~Jenna Busch, Legion of Leia
I met Amy Berg a number of years ago when she was a guest on my Eureka after show on AfterBuzzTV. I thought we were just going to have a guest, but Amy ended up being one of the coolest, most talented women out there! She’s a writer and producer, and she’s behind some of your favorite shows, including Eureka, Person of Interest, Leverage, The 4400, the amazing web series Caper on YouTube and Geek & Sundry and now Da Vinci’s Demons. She’s also been a guest on Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop (which I’ve included below). Check out what she has to say about women in the industry, her incredible way she got herself noticed and what she’s got coming up.
Legion of Leia: You told a great story at the Atlanta TV Fest about a spec script you wrote for Joss Whedon. Can you retell it here and talk about how you got into the business?
Amy Berg: About three months after moving to Los Angeles, when I was working as an assistant on the Nickelodeon show All That, a friend and I wrote a spec for Buffy. Being a naïve 22-year-old, I didn’t even know what a spec was at the time. All I knew what that I loved the show and thought I should be writing it. My intention was to just send it to Joss Whedon’s office, but the writers on the Nickelodeon show explained that he couldn’t read my spec for legal reasons. They also explained that I was nuts… it’s not that easy to get read by anyone, let alone Joss.
Although naïve, I was also determined, so I wrote a one-act play to send him instead. It featured Joss and the Buffy actors as characters sharing stories of my epic awesomeness. I had the prop guys on All That whittle some vampire stakes and I tossed those in a box along with the play and sent it off to Joss Whedon’s office. Two days later his office called to say they wanted to meet. So there I was, a few months out of school, sitting the Buffy writers room pitching ideas.
Although I didn’t end up getting the job (it went to one of the uber-talented Drews, thankfully), it did get the attention of my bosses at Nickelodeon. They asked me to pitch All That ideas, which I did. They bought a few and then brought me on staff. I’ve been writing professionally ever since. Mad love to showrunners Kevin Kopelow & Heath Seifert, who gave me my break and put up with all my insanity. Best. Humans. Ever.
Legion of Leia: You worked on one of my all-time favorite shows, Eureka, which seemed (unlike many other shows) to have a great mix of “strong,” by which I mean well-written and fully fleshed out female and male characters. Can you talk about what it means to write a “strong female character” and why this seems to be so difficult for so many shows and films?
Amy Berg: I’m not sure I really know what it means to write strong female characters. I write human beings. Once they’re fleshed out, I let them tell me what gender they are. It’s not something I consciously consider when I set out to write something.
On a base level, I suppose writing strong women means that they’re not defined by their male counterparts… a.k.a. they have their own identity and their own goals. And it means giving them a spine, which then often gets confused for bitchiness. It’s the same problem women in positions of power have in real life, when we’re labeled bossy for having opinions or showing strength of any kind. It’s annoying, and it can make creators a little gun-shy about showcasing women who kick ass. The other issue is that, particularly in genre entertainment, those who make decisions to greenlight projects are under the misguided impression that women don’t like science fiction. I’m hoping the 45% female audience opening weekend for Guardians of the Galaxy will change that. Turns out, chicks were just waiting for a good genre film to go see. Captain America: Winter Soldier was also a great indicator of things to come.
For me, it’s about making sure all your characters feel layered… that there’s more going on than what’s on the surface. What’s their internal struggle? What do they want, why do they want it, and what’s stopping them from getting it?
Legion of Leia: You’re working on Da Vinci’s Demons now. How has the experience been and what’s it like in the writers’ room?
Amy Berg: It’s been a wonderful experience. John Shiban is the new showrunner. I’m the Riker to his Picard. It’s an entirely new writing staff for season three and we’re looking to take the show in a creative new direction. We were a little hamstrung by where season two left off so we’re having to build things slowly, but we’re all really proud of where it’s headed. Season three is going to be an epic thrill ride with a lot of character-rich goodness. Our writing staff consists of Jesse Alexander, Liz Sagal, Will Pascoe, Jennifer Yale, and wonder twins Kevin and Matt McManus. They’re fabulous! It’s a great gig with an incredibly supportive network and studio behind us.
Legion of Leia: What does it mean to be a part of an amazing group of women in the genre?
Amy Berg: I love it. The genre is incredibly accepting, particularly on the television side. Hopefully things are headed that direction on the feature side as well and that women like Nicole Perlman (co-writer of Guardians of the Galaxy) continue to find success. The talent is obviously there, but opportunities are still difficult to come by in movies. It’s why I have such love for genre television. Female creators have a better shot at getting their voices heard.
Legion of Leia: What advice do you have for young women trying to make it in the industry?
Amy Berg: Honestly, it’s the same three pieces of advice I have for everyone. Work harder than the next person, never think you’re too good to fetch coffee, and above all… be kind. The last one speaks for itself, I think. Industry jobs are stressful as hell and those of us in a position to hire prefer to surround ourselves with folks who aren’t going to add to the drama. Hard work will always be what gets you noticed first. It doesn’t matter how much talent you possess if you haven’t put yourself in a position to deliver.
When you’re just starting out, no one cares what you’ve done before the moment you step in the door on your first day. You may have directed the best short film in the history of ever and won every festival award there is, but the simple fact is… no one is going to give a shit. I’d been writing on TV shows for five years before anyone asked where I went to college. Or even if I went to college. And no one has ever asked to watched a short film I’ve directed. So, yeah, be great at coffee and copiers. Build from there.
As a woman, I do think it’s important to make your own opportunities rather than wait for opportunities to come to you. I’m incredibly proud of friends like Felicia Day who blazed new roads for women creators. These days there are a lot of ways to showcase your talent outside of your day job. Take advantage of them.
Legion of Leia: What new projects do you have coming up?
Amy Berg: Aside from season three of Da Vinci’s Demons, I have a movie project that I’m very excited about. It’s female-driven, based on a true story. I’d say more if I could, but I can’t. I’m just hoping I don’t screw it up.
My digital series Caper is available on Hulu and YouTube. It’s a comedy about the alter egos of a team of superheroes who turn to a life of crime to make ends meet. It stars Abby Miller (Justified), Beth Riesgraf (Leverage), Harry Shum, Jr. (Glee), Hartley Sawyer (Glory Daze), and Joel Gretsch (The 4400) with guest appearances from Scott Bakula, Colin Ferguson, James Callis, Helen Slater, and many more. I’m incredibly proud of it.
I’m also developing a pilot with BBC Worldwide that is potentially quite awesome. It’s based on a book property, but I can’t go into details yet.
Follow Amy on Twitter at @bergopolis, and watch her episodes of Tabletop and AfterBuzz TV’s Eureka after show below.
Check out more geeky goodness from Legion of Leia on their website! Follow Legion of Leia on twitter, here and Jenna Busch, here!
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