Tian Jun Gu (House of Cards) discusses his journey from screenwriting student to working as staff writer on a hit Netflix series.
We Talk About:
- Moving to LA, and then, to Brooklyn, NY for House of Cards
- What it was like to assist a successful showrunner
- The writer’s room, breaking story and learning on the job
- How to map out a season of conflict and character arcs
- Working on personal projects during a hiatus
- Creating more opportunities for diversity on-screen
Quotes from the Show:
“Nothing really prepares you for a writer’s room.”
“What’s the craziest conflict we can see for these two characters in a given setting? What do we really love that we want to see in this season? (In the room,) sometimes we go broader like that.”
“You can’t just have one idea (in the room). You have to be ready with alternates to your idea or slight adjustments to help make it work.”