201cbig job\u201d may be right around the corner. Your \u201cbig job\u201d may be an ENTIRELY different thing! Their success is not a comment on your failure, and that\u2019s the hardest thing to remember.<\/p>\n I wrote a pilot almost 4 years ago. One that I really dug, one that was pretty weird, one that I was told over and over again didn\u2019t fit into any current \u201cmold.\u201d But you know what? I really loved this script, and so I kept sending it out to people. Some people would come back with blunt rejections, but then OTHER people, \u201cmy people,\u201d got where I was coming from with it. That\u2019s what you want. You\u2019re not going to please everybody, and if that\u2019s your goal then you will most likely be writing \u201cfine\u201d but not \u201cmemorable\u201d scripts, and hey \u2014 that\u2019s okay, too. But if your goal is to write something that makes 13-year old you go, \u201cHELL YEAH!\u201d then I would stick with that as close as you possibly can. I still send that script out today, and I still find \u201cmy people\u201d.<\/p>\n DODGE: What is your favorite memory from your time at Chapman?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n JULIA:<\/strong> I loved Professor Wysocki\u2019s Science Fiction Genre class. He just spoke from such a love and authority on the subject matter, and opened my eyes to ways of receiving films and analyzing and defining them in a pattern I never would have picked up elsewhere.<\/p>\n I also completely loved running a cult film club called \u201cFilm Corps.\u201d I remember we took over Wysocki\u2019s lecture hall once a month after-hours and watched Cannibal! The Musical<\/em>\u00a0and other cult favorites. I think I made themed snacks for\u00a0Cannibal!<\/em>\u00a0out of chocolate pudding, oreos, and doll body parts. God that was the best.<\/p>\n DODGE: What have you taken from the classroom and applied to your career?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n JULIA:<\/strong> I would say a true sense of curiosity. I think of Mildred Lewis\u2019 Film Reviewing class often. She was the absolute best. There was one moment in her class that I\u2019ll never forget. We were all just chatting about what we had done over the weekend, and she mentioned seeing some Adam Sandler-type movie through a RedBox rental. One of my classmates scoffed, asking her how she could stomach such a movie. She turned without hesitation and said, \u201cWell, I\u2019m not a snob. I see everything.\u201d It was such a cool mic drop moment, and even though her words said through anyone else\u2019s voice could be misconstrued as overly sassy, there was still such a kindness to her tone. I think about her anti-snobbery often when I see movies with my best friend Joe. We\u2019ve actually gotten into a pattern of seeing middle of the road or \u201cbad comedies\u201d in theaters. He\u2019s a comedian, too and we find that you can almost learn more about comedy writing and comedy filmmaking by seeing something less than stellar. We love walking around our neighborhoods after and picking it apart, but again, not out of a maliciousness or spite, but just because we\u2019re desperate to figure out what puzzle pieces were missing.<\/p>\n DODGE: Have you received any awards or recognitions?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n JULIA:<\/strong> Yeah! I\u2019ve been a Finalist in the New York Comedy Festival for my original pilot script. I\u2019ve also been a featured performer in FUN FUN FUN Fest in Austin, TX (2014); Hell Yes Fest in New Orleans (2014-15); Cape Fear Comedy Fest in Wilmington, NC (2015), Crom Fest in Omaha, NE (2015). Coming up, my podcast \u201cEverything\u2019s Coming Up Podcast!\u201d will be featured in the LA Pod Fest (September \u201916).<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also organized four separate stand-up tours across America, and have recorded my first comedy album which will be titled, \u201cEvery Joke on This Album Kills (because I cut out the ones that didn\u2019t)\u201d. My podcast is also frequently featured in the top comedy podcasts on iTunes.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also produced a good handful of live comedy shows around LA at places like Meltdown Comics, UCB, the Comedy Central Stage, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every so often, we\u2019ll be spotlighting alumni and what they are up to these days. 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<\/p>\n