How Experience Pays Off

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Experience pays off.

Experience is why some freelance writers command higher rates than others. It also helps us make things happen.

Last week I saw a flurry of social media posts about a surprise prequel episode of The Bear dropping on FX on Hulu. Then I learned the episode, “Gary,” was co-written by co-stars Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who play Mikey and Richie, respectively. As a longtime contributor to the Television Academy’s Emmy magazine and website, I knew this episode was released near the end of the current Emmy eligibility period—ending May 31—while the new season of The Bear won’t be out until the end of June.

Gary — (Streams on Hulu) Pictured: (l-r) Jon Bernthal as Michael Berzatto, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard “Richie” Jerimovich. CR: FX

I also knew other media outlets would be all over this episode—I’d already seen some click-bait “articles” citing social media posts about it—so I queried my Emmy editors with a different angle: How did the actors go about co-writing the episode?

Well-timed experience

The editors loved the idea, but we knew it was a long shot since the show’s publicists rarely allow exclusive interviews with cast or crew. I contacted the publicity team anyway, hoping they’d make an exception, particularly since we’re in the midst of For Your Consideration [FYC] season. One of the publicists asked me to call her. Turns out they were about to announce a small virtual press junket for Bernthal and Moss-Bachrach to do a limited number of joint interviews about “Gary.”

We wanted 15-20 minutes, but the junket was planned around 10-minute Zoom interviews. The publicist reminded her colleagues that Emmy was offering the kind of placement they wanted, and miraculously enough they carved out a little more time. They scheduled me for 14 minutes, but the actual interview ran longer because no one wants to cut an actor off mid-sentence.

Knowing there was a limited number of interview slots, less experienced writers might have backed down. They might not have known about the FYC calendar. They might not realize getting an article placed during FYC season can be a PR coup because it’s when Emmy nominations are being decided.

While other outlets might focus on how the new episode fits into The Bear‘s cannon, or how the actors kept the episode a secret, my experience convinced me to focus on their writing collaboration and process. The publicist said the guys would probably enjoy talking about the writing.

Practical experience

My experience at interviewing celebrities kept me calm, relaxed, and focused. Interviewers with less experience might get tongue tied or fawn over actors. My editor wanted a Q&A, so I wrote several questions ahead of time. Knowing our time was limited, I opened the interview by thanking them for speaking with me. I also apologized if the interview felt like a pop quiz, but we had a lot to cover in a few minutes. The interview went extremely well, and the publicist followed up to say I’d asked great questions.

My experience in formatting and editing Q&As paid off, too. I quickly trimmed the lengthy interview transcrip down to about 1400 words and added a brief introduction. Here’s the final result.

In the end, my experience literally paid off when my editor told me to invoice for more than our agreed upon rate. Why?  Because it was good and I turned it around so quickly. What helped me do that? Experience.

If you need a freelance writer experienced in generating article ideas, securing and conducting interviews, and turning in clean copy, contact me.

Paula Hendrickson
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