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

Hi Saeed, what principle do you value most?
“Never quitting” is the principle that matters most to me. I have never been a quitter in my career (music or screenwriting). There’s a saying that says the only people who don’t make it are the ones who quit. I believe that 100%. I am an example of that. In my career I always faced adversity, but I never let that throw me – you can be depressed or sad about it – but you must get up and keep working. Never quit.

For example, 7 years ago I applied to NYU, UCLA, LMU, and USC for grad school for film. I got rejected by all of them. Was I disappointed? Yes, but I just worked on my craft got better, and kept working. Talent always rises to the top, at the end of the day just “get better” – put in your 10,000 hours.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The thing that sets me apart from others is my work ethic. I’m a hard worker. I had my first job at 16. I come from a family of hard workers. I believe hard work beats talent every time – and I’m talented! I had a whole career as a rapper, I did songs with Chamillionaire and Kendrick Lamar. I thought rap was going to be my way in. Making the transition from rapper to screenwriter was not easy. It was difficult, I had to practice, I wrote a lot of bad scripts, read tons of scripts, and studied tons of movies and television shows. My music background gave me a heads-up – because I knew the hard work it would take to get better – I’ve never been afraid of hard work.
A couple of lessons I learned on the way are: 1) Trust your taste. Your taste and POV are what separate you from other writers. Trust it and lean into it, fully. 2) You don’t need to know any people in Hollywood to break in. Focus on writing an undeniable script – get that script out to the industry via contests, and fellowships and it will do the intro work for you. I was shocked at how fast a great script will travel – people in the industry love passing a great script around. The script will do the work for you.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I just moved to LA a couple of years ago, so I’m new to the city. But, If you’re interested in the movie/tv industry I would immediately take them to the Writers Guild building. This is a place where you can sit down and read movie and tv scripts. It is a great place to get your study on. The second place I would take you is the Academy Museum. This is a place museum filled with movies and memorabilia from classic movies. It’s like a museum of film.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to s/o my UCLA TV online TV writing teachers: Kelly and Ari. I wish to s/o my manager Zack and agents Jacob and Chris. I want to s/o my lawyer Marios. I wish to s/o Kate and the Nickelodeon TV writing fellowship. I want to s/o Raelle Tucker and Aaron Thomas and the Mentorship Matters fellowship. I want to thank Lauren Stein and Sony TV. These people all played a role in where I am today. Oh and of course my parents who raised me as a kid, with the idea that I could be whatever I wanted to be.

Instagram: @balance510

Twitter: @balance510

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@2writerstalkingshit

Other: Check out my podcast “2 Writers Talking Shit” on Spotify and Apple music!

Image Credits
Portrait photo shot by: Silence Dem All Other photos are shot by me

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