At what age did you know you wanted to work in film and television, and what led you to it?

I had a feeling that I wanted to entertain fairly young. In Grade 6, when we did public speaking, I wrote a funny speech and was chosen to do my speech in the gym in front of the whole school. Making a gym full of people laugh felt good. From that time on it kind of sat in the back of my head as a dream. Not a realistic one, but dreams don’t start off realistic.

What was the first film/show you saw as a child that inspired or captivated you?

There are two films that are kind of the core of my creative origin story. The Muppet Movie and Blazing Saddles.

How did you get your start in the industry?

My first real taste of the industry was doing a high school play. I had a small part in Dracula. The following year I had a small part in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Those productions gave me enough confidence to take theatre in university and I did a lot of it at Queen’s. Acting, directing, crew, everything except writing at this point. I got my first professional theatre gig in 1999 as an actor at Weston Playhouse in Vermont. That was when I realized that my dream could become a career, and I started focusing on it differently.

Fast forward to 2005. I’m in LA and I write and direct a play that gets a little local attention. One of my friends introduced me to his literary manager. She held a writing workshop every Saturday for TV comedy scripts. I joined that workshop with an Arrested Development spec script. After a couple of weeks in the workshop, Sheree Guitar picked me up as a client. From that moment I hyper-focused on TV comedy writing and wrote five more samples in about 15 months. I had two specs and three original pilots. Sheree got me into some great rooms and great programs which led to me securing a job writing on the fourth season of The Office. That was my first professional TV writing job. Thankfully not my last.

What’s the highlight of your career so far or the thing you’re most proud of?

This is hard because I have had a lot of amazing moments so far. Cool TV shows, very nice awards etc. I guess it’s cheesy, but the thing I’m most proud of is my reputation for opening doors for diverse creatives. I like that people feel comfortable reaching out to me to ask questions or get advice. I’m usually behind on my emails, but I try to make sure I get back to people when I can.

A showrunner is involved in every aspect of a show’s production. What’s the biggest thing you learned as a showrunner that you take with you?

There’s a lot to learn about showrunning. That’s why my Showrunner Bootcamp course consists of eight three-hour sessions, and I feel like that still only scratches the surface. I think one of the biggest things to remember is that the vibe on set comes from the showrunner. So, if you want a good vibe on set, you have to put good vibes out there. Speak up for yourself and for your crew. Say good morning, learn names, get scripts in early to allow people to prep… It’s a lot of responsibility and it’s a very difficult job, but you can get so much out of it if you put the work in.

As a Black man in this industry, how did you learn to navigate it on your own terms and forge your own path?

That part takes a lot of trials and tribulations. When you’re starting out, you’re happy to just be a part of the process so you do your best not to make waves. It’s not until you get more experienced that you feel comfortable speaking up. For me, in my writing rooms and on my sets, I make sure everyone knows that they have the right to speak up when they see something that doesn’t sit well with them. It doesn’t matter what level they’re at or what their job is on the series. I hope that fostering an open environment helps the future showrunners on my staff to do the same when they have their own shows. That’s the way to make real change, in my opinion. Lead by example, and lift as many people up as you can so they can also lead by example and uplift others. It’ll take time, but that’s a real way to make change in this industry.