Take 26 - Show creator, writer and Emmy winner Javier Grillo-Marxuach, The Middleman, Lost, Dark Crystal

Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss

This week's guest is the extraordinary writer, creator and double Emmy winner Javier Grillo-Marxuach.
He works out how many of his 23 shows have been cancelled (a few), how many he has quit (some) and which were the ones he cared most about and were most proud of (The Middleman). We talk about how winning Emmys 'doesn't suck' (and giving them to his parents to display), the joy of being able to create a show he loved and the time he tried, and failed, to sell out.
Javi talks about some of the frustrations of the industry, how close he came to a second 'soul' project and the balance between making money and working on shows you care about.
He explains why he is so happy to talk about failure and share scripts and pitches and how he wants to give back to younger writers so they can avoid making mistakes he made.
A funny, insightful, painful and inspirational episode with one of the real characters of Hollywood.