On The Writers Block - Podcast

On The Writers Block - Rae Benjamin

Rae Benjamin, writer on Netflix’s The Witcher and co-writer and co-executive producer of The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, pulls up a chair. She opens up about her leap from graphic design to screenwriting, breaking story in a beloved fantasy world, and what it takes to thrive in a writers’ room. Plus, why she founded In The Cut to bridge Hollywood’s knowledge gap, especially for BIPOC creators, and how it grew into a global community of 12,000+ artists. Real talk for every writer still figuring it out.

For more about our guest Rae Benjamin, visit: www.inthecutla.org

Email: info@inthecutla.org TikTok: @inthecutla1 Instagram: @inthecutla

On The Writers Block - Paynudeh Allen

Paynudeh Allen got her start in the mailroom. From there, the Liberian-American comedy writer from Maryland worked her way through rooms like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Surfside Girls, wrote a freelance episode of Be@rbrick, and landed a staff writer spot at Nickelodeon. She joins Megan to talk about the climb from support staff, what programs like TRIBE really give you, and her lane: the delightfully mundane and truly weird lives of Black women. Real talk for every writer still figuring it out.

For more about our guest Paynudeh Allen

Instagram: @pkaresse

On The Writers Block - Caroline Renard

Caroline Renard went from pre-law at FSU to story editor on Disney+’s Secrets of Sulphur Springs, then stepped behind the camera. Her directorial debut, Unbraided, premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and won Best Comedic Short at the 2024 Micheaux Film Festival. The first-generation Haitian-American writer-director joins Megan to talk about the leap from writing to directing, turning a canceled braiding appointment into a story about Black women and their hair, and building a cast and crew that looks like the story. Real talk for every writer still figuring it out.

For more about our guest Caroline Renard, visit: www.caroline-renard.com TikTok: @caroline_renard Instagram: @caroline_renard