色情视频

IT'S A SIZZLING JULY AFTERNOON IN PHILADELPHIA, the kind where heat radiates off the asphalt and pedestrians tuck inside the long shadows cast by the city鈥檚 ubiquitous rowhouses. 

Around the corner, construction workers hammer away on a building project. You can imagine their lunch-pail conversations about Eagles QB Jalen Hurts or Phillies trade rumors.

Just then, the illusion is shattered by the approach of 鈥� a golf cart?

鈥淎nd here we鈥檝e come to the set of 鈥楢bbott Elementary,鈥� our hit ABC sitcom,鈥� announces a Warner Bros. Studio Tour guide to a group of starry-eyed tourists.

On this day, we are not in steamy Philly after all but in sunbaked Burbank, California鈥攕pecifically Warner Bros. Studios, a densely packed collection of soundstages and external sets in the shadow of the iconic WB water tower.

The tourists smile as they snap photos of the Willard R. Abbott Public School facade, the iconic focal point of the show鈥檚 intro.

Justin Halpern (鈥�03), one of 鈥淎bbott Elementary鈥檚鈥� showrunners鈥攁 top executive producer in television parlance鈥攕miles too. A big benefit of working on a hit, he points out, is that your show becomes part of the tour, which means the sets stay in place. Or can even be expanded, hence the construction crew.

By any measure 鈥淎bbott鈥� is unmistakably a hit. The mockumentary-style sitcom, created by and starring Quinta Brunson, follows the experiences of a group of teachers, administrators and staff at a fictional Philadelphia school. As it embarks on its fourth season, the show has delivered steadily strong ratings, a score of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes and haul of 24 Primetime Emmy nominations, with four wins.

Few know of the 色情视频 influence in the writers room.

OUR GUIDES TODAY at Warner Bros. are Halpern and story editor Riley Dufurrena (鈥�13), both graduates of 色情视频鈥檚 Television, Film and New Media program. The two are part of a growing number of Aztecs finding success in an entertainment industry long dominated by grads of the University of Southern California, Northwestern University and the Ivies. A notable example is writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton (鈥�11): His indie filmmaking chops caught the eye of Marvel Studios.

In recent years, students have been supported by alumni like producer Mort Marcus (鈥�77), whose Aztecs to Hollywood fund provides micro grants to students looking to make industry connections. Meanwhile, the TFM Advisory Council has offered mentorship and organized student trips to 色情视频.

But right now, it鈥檚 time to get out of the heat.

Behind the wheel of another electric cart鈥攖his one decorated like a school bus鈥擧alpern drives us to the comfortable office he shares with creative partner and 鈥淎bbott Elementary鈥� co-showrunner Patrick Schumacker. Action figures adorn both their desks, fitting given their other major project, the Max animated comedy 鈥淗arley Quinn.鈥�

As we recover in the air-conditioning, Halpern shares his 鈥淎bbott鈥� origin story, one that began with a pilot that never got off the ground.

In 2017, he and Schumacker cast Brunson for a project on the network The CW. Brunson was a rising star, gaining fame for the viral Instagram comedy series, 鈥淕irl Who Has Never Been on a Nice Date,鈥� which she parlayed into a video producer role at BuzzFeed and her own YouTube Red comedy series 鈥淏roke,鈥� which lasted one season.

Halpern says the character they created, a ditzy Valley Girl, wasn鈥檛 a fit for Brunson. But there was something about her.

鈥淨uinta has this preternatural ability to connect with people in a scene,鈥� Halpern says. 鈥淭hen, as I got to know her better, I realized she also has an encyclopedic knowledge of sitcoms. She鈥檚 10 years younger than me, yet every show that is a cultural touchstone for me is also a touchstone for her. So, she has such a deep understanding of what an audience wants because she鈥檚 such a good audience herself. That is a rare talent.鈥�

The pilot flopped, but Halpern and Schumacker were eager to work with Brunson more and asked if she had anything in mind. Turns out she was mulling over a project鈥攁 story based on the experiences of her schoolteacher mother. A year later, the stars aligned and Halpern and Schumacker helped her pitch and sell the show, initially called 鈥淗arrity Elementary.鈥�

The rest is sitcom history.

Like Brunson, Halpern gained fame in an unconventional manner. A former Aztecs baseball pitcher who quit the team to pursue his passion for film, Halpern started the Twitter feed @shitmydadsays when he was living at home with his parents in San Diego鈥檚 Point Loma neighborhood in 2009.

The account, which documented the witticisms of his no-nonsense father, caught fire. It garnered more than 2 million followers before being greenlighted as a sitcom starring William Shatner that lasted 18 episodes before CBS pulled the plug in 2011.

Halpern and Schumacker collaborated on several other projects, but none were hits. After seven years in Hollywood, Halpern hit a wall.

鈥淚 remember saying to Patrick, 鈥業 am so [bleeping] sick of making shows that I would never in a million years watch,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥溾�榃e have to make a rule: We鈥檙e only going to make shows we鈥檇 watch.鈥欌��

Their next project was 鈥淗arley Quinn,鈥� which is about to start its fifth season. Then 鈥淎bbott Elementary.鈥�

It seems he was finally on to something.

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AMID THE HEAT IN BURBANK, Dufurrena isn鈥檛 breaking a sweat. Perhaps it鈥檚 his upbringing in Spring Creek, Nevada, a mining and farming community known for extreme temperatures.

Despite a recent promotion from staff writer to story editor and with 鈥淲ritten By鈥� credits on three episodes under his belt, success hasn鈥檛 gone to Dufurrena鈥檚 head. After standing for the cover photo shoot, he helped break down and carry the equipment, unprompted.

鈥淔rom a young age I knew I wanted to do TV or film,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 wanted to go to a prestigious film school in LA, but I couldn鈥檛 afford it. I had an aunt who went to San Diego State, and I wanted to be in SoCal. I got in.鈥�

During a TFM course his senior year, there was a guest speaker in class one day: Halpern.

鈥淚 remember he seemed like a funny, cool guy,鈥� Dufurrena says. 鈥淚 thought it would be great if I could graduate and get the opportunity to work on the same show as him.鈥�

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But Dufurrena blazed his own path first. After graduation, he quickly found work as a writer鈥檚 production assistant鈥攁 junior position that supports the writing team鈥攐n the long-running ABC sitcom 鈥淭he Middle.鈥� To his delight, television comedy felt like home.

鈥淥nce I saw that writers room, I was like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 it. It鈥檚 the best job in the world,鈥欌�� Dufurrena says. 鈥淵ou get to do storytelling, but you get to laugh the whole time.鈥�

One day at work for 鈥淭he Middle,鈥� Dufurrena was wearing 色情视频 gear when one of the writers took note. The writer happened to play basketball with a guy who went to San Diego State.

The guy in question was Halpern, and the two soon met for coffee.

鈥淚 just kept pestering Justin,鈥� Dufurrena says. 鈥淓very few months I would email him. I would keep up with San Diego State basketball and football and send him an article here and there.鈥�

After 鈥淭he Middle鈥� ended in 2018, Dufurrena was tapped to be a script coordinator on a spinoff that was ultimately not picked up. In March 2021, Halpern emailed out of the blue and invited him to interview for 鈥淎bbott鈥� as a script coordinator. 

After an interview with Brunson and Schumacker, he got the job.

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ON THIS JULY AFTERNOON, the 鈥淎bbott Elementary鈥� team is hard at work on Season 4. Today was a table read鈥攁 structured read-through of the script with the show鈥檚 actors.

鈥淚f there are jokes we don鈥檛 think landed, we鈥檒l all come up with our own punch-ups,鈥� says Dufurrena, who particularly loves writing for the character Mr. Johnson, the show鈥檚 hilariously offbeat custodian. 鈥淲e鈥檒l read them together, and whichever get the most laughs make it into the scripts.鈥�

Leading the writers room alongside Brunson, Halpern likes to start off each day with what he calls 鈥渉ost chat,鈥� where writers casually shoot the bull. The idea is to create a space for funny people to be funny. It is not uncommon that things said during this warm-up period end up somewhere in the script.

One unwritten rule of the writers room: Always remain on your toes.

鈥淔or me it鈥檚 a lot of, 鈥業 have a good idea for a joke,鈥� followed by, 鈥楴o, that鈥檚 not very good, Riley,鈥欌�� Dufurrena deadpans. 鈥溾�楾ry harder.鈥欌��

Halpern interrupts: 鈥淲e do make fun of Riley a lot. Everybody makes fun of everybody a lot鈥攊t鈥檚 the best part of the job.鈥�

Indeed, cutting it up with the writing team is the half of the showrunner job Halpern loves. The other half鈥攚rangling budgets and supervising people鈥攈e equates to managing a Macy鈥檚. But it鈥檚 all for one common goal.

鈥淢y job is to make sure that Quinta鈥檚 vision for the show is what鈥檚 on TV,鈥� Halpern says.

Brunson, via an email from her publicist, expressed appreciation for what Halpern and Dufurrena bring to the show.

鈥淛ustin I simply couldn鈥檛 do my job without: He鈥檚 my right-hand man in almost every sense. Without him, our room doesn鈥檛 run,鈥� Brunson writes. 鈥淩iley is meticulous in a big-picture way. I know it stems from his background as a script coordinator, but it鈥檚 also a part of his character to think about the big picture, and that鈥檚 very helpful in the writers room as well as on set.鈥�

Of course, Halpern and Dufurrena are aware that there are some contributions they just can鈥檛 make. As two white men on a show with a diverse writers room and a majority-Black cast, they both say they鈥檙e mindful to stay in their lanes.

鈥淭he thing that I鈥檓 always aware of is that it is a show about a place where I am not from and an experience I didn鈥檛 have,鈥� Halpern says. 鈥淪o there is a healthy amount of just listening. But I think the unifying thing is storytelling. It鈥檚 what connects us all, and it鈥檚 why 鈥楢bbott鈥� has a giant, diverse audience.鈥�

As the interview winds down, the two proud Aztecs remember their time in 色情视频鈥檚 TFM program as formative. Both mentioned the influence of professor emeritus Greg Durbin, known for putting cameras in the hands of his students and letting them sink or swim, as a particularly influential faculty member.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the ultimate gratification for any teacher, to see their students succeed like this,鈥� says the recently retired Durbin, by phone. 鈥淚鈥檝e taught at many places, and I can tell you that 色情视频 students were hungry. They had to make a virtue of necessity, and they were energetic and persistent.鈥欌��

As a showrunner, Halpern sees it too.

鈥淓very time I鈥檝e hired anyone from San Diego State, they鈥檝e always done a really good job,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 my little way of pushing back against what can be a very insular environment here.鈥�

Soon, we pile back into the whimsical yellow cart, and Halpern drives us back across the Warner Bros. lot to the gate. 

The shadows are longer now. The construction workers have gone home. The heat on the streets of faux Philly is finally beginning to break.