I’m Showrunner MARS Dee Johnson and This Is How I Work
Dee Johnson will take you to Mars before Elon Musk releases his next car from the atmosphere. Johnson has hosted shows such as The Good Wife and Nashville , has worked on shows such as Ambulance and Melrose Place , and is now showrunner on season 2 of MARS , a hybrid script / documentary series from National Geographic about the great desert. the planet we dream of escaping every night. The new season premiered this Monday; we caught Johnson to talk about her career, what she reads, and what seems like the only way to get a new TV show airing.
Name: Dee Johnson Location: Los Angeles Ongoing Concert: Showrunner, MARS Season 2 Current Computer: MacBook Pro Current Mobile Device: iPhone 6S. Yes, it’s time to trade. One word that best describes how you work: sitting.
First of all, tell us a little about your past and how you got where you are now.
I have always written and have always loved television. Somehow the idea to write for television came up and it became the only goal. So I moved to Los Angeles, got a job as an administrative assistant, which led to a job as an assistant screenwriter and finally as a script coordinator and assistant to David Chase on an NBC show called I’m Fly Away . All of this allowed me to work with insanely talented people, allowed me to learn the craft from the inside and absorb all aspects of production – for a small fee, of course. And in my free time – early in the morning, at night and on weekends – I wrote, wrote, wrote.
I got my first “copywriting” at I’ll Fly Away and got my first writing job at the original Melrose Place . Although I did not choose this genre, over the course of four seasons it proved to be an excellent training ground for the young writer. After that, I switched to one season at Profiler , Any Day Now for two, and ER for five. Last year I was on a show (Season 11) and have since been on shows like Commander-in-Chief , The Good Wife , Boss , Nashville and MARS .
Tell us about a recent work day.
Woke up at 6am to write about one of my own development projects. 12:00 phone interview with press for MARS , which premiered on 11/12/18, MARS marketing conference at 2:00 pm, in-depth reading for potential showrange work from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
What apps, gadgets or tools, besides your phone, can’t you live without?
My laptop is everything to me. Google is in second place, followed by Thesaurus.com. And since I live in Los Angeles, Waze.
How is your workplace arranged?
During production, a boring little office is ideally positioned between the writers’ room and the editorial office. When I just write, I float around the house. At the moment I have settled in the library, which sounds more boring than it really is.
What do you want people to understand how television works?
How laborious it is and how many people are involved in the creation of each individual episode.
What’s your best life hack?
Hairpins (paper fasteners) are used to anchor scripts, but as a last resort, you can use them to tighten eyeglass screws and clean your nails.
Tell us about an interesting, unusual, or challenging process you have at work.
I don’t like working with ink when taking notes from the script, and kind of insist on Bic Velocity # 2 0.9 mechanical pencils and Magic Rub erasers .
Who are the people who help you achieve results, and how do you rely on them?
My assistant who keeps me in the right direction at the right time, my lieutenants in the writers’ room who have to feed the fabulous beast daily, and my script coordinator who tracks and processes every draft and revision of every script.
How do you keep track of what you need to do?
My iPhone is my calendar. I use Event Alerts to manage everything from appointments to doctor visits to pet food.
How to recharge or relax?
Travel works best. And when it’s impossible, friends and wine.
What’s your favorite side project?
A miniseries about my mother’s guerrilla life during World War II when the Japanese occupied the Philippines, but I may have to write it as a novel first, because IP seems to be the only thing that matters more.
What are you reading now or what do you recommend?
I just started Home, written by Yaa Gyasi.
Who else would you like to see to answer these questions?
Showrunners with many shows in production such as Ryan Murphy or Shonda Rhimes. I stand in amazement.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
From David Chase: Start each scene like never before.
What problem are you still trying to solve?
How to broadcast a show of your own creativity.