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Published by Sam Ernst, Jim Dunn, JR Zamora-Thal
TV Writers Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn invite aspiring screenwriters into their writers’ room and give them writing tips to develop their screenplays and TV pilots. Discussions include script notes, screenwriting tools, Hollywood career advice, and tips on navigating the entertainment industry. Sam and Jim’s credits include HAVEN on SYFY, Marvel’s DAREDEVIL, and CARNIVAL ROW on Amazon Prime. Producer J.R. Zamora-Thal and Co-Producer Meagan Daine also talk about their experiences on TV writing staffs and add commentary on today’s issues facing Hollywood, including women and Latinos in entertainment.
On the charts
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From the feed
The latest episodes published to this podcast’s own RSS feed. Titles and descriptions are the publisher’s.
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Mark into the room and together they work on his indie-feature, tentatively titled "1001". Join us in the room for a discussion on using emotion to drive your pitch, choosing which facets of your story to shine a light on, and staying on theme while breaking story. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Tim into the writers room, and together they work on his father, son, and granddaughter love story, tentatively titled "Gaddy". Join us for a discussion on utilizing a chronic problem to drive story, ending your pilot on a question for maximum punch, and the great writing that comes out of the difficulties of raising children. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text J.R. and Meagan take over the room in this very special season ending episode of The Writers Room with Sam and Jim. Join us in the room for all the best tips, tools, and advice that Sam and Jim have given over the first year of The Writers Room. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Kevin Ramlal into the room, and together they work on his Boy Scout murder mystery, tentatively titled "On My Honor". Join us in the room for a discussion on creating emotional arcs, making readers care about the protagonist's journey, and ending a pilot before the protagonist learns too much. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Macenzie back into the room to work on a scene from her hour long drama pilot, tentatively titled "Sins". Join us in the room for a discussion on making sure emotion makes it on to the page, allowing characters to communicate verbally and non-verbally, and knowing what each character wants in any given scene. If you'd like to follow along, you can download Macenzie's scene from our website: https://www.writersroompodcast.com/guests Check out her previous episode, Episode 17 - There is No Series, So Stuff the Pilot with Macenzie Rebelo Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Shawn into the room, and together they work on his supernatural courtroom drama, tentatively titled "The Wolvener of Los Angeles". Join us in the room for a discussion on creating great scenes that force a reader to keep reading, creating an emotional spine that structures your story, and the dirty details of being a script coordinator. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Casey into the room, and together they work on her dramedy about Greek gods in a modern world, tentatively titled "Gods' Complex". Join us for a discussion about how to write through writer's block, pitching scenes in order to understand characters, and creating emotional turns that give plot its punch. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Teng Ky-Gan into the room and together they work on his historical limited series about the Dalai Lama, tentatively titled "The Fourteenth". Join us in the room for a discussion about creating dramatic drive for a character who is seemingly flawless, choosing an interesting slice of life for a biographical story, and creating dramatic questions to build a story around. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Claire into the room and together they work on her mall comedy, tentatively titled "Forever 21 Forever". Join us for a discussion on grounding your script in what you want to say about the world, creating simple characters who can drive a story, and making sure your show doesn't lose it's engine. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Marc into the room and together they work on his as of yet untitled comedy about an investment banker turned caddy after a fall from grace. Join us in the room for a discussion about shedding nuance on a first draft, creating a comedic character with a dramatic drive, and creating laughter to make the world a better place. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite their friend Tania Lotia into the room. Together they talk about hard won room skills and then they break an original idea, submitted to us by Steve Holbert. More about Tania Lotia: Tania Lotia is a Los Angeles-based television writer who grew up in Karachi, Pakistan. After graduating from UCLA, she attended law school where she interviewed for the CIA. Then, she opted for a more creative path. Tania is a graduate of the CAPE New Writers Fellowship and the Fox Writers Lab. Her script DJINN was featured on the 2017 WeForShe list of top pilot scripts written by women. Currently, she is a writer and supervising producer on Netflix’s THE WITCHER. Previously, she wrote on WITCHER: BLOOD ORIGIN (Netflix), CARNIVAL ROW (Legendary/Amazon), Stephen King’s THE DARK TOWER TV series adaptation (Media Rights Capital/Amazon), SWAMP THING (Atomic Monster/WBTV), and TRIBES (Sony), and a couple other projects she’s not allowed to talk about... Tania is the current co-chair of the Asian American Writers Committee of the WGA West. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Nate into the room and together they work on his high school comedy, tentatively titled, "Specialists". Join us in the room for a discussion of creating deep characters that serve the story, writing kids in a way that feels true to adolescence, and creating strong internal drives. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Sarah and Paula into the room, and together they work on their high-school comedy feature, tentatively titled, "Maggie and Lenny Go to Nationals". Join us in the room for a discussion on using character to pitch scenes, creating compelling and useful backstories, and working with a writing partner. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text In this Scene Study episode, Sam and Jim invite Zach Freshley and J Hunter Richardson back in to the room to read and rework scenes from their pilots. If you'd like to follow along, you can download the scenes from our website! Scenes can be found by clicking the Guests tab. In our first segment, we read the opening to "Under Investigation", a light drama about a private investigator who's wife suddenly reappears years after going missing. Sam and Jim work with Zach to bring out the character of his protagonist in the first scene of his pilot. In our second segment, we read the opening to "Punx Not Dead", J Hunter Richardson's pilot about a punk rock medium trying to make a living in the valley. Sam and Jim work with J to create connective tissue in order to create a series of scenes that build as well as establish his characters and world. Special thanks to Meagan Daine for helping out as a voice actor! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Doris McGill into the room, and together they work on her comedy about finding your place and fitting in, tentatively titled "Baby Gay". Join us in the room for a discussion on crafting scenes that serve the core story, establishing the engine of the show in the first scene, and creating a logline that makes readers ask for more. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Jerry Landry into the room and together they work on his semi-dystopian comedy, tentatively titled "Dust Country". Join us in the room for a discussion about how to build layers on to a character with each scene, making sure that each scene has a turn and gives the reader new information, and creating memorable antagonists. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Claire Nauman into the room, and together they work on her "Love Interest of the Week" dramedy procedural, tentatively titled "Love Is...". Join us in the room for a discussion about making your characters essential to the story, crafting the central relationship so that it drives story, and sustaining a season long arc in a procedural. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Campy Draper into the room and together they work on his supernatural dramedy about a true crime podcaster investigating a small town disappearance, tentatively titled "The Seacouver Mysteries". Join us in the room for a discussion on how to help yourself in the future by starting with an intense and personal drive for your main character, expressing comedy through characters and situation, and intertwining a character's internal and external goals. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text In our first ever Scene Study episode, Sam and Jim invite Annette DeLorean and Kat Boyd back in to the room to read and rework scenes from their pilots. If you'd like to follow along, you can download the scenes from our website! Scenes can be found by clicking the Guests tab. In our first segment, we read the opening to "Horsehair", Annette DeLorean's animated comedy pilot about a teen girl turned Christian Metal singer. Sam and Jim work with Annette to add clarity and emotion to her action lines. In our second segment, we read the opening to "The D", Kat Boyd's cop drama about a veteran come home to clean up his hometown of Detroit. Sam and Jim work with Kat to give more punch to her protagonist set up. Special thanks to Meagan Daine for helping out as a voice actor! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Send a text Sam and Jim invite Yasmin Asif into the room and together they work on her feature about the price of ambition and a box of cookies, tentatively titled "Cookie Cutters". Join us in the room for a discussion about race and identity, creating characters that are grounded in their backstory, streamlining the plot of a feature, and using different characters to explore multiple facets of a theme. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @thesamandjim Producer: J.R. Zamora-Thal Logo Design: Julien Debar-Monclair, @jude.orange Music: Buddha Rays, @buddharays
Ranking source
Apple Podcasts rankings via the Mato Topic Intelligence Platform.
Observed September 20, 2026.
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