There I was, sitting outside of Paradigm Talent LA with a half-eaten quesadilla in my hand, waiting for a Lyft.
I think they liked my Mrs. Maisel spec script…I mean, why else would they have bought me a quesadilla?
The Lyft arrived and I jumped in, still shell-shocked.
So like… what happens now?
What did happen? The 2019 WGA strike. The two Paradigm Talent agents that had been courting me didn’t sign me…or speak to me… pretty much ever again.
So I cut my losses. I was 28, back at my job in the Dean’s Office at Columbia University School of the Arts.
No agent, no TV job, just a damn good spec script that earned me a mediocre quesadilla and a tense three days in Los Angeles.
Know what I did? I WROTE.
I wrote every single day. Ten-minute plays – not for an agent, for me.
Plays that fed my soul. And when the pandemic hit and I had even more time, I wrote an original pilot…. followed by a second original pilot…which, a year later, did pretty well in the Austin Film Festival.
Since that quesadilla, my plays have been read by The University of Miami, The University of Hawaii, Naked Angels L.A., Playground-LA, the Inkwell Theatre of L.A., a theatre company in Bombay, India, HB Studios, and today, at age 32, my play Overdose will be at Playwright’s Horizon.
Am I in a writer’s room in Hollywood? No, I am not. I’m working from the comfort of my own home, writing daily, teaching one-on-one intuitive writing, and doing work I love for Columbia University School of the Arts.
Appreciate the path that is unfolding in front of you.
Recognize that success appears in many different forms. Most importantly, keep writing. It takes you magical places.
xo,
Sarah Congress
Bio
Sarah Congress writes comedic scripts for theatre and television. Currently her play Overdose is in rehearsal at Playwright’s Horizon for the 2023 Downtown Urban Arts Festival. This summer, her comedy Cassie will be receiving four productions at The Secret Theatre One-Act Play Festival, and her play Dracula…in Denver! will be at the Equity Library Theatre Summer Play Festival.
Sarah uses meditation and visualization to help guide an author to write their story (whether play, tv or screenplay). This approach can not only help one tap into their creative energy, but can often help with writer’s block! Learn more here: 1×1 intuitive writing coaching.
