NCEC in the News!
Brenda Lilly: Writing What She Knows
Researched and written by Tai Caldwell
With the recent settlement of the three-month-long strike by the Writer’s Guild of America, film and especially television writers have lately been on the forefront of the nation’s consciousness. It may come as a surprise to some, but among those picketers were several UNCG alumni--including Brenda Lilly, television writer-producer and co-creator of the acclaimed series State of Grace. Currently living in Asheville, Lilly was the area strike coordinator for WGA-East. Before she was a strike leader, before she was a writer, Lilly was an actress, studying in UNCG’s Department of Drama and Speech.
“Theater is where I started,” Lilly says when asked how she found herself where she is now. After graduating from UNCG, she began acting in the community and eventually opened her own theater company in Greensboro, The ACT Company. After a few years she and her husband made the decision to move to Los Angeles where Lilly would pursue a career acting in sitcoms. To her disappointment, she found there were two ways to become a successful actress in Hollywood: you are either an “ingénue who becomes a leading lady,” or a “character actor who won’t act until you’re fifty.” The roles Lilly received were small parts, and she would spend the majority of her days sitting on set for hours waiting for her scene to come. “There was no craft involved,” she laments, saying she felt neither challenged nor fulfilled.
She continued to be active in the theater as a way to stay true to her art. Most theater in LA is done on an equity-waiver basis, meaning actors are not paid; the benefit for the actor is the chance to be discovered by a casting director. Having worked in for-profit theater for years, Lilly did not enjoy the prospect of stepping backwards and working for free. Lilly and her husband, inspired by their success in founding The ACT Company in Greensboro, created The Occasional Theatre in Los Angeles. Working solely with new plays and up-and-coming playwrights, the Lillys enjoyed success that culminated in a sixteen-week-long, sold-out run of Ed Simpson’s Elephant Sighs.
Lilly also took acting classes, and one of her instructors gave her advice Lilly would pass on to anyone who wants to work in any aspect of show business. “Never turn down a job” in film and television, “no matter the job. Whether it’s craft services, whether it’s props, whether it’s answering the phones, take the job because whatever you’re exposed to is going to be informative.” Lilly followed this suggestion and spent time working a variety of jobs in the business. Each job gave her a different and unique perspective on the way things are run in LA, and she learned something helpful in every task she undertook. These were also opportune times for her to read scripts and network with others. During her meander through production jobs, an executive at her production company asked Lilly what her ultimate goal was. It was at this moment she realized she had been happiest as a producer. To be a producer, he informed her, she needed to know how to write.
His assessment was completely accurate for television in which the executive producer of a show is also the head writer and typically the creator of the show. With the goal in mind of eventually developing her own show, Lilly began to write. As an actress, she had spent a great deal of time familiarizing herself with the flow of dialogue, the creation of character, and the structure of plot; and she had spent countless hours reading the great playwrights. These experiences and this knowledge made her introduction into the world of television writing much less frightening. “I thought, why not?” she says lightly. She wrote a few episodes of shows that were currently on-the-air (called “spec scripts”) and, in her words, “Got an agent. Got a job. Created a show. And along the way, I got to be a producer.”
Of course, the process was neither that simple nor that rapid. After the all-important step of getting an agent, Lilly quickly enforced her willingness to write anything. Having been typecast as the “average young mom” during her acting career, she wanted desperately to avoid that problem in her writing. As a result, she wrote fantasy (Xena: Warrior Princess), horror (Swamp Thing)—anything she could pitch and write. “Some of it was really awful,” she admits about several of the series for which she wrote. Here as with her production jobs, however, Lilly took advantage of every opportunity and learned something new with every new script. Working in writers’ rooms solidified her desire to create her own show. “My path there was to not turn down anything that would help me figure out what story I wanted to tell,” she says.
It wasn’t an easy path, and Lilly faced a multitude of obstacles as she searched for her story. During the inevitable periods of unemployment in the industry, she waited tables to keep herself afloat. The challenge, she says, was to work an eight-hour shift, then come home and spend another eight working on a script. On the bright side, in Los Angeles “you have so many opportunities to continually pursue your goals,” even when you aren’t working an industry job, Lilly says. Once inside the business, there are many other hurdles to stride. Nepotism is a persistent problem, though one she can understand to some degree: “It’s about having people around you that you trust.” Her tactic was always simply to accept it and move on. Don’t make enemies, she warns, because “people have long memories.”
After the cancellation of her show State of Grace, Lilly and her husband returned to North Carolina with the goal of producing theater in Asheville. “I still have a huge love for theater,” she says, and The Occasional Theater has transplanted from LA to Asheville along with the Lillys. Last year they produced Return of an Angel, Sandra Mason’s new play about the town of Asheville’s reactions to Thomas Wolfe’s book Look Homeward, Angel. Return of an Angel will run again this October, and Lilly hopes it will continue for many years to come. Lilly’s other current goal is to bring television and film to North Carolina. “I think there is a way to produce television locally for a national market that is viable, entertaining, lucrative, and infinitely more cost-effective than it is in Los Angeles,” she insists.
For up-and-coming writers and producers, Lilly’s strongest advice is to take advantage of every opportunity they are provided, especially during college. “Any education is a good thing. It prepared me in ways I didn’t even know it was preparing me,” she states frankly. “I learned to play well with others.” She also stresses the significance of fundamentals: spelling, grammar, neatness, “it’s all important.” While her Drama and Speech degree did not prepare Lilly for much of the work she now does, she sees her experience at UNCG as a foundation upon which she has built her “real education”: being in the business. Living in New York City or Los Angeles is “like a graduate course,” she says. “It’s a vicious game and often times a frustrating thing, but you’ll learn an immense amount.”
Lilly recommends that all film students at UNCG train cross-discipline: i.e., directors must act, writers must work on cinematography, and so on, so that each student, no matter their concentration, has an understanding for and appreciation of every aspect of filmmaking. Specifically for writers, Lilly advises reading screenplays, teleplays, and stage plays in order to familiarize oneself with structure, character development, and dialogue. She also stresses the ability to discern when your material is good and when it’s time to toss it and begin anew. Also of vital importance is the ability to receive constructive criticism well and act on it reasonably. Have friends read your script and give notes, she advises, particularly before submitting it to someone who has the power to hire you or not. Professionalism is key; submit your scripts in proper format with three hole punches and brads. If you are an actor, pay for headshots, don’t arrive with snapshots; directors must have a reel of footage in their portfolio.
When asked if she believes there is room in the field for more writer-producers, Lilly laughs. “There’s always room for creativity,” she says with assurance. Technological advances make it possible for anyone with a camera and an Internet connection to make his or her own show and upload it to YouTube for millions to view. Even traditional writer-directors are turning to new media as an outlet for their work. Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick (My So-Called Life) recently launched a show entitled Quarterlife on the Internet after the networks failed to pick it up. Due to its online success, the show has been purchased by NBC and will have its television debut on February 26th. “If you’re a creative person, you’re going to figure out creatively how to get it [your work] out there.” And if things get tough, “don’t talk yourself out of things,” she recommends. “Just talk yourself through things.” And if Lilly’s success is any indication as to the validity of that idea, it is advice well worth taking.
This case study was conducted in February 2008 by Tyler "Tai" Caldwell, a Media Writing major in the Media Studies Department. Her work was supported by a special grant from Dr. Timothy Johnston, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
These case studies were compiled and archived as part of the former BELL (Building Entrepreneuruial Learning for Life) Program's Entrepreneurial Innovation in the Arts (EIA) initiative to provide a library of examples of how artists in many different fields have achieved success. The cases were researched and written by UNCG students. ’re going to figure out creatively how to get it [your work] out there.” And if things get tough, “don’t talk yourself out of things,” she recommends. “Just talk yourself through things.” And if Lilly’s success is any indication as to the validity of that idea, it is advice well worth taking.