Before becoming a screenwriter and TV writer on HBO’s Succession, Jamie Carragher was a high school teacher turned graduate arts journalism student at USC Annenberg where he met Paola Mardo, then an aspiring film critic and podcast producer, now head of audio at Proximity Media, producer/executive producer of In Proximity, and host/creator of Long Distance, a narrative podcast and short documentary series about stories in the Filipino diaspora. On this episode, Jamie and Paola discuss navigating unorthodox creative careers including attending journalism school (2:59 ), how Jamie’s sole Hollywood connection led to a writer’s assistant job (8:14 ), how and why Paola created the podcast Long Distance (10:47 ), Jamie’s role as Succession writer’s assistant (16:29 ) then staff writer and story editor (20:23 ), and their Prox Recs (24:20 ). Learn more and read the transcript of this conversation at ProximityMedia.com.

NOTE: This episode features a conversation about television writing. We at Proximity Media want to acknowledge that the Writers Guild of America, the labor union representing writers of motion pictures, television, radio, and internet programming, is currently on strike. Our company works closely with writers and we have writers in the company as well. So we stand in solidarity with the WGA and support all writers – and workers – in getting fair treatment and pay. Thanks for listening to In Proximity. – Paola Mardo, Proximity Media Head of Audio and In Proximity Producer/Executive Producer

Learn more, get links to projects discussed, and read the transcript of this conversation at ProximityMedia.com.

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CREDITS:

In Proximity is a production of Proximity Media.

Producer: Paola Mardo

Executive Producers: Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Paola Mardo

Theme Song and Additional Music: Ludwig Göransson

Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Ken Nana

Episode Editor: Cedric Wilson

Production Assistant: Polina Cherezova