To kick off the New Voices Interview Series, we asked our 2021-2022 New Voices fellows to share about their writing process, their experience with mentorship, and what inspires them to change the world, one story at a time. This interview is with Fellow Brian Stampnitsky.

Humanitas: What was the first script that had a profound impact on you?

Brian Stampnitsky: Growing up, I devoured everything comedic, but the most impactful episode actually came along through a drama series – TWIN PEAKS’ “Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer.” In that episode, FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper was plunged into the Red Room, where time moved at an off-kilter pace. Otherworldly beings spoke in backwards riddles and a feeling of dread was everywhere. Suddenly, television was capable of anything, taking me to places I never imagined, and my brain was completely rocked.

H: What are you reading right now?

BS: Well, I just started Tom Scharpling’s It Never Ends: A Memoir with Nice Memories! So since I’ve barely made a dent, I’m going to plug my most recent favorite: Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography Born to Run, which is the best book I’ve read about looking back on your life with a magnanimous heart, earned through experience and therapy.

H: If you could have dinner with any writer, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

BS: Michael Chabon, since The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is my all-time favorite novel. Although, I worry that I’d annoy him by obsessing over his work. On a different end of the literary spectrum, I would have loved to meet Roger Ebert, whose film criticism taught me how to talk about movies and whose personal essays provided insight and comfort during some challenging times.

H: What kind of characters do you love to write and why?

BS: Characters who face challenging situations with heart and humor. I’m willing to go on any storytelling journey as long as the lead doesn’t sacrifice their sense of humor and humanity along the way. That’s what I strive to do in my writing.

H: Which writer working today inspires you?

BS: Despite being a LOST addict back in the day, I’ve only recently keyed into the brilliance of Damon Lindelof, thanks to WATCHMEN and THE LEFTOVERS (which I finally binged during quarantine). Both shows bent – and occasionally broke – the structural rules of what can be done in series television and pulled off the greatest of all story-telling tricks: I lost any sense of time and was completely engrossed.

H: What are you watching right now? 

BS: So much. For a lesson in kindness: Ted Lasso. For a lesson in how people who appear to have everything can actually have nothing at all: Succession. To spend time with my favorite smart person: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. To sit on the edge of my seat with unblinking eyes glued to the screen: Squid Game. And to just laugh along with some bloodthirsty monsters: What We Do in the Shadows.

H: How does your identity shape your writing? 

BS: I’m a very technical writer and I’d say that’s because I like to bring order to a chaotic world. I put a high value on humor and empathy, which often shows up on the page. I also like to keep the people I love close, so when I’m creating characters, I make sure that I love every one of them.

H: How can writers use their art to make a difference?

BS: I always bristle at the phrase “write what you know,” since that last word can so easily be misinterpreted. I prefer “write what you feel.” If you write from an emotional place and use those feelings to connect the audience to the characters, you can tell any story and convey any theme and, hopefully, make a difference in someone’s life.

H: Why do mentors matter?

BS: There is nothing like learning from the experience of someone who has traveled down the same path you’re on. What might seem like a major insurmountable problem can be put into perspective by seeking the advice of someone who’s been there before. Mentors remind you that you’re not alone. Aspire to be like the people you admire. Absorb their lessons, put them into practice, and pass those lessons along to others.

H: If you could go back in time to when you wrote your first script and give younger you a piece of advice, what would it be and why?

BS: Don’t show this to anyone, but just keep writing because you’re going to get better!

Brian Stampnitsky grew up as a sitcom and comic book loving nerd in suburban New Jersey. Writing credits include Shondaland’s Still Star-Crossed, which involved two months on location in Spain, giving notes, collaborating with episode directors, and eating olives. Once upon a time, he served as head writer for American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest. Equally drawn to drama and comedy, Brian loves exploring relationship-based stories with high emotional stakes, along with action/adventure, light genre, and superheroes. Currently, he’s developing a supernatural drama pilot for ABC.

In Brian’s script, Sh*t Gets Real, Ben and Emma meet at a pretentious dinner party in hipster Brooklyn and they spend five weeks laughing and smiling and sexing. But their honeymoon phase comes to a sudden end when a major health crisis threatens to tear them apart. Based on a true story... mostly.

Contact Brian Here.

New Voices is a four-month mentorship program for emerging television and screenwriters. The program is committed to identifying and empowering five writers each year who are currently at work on a 30- or 60-minute pilot or feature film screenplay that upholds the mission of Humanitas. 

Learn more about Humanitas’s New Voices Fellowship here.