Onwriting: A Podcast Of The Wga East

Season 4 host Kaitlin Fontana talks with Lauren Ashley Smith about being the Head Writer for the HBO series A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW, her writing process, the importance of having diverse voices in entertainment, how she runs her writers' room, and much more. Lauren is a writer, actor, comedian, and producer, and the first black woman to be the Head Writer of a sketch television show. Before her work on "A Black Lady Sketch Show," Lauren was Head Writer of the critically acclaimed late night show, "The Rundown with Robin Thede." As a comedian, Lauren hosted the Zagat webseries, “Chefs Eating Tacos," and has appeared on VH1.com, The Scene, Refinery29, and the Netflix original series, “The Characters.” A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW is, as its name implies, is a sketch-comedy series with a cast, writers' room, and directing roster comprised entirely of black women. The series, created by Robin Thede and co-executive produced by Issa Rae, premiered on HBO in August and was recently renewed for its second season. -- Re