Timothy Greenberg was almost a scientist. Like many people, from an early age, being making movies didn’t seem like a real career until he met someone in the business and gave it a shot. Around the age of 30, he taught himself how to write screenplays.
While writing features as a practice, he also started making short films, and then directed commercials, and eventually got a job on The Daily Show. After 11 years on the show, he decided to pursue fiction writing once more.
Currently, Greenberg’s credits include The Detour, Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas, and the Paul Rudd-led Netflix series, ‘Living With Yourself.’ The description reads, " A man undergoes an experimental treatment to improve his life, only to be replaced by a new and improved version of himself, and must fight for his wife, his career, and his very identity.”
In this interview, the writer-director talks about the differences in short form and long form content, how every project can be made a little tighter, why writers should think about projects that make money, how he handles idea creation, what to do when you lose touch with your own projects, and why big premise concepts are universally enjoyed.
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