Ever heard of someone who didn’t live in L.A. or New York landing a staff TV writing gig? How about sight unseen, hired from a phone interview? Meet Mike Alber, who sold many pitches to a major network, wrote on a web series, and even landed a staff writing gig while not even living in the same state!
Mike & writing partner Gabe Snyder met in high school, and clicked right away. Despite going to different colleges in different cities, they wrote together constantly. Mike was on track to be a doctor, but after starting med school he realized that writing was his passion, so he switched his masters studies to creative writing.
Gabe moved to L.A. in 2006, but Mike continued his studies in Ohio. They placed in several screenplay competitions, but it was through an honorable mention at a trackingb.com contest that they got their first option. They were on the map! One relationship led to another, and soon they sold several pitches to Spike TV, worked on the web series Ultradome, signed for management and representation, and were taking meetings all over town.
Mike tells the amazing story of how his newborn daughter kept him away from L.A., yet he was able to land his first TV staff gig, on MTV’s Death Valley, with a phone call from the hospital waiting room! Mike finally did move to L.A. this year, and does advise that everyone else should move to L.A. first — his luck is not easy to repeat!
Mike and Gabe are idea machines, and Mike has great advice on how you can be one too!
Follow Mike on Twitter: @malber
Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.
Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.comor on Gray’s YouTube channel.
First published September 25, 2011.
095 - Michael Narducci (Showrunner of The Originals)
094 - Arika Lisanne Mittman (EP of Paradise Lost, Timeless)
093 - Sarah Watson (Creator of The Bold Type, Author of Most Likely)
092 - Bob Goodman (Creator of The Zeta Project, EP of Elementary)
091 – “How I Wrote That” Podcast Host Khanisha Foster (VIDEO)
090 – Touched By An Angel, A Prairie Home Companion Writer Ken LaZebnik (VIDEO)
089 – Kirby Buckets Co-Creator Mike Alber (VIDEO)
088 – Jimmy Kimmel Writer, 2nd Smartest in the World Rick Rosner (VIDEO)
087 – Hand of God Creator/Showrunner Ben Watkins (VIDEO)
086 – Automatic Pilot Author Bill Taub (VIDEO)
085 – San Diego Comic-Con Panel - How to Write a TV Pilot (VIDEO)
084 – Unseen Africa Pilot Producer/Host Francis Tapon (VIDEO)
083 – Bad Teacher Creator/Showrunner Hilary Winston (VIDEO)
082 – Caper Creator, Eureka Writer/Producer Amy Berg (VIDEO)
081 – Lost Co-Creator, Tuck Everlasting & Necessary Roughness Writer Jeffrey Lieber (VIDEO)
080 – UK Writers James Whitehouse & Hannah George (VIDEO)
079 – The Finder, The Good Guys Writer Aaron Ginsburg (VIDEO)
078 – The Client List Writer, Script Anatomy Consultant Tawnya Bhattacharya (VIDEO)
077 – Own Your Career – Sterling Anderson from Sterling Writers Group (VIDEO)
076 – Hemlock Grove, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville Writer/EP Mark Verheiden (VIDEO)
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