Day 4: Creatives & Creators, The Future of Entertainment? with Liz Craft & Sarah Fain

Liz Craft & Sarah Fain wrote their first piece together when they were fifteen — an article on Kansas City delis for their high school newspaper. Liz attended Columbia University in New York and went on to work as an editor of young adult books. Sarah attended Williams College then joined Teach For America, where she taught high school English and Creative Writing in rural North Carolina.

Liz and Sarah decided to move to L.A. together where they rented a tiny beach house and dove head first into their writing partnership. Since then they have Executive Produced, created, and written for numerous television shows including Angel, The 100, the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning show The Shield, Women’s Murder Club (which they created based on the James Patterson novels), The Vampire Diaries, and Lie To Me. Liz and Sarah created the ABC show The Fix with former Los Angeles prosecutor Marcia Clark. Most recently, they developed the re-make of the iconic show Fantasy Island which ran for two seasons on FOX. They’ve also co-written two Young Adult novels, Bass Ackwards & Belly Up and Footfree & Fancyloose.

Liz and Sarah co-host the hugely popular weekly podcast Happier in Hollywood, which is about how to survive the war of attrition that is life in Los Angeles. It was recognized in Apple’s New & Noteworthy and has over five million downloads. Liz also co-hosts the podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin.

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:

• Uncover the surprising realities behind Hollywood’s current identity crisis
• Explore how the shift from storytelling to content widgets is redefining success
• See how budget cuts and infinite scroll are rewriting the creative playbook
• Learn what it really takes to start over in an industry shaped by attrition
• Explore the expansive world of content creation beyond traditional Hollywood and where you fit in
• Discover your place in the exploding universe of content beyond traditional Hollywood
• Redefine authenticity in a world where platforms shape your public identity
• Examine how algorithms subtly influence creators’ voices and values over time
• Get practical insights on juggling creative careers, new ventures without burning out
• See how teamwork and resilience fuel joy in an unpredictable creative landscape
• Creating clarity with a vision board to define values and boundaries while juggling multiple roles
• Why networking and personal branding fuel sustainable success in creative careers
• How traditional storytellers can thrive by bringing structure and soul to the creator economy

RESOURCES:

Happier in Hollywood Podcast

Happier in Hollywood Episode 408 - Laverne McKinnon

Happier in Hollywood Episode 415 - Todd Shulkin

Happier in Hollywood Episode 69 - Channing Dungey

Happier in Hollywood Substack