Pipeline Artists
@pipelineartists.bsky.social
A home for creatives. ✍️🎥📖 Est. 2021. 🦊 Fiercely independent. 🏴☠️
"That’s literally what writing a “spec script” means, y’all. You are writing something on the “speculation” that you’re going to get paid for it. You are hoping and wishing and praying that someone is going to read your words."
pipelineartists.com/notes-we-dont-need-no-freaking-notes
pipelineartists.com/notes-we-dont-need-no-freaking-notes
Notes? Notes?! We Don't Need No Freaking Notes!!
You will have to make changes to your story, at some point or another, that you might not want to ... This is just how the world works, for better or worse.
pipelineartists.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:27 PM
"That’s literally what writing a “spec script” means, y’all. You are writing something on the “speculation” that you’re going to get paid for it. You are hoping and wishing and praying that someone is going to read your words."
pipelineartists.com/notes-we-dont-need-no-freaking-notes
pipelineartists.com/notes-we-dont-need-no-freaking-notes
"When executives say they want stories reflecting the “Asian experience,” they have a clear but narrow vision of what that means."
Read the essay by Charlene Bagcal on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/all-american...
Read the essay by Charlene Bagcal on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/all-american...
All-American Asian: Finding My Place in Hollywood's Identity Politics
In recent years, as studios scramble to make up for decades of exclusion, I’ve witnessed a troubling trend: diversity has become a commodity, something to acquire and display rather than a reality to…
pipelineartists.com
November 28, 2025 at 12:59 AM
"When executives say they want stories reflecting the “Asian experience,” they have a clear but narrow vision of what that means."
Read the essay by Charlene Bagcal on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/all-american...
Read the essay by Charlene Bagcal on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/all-american...
"I’d like to chalk it up to early-twenties, starry-eyed optimism. But it was sheer lunacy. Yes, I absolutely wasted that opportunity. Yes, I’ve regretted it ever since. It also was the biggest and best lesson I could’ve gotten on the importance of preparedness."
pipelineartists.com/the-business...
pipelineartists.com/the-business...
The Business of Writing
Unless you’ve got a Business Degree in your back pocket, the idea can feel a bit overwhelming. It’s okay, I’m right there with you—so are a lot of other Creatives.
pipelineartists.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:27 PM
"I’d like to chalk it up to early-twenties, starry-eyed optimism. But it was sheer lunacy. Yes, I absolutely wasted that opportunity. Yes, I’ve regretted it ever since. It also was the biggest and best lesson I could’ve gotten on the importance of preparedness."
pipelineartists.com/the-business...
pipelineartists.com/the-business...
From the (very recent) archives...
A deep-dive profile on TV writer/producer Hussain Pirani:
pipelineartists.com/intuition-and-authenticity-an-interview-with-fbi-international-co-producer-hussain-pirani/
A deep-dive profile on TV writer/producer Hussain Pirani:
pipelineartists.com/intuition-and-authenticity-an-interview-with-fbi-international-co-producer-hussain-pirani/
Intuition and Authenticity: An Interview with “FBI: International” Co-Producer, Hussain Pirani
... it’s quite possible you have something that you are really good at. That’s the thing you want to sharpen. That’s the thing you want to own.
pipelineartists.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:59 AM
From the (very recent) archives...
A deep-dive profile on TV writer/producer Hussain Pirani:
pipelineartists.com/intuition-and-authenticity-an-interview-with-fbi-international-co-producer-hussain-pirani/
A deep-dive profile on TV writer/producer Hussain Pirani:
pipelineartists.com/intuition-and-authenticity-an-interview-with-fbi-international-co-producer-hussain-pirani/
"Let’s talk about The New Yorker. (Iknowiknowiknow, but someone’s gotta do it.)..."
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/shout-and-mu...
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/shout-and-mu...
Shout and Murmur!
Oh, how differently this "Thank you" reads from the one earlier—how bitter, how nostalgic. And truly, who can’t feel the dejection in that pitiful send-off "best of luck"?
pipelineartists.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:27 PM
"Let’s talk about The New Yorker. (Iknowiknowiknow, but someone’s gotta do it.)..."
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/shout-and-mu...
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/shout-and-mu...
For your Thanksgiving weekend listening pleasure...
A new ep of How the Arts Were Won, with guest Adam Plantinga (author of the phenomenal book, The Ascent):
www.buzzsprout.com/2547858/epis...
A new ep of How the Arts Were Won, with guest Adam Plantinga (author of the phenomenal book, The Ascent):
www.buzzsprout.com/2547858/epis...
S4 Ep8 - The Art of Writing Anything You Want (But Well): A Conversation with Adam Plantinga - How the Arts Were Won
Once you get past the football references, a no-nonsense talk with author Adam Plantinga (The Ascent, Hard Town), who breaks down his POV on un-meat-heading your writing, characters as “angry monks,”…
www.buzzsprout.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:53 PM
For your Thanksgiving weekend listening pleasure...
A new ep of How the Arts Were Won, with guest Adam Plantinga (author of the phenomenal book, The Ascent):
www.buzzsprout.com/2547858/epis...
A new ep of How the Arts Were Won, with guest Adam Plantinga (author of the phenomenal book, The Ascent):
www.buzzsprout.com/2547858/epis...
Writers,
This (free) special event with lit agent CeCe Lyra isn’t until January, but—register soon. It WILL fill up well before then!
symposium.pipelineartists.com/event/one-on...
This (free) special event with lit agent CeCe Lyra isn’t until January, but—register soon. It WILL fill up well before then!
symposium.pipelineartists.com/event/one-on...
One-on-One with Literary Agent Cecilia "CeCe" Lyra
If you're a listener to the podcast "The Shit No One Tells You About Writing," you already know the amazing literary agent CeCe Lyra. We'll dive into the world of a lit agent and the advice writers…
symposium.pipelineartists.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Writers,
This (free) special event with lit agent CeCe Lyra isn’t until January, but—register soon. It WILL fill up well before then!
symposium.pipelineartists.com/event/one-on...
This (free) special event with lit agent CeCe Lyra isn’t until January, but—register soon. It WILL fill up well before then!
symposium.pipelineartists.com/event/one-on...
"What does it mean to be human?"
Read the NEW Subplot profile on writer Katharyn Blair, now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/finding-light-in-darkness-writer-katharyn-blairs-quest-for-meaning-in-stories-and-life
Read the NEW Subplot profile on writer Katharyn Blair, now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/finding-light-in-darkness-writer-katharyn-blairs-quest-for-meaning-in-stories-and-life
Finding Light in Darkness: Writer Katharyn Blair's Quest for Meaning in Stories and Life
I want to clear a little space in whatever forest I’m in and be like, I’m making a camp for the weirdos, and you can come if you want.
pipelineartists.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:34 PM
"What does it mean to be human?"
Read the NEW Subplot profile on writer Katharyn Blair, now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/finding-light-in-darkness-writer-katharyn-blairs-quest-for-meaning-in-stories-and-life
Read the NEW Subplot profile on writer Katharyn Blair, now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/finding-light-in-darkness-writer-katharyn-blairs-quest-for-meaning-in-stories-and-life
"Only the extraordinarily special were given the chance to interview. Most do not pass. They break down while reliving their past traumas, but he came out of it thrilled. A true find. He would do well here."
pipelineartists.com/interview-short-story
pipelineartists.com/interview-short-story
November 25, 2025 at 7:27 PM
"Only the extraordinarily special were given the chance to interview. Most do not pass. They break down while reliving their past traumas, but he came out of it thrilled. A true find. He would do well here."
pipelineartists.com/interview-short-story
pipelineartists.com/interview-short-story
"Perhaps it does seem kind of absurd to think that a cellist and a quarterback have anything in common. But a closer examination of what it means to be an athlete or an artist suggests that the principles that work for sports, apply to the arts, and vice versa."
pipelineartists.com/the-art-of-s...
pipelineartists.com/the-art-of-s...
The Art of Sports and the Sport of Arts
Did you catch that? “Mediocrity is … unacceptable.” And if this were the case, or the perception in 1873, how much more does this apply today?
pipelineartists.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:59 AM
"Perhaps it does seem kind of absurd to think that a cellist and a quarterback have anything in common. But a closer examination of what it means to be an athlete or an artist suggests that the principles that work for sports, apply to the arts, and vice versa."
pipelineartists.com/the-art-of-s...
pipelineartists.com/the-art-of-s...
"So, after a phone call from my literary manager, where he told me that, for the third time in six months, a project of mine being packaged by a “can’t miss” producer had fallen through, I decided that I needed to—nay, had to—change gears."
pipelineartists.com/f-ck-it-writing-career
pipelineartists.com/f-ck-it-writing-career
F*ck It
... I still could feel that cursed imposter syndrome setting up camp in my gut, a disruptive, loud-as-shit tenant, if there ever was one.
pipelineartists.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:27 PM
"So, after a phone call from my literary manager, where he told me that, for the third time in six months, a project of mine being packaged by a “can’t miss” producer had fallen through, I decided that I needed to—nay, had to—change gears."
pipelineartists.com/f-ck-it-writing-career
pipelineartists.com/f-ck-it-writing-career
"Positive parenting boils down to two F words: firm and friendly. Instead of demanding, controlling, yelling, or criticizing a child to bend to your will, positive parenting approaches children from a place of connection."
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/positive-parenting-your-inner-writer
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/positive-parenting-your-inner-writer
Positive Parenting Your Inner Writer
Do you give yourself "the talk"—that you're wasting your time, that you'll never be good enough, that your script will embarrass you, that you'll disappoint the people who read it?
pipelineartists.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:59 AM
"Positive parenting boils down to two F words: firm and friendly. Instead of demanding, controlling, yelling, or criticizing a child to bend to your will, positive parenting approaches children from a place of connection."
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/positive-parenting-your-inner-writer
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/positive-parenting-your-inner-writer
"I was in a situation that was about to go very, very badly. It’s a predicament I’d been in before, and I could tell this was heading south. All the classic signs were there."
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/do-you-read-the-whole-thing
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/do-you-read-the-whole-thing
Do You Read the Whole Thing?
Every single script I recommended my bosses read officially had my stamp of approval on it. And how bad do you think it would make me look if I wasted some of their precious time with a mediocre…
pipelineartists.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:27 PM
"I was in a situation that was about to go very, very badly. It’s a predicament I’d been in before, and I could tell this was heading south. All the classic signs were there."
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/do-you-read-the-whole-thing
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/do-you-read-the-whole-thing
"I’ve always been fascinated by how writers’ minds work. It takes a certain type of person to create a make-believe world and carry that through 80,000 words (or more in the case of a series—George R.R. Martin, I’m looking at you)."
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/ever-moving-goalposts
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/ever-moving-goalposts
Ever-Moving Goalposts
For the briefest of moments, I thought I’d made it. I was so proud of my achievements. Of course, the joy didn’t last forever.
pipelineartists.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:59 AM
"I’ve always been fascinated by how writers’ minds work. It takes a certain type of person to create a make-believe world and carry that through 80,000 words (or more in the case of a series—George R.R. Martin, I’m looking at you)."
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/ever-moving-goalposts
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/ever-moving-goalposts
"But you know what fucked me up worse? The fact that the game made me keep playing as Abby. Not for one scene. Not for an hour ..."
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-last-of-us-part-ii-an-analysis-of-perspective-in-storytelling
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-last-of-us-part-ii-an-analysis-of-perspective-in-storytelling
"The Last of Us, Part II" - An Analysis of Perspective in Storytelling
These games taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of perspective and POV in storytelling. The lessons go much further than that. This game may have actually changed my outlook on life.
pipelineartists.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:27 PM
"But you know what fucked me up worse? The fact that the game made me keep playing as Abby. Not for one scene. Not for an hour ..."
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-last-of-us-part-ii-an-analysis-of-perspective-in-storytelling
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-last-of-us-part-ii-an-analysis-of-perspective-in-storytelling
In preparation for a special Symposium event coming soon-ish ...
Give this podcast a listen, an old-timey (2022) classic from How the Arts Were Won.
buzzsprout.com/admin/2547858/episodes/18025627-s1-ep3-the-art-of-sport-a-conversation-with-jack-baric-gamechange
Give this podcast a listen, an old-timey (2022) classic from How the Arts Were Won.
buzzsprout.com/admin/2547858/episodes/18025627-s1-ep3-the-art-of-sport-a-conversation-with-jack-baric-gamechange
November 22, 2025 at 12:59 AM
In preparation for a special Symposium event coming soon-ish ...
Give this podcast a listen, an old-timey (2022) classic from How the Arts Were Won.
buzzsprout.com/admin/2547858/episodes/18025627-s1-ep3-the-art-of-sport-a-conversation-with-jack-baric-gamechange
Give this podcast a listen, an old-timey (2022) classic from How the Arts Were Won.
buzzsprout.com/admin/2547858/episodes/18025627-s1-ep3-the-art-of-sport-a-conversation-with-jack-baric-gamechange
From the #PipelineArtists Collection....
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/finding-creativity-within-constraints-with-mark-duplass
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/finding-creativity-within-constraints-with-mark-duplass
Finding Creativity Within Constraints with Mark Duplass
Mark broke down creative struggles into three main stages—the creatively crashed, the creatively frustrated, and the creatively excited (albeit a bit directionless)—before providing ideas on how to…
pipelineartists.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:27 PM
From the #PipelineArtists Collection....
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/finding-creativity-within-constraints-with-mark-duplass
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/finding-creativity-within-constraints-with-mark-duplass
"I was thirteen-years-old when I ditched my given name and spent nearly the next sixteen years crafting and perfecting a façade to be known by. To be seen as. To move through the burning world like a moth."
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/joe-straynge-is-dead-on-running-hiding-and-creating-a-persona
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/joe-straynge-is-dead-on-running-hiding-and-creating-a-persona
Joe Straynge is Dead
I was creating something so this skin could move through the world like a phantom. Something that would protect me as I hid beneath the surface of whatever I’ve become.
pipelineartists.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:59 AM
"I was thirteen-years-old when I ditched my given name and spent nearly the next sixteen years crafting and perfecting a façade to be known by. To be seen as. To move through the burning world like a moth."
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/joe-straynge-is-dead-on-running-hiding-and-creating-a-persona
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/joe-straynge-is-dead-on-running-hiding-and-creating-a-persona
"Sometimes it’s fun, reading those scripts. When I read a bad one with a great premise, and I can see what needs to be done to fix it and know the notes will resonate and will probably get me a good crack the job, it’s fun."
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/being-your-hardest-critic
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/being-your-hardest-critic
Being Your Hardest Critic
OK isn’t good enough for me and shouldn’t be for you either. The idea is to send out your best work, and YOU need to be hard enough on yourself to be the ultimate judge of that.
pipelineartists.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:27 PM
"Sometimes it’s fun, reading those scripts. When I read a bad one with a great premise, and I can see what needs to be done to fix it and know the notes will resonate and will probably get me a good crack the job, it’s fun."
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/being-your-hardest-critic
Read now:
pipelineartists.com/being-your-hardest-critic
“Emily points in several directions, like a spastic drummer with no sticks.”
Read the short story “Spaceman” by Mike Spry on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/spaceman
Read the short story “Spaceman” by Mike Spry on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/spaceman
Spaceman
I absorbed nothing, except her last words as she stepped into their car: “Children are easy to lie to. You’re smarter than most of them.”
pipelineartists.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:59 AM
“Emily points in several directions, like a spastic drummer with no sticks.”
Read the short story “Spaceman” by Mike Spry on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/spaceman
Read the short story “Spaceman” by Mike Spry on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/spaceman
"You know it. I know it. Even your grandma knows it. These days, it’s quite easy to publish a book with the barest of pockets."
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-downside-of-print-on-demand
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-downside-of-print-on-demand
The Downside of Print-on-Demand
You are in business. Time to start learning business.
pipelineartists.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:27 PM
"You know it. I know it. Even your grandma knows it. These days, it’s quite easy to publish a book with the barest of pockets."
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-downside-of-print-on-demand
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-downside-of-print-on-demand
"Face facts. Grandpa told lies. Little ones. White ones. Half-truths."
The NEW short story from author Kincaid Jones, now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/fuzzy-and-june-short-story
The NEW short story from author Kincaid Jones, now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/fuzzy-and-june-short-story
Fuzzy and June
As I watch her struggle down the long, dark hallway to their bedroom, I'm thinking about love and the liars it makes of us all.
pipelineartists.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:28 PM
"Face facts. Grandpa told lies. Little ones. White ones. Half-truths."
The NEW short story from author Kincaid Jones, now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/fuzzy-and-june-short-story
The NEW short story from author Kincaid Jones, now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/fuzzy-and-june-short-story
"I feel like an old-school boxing scribe, like Bert Sugar (look him up, you artsy fucks)."
Read the short story by Eddie Pepitone on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-oceanographer-and-the-heroin-addict
Read the short story by Eddie Pepitone on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-oceanographer-and-the-heroin-addict
The Oceanographer and the Heroin Addict
I just wanted to write about a chick who’s into the ocean, then I mentioned heroin, and you judged me, and I went on an apologetic attempt that became infested with politics, doubt, and a…
pipelineartists.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:59 AM
"I feel like an old-school boxing scribe, like Bert Sugar (look him up, you artsy fucks)."
Read the short story by Eddie Pepitone on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-oceanographer-and-the-heroin-addict
Read the short story by Eddie Pepitone on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/the-oceanographer-and-the-heroin-addict
Read now on #PipelineArtists:
pipelineartists.com/to-avoid-discrimination-in-hollywood-i-had-a-secret-baby-it-didnt-work-heres-what-did
pipelineartists.com/to-avoid-discrimination-in-hollywood-i-had-a-secret-baby-it-didnt-work-heres-what-did
To avoid discrimination in Hollywood, I had a secret baby. It didn’t work. Here’s what did …
What had suddenly seemed like the perfect way to not ruin my career made me now feel insane. I had to find a way out.
pipelineartists.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:59 AM