Aug 23, 2026 · 2 hr 44 min · 15 segments
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Glenn GersGuest
David BraninHost
Well, you've said that you have few regrets, but one regret you do have is the amount of time you put in trying to figure out the rules of the game and how to, quote, win the game.

I would say among the biggest regrets I have was the amount of time I spent trying to figure out what they wanted.

There's a relatively small industry and relatively few companies, and it took them a couple years to make a movie, so you knew what they were working on.

Now, literally, it's changing every six months, what they want, because they'll say, oh, this is trending, let's veer over to that.

But at the time, I could really say, what do they want? And I spent a lot of time doing what I thought they wanted instead of what I thought was my best.

I'm not saying you should only do whatever you feel like and not think at all about how to get it out to the public.

But I do wish someone had told me, at the end of the day, you're going to look back at things that you did just to please someone else.

and you're gonna wish that instead you had done that thing that was burning in your heart, that even if it was a disastrous failure, you will look back and say, that was worth it, that was fun, it was me, I did my best, and it feels, to me at least, it feels better.

I know that there are many people who don't feel like something counts unless it's accepted by the industry and put through the business and released in a formal way.

I believe that's one good thing, but it's not the only thing, and that something you do for yourself, something you do by yourself and release on your own, which now, thank goodness, we actually can do, and even if only a handful of people see it, That's the whole point of what you're doing, is to do something authentically yours and show it to someone, and if even a tiny percentage of them authentically get it, that's literally the end.

But individually, you do a piece, and if somebody gets it, that's the satisfaction.

And if somebody were to pay a lot for it and nobody got it, I mean, it's nice to pay your bills, but it feels crappy.

I have had my name on television episodes where literally there isn't a single line I wrote.

And I loved working on that and I loved paying the bills, but I was constantly thinking, well, when am I gonna get to do my thing? Which is exactly like what it was like at the temp office.

So day jobs are day jobs, whether or not they're fancy industry day jobs or you're working at a pharmaceutical advertising company, which morally I kind of wish I hadn't done, but I had to pay the rent.

When you say rules, are you also talking about writing rules or this was just industry rules?

I'm not sure that there's that much of a difference between writing rules and industry rules because the writing rules...

Well, you've said that you have few regrets, but one regret you do have is the amount of time you put in trying to figure out the rules of the game and how to, quote, win the game.

I would say among the biggest regrets I have was the amount of time I spent trying to figure out what they wanted.

There's a relatively small industry and relatively few companies, and it took them a couple years to make a movie, so you knew what they were working on.

Now, literally, it's changing every six months, what they want, because they'll say, oh, this is trending, let's veer over to that.

But at the time, I could really say, what do they want? And I spent a lot of time doing what I thought they wanted instead of what I thought was my best.

I'm not saying you should only do whatever you feel like and not think at all about how to get it out to the public.

But I do wish someone had told me, at the end of the day, you're going to look back at things that you did just to please someone else.

and you're gonna wish that instead you had done that thing that was burning in your heart, that even if it was a disastrous failure, you will look back and say, that was worth it, that was fun, it was me, I did my best, and it feels, to me at least, it feels better.

I know that there are many people who don't feel like something counts unless it's accepted by the industry and put through the business and released in a formal way.

I believe that's one good thing, but it's not the only thing, and that something you do for yourself, something you do by yourself and release on your own, which now, thank goodness, we actually can do, and even if only a handful of people see it, That's the whole point of what you're doing, is to do something authentically yours and show it to someone, and if even a tiny percentage of them authentically get it, that's literally the end.

But individually, you do a piece, and if somebody gets it, that's the satisfaction.

And if somebody were to pay a lot for it and nobody got it, I mean, it's nice to pay your bills, but it feels crappy.

I have had my name on television episodes where literally there isn't a single line I wrote.

And I loved working on that and I loved paying the bills, but I was constantly thinking, well, when am I gonna get to do my thing? Which is exactly like what it was like at the temp office.

So day jobs are day jobs, whether or not they're fancy industry day jobs or you're working at a pharmaceutical advertising company, which morally I kind of wish I hadn't done, but I had to pay the rent.

When you say rules, are you also talking about writing rules or this was just industry rules?

I'm not sure that there's that much of a difference between writing rules and industry rules because the writing rules...
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