Tracey Mcmillan is a successful television writer.

After career in journalism, she wrote for shows like United States of Tara and Marvel's

Runaways, and she won a Writer's Guild Award for her work on Mad Men.

But she always went back to one piece of advice she'd gotten.

Only on somebody said to me, you have to write what only you can write.

So what could only I write?

This was my story.

After years of working out the kinks, she ended up with a script based on her life and

her dad Harold, who was in and out of prison most of her life.

Today, around one and a quarter of a million kids have a parent who's currently incarcerated,

including a disproportionate number of black children.

That means Tracey is just one of millions of people all around the country who grew up

with a parent behind bars.

But she hadn't seen her experience portrayed on screen in a way that resonated with her.

Tracey sent her pilot script around to a few people, including Carrie Washington.

I think we tell a lot of stories about what people going into prison and a lot of stories

about what it's like in prison, but we don't explore the challenges of what it's like

to be a returning citizen as much.

The challenges of trying to reenter society as a formerly incarcerated person and what

it's like to love a formerly incarcerated person.

Carrie not only signed on to produce the show, she told Tracey that she was going to star

as Paige, the character based on Tracey.

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