Kellie Griffin: A Week with TV Comedy Writers

Kellie Griffin has a great laugh and a thing for dog parks.  Kellie is also a comedy writer. In the business for nine years, she has worked on The Parkers and recently as head writer on House of Payne, but don’t hold that against her.

Kellie’s newest project, a half hour, multi camera sitcom, based on a real life experience, is one that puts her in the “creator” seat. I can’t exactly tell you what the show is about because I’ve signed a confidentiality agreement and I am not in the mood to be sued. But after spending a week with Kellie and her team of writers, I can tell you the story is funny, clever, and takes a lot of smart folks to pull off.

Kellie was gracious enough to let me sit in on a few writing sessions as she raced toward a deadline to complete five new scripts for her executive producer.

Anatomy of a Writers Room

First, let me say that comedy writing is an endurance sport. By the end of a long day you are wrung out and punch drunk. Kellie and her team of five writers spend a minimum of six hours hammering out storylines, punch lines, and logic issues. As head writer/creator, she is the captain of the ship and responsible for encouraging fresh ideas, positive energy, and producing a finished product.

Generally each writer is assigned a script after the team has decided on each story and beat out all the scenes that should appear in the outline. Once the assigned writer has written the script it is brought back into the writer’s room and the staff deconstructs each scene and assist in rewriting.

Kellie says that new writers who are exposed to this team approach can struggle during this rewrite free-for-all.  But she encourages them to trust the process and know that the team is only trying to create the best possible story. Because it is a collaborative process involving writers, studio, network heads, and actors sometimes it is not the same script that you submitted — so don’t be sensitive. Besides in the end only your name will appear on the final product.

When Kellie starts pulling together a stellar team diversity is imperative. Of first order is bringing together folks who will gel. When you are spending that much time together it is best that the right personalities share the same space. It is also important to have writers from various walks of life: married, single, film school graduates, self taught, Black, Asian, men, women. Head writers are also striving for balance when it comes to funny and finesse. Pairing writers who can fire off a joke every thirty seconds with writers who can track down the right flow to the story makes for good television. 

Once you get everyone into the writers room, there are do’s and don’ts. Pitching (suggesting an idea for the script) is encouraged while trying to dominate the entire process is not.  Be on time and stay off your cell phone. Be respectful of other writers’ work and don’t take yourself too seriously. It is all about creating a fun and productive space.