The Truth About HBO’s “Inspiration Room”

Over a week ago I was invited to the HBO Inspiration Room via an old high school program I attended, Girls Write Now. I always moan every time I see an email about this program, but when I read that some of HBO show writers would be feature, I emailed my confirmation within 30 min.

After Countless Rejections, I Needed Inspiration

Showcasing Carly Wray, writer for The Watchmen and The Leftovers, Amy Aniobi, writer for Insecure, and Lila Byock, writer for The Watchmen and The Leftovers, the event gave me what I wanted: advice about making it into television. I’ve been binge watching on Insecure and Barry so for me, HBO has been killing the game. I also thought this event was a needed one for me simply because I needed inspiration. After not hearing back from internships that I have been applying to, I just feel down. Particularly, it’s hard landing a television internship due to the competitive nature and I can really kill for some experience.

So My Question to The Ladies was……

I asked my question nervously of course. I asked, “How do you ladies deal with the competitive nature of breaking into television”? Boy did this question rally up lengthy responses. For the most part, the ladies said the usual. Know people, be open to collaborating, etc. However, Carly Wray’s advice struck me the most. She goes, “Turn your biological clock off”. Wray spoke about how hard it was to break into television and how she went years being unemployed. With that being one of my worst fears, I am very desperate to get a television internship now so that I have more skills/experience that will increase my chances of getting a gig in the future.

Feeling Good About Life

But the reality is that everyone has their own journey. She kept emphasizing this to me and I very much appreciated it. We live in a world where it is so easy to compare ourselves to others. Nevertheless, we live in a world where no one wants to display their struggles. Everyone likes to put up a facade that their life is great. As a result, sometimes we feel crappy not achieving a goal by a certain age whether it’s landing that dream job, having kids, finishing school, etc. She told me that if you focus on yourself and turn that clock off in your head, you would feel much better internally. And honestly, it did. After the event, I thanked her and added that phrase in my mind. I definitely left that room feeling inspired.