What does writing for television actually look like when the cameras aren’t rolling and the typing isn’t happening yet?

In this episode of What’s The Trick?, Ben Hanlin sits down with TV writer and creator Matthew Barry to unpack the real mechanics behind making large-scale drama - from writers’ rooms that barely involve writing, to the invisible maths of scheduling, budgets, and momentum that quietly shape every story you see on screen.

Matthew has written for some of the UK’s most demanding long-running shows, worked in major American writers’ rooms, and created original dramas that made it all the way through commissioning, financing, and broadcast. This conversation exists to strip away the mythology and talk honestly about how things actually get made - not just the ideas, but the systems around them.

If you’ve ever wondered how a TV series moves from a blank page to a finished broadcast, or how creative careers are sustained over decades rather than moments, this episode is a rare, clear-eyed look behind the curtain.

What You’ll Learn

- Why a “writer’s room” is mostly about pitching, conversation, and decision-making, not typing.

- How TV seasons are structurally planned using character boards and episode grids

- Why pitching ideas is a completely different skill from writing them

- How scheduling, availability, and logistics quietly dictate story choices

- What makes dialogue feel authentic, and why character voice can’t really be taught

- Why some of the most powerful story setups are intentionally never paid off

- How commissioning, funding, and timing actually determine whether a show gets made

- A practical, repeatable method for beating procrastination and finishing drafts

Why This Conversation Matters

Most creative conversations focus on inspiration or talent. This one focuses on process.

Matthew’s career sits at the intersection of craft and constraint, where creativity isn’t just about having good ideas, but about navigating systems, rooms, notes, budgets, and timing without losing your voice. That tension is familiar far beyond television: founders, makers, and creatives in every field face the same challenge of turning ideas into reality inside imperfect structures.

This episode isn’t about shortcuts or hacks. It’s about understanding the real game - so you can play it with more clarity, patience, and resilience.

Who This Episode Is For

- Writers and creatives curious about how professional TV actually gets made

- Founders and makers working inside complex systems they don’t fully control

- Anyone interested in storytelling, structure, and audience expectation

- Creators struggling with procrastination, perfectionism, or finishing work

- Listeners who value long-term creative careers over overnight success

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a deep, honest look at what it actually takes to build a creative career on the internet, not in theory, but in practice.

Ben Hanlin sits down with Dan Rhodes, one of the most-followed magicians on YouTube, to unpack how a background in magic turned into a global audience through short-form video, disciplined experimentation, and an almost obsessive focus on consistency. What was made here isn’t just content, it’s a system for learning in public, iterating fast, and compounding attention over time.

This conversation exists because so much advice about creativity and platforms is either outdated or overly abstract. Dan’s story is grounded in real decisions: what to post, how often, when to pivot, what to ignore, and why owning your audience now matters more than chasing traditional media milestones.

At its core, this episode is about building something durable in a world where platforms change, algorithms shift, and attention is fleeting, and how to keep making work you actually care about while doing it.

• How to build repeatable creative “buckets” instead of constantly reinventing ideas.
• Why the first milestone on any platform is the hardest, and why growth compounds after that.
• A practical posting cadence that prioritises learning over perfection.
• How watch time, not follower count, really drives distribution.
• Why short-form success can complicate long-form growth, and how to navigate it.
• The trade-off between chasing traditional media and owning your own audience.
• How to think about risk, patience, and delayed returns as a creator.

Creative careers used to follow a narrow path: get on TV, get signed, get commissioned. That model shaped egos, ambitions, and definitions of success for decades.

This conversation challenges that framework. It shows how a creator can build leverage by showing up daily, paying attention to feedback, and treating platforms as tools, not destinations. Dan’s journey highlights a generational shift: from chasing gatekeepers to building direct relationships with audiences, one piece of content at a time.

For anyone making things today, films, products, art, and ideas. This episode offers a grounded perspective on how momentum is actually built, and why adaptability matters more than status.

• Creators trying to grow on social platforms without burning out
• Founders and makers interested in audience-first thinking
• Anyone frustrated by slow early progress and wondering if it’s worth continuing
• People deciding between traditional media paths and independent creation
• Listeners curious about how creative systems are built, not just outcomes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever wonder how to make a career as a TV & Film writer?

Join Ben Hanlin as interviews Tom Basden about his journey in filmmaking, focusing on the transition from a short film to a feature, the collaborative writing process, the challenges of production, and the role of music in storytelling. Tom shares insights on improvisation during filming, the importance of passion in writing, and offers advice for aspiring writers in the comedy genre.

What You’ll Learn

- How to move from an early version (short/idea) to a full feature without losing what made it special.



- Why finishing the script before involving “the system” can protect tone, confidence, and creative clarity.



- A practical way to think about structure: if scenes can be removed or reordered without consequences, something’s off.



- How to collaborate when two writers have different strengths (one generates fast, the other simplifies and sharpens).



- When improvisation helps and when it’s a trap (especially under extreme time pressure).



- How to handle disagreement across script, shoot, and edit without killing the vibe.



- Why momentum is the hidden fuel of film projects and what to do when it starts to stall.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.