Episode 50: OnWriting Live – Eliza Hittman, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”

04/06/21 • 48 min

The WGAE Women’s Salon presents a series of four live recordings of OnWriting in honor of Women's History Month. In each episode, we’re speaking with women screenwriters whose latest projects center on women’s stories.

To wrap up the series, Geri speaks with Eliza Hittman, the writer and director of the acclaimed 2020 film NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS.

Eliza Hittman is an award-winning writer and director from Brooklyn, NY. She is the writer and director of the 2013 drama IT FELT LIKE LOVE and the 2017 drama BEACH RATS, the latter of which earned her the 2017 Director Award at Sundance Film Festival. She is also the recipient of the Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center and is a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow.

Her latest project is the drama film NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS. The film follows Autumn, a 17-year-old who, after learning that she’s pregnant but unable to get an abortion without her parents’ consent in her native Pennsylvania, embarks on a trip to New York City with her cousin Skylar in order to get an abortion there.

The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Award for Neo-Realism. It also won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. It is currently available to stream on HBO Max.

Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/

Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

To wrap up the series, Geri speaks with Eliza Hittman, the writer and director of the acclaimed 2020 film NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS.

Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/

Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Previous Episode

Episode 49: OnWriting Live – Jenny Lumet, "Clarice"

OnWriting presents the third in a series of four live recordings of OnWriting in honor of Women's History Month, presented by the WGAE Women's Salon. In each episode, we’re speaking with women screenwriters whose latest projects center on women’s stories.

For the third installment in the series, Geri speaks with Jenny Lumet, the co-creator and showrunner of the new CBS series CLARICE.

Jenny Lumet is a screenwriter and actress who is widely known for her screenplay for the acclaimed 2008 drama film RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, directed by the late, great Jonathan Demme. She is a writer-producer on STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, and is co-creator and showrunner of the forthcoming sci-fi series THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH.

Her latest project is CLARICE — the CBS crime procedural drama series co-created by Lumet and Alex Kurtzman, and for which Lumet serves as showrunner. CLARICE takes a deep dive into the untold personal story of FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Rebecca Breeds) as she returns to the field in 1993, one year after the events of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

Brilliant and vulnerable, Clarice's bravery gives her an inner light that draws monsters and madmen to her. However, her complex psychological makeup that comes from a challenging childhood empowers her to begin to find her voice while working in a man's world, as well as escape the family secrets that have haunted her throughout her life. The series premiered in February 2021 on CBS and is also available to stream on Paramount+.

Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/

Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Next Episode

Episode 51: Sierra Teller Ornelas and Mike Schur, "Rutherford Falls"

To kick things off for Season 9, Geri is joined by Sierra Teller Ornelas and Mike Schur, co-creators — along with Ed Helms — of the new Peacock sitcom RUTHERFORD FALLS, to discuss how the series tackles big issues around race and culture with an abundance of humor; how they built an inclusive and equitable writers' room; and how television, and the world, is better off when we learn from history.

Sierra Teller Ornelas is a Navajo and Mexican American writer, producer, and showrunner whose long list of past credits includes BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, SUPERSTORE, and SPLITTING UP TOGETHER.

Mike Schur is a writer, producer, and actor who is probably best known as the co-creator of PARKS AND RECREATION and BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, the creator of THE GOOD PLACE, as well as a writer on THE OFFICE and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE – among other things.

Their latest project is the sitcom RUTHERFORD FALLS. The series—which was co-created by Ornelas, Schur, and Ed Helms, and for which Ornelas is showrunner—follows Nathan Rutherford and Reagan Wells, two lifelong friends who find themselves at a crossroads, quite literally, when their sleepy town gets an unexpected wake-up call. The complete first season premiered on April 22 and is available to stream on Peacock.

Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/

Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast