Live from the stage/my workspace
Jill Anderson
“Jill Anderson knows what’s funny. As a writing partner she can take your idea and hone in quickly on how to make it funnier. That’s a gift. She’s also got a mean right hook…but that’s for another day.”
- Aasif Mandvi (The Daily Show/Evil)
I’m a graduate of charm school (true story) and hold a Theater Arts BA from Loyola Marymount University. My passion for the arts brought me to NYC where I studied acting with famed acting teacher Wynn Handman at his Carnegie Hall studio. Performing in numerous off-Broadway productions, films, commercials, and voice-overs all led me to the high octane world of alternative sketch comedy in NYC . Writing, producing and acting with my own sketch comedy group provided me with great improv and inner voice reflexes. Whether it was performing at the Toyota Comedy Festival or Gotham Comedy Club, you had to find your voice in a room and create a memorable moment fast or you wouldn’t survive.
Focusing just on writing, I moved into television production and development at Warner Bros. studios, where I worked for nearly 8 years in conjunction with NBC, CBS, John Wells Prods., Jack Orman Prods on several pilots and the Emmy award winning television show, ER.
From there I went on to write for CBS’s Dr. Vegas (starring Rob Lowe) as well pilots with Kelsey Grammer’s, Gramment, at Paramount TV and Dennis Lehry’s, Apostle, at Sony TV with and for actors Joe Pantoliano (Sopranos, The Matrix) and Aasif Mandvi. As time went on I garnered attention from ad agencies who were in need of screenwriters, so I decided to take on projects on a freelance basis.
My creative approach—no matter the medium—is to find points of tension behind the idea I’ve been assigned or am interested in. I’ll always want to turn everything on its head, marinate on the characters and give you several different takes I do several iterations on each point and usually end up refining the one I find most controversial/interesting.
For me, controversy isn’t about instigation, but rather, a way to arrest your audience. It’s a way to plant a little bit of desire in their hearts; a yearning to turn the page and learn more about your idea. Ultimately, it’s about creating memorable xxxxxxx.