Finding Her Edge showrunner on Lego, baseball and the living dead
Growing up I…
Kept a sprawling Lego city under my bed. To me, it was a living metropolis that indulged my creati ve whims years before licensed Lego existed; I recreated the set of Back To The Future, built my own Burton-era Batmobile, and painted minifi gs to assemble both The Avengers and the DC Universe in a crossover that would make trademark lawyers lose their minds.
My big break
Selling my first novel, MetaWars. There are unpublished manuscripts that remain in my desk drawer 16 years later, but having a publisher believe that my words were worthy of publication was a validation I needed to pursue a creative career.
Most annoying habit
Letting perfect be the enemy of good: I have a bad habit of not getting back to people unti l I have the perfect answer.
Sporting hero
Edmonton Oilers-era Wayne Gretzky: “Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”
Best advice
Writing = bum + chair
Devastating rejection
Every time a buyer passed on Geek Girl, I took it personally. I was convinced the character of Harriet Manners would resonate beyond the core teen audience, but for the longest ti me, nobody else could see it.
Passion outside TV
Coaching youth baseball. It’s wild to witness a group of disparate 13-year-olds achieve feats that they didn’t think possible.
Born and bred
Burlington, Ontario – a place that gives John Hughes vibes.
Best pal in the industry
I’m lucky enough to have convinced my wife, Sidonie Kingsmill, to join the circus that is our industry. She’s writi ng incredible novels now and working with me in development.
Last time I cried
I rewatched Field Of Dreams recently; bawled my eyes out.
Moment of clarity
I interned for a huge Hollywood producer who fired his well-paid head of production in order to use the salary to buy a painting. I realised then the importance of owning (or at least controlling) the IP.
Funniest day in TV
It’s Mipcom, and I’m pitching an adaptation of my novel, Memoirs Of A Neurotic Zombie, and getting a stone-cold face back. I’m dying… only to fi nd out at the end of the pitch that the exec thought I’d said Memoirs Of An Erotic Zombie.
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