Ep. 407: Video Anxiety & Going Down The Road

Ep. 407: Video Anxiety & Going Down The Road

Author: The Onward Project February 27, 2025 Duration: 25:57
Liz and Sarah have video anxiety! They’ve started making at least two videos a week for their new Substack venture, and it’s a learning curve! What do they wear? How much lighting do they need? And will they survive without Chuck editing out all their uhs and ums? In The Craft (& Fain), they discuss why they always “go down the road” — even if they end up taking a U-turn. This week’s Hollywood Hack is a great gift for the reader in your life: the Elsa Peretti Heart Bookmark from Tiffany & Co. Finally, Sarah has a thriller book recommendation— The God of the Woods: A Novel by Liz Moore. Sign up for Liz and Sarah’s newsletter at happierinhollywoodpod@substack.com.  Get in touch on Instagram: @Sfain & @LizCraft Get in touch on Threads: @Sfain & @LizCraft Visit our website: https://happierinhollywood.com Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/ Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Happier with Gretchen Rubin, andSide Hustle School . If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! Note: Go to the Happier In Hollywood Facebook Group for Liz and Sarah’s extensive Teens/Tweens Gift Guide. Thanks to listeners for such great ideas! Link below. https://www.facebook.com/groups/903150719832696/permalink/3081705578643855/ LINKS: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King https://amzn.to/3EdV9YP Elsa Peretti Heart Bookmark from Tiffany & Co. https://www.tiffany.com/accessories/games-novelties/elsa-peretti-heart-bookmark-22157027/?omcid=ppc_google_TIFFANY_WJ_USA_NOBRID_HOM_HOME_OGOING_EC_BRAN_GTAD_CRD_ENG_USD_E&mkwid=s%7Cpcrid%7C708342824544%7Cpkw%7Celsa%20peretti%20heart%20bookmark%7Cpmt%7Ce%7Cpdv%7Cc%7Cmtid%7C744dpc50313%7Cslid%7C%7Cproductid%7C%7Ctargetids%7Ckwd-724266727647%7Cgroupid%7C166248212792%7C&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD-_9SByrFDKi9GC_LKww0nzo6Oa4 The God of the Woods: A Novel by Liz Moore https://amzn.to/41hclEL   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For over two decades, television writers Liz Craft and Sarah Fain have navigated the unique pressures of Hollywood as a team, and their Happier in Hollywood podcast pulls back the curtain on that journey. This isn't just industry gossip; it's a candid conversation between two friends who have built a career and a life inside a famously tough town. Each episode feels like grabbing a table at the commissary with them, where they translate their personal and professional hurdles into relatable lessons. You’ll hear how a blend of stubborn optimism and pragmatic Midwestern grit helped them thrive in a male-dominated field, offering tangible advice that goes far beyond writing a script. Their discussions tackle everything from navigating office politics and difficult conversations to the small, daily practices that maintain sanity. This Happier in Hollywood podcast, from The Onward Project, transforms specific Hollywood struggles into universal themes about resilience, partnership, and finding your footing in any high-stakes career. It’s about the unglamorous work behind the glamour-the ass-kicking, the occasional ass-kissing, and yes, even the office yoga-that actually makes a sustainable life possible. Tune in for a surprisingly grounded perspective from two veterans who have learned to carve out happiness on their own terms.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Happier in Hollywood
Podcast Episodes
Ep. 473: Project Theme Songs & A Wrap On Whimsy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:14
As Liz and Sarah dive into the new draft of their novel, they’re experimenting with tense. They each wrote a scene in past tense, and now they’re going to write the same scenes in present tense. Which will they prefer? I…
Ep. 472: Baby Talk & Summer Schemes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:18
Liz and Sarah are trying out a new pitch technique — instead of writing out their latest pitch word for word, they’re prepping it in bullet points to keep the flow more spontaneous. In The Mailroom, Sarah answers a quest…
Ep. 471: Financial Wellness In New Hollywood (Yes, It’s Possible!) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:31
Liz and Sarah talk to trauma-informed financial wellness coach Katy Chen Mazzara about the connection between money blocks and creative blocks, why it’s never a good idea to negotiate with a “starving artist” mentality,…
Ep. 470: Prepping Small Talk & Lazarus Projects [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:27
Liz and Sarah talk about why it’s helpful to prepare small talk topics before a Zoom meeting. Knowing how to fill that awkward time before everyone arrives will reduce your anxiety and improve meeting flow! In The Mailro…
Ep. 469: Putting Our Reading Into Our Writing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:42
Liz and Sarah talk about how they plan to incorporate what they’ve gleaned from Natalie Goldberg’s book, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, into the next draft of their novel Bad Trip. Inner censor be dam…
Ep. 468: Schrodinger’s Cat Is Alive! Sort of. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:57
Liz and Sarah are wrapping their heads around the fact that in New Hollywood previously declared dead projects may come back to life unexpectedly. That’s great — but it can make it hard to gain momentum on new things. In…
Ep. 467: Let’s Celebrate Mimsy May! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:20
Every week on the podcast Liz and Sarah mention “how they balance a career and friendship.” They usually talk about the career part, but today they’re leaning into friendship. Find out what they’re doing just for fun and…
Ep. 466: 10 Things We Don’t Feel Bad About Anymore [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:53
Liz and Sarah are entering Phase Two of working on their novel, Bad Trip. Next up? They have a plan to be done tracking each character through the story by the end of May. In Take A Hike, they each share a list of ten th…
Ep. 465: Help! We Need Book Therapy! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:06
Liz and Sarah talk to their thriller writing mentor and book therapist, best-selling author Greer Hendricks, about how to approach tense and point of view in their work-in-progress novel, Bad Trip. Their biggest takeaway…
Ep. 464: Meet Our Pitch Coach! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:08
Liz and Sarah sit down with their amazing pitch coach, Jordana Oberman, to talk about how to create and deliver a pitch that will actually sell. One piece of advice? Lead with theme and emotion. Save plot for later. Also…