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PODCAST

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV

Three White Guys

Emerging UK-based screenwriters Tray Epps, Martin F. Wong and Ben Robins chat, debate, moan and celebrate the emotional and financial rollercoaster that is trying to build a career as a working writer in the film and television industry. Alongside a revolving door of (much more successful) guests, they discuss everything from how to approach agents, to which writing competitions are worth applying to and everything inbetween, in a funny, down-to-earth and practical way. Join us on this journey - you

tv & film how to

All Episodes

40:08

Unwritten Rules: Which screenwriting rules can I break?

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/11/05

How many times have we been told not to direct on the page, or not write songs into our scripts? Don’t open with a dream, or someone waking up. Formatting is the be all and end all. But how many of these so called “rules” actually matter, and how many can we break without coming across as obnoxious?It's a fine line, so this episode's all about digging into those unwritten rules of screenwriting: where they come from, why they exist, and when it’s okay (or even smart) to ignore them completely. We

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57:03

Image: How should I present myself in public and...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/10/29

As emerging writers, we spend so much time working on how to present our scripts, we don't always think about the other (sometimes even more important bit), how do we present ourselves?So let's talk image - everything from our writer bios and CVs, to how we dress, and how we come across in person, in meetings and at networking events. If someone's only meeting you for 10 minutes, what image of you do you want them to come away with? We also dig into what makes a good writer bio (and what doesn’t -

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41:21

Burnout: How do I deal with feeling burnt out and...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/10/21

Burnout is real, it's a sexy word right now, millenials everywhere seem to be suffering from it *constantly*. And we’ve all hit that point, when you want to write, but your brain and body just say "curl up in a ball and give up on the world". So let's talk about it, what burnout looks like, why it creeps up on us, and how we can find a way through it without completely grinding to a halt.As emerging writers, that feeling that we have to be working all the time is all too real. Whether that's

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41:41

Course Correcting: How do I write with the long term...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/10/14

With the 4Screenwriting deadline well and truly vanquished, this week we're asking ourselves not only "what's next?" but more importantly, "what are we even doing with our lives/careers?" We're zooming out and looking at the bigger picture, setting goals, both short term and long term. It can be so easy as emerging writers to just move from scheme to scheme on autopilot, chasing the opportunities dangled right in front of us. But sometimes we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture -

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54:43

Productivity: How do I stay productive when life...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/10/07

Staying focussed as a writer is hard, especially when you're single-parenting, or coming up against a lot of pressure from your money job. So how do we deal with these short term disruptions, and not let them totally throw us off pace? Falling off the productivity wagon can be a big loss for writers, and getting back on is easier said than done.So here's an episode for anyone who, like Tray, has had a bit of a week of it. Especially as deadline season refuses to slow down, sometimes even making the

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32:57

Comparison: What if my script is similar to another...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/09/30

We've all been there, you spend months and months refining the perfect idea into a (passable) screenplay, only for some hotshot Hollywood type to release a Netflix show using almost the exact same concept. So what happens next? Do we throw it all out and start again? Or do we rest assured that our voice is strong and different enough that the world can have multiple takes on the same basic plot?Naturally these are the things bothering us most as we approach the final few weeks before the

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39:54

Confidence: How do we learn to enjoy our own writing?...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/09/23

Being confident is such an important part of being a writer, but most of us will struggle to say a nice thing about a script we're currently working on. So how do we find that inner confidence and back our own work? How many times have you read or re-read one of your own scripts and in that moment, actually been your own favourite writer for a change?All this and more, as the deadline gets closer and we crack on with our drafts, keep each other productive and accountable, and try to enjoy and

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34:32

Starting Over: When is it okay to recycle an old...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/09/16

As deadline season approaches, we're kicking off a new run of (slightly) shorter episodes focussing on productivity, accountability and the brass tacks of actually getting down to writing, as opposed to just talking about it. So what does one week into our new productivity goals look like? What excuses are we making for ourselves already?Within this week's more relaxed chat, there's a whole bunch of helpful (and hopefully inspiring) little tidbits about burnout and writing too much too fast, as well

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41:42

Keeping Track: How do I stay on top of my writing goals?

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/09/09

If it's one thing a lot of writers aren't great at, it's keeping track of their progress and setting realistic writing goals. It's a fickle process - we've lost count of the amount of times we've failed to deliver on a personal target. So let's talk about it - not just how to set realistic goals, but how to hold yourself (and others) to account for the work we say we're going to do.And with both the new school year and deadline season rapidly approaching (say hello to that annual 4Screenwriting

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55:57

(Not) Giving Up: When should I give up? (on a script,...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/09/02

It's one of the hardest questions in writing - when is it time to give up? On a script, on an agent, or even on writing altogether? None of us are about to throw in the towel completely, but it's a punishing business filled with rejection; the question's bound to pop up every now and then. Or in Tray's case, weekly apparently. When is quitting okay? When do we know it's time to walk away from a script (at least for now)? When do we know something's just not going to happen? At what point does our

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21:55

BONUS: What happened at the Edinburgh TV Festival?

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/08/28

A special little bonus this week - fresh from a 4 day trip to Edinburgh, Martin breaks down his main industry takeaways from the Edinburgh TV Festival. Including some sneaky little tidpits, some thoughts on diversity and a real first, a panel focussing on ESEA (East and South East Asian) lead stories. 📬 Get In Touch:Email us: TheEmergingPodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Instagram: @theemergingpodBen is @bmlrobinsMartin is @bananabreadfilmTray is @ByTrayepps✨ Support the Show:If you enjoyed the episode,

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42:24

Festivals: How do I get the most out of going to a...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/08/26

As festival season well and truly kicks off with the Edinburgh TV Fest, we're looking at all the many different kinds of events, both big and small, and our top tips for getting the most out of the entry fee. Whether that's how you plan your time around the festival programme, the appeal of attending an industry focussed event (like Edinburgh) and why sometimes, going to a more local short film fest might actually serve your career better. Naturally this episode pairs really well with our chat about

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1:13:23

Rewriting: How do I redraft effectively? (feat. Mike...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/08/19

If writing is hard, rewriting can be even harder - especially if you're working on someone else's draft. But we're in luck, as this week we're joined by our first ever returning guest, fountain of industry knowledge Mr Mike Powell. A successful working screenwriter, Mike helps us understand the ins and outs of not only the most effective way to redraft your own work, but what it's like when you're brought in as a professional to redraft someone else's too.As usual with Mike, there's *a lot* of other

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1:09:23

Learning: What's the best way to learn how to write?...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/08/12

Whether it's just studying screenplays you stole off the internet, or writing your own one man show, or even being taught how to write by the pros at Harvard, there's no one right way to learn the craft - and our guest this week would know, because he's done literally all of those things.The sensationally lovely Thomas Burr is a writer, actor, dear friend and Harvard graduate (despite being from the Welsh valleys!) with an unbelievable amount of learning experiences under his belt for someone so

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51:01

Networking: How do I work a room meaningfully? (and...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/08/05

Networking networking networking, all everyone ever talks about is networking. Everyone hates it, it can be pretty scary if you're not partiuclarly social, but it's very much the life blood of making it in this industry. So learning how to make it work for you is one of the most important skills you can build as a writer.And you're in luck - in this very advice heavy episode, we're pulling together all of our (and some of our guest's) top tips on the best ways to work the room and meet people/build

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48:01

Community: How do we find "our people"? (and what if...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/07/29

Trying to 'emerge' as a writer is tough enough, sometimes you just need a shoulder to cry on or a bit of lasting encouragement to just keep going, so having a community of supportive, likeminded people around you is fairly vital. But communities don't just *happen* - how do we find our "tribe"? And why does it always feel so awkward? Especially for those of us who aren't the most confident socially, it can be a pretty daunting prospect. Join us for a very sincere and open chat about putting

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46:53

Research: How much should we do before writing? (and...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/07/22

Research is both the ultimate procrastination tool, and the holy grail for making your characters and your worlds feel lived in and three-dimensional. So how much is enough? And what does meaningful research even look like anyway? Are we writing endless bulletpoints, watching stacks of movies, making stupid collages, or just cramming it into our brains in the hope that it'll all just sort of work itself into the script in the end? It's safe to say we all have our different methods, so please do let

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42:14

Business: Why is so much of my writing time spent not...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/07/15

One of the hardest truths about making it as a writer is that so much of your time will not actually be spent writing scripts. There's networking, building and maintaining relationships with helpful people, writing those dreaded applications and pitch documents, and obviously all the actual business stuff too - accounts, invoices, taxes...It can be a scary leap if you've never been a freelancer before, so this episode is all about demystifying that administrative balancing act. How much time we

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1:04:52

Rejection: How do we deal with it? (and can we ever...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/07/08

It doesn't matter who you are or what level you're at, the film and TV industry feels like it's built on rejection. Every single one of us will experience it many many times. And it sucks. It hurts. It can make you question your work and your talent and your place in the world. But it's part of the process.So with that in mind, how do we deal with the constant kick-backs? Does it ever get easier, and is there a way to turn it into something positive?Consider this episode a safe space to have a good

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49:57

Racism: When and how can we talk about racism in the...

Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV ·

2025/07/01

After mentioning it in almost every episode to date, this week we finally talk openly about racism and diversity in the film and TV industry - from the uncomfortable truths everyone knows but rarely says out loud, to the internal battles we face as emerging writers navigating it all.We actually sat down to talk about rejection (more on that next week) so this one's a little more free-form than normal, but we do pick at a lot of ongoing worries. Particularly that tension between knowing the system is

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