255 | From Finalist to Staffed: How Austin Film Festival Helped Us Break In (ft. Sylvia Batey Alcalá & Mac Smullen)

The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna

Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

Tv & Film

4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 July 2025

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we’re spotlighting two incredible TV writers whose journeys were meaningfully shaped by the Austin Film Festival. Sylvia Batey Alcalá (A MAN ON THE INSIDE, PRIMO) and Mac Smullen (SOUVENIR, ALASKA) share how AFF helped get their names out there —building momentum, sparking connections, and opening doors that had long felt closed. But a festival isn’t the finish line — it’s the starting gate. Sylvia and Mac walk us through the real (and rewarding) work it takes after recognition: rewriting, building reps, pitching, and staying ready for the moment when things start to move. It’s a candid, thoughtful, and energizing conversation about what breaking in looks like today — and how festivals like AFF can help writers get in the game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Exclusively on Disney Plus.
0:02.0	It's hard and it's brutal and that's what makes it special.
0:06.0	The multi-award winning series FX's The Bear is back for a brand new season.
0:11.0	Upon my signal, unleash hell.
0:15.0	And every second counts.
0:17.0	When that shows zero, this restaurant ceases operations.
0:21.8	FX is the bear.
0:23.1	New season now streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.
0:27.1	18 plus subscription required, Teas and Cs apply.
0:34.3	Hey everyone, welcome back to the screenwriting life.
0:36.8	I'm Lorian McKenna, and today we're going to be talking a little bit about the Austin Film Festival, which TSL attends every year. And we will be again there this year. Last year, we interviewed feature writers Alex Convry and Tate Hanyock. And this year, we're going to be talking with some television writers and
0:55.2	how AFF's writer-centered approach can help launch real working TV careers.
1:01.0	So today I'm joined by Sylvia Beatty Alcala and Max Mullin.
1:06.0	So Sylvia got her start on the CW's Legacies before pivoting to family drama on Ordinary Joe on NBC
1:12.8	and Field of Dreams on UTV.
1:15.3	Since then, she's worked in comedy, first as a writer-producer on Mike Shore and Shea Serrano's
1:20.2	Family Comedy, Primo on Amazon, and Shores acclaimed mystery comedy, a man on the inside
1:25.6	on Netflix. Most recently, Sylvia served as supervising
1:29.4	producer on Amazon's upcoming romance every year after. And Sylvia is an alum of the Sundance
1:34.9	episodic Lab and the Blacklist Women in Film feature residency. Hello, Sylvia. Welcome to the show.
1:41.9	Hello. Thank you so much for having me. And Mack, Smolin, is a writer and
1:46.0	filmmaker from New York. Over the past few years, he's taken projects through the Sundance Labs and
	...

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