Cindy Chupack Discusses Challenges as a TV Writer

Exclusive interview conducted by Camille Haimet

Cindy Chupack is an Emmy-winning screenwriter, author, and executive producer. Though her essays have appeared in such publications as “The New York Times”, and “O, The Oprah Magazine”, and she has completed a number of under-the-radar feature scripts, Ms. Chupack is most widely known for her work writing for television shows such as “Sex and the City”, “Everybody Loves Raymond”, and “Modern Family”. In this Q&A she elaborates on the various aspects and challenges of writing for television.

You seem to have a noted preference of writing for television. Why is this?

Cindy Chupack: The fact that nobody knows I’ve written features (yet) is why I prefer television writing!  I’ve written two features. The first one, the adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel How to Be Good made the Black List for Best Unproduced Screenplays of 2008.  Then I wrote an original screenplay, Mommy and Me, for Stanley Tucci to direct, but that has yet to get made.  I’ve also done two feature rewrites — one that I might try to direct myself called Whatever Makes You Happy, which is an adaptation of a William Sutcliffe novel. Marc Andrus did the original adaptation and it’s a great script.  And the other rewrite I’m working on now, which seems like the most commercial one so far, is called Bad in Bed — the original screenplay was written by Mike Ellis and Pam Falk and that’s also a great project.  So hopefully one or more of these will be in theaters someday.  The thing about television: there is a schedule, you write a script, you film a script, it gets on the air, done!

Most of the shows you’ve written for are strictly based in the real world. How much inspiration do you get from the events in your life, or everyday mundane occurrences around you?