Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1434261
WINTER 2021 25 O N T H E J O B MAX BEAUDRY BABY SHARK'S BIG SHOW! After a stint as a Production Intern on Nickelodeon's T.U.F.F. Puppy, followed by a work and travel abroad break, Beaudry landed back at the studio as a Production Assistant on Dora and Friends. Working on his own stories and keeping an eye out for opportunities, he joined Bunsen Is a Beast as a Script Coordinator, where he earned his first writing credit. After that came freelance projects until his first staff job on Muppet Babies in 2018. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR JOB? Being a staff writer is like being a pizza maker. I'm Italian, so just go with me here. We take a blob of dough (an idea), then we toss it around, spin it in the air, and slam it on the table (expand the idea), throw on the special toppings (specify the jokes and story points), then toss it in an oven and hope it comes out perfect (writing the script). Sometimes the customer says, "This pizza's delicious, but it could use more pepperoni and less basil (network notes)." So we change out a few ingredients (sometimes a lot), and we ultimately wind up with a pizza that everyone is happy ith the final script WHAT DOES YOUR WORK DAY LOOK LIKE? A typical day starts with a writers' touch base meeting in the morning. ur tory ditor ill chec in ith everyone to see where they are in the process of their respective episodes. The rotation usually works out so that someone is [working on the] premise, while others are on outlines and scripts. Wherever I fall in the rotation, that is what I'm working on that day. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF BEING A STAFF WRITER? I love that in this one arena, the writers' room, we are encouraged to pitch the weirdest, silliest, darkest, most action-packed ideas that float through our brains. I also really love seeing other writers' processes—it's comforting. When you only read someone's script, you don't get a true sense of the hurdles it took to get to the end. But when you're deep in the trenches with talented writers, you realize that they also start on a blank page and think, "Welp, here goes nothing..." DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ASPIRING STAFF WRITERS? Keep writing. Even I still get agita whenever I start a new script. But you just have do it. And don't judge yourself! Seriously. You absolutely need to be open to critique, but it's imperative to find the balance so that you write something that's true to you. TONS OF MEETINGS, PITCHING WILD IDEAS, AND HONING THEIR CRAFT—IT'S ALL IN A DAY'S WORK FOR THESE STAFF WRITERS ON ANIMATED TV SHOWS. WRITE ON!