We had the good fortune of connecting with Amy Berryman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
As a writer, I see myself as a small business owner. In fact, I’d say most creative people are basically running their own business! Though I have an amazing team of people behind me (agents, managers, etc), I have to do much of the heavy lifting on my own – after all, I am the only one who can actually sit down and write! So much of getting the work out there is self-started, such as sharing drafts with trusted friends, rewriting based on feedback from my team, and submitting myself to various opportunities to get my work out there. In order to sustain my career in these very, um, interesting times in the industry (!), and to help others start writing, I have also started my own small business teaching playwriting classes, called Intuitive Playwriting. I teach folks to come at the process from a very subconscious, intuitive place, helping them learn to trust their instincts!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started my career as an actor, constantly looking for other people to give me an opportunity to audition, to be a part of a show, a workshop, anything! Several years into that, I finally broke down and started writing. It was like a whole new world. I could actually have some agency over my own creativity. I also found that at that point, I had a lot to say. Because I obsess about (read: worry about) the future of our society and our planet, I write a fair amount of speculative fiction. My play WALDEN, which is a play set in the near future about twin sisters caught a world where the climate crisis has intensified to the point that we are colonizing other planets just to have somewhere to go, came out of my own climate anxiety. After years of revisions, rejections, and workshops, WALDEN made its way to London’s West End in 2021. It was such a dream come true after years of working on this play and has opened a ton of doors since then.

One of the most challenging parts of this career path is the rejection!! Oh my gosh, it never stops, even after some success. I am constantly reminded of how much resilience it takes to be an artist. You have to remember that the real joy is in the work itself: sitting down to write, getting to keep creating new worlds, explore new questions through characters and imagination, collaborating with trusted colleagues…the work and the journey is the real gift. I try to impart that on my students as well (which also helps me remind myself!!).

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am relatively new to LA, having lived here about two years after moving from NYC, but I have some spots I love! There’s so much nature to enjoy, so that might be my first order of business for a friend in town! I love taking folks to Griffith Park and Huntington Gardens. I’ve been enjoying going for runs at the Hollywood Reservoir, which I only recently discovered! As far as eating and drinking, you can’t beat the food at All Time in Los Feliz and I’m a huge fan of the coffee shop Andante which is in my neighborhood! (and dog friendly which we love!)

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have two shoutouts that have helped me recently! One is the amazing Center Theatre Group, where I was lucky enough to be a part of their Writer’s Workshop from 2023-2024! They helped develop my most recent play, ALIEN GIRLS, and got me connected with other amazing writers in the LA area. I also have to shout out the podcast THE SCREENWRITING LIFE! I have learned so much listening to Lorien McKenna and Meg LeFauve talk about life as a screenwriter, and love the workshops they do as well!.

Website: https://www.amy-berryman.com

Instagram: @amyrberryman, @intuitiveplaywriting

Other: If you could please credit the photographer of my headshot that I am uploading: Brittany Anikka Liu

Image Credits
Fourth photo is by Brittany Anikka Liu

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.