Recently, I had the honor and pleasure to interview Stu Krieger, a screenwriter with decades of experience and enough writing credits to fill a wall – literally! From the beloved animated classics The Land Before Time and A Troll in Central Park to Disney Channel originals Smart House and Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Krieger’s career has been littered with animated and live action movies and teleplays. As an aspiring cartoon show writer and screenwriting professor, Krieger is my perfect role model and, as the interview revealed, a wonderfully genuine person.
Through endearing anecdotes, Krieger shared with me his keys to success he picked up over the years…
Dependability and Hard Work
Though he was too young to remember when he first wanted to be a writer, Krieger stated with confidence that he has been writing ever since. Even as early as middle school, he told everyone he would be a writer in Hollywood and had writing to prove it. Now a professor at University of California, Riverside, he is stunned to see how many students say the same thing without having anything to show for it. Unlike directors or filmmakers, writers are able to write on their own with no budget at all, and it is important that they do. Krieger states that practices as simple as keeping a journal or taking notes allow writers to “learn something about how [they] express [themselves].”
When given that first job, Krieger urges writers to do their job well to give executives a reason to be confident in their work. Simply put, be dependable. If a writer tells an executive they can meet a deadline, they need to meet it! You could be the most talented person in the room, but if others can’t trust that you can perform your job with excellence, no one will want to give you jobs to do.
Confidence
That said, if a writer isn’t confident in themselves, it is impossible for others to be too. Krieger admits that something he wish he knew sooner was the importance of confidence. “When an executive hires writers,” he discloses, “they are hiring the story and the confidence of the writer.”
When pitching ideas to a writer’s room, an executive, or anyone in between, Krieger stresses that it is important to tell the story confidently. If it is funny, the writer shouldn’t have to say it is. Krieger sold his ideas with humorous voices, animated energy, and great excitement, and that was often enough to get others just as excited. The key to confidence, in his eyes, just comes down to practice. The more he pitched in front of a mirror, a friend, or an executive, the easier it became.
People Skills
You have to develop confidence without arrogance
MAX ADLER
Even with confidence being key to selling ideas, Krieger lives by his friend Max Adler’s key advice: “You have to develop confidence without arrogance.”
Before recent years, tossing ideas around was more brutally honest, and, at times, violent (Krieger recalls an executive that would throw staplers at bad ideas). With recent reforms, however, this behavior no longer flies. Instead, the key to succeeding in the industry is empathy and kindness. “Talent is only a part of it,” says Krieger. “100,000 people could do that job. Make yourself the person they want to be in business with.” Being open to collaboration, working well with others, and reading rooms for reactions before they are said aloud are desirable and beautifully rewarded.
Family
Throughout the interview, Krieger made it incredibly clear how much his family meant to him. He turned down numerous jobs simply because he did not think would be a good fit for him and the mentality he had since day one: “What is the life I want and how can I build my career around that instead of the other way around?”
He notes that he would always take the weekends off to spend time with his family. In the event that an executive would ask him to work on a Saturday, he would stand firm and tell them to reach out on Monday. Not only did this make his life more fulfilling than those of his career-focused coworkers, it also made him more desirable, he reported. By denying jobs with demanding expectations or executives he did not mesh with, he seemed less desperate for work, which ended up earning him more gigs that mattered in the end.
This family time was revolutionary for his writing. As someone who writes family content starring families, Krieger’s own family was a great inspiration for the stories he told. When working from home, he would often open his door, listen to his kids, and add what they said to his work.
“I always said part of my success with Disney Channel was that my kids sounded like real kids that their audience responded to,” said Krieger. “If I didn’t have that relationship with my kids, I couldn’t have done it.”
Photo credit: Joe Flood
In Conclusion…
This experience has taught me so much about myself, the industry, and the wonderful Stu Krieger. When the time to interview came around, I was excitedly nervous, but Krieger’s warm personality made it easy to relax. I will cherish the incredible advice he gave as I continue along my writing journey, especially that about family. I have watched a number of screenwriting webinars and read several screenwriting books, but I have never heard a writer stress that family should come first as genuinely as he did. There were certainly times where I worried I could not have both if I chose this path, and it is reassuring to know that it is possible to have both.
I always said part of my success with Disney Channel was that my kids sounded like real kids that their audience responded to. If I didn’t have that relationship with my kids, I couldn’t have done it.
STU KRIEGER
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