Leading up to the 4th annual Toronto Screenwriting Conference on April 6 and 7, Playback is featuring Q&As with some of the all-star writers leading the conference, which takes place at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management in Toronto.

Glen Mazzara joined the writers’ room for AMC’s The Walking Dead in 2010 as a freelance writer, before soon becoming number two to series creator Frank Darabont. Following Darabont’s departure, Mazzara became showrunner for the series’ second season of the acclaimed zombie drama, based on the comic books by Robert Kirkman.

Mazzara said late last year that he would be leaving the show following its third season. He recently signed a deal with Fox Television Studios (the studio behind The Shield, also one of Mazzara’s TV credits) to develop TV projects under his new banner 44 Strong Productions. His other TV credits include STARZ’ first scripted drama Crash, Hawthorne and Life.

He is opening the TSC with master class session The Odyssey of Writing.

You recently signed a development deal with Fox Television Studios to create and develop cable projects through 44 Strong Productions. Why is this a good move for you following The Walking Dead?

GM: I’ve spent a good part of my career joining projects originated by other people and helping them get those shows up and running. I’d like to now apply my experience to telling my own stories. I’ve been lucky enough to work with many great actors, directors, editors, writers, etc. It’s time to take what I’ve learned and create my shows with my own characters. It’s the next step for me as an artist, just a natural progression.

There’s definitely been a resurgence of TV as the new elite entertainment – smart primetime dramas and comedies with multi-dimensional characters, layered plots, edgy material. So what do you think TV needs more of right now (genre-wise, character-wise?)? What would you like to see?

GM: I think the age of the one-note character is over, be it the cliche, the hero, or the anti-hero. Today’s TV audience is incredibly sophisticated. They are willing to invest time in very nuanced, complicated, realistic characters and stories, even if there is a fantastical element involved as in The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones.

I’m interested in expanding things on that front. There’s a lot of opportunity to create worlds on TV that may have been dismissed before as cheesy, unrealistic, or having too limited an audience. If the entertainment value is high, the work hits a high bar of quality, and the characters are emotionally grounded, I believe the audience will tune in.


Does that hint at what you might be developing at Fox?

GM: You betcha. I’m only interested in doing what hasn’t been done on TV before. Cable TV is the cutting edge of storytelling now, and I’m very excited to push it even further.

What do you look for when staffing your writers’ room?

GM: I look for writers who have a high level of craft and surprise me on the page, who write stuff I’d never think of. I want those writers to challenge me, to get my game up. I also look for a diverse group of people who love to mix it up in the writers room, who are flexible creatively, who are willing to collaborate and rewrite endlessly. For me, the work is never good enough. We can always make it better. That can be exhausting.

I need writers who are willing to push themselves. They have to be respectful of each other and be willing to listen. A writers room is like a band – each artist adds to the greater whole.

Were there any TV shows that inspired you to write? What are some of your favourite shows (current or past)?

GM: The Twilight Zone. Hill Street Blues. The Simpsons. M*A*S*H. Cheers. I Love Lucy. The Odd Couple. Breaking Bad. Freaks and Geeks. Creature Feature. ABC’s 4:30 Movie -Monster Week and Planet of the Apes Week. The Larry Sanders Show. Twin Peaks. Seinfeld. Curb Your Enthusiasm. The Sopranos. Homicide: Life on the Street. Looney Tunes.


How do you get through writers block?

GM: Write fast. Write late at night. You’ll fix it in the morning.

If you could do a single ep or mini-series primetime TV cross-over, what would it be and what would happen?

GM: Justified vs. Breaking Bad is a pretty badass match-up. Raylan Givens versus Walter White. Boyd versus Jesse. Ava versus Skyler. Raylan versus Hank. Raylan versus Saul Goodman. Who wouldn’t want to watch that?

Either that or Louie meets Girls. Think of the Louie-Hannah sex scene. It would be a masterclass in awkwardness.


What advice would you give to an aspiring screenwriter?

 GM: Write what you love, not what you think would sell.