Hi everyone, I'm Kitty Kirk and this is next question. You know, when I told my team I was interviewing today's guest, they went nuts. Winda Brunson just seems to have that effect on people. She's the creator, writer, producer, and star of Abbot Elementary, a workplace mockumentary following a group of determined teachers and one slightly less motivated but hilarious principle at of Philadelphia Public School. Guys, I need a new rug. Mine is officially done. Me too. I shook mine out and all of the asthma kids had to go to the nurse's office. Yeah, mine's busted. And he can't class up a rug like he kind of couch with a nice quota plastic. He would it do? Baby booth? Which I think about this low film corrobborading here distracting makes our jobs harder, but exciting. Were about to be on TV because they are covering undefunded, poorly managed public schools in America. No press is bad press, barb. Look at mel Gibson, still thriving in front of the camera. Quinta plays Janine, one of the newer, more relentlessly enthusiastic teachers Behind the scenes, Quinta has created something unique, a network sitcom that manages to authentically portray the real world struggles of public school educators, and it's resonating. Viewership of the show, which is in its second season, is breaking records for ABC, and it's piling up all kinds of accolades. For this year's Critics Choice Awards, Abbott has more nominations than any other TV show it starts or benefiting too, including Sheryl Lee Ralph, who's getting some long overdue Recognitionminin Dane Species. You might have seen her emmy speech. It brought the room to its feet and meet a tears song. I am a mana, I'm antist and not be. I caught up with Quinta at the tail end of her busy production schedule, and she was understandably beat. She spoke to me during a break between writing sessions in Los Angeles. It must be so fun to be in a writer's room. My daughter is a writer for a show called The Boys, which is on Amazon. Yeah, yeah, and you know, and I hear her. She does a lot of her stuff on Zoom. But I've always wanted maybe when I come to l a. I'll be able to. Maybe you'll let me sit in on your writer's room. I come to l A for a month in the winter to see my daughter to work, you know, remotely, because I hate cold weather. I just have to get out in New York City and um, it must be so fun to be in a writer's room. It is, um, you know, just like any other working experience. It can vary, you know, it depends on what room you're in, where you are. Yes, so my daughter has been in some not so fun rooms, right, it happens. But I bet The Boys is actually a pretty fun one. I bet that's a great show with great producers. I think that our room is made to be a really enjoyable environment. Um. I have two wonderful co producers, Justin how Pert and Patrick Schumacher, who really help facilitate such a healthy room. I I know, for me personally, I always wanted to have an enjoyable room where people can feel comfortable speaking, can we can brainstorm easily, We can be efficient as well as exciting. But we just we have a great room. One of my favorite thing about our room is we started ten every day and we're done typically before four o'clock. That's not that's nice. My favorite part is you know, we get to go home, so that's exciting. I would think it would be so important to have good chemistry in a writer's room and a good environment where people can riff and have fun and you know, and I don't know, it's it must be the strange alchemy because you have to be respectful, but you also have to feel free to throw out ideas and not be afraid. Right. Yeah, Like I said, like in a healthy room, you get to do all of those things. You get to throw out out ideas, you get to collaborate, you could be respectful of others. I think the key to a healthy room is respect, you know, respecting the other writers who are in the room with you, their point of view. Um, we just had a conversation about the episode we're watching. And although it is my show, and I think in a lot of other cases people would say, well what I say goes. I'm always it's not just open to but grateful to be able to hear the thoughts of the writers and see making sure that we're all on the same page, that we're feeling heard their ideas make the show better. So you have to maintain an environment where people feel comfortable sharing. And for me, my writing process goes all the way back to improv, which is the rules of yes ending instead of no butt. So it's always how can we build off of each other? Um, how can we hear each other out and come to the something that makes the entire room comfortable? And if it doesn't, let's talk about why and and really get in there and make something good. So I that's that's an important part of a writer's room, and when that writer's room is operating off of that is such a good experience like that, But it takes a lot of humility for someone like you to be willing to take feedback from writers. And what if you feel like you know you want it, you're you're open to it, but you totally disagree. I mean, ultimately, it is your name on the show, so you do you just say, you know, how do you how do you handle that? Like that's a really interesting observation and idea. But I like it the way I get it, you know, I just stay honest. I do. I love to hear how everyone feels and very often my mind will be changed. But every once in a while, say Nope. This is what makes it my show to me, and if I were to waiver on this, then it wouldn't feel like my show or something that I'm comfortable having my name put on, and vice versa, if the thing were to Most of the time you're getting into that discussion about something that might blow up, you know, something that might get get audience feedback that is not necessar saily great. We haven't had that happen in it with Avid, thank goodness, UM, but you know, every now and then it happens. We had a charter school storyline this season that UM upset a few people who who work in charter schools, And because that was my decision, I was able to say, yeah, I own that, Yeah you're upset, and that's okay. I made that decision. Uh, and I take that fully on my back because that is what I wanted to happen in the show. So whenever I do just kind of say no, this is the way I wanted, I'm also making sure I'm prepared to take whatever blowback could come from that decision, which I that's part of the responsibility of helming a show UM as a creator and just knowing that if things go South. It's on YouTube. But also only that I think is really important. Well, it sounds like it's it's a fun place to work, and um, and thanks are going so well for you. First of all, I just want to say congratulations from for all your success you're Are you still thirty two or if you turned thirty three? Quina? Thirty three? In let's see what day it is? How many days? Wow? Wow? Well that's still your baby. You're very young and you know, oh my god, honey, you know I'm sixty five, So thirty three sounds pretty sweet to me. Although I wouldn't change a thing. No, I feel I feel lucky to be the age I am, and I feel like everyone needs to appreciate every year they have on the planet. Absolutely, but I feel really bad. Things are going so so badly for you these days. I'm kidding. I feel like I feel like I feel like every interview must start this way. Quenta, Wow, what a year you've had. You're the award winning writer, creator, and showrunner of Avid Elementary. You single handedly revived the dying Network sitcom. The Hollywood Reporter named Comedy Star of the Year, and you just played Oprah in Weird The Aligankovic story. So does every interview start that way, Quinta? You know most of them do? Yes, most of them do? Yeah. I can't lie well. I tried to start out in a more original way, but I couldn't figure out how to do that. So I just want to ask you. I mean, how are you dealing with it? Is it is this thrilling? Is it overwhelming? Is it a mixed bad? What it is? Um? Over No, overwhelming is not the right word. It's thrilling. I think that I focus very much on keeping my feet on the ground, and I think that's what keeps it from becoming overwhelming. You know, I think I know what's happening every day, Even on days where I'm don't totally know my entire schedule, I'm keeping in tune with what's going on. UM. I recently had that interview with Oprah which came out yesterday, and although I have not watched it, I remember talking about Oprah was talking to me about UM. You know, her her rise of making her show was essentially a blur, like, it's just happening. You're just doing your job every day, and I feel like you probably can relate. You're just doing your job and and Oprah said that she felt like for the first time she was able to look at me and see what it looked like or felt like. So I feel like that comforted me because I can't really slow down to see what it looks like. Things are just happening every day and I'm just writing wave because ultimately, I feel like I just need to, like, you know, stay healthy, and it feels good to focus on my work like that. Um. I think that in the future I'll be able to look back and just be like, whoa that this is all crazy, But for now, I've just compartmentalized it into things that happened every day. So even talking to you, although you were the wonderful, incredible kid, Curic, it's like, you know that's in the calendar is okay, I'll be doing that and then I'll be going back to the writer's room and then who knows. I think I'll process it in like three months. At the same time, have you taken any like moment to just say, wow, this is so exciting. I mean, it is kind of kiss met when everything comes together. You know, it doesn't happen that often, right, And yeah, for you to come up with this idea. Yeah, write it, create it, starring it, and birth that. Really I hope you've able to been able to take a moment to say this is this is really cool? I think so I think I have I do. I have those moments every now and then. I took my dad to a six Ers game this past week, and um was that crazy? It was, you know, because I'm in my l a bubble a lot and getting to go back home is rare, you know, it's kind of like holiday time. Um. I was excited to take my dad to that game just because when I was little, he used to take me to games, you know, and so I was excited to be able to do that for him. And were you on the JumboTron? Yeah, yeah, I heard, I heard I was. But they had us ring the Liberty bell, which is what you know, celebrities do at the beginning of the six Years game. And um, that was a moment where I got to sit and take it in, like, whoa, I'm able to take my dad to the six Years game. I'm able to like sit courtside with my dad and have you know, like James Harten say hey to me and like the the you know, the nets and stuff, and my dad got to meet the legendary basketball player named World be Free. I didn't know him. My dad's out about him, but then that you know, he's freaked out. Then later that guy was like, I love your show, and I was like, oh my god, thank you, and you know my dad loves you and you know it took a picture with him, which was so cool. So it's like moments when I'm able to do that for my dad or yeah, this is I have a couple of show. It's the most you know, odd moments. It's not technically when I'm accepting, worried or something. It's like when I can do something very hyper specific for my family. Well, it's I think it must be incredibly exciting. And I want to talk to you about your family, Quentin a minute and a little bit about your upbringing and sort of your slightly circumlocutious road to creating this show, because you've done a lot of other things I know kind of leading up to this point, but but I wanted to focus just for a minute on the show. I know you came up with the idea because your mom was a kindergarten teacher and she used to come home and regale you all with stories. Did you think, I mean when you set out to do this show. Tell me a little bit about your thought process, because I'm so fascinated by the genesis of an idea. The idea really came when I went to go visit my mom, and I spent so much time with my mom in schools. I was in her class, I went to the school where she taught for all of the elementary school, and then constantly was just more than just being a student. Was always in schools and my mom was very involved, so just hearing about everything from her. That wasn't until I, you know, I went to college and moved to l A. And then all of a sudden, I wasn't in that environment as much anymore. But I wasn't in that state of knowing how important or formidable, you know, that environment was to me and how familiar I was with it. So when I went back to visit my mom before she retired, I was just in this environment again. All of a sudden, that familiarity just hit me in the face. I was like, WHOA, I forgot how you know this halways smell these floors, this these walls, man, this is so rich and it's something a world I know really well that I forgot about. So I think for me, I like to create stories about a world I know very well, and I feel like I like to know the smell of that world, you know, I like to know all of those kinds of details. And ultimately, you know, despite what people take away from when they watch Abbott, I really just wanted to make a workplace comedy. That was my goal. Just a twenty two minute sitcom. Uh no more poignant than then uh, you know any of the other workplace comedies. Really, I think with a show like Abbott that naturally the heart comes out differently, the lessons that people learn from the show, It just comes out because of uh where me and the writers the places where we could be right from. You know, we're I think we're big on humor and humanity and so uh because of that, people get a lot more from the show. But my goal is to keep it a workplace comedy. These things need to happen here the same way that they've happened on you know, shows like The Office or just shoot Me. Like it just needs to feel um. So I love that it's both the sitcom and and sort of the mockumentary style of the office. Um, and it feels a little ted Lassoe with the heart and the focus on the characters, the teachers. How did that come come? Bath? Did you just say, I like this style, so I want to have the teachers. I want them to convey what's happening internally and all that. Yeah. I just thought it was a great opportunity for mocumentary. I mean, I saw it as a mocumentary initially. That's just what I saw when I thought of the idea. But what was always fun to me about mocumentary is with it you get two versions of a character. It's just multilayered, which I think is so beautiful for the mundane field fields. Um, you know. Yeah. Uh. There's a show that people don't know, but it was one hbos an Australian show called Jamay and it was it was very it is really silly, not the most politically correct, but it was just this girl going to her prep school and you find yourself all of a sudden, super into this girl's life, you know. And I think it's that those double layers to people that mocumentary provides that makes them more enticing and I felt like that was really great for these teachers, in particular in the school like abbott Um, to get two sides of them, what they showed her the camera and what they showed to their um uh, their cowork It's also interesting to watch that relationship develop over time. You know, a character like Gregory, who kind of wants nothing to do with the cameras at first, are now finding them to be the only people. You know, he they that he can trust. And I think it's fun for the audience, you know, it keeps them on their toes of There's so many people who, like in our show, would love for Gregory and Janine to get together. But you know, Gregory and Jeanine don't know what the audience knows. They really don't. They don't know what the cameras know, you know what I mean, they don't they You guys are seeing it, but they're not seeing anything really right. Same thing with Barbara, I mean, all of our characters. There's there's opportunities for Barbara to say stuff to the camera about her profession that she would never say to your co workers. So I just find it so exciting. It's such an exciting format. I don't think it always works, you know, like I think sometimes it's a hindrance or a crutch, but I don't think it is here. It makes you feel like you're part of the inside joke, you know, as a viewer when people like glance at you, even if it's quick like when you were getting off the ladder and you glance quickly at the audience or whatever. It Yeah, it makes you. It brings you into that world, and it makes it feel much more intimate, which I thought was really important too. I knew that, and once again, I didn't give it that much thought. I think I was just moving with the current of the idea. But there are ways people could look at a public school like Abbott and dismiss it and dismiss what kind of love is there and what kind of cares there. So I wanted people when they watched the show to feel like they're in this school. I didn't want them to to feel like they're the aquarium looking in at the fish. I wanted them to be in there with them, because a certain kind of care comes from the audience. Then they want to protect these characters. They want to protect these kids. They work at Abbot two, they go to abbit two. Um, I think that that's something that's so powerful. And yeah, it was kind of like a theory I was testing and it wound up being true watching people care so much about these characters and you know, like want merch want they want the abbot, they want the most the lanyard, Like why do you want that lanyard? But you know people want to they feel a part of it. And that's so beautiful to me, and I think that's the sign of like a good a good show. When we come back, Quenta walks me through the often real life inspiration for her avid elementary teachers. That's right after this. I wanted to ask you about the focus of the show because it really, as you know, is on the teachers. And um, I'm curious what you're hearing from teachers because teachers are rarely portrayed in such a loving light I think, and obviously funny too, But have you heard from a lot of teachers who who say they finally feel seen? I'm getting tired of that expression, but you know what I mean. I know, I mean all the time, all the time, all the time. What do you hear from them? It's always thank you, thank you for showing what we go through. And you know, teachers are interesting because we usually talk about feeling seen in terms of like race or sex, um, sexual preferences, sexy, but not with like a profession. And I think that's what's so unique about teaching is it's this marginalized part of the government workforce. You know, we we have to have teachers. We have to No one can do anything without a teacher. It's just you know, in order for me and you and I to sit here and talk, we had to learn English. We had to, you know, learn so much. And teachers do that and um, they're paid so little. There overlooked, they're under appreciated. Um, they should be the most revered next to doctor. You know what I mean. I couldn't agree with you more so more than feeling seen for them, it's it's not like seeing like representation. It's appreciation for what they do, you know, for their actual work. I think is what they're feeling. It's like someone appreciates our work. And now the world is starting to appreciate our work more. We're not just someone who stands in front of a chalkboard. I would always have kids say to me, you know the way they my mom was a teacher, so there will be other kids in my class who looked at teachers in this very foreign way. But to me, I'm like, this is my mom. She comes here, she does this job, and then she goes home, she makes dinner, she buys me clothes, she takes me to church, to cheese. She said, she like five other kids. But to them, when you're just a student, that's just a teacher, and they they do stuff, they get on your nerves, and then they go to sleep at the school and then they wake up in the morning and they teach you again. And I think that that's the way a lot of like America unfortunately, looks at teachers. And I think teachers just come up to me to tell me, you know, thank you for appreciating what they do and knowing that it's more than just babysitting and that it's a hard, hard job. Um. I'm such an advocate for them being paid more, and I I don't know who I have to, like, I don't know what we have to do to get them paid more, but they just deserve like so much more money, especially in under resourced schools like like Abbot Elementary Um, which you you focus on in a kind of funny but serious way. And I love that you take real life issues that educators face but do it in a way that is not too heavy handed. Is it challenging to to be able? Wanted to kind of weave those things into the script and not feel like you're preaching. No, not for me, it's not my storytelling style. Two have those things way down the script or the scene or the line. I just think that there's more power and uh in in showing and telling. And I think we just did this in the room. It's and I think it's important to focus on the mundane. And in the mundane, are the details really? Like if you just listen long enough to someone talking about doing their job at the airport, they're just talking. I just talked to someone at the airport and they're just talking to me. They were having a casual conversation. But in that mundane conversation, I'm like, Yeah, that's messed up. That's messed up. That's messed up. But people are just doing their jobs. They're just getting through the day, you know, they're just uh, they don't have time all the time to talk about how messed up something it is They're just they got to do their job. They have to do their work, and so that's kind of how I approach Abbott. These are people who just have to do their job. They could stop right stop and talk about the injustices all day, but they have to teach the kids. That's the goal of the job. The job is not to talk about the job. It is to do the job. And I think you so much more out of that. I loved when Shirley Ralph was talking to your character about supplies and about not emphasizing what the kids don't have, but emphasizing what they have and working, working with the tools you have to give the kids confidence. And there's obviously a lot of wisdom from Barbara, who I guess is sort of loosely based on your mom. Yes, absolutely, not loosely very but you know what's fun is now the character has taken such shape and form. It's I love what Barbara with the Barbara character has become, and I love still influencing her with my mother, but also watching this character turned into you know, someone very special. That's that's my most my favorite part about writing. I can start with inspiration, but then watching the character take on a life of its own is so so that's the most rewarding part about it. That's when you really feel like your character is alive, and that's so fun. You know, Miss Howard, you remind me so much of my favorite teacher from the third grade, Miss Elliott. She was well dressed, good with kids, a wizard with a glue gun. Thank you, Jenny. That is very I wanted to be just like her. Actually, I was like obsessed with her. She wrote my report card note needs friends her own age, A bit clingy she was anyway, Hey, did you get my email about the two of us hanging together after school? Or no? It must have gone to spam. It's so crazy how my emails do that with you and nobody else. And tell me about the Lisa and Walters characters, sort of the rough Italian um. Of course I loved her in the parent Trap. But what was the inspiration for her character? Did you create her out of whole cloth? No? My mom always had a best friend, no matter where, you know, for years it was a woman named Miss Facey, and I love miss Facey. She just always had a partner. And then when my mom switched schools during the last five years of her career, she had this friend UM named was it camera? I think it was Melissa. I think I just used that name Melissa Michelle or something like that. And I met her and I was like, I like this woman, you know, like I like the role she plays in my mother's life, and my mom feels very safe with her. They feel safe with each other. Um, they feel comfortable enough to talk about the silliness of the school district and the silliness of their principle at the time, and I just thought that was such an endearing relationship. And these are two women who are from opposite sides of the city, different races, different religions, but their common ground is we gotta do this job. Let's just get it done. Here's the silly thing that happened today. And they've been doing the shop for a long time. So Melissa was super motivated by that UM woman in you know, Lisa audition for that role, and I mean really just brought to life what it was. It's in a tone of Lisa's voice to be both tough and very subtle and caring all in the same breath. And she just owned it and made it and I maintain it. I think she's one of the best. She's really really good. I love people who can be as subtle as subtle as she can, and it's like my favorite type of actress. And I think that Lisa just killed it. And once again, that's a character that has grown so much. We I love adding in character traits to that character to make her turn into a very alive, well fleshed out character. Who's brend Zino? Is this that is a very powerfully smelling fish to put in a shared fringe. Don't touch it. I'm making it tonight at my cousin and nets. I just think she's the best cook in the family. I'm gonna show her in a non threatening way. I'm gonna look cutter than her too. Janelle James is definitely not so subtle, not know, which is one of my other favorite parts of the communic spectrum, which is in your face. But I will say that Jenell's performance of Eva Um, it's just fascinating. There was no one else who could have done that job. And jan All has such a handle on who that woman is. You know, it's a woman that is utterly ridiculous, but you love her, and I think we write her that way but Janelle knows exactly what to do to make it so that the audience can't help but be in love with her. And that's something very unique to Janelle. Like I said that that those auditions were hard, and jen I mean as soon as she spoke, I was like, we're done, no one. It's an essence that she can carry of, you know, making you be both in love with this character but hate them and you you'd be sad if they weren't there, but you're mad they're there. It's very very special. Um, she's so good and UM, I don't know. I'm just excited to build out more of Ava. There's there's stuff coming up that I think is so great. The other great thing about that characters, even when they're small winds for her, the audience feels justified and being like, see this is why I like If she can spend the whole episode horrible, but then if she just says one right thing, you know, everyone's like see see this is why I like her. And I think it's really fun to have a character like that. Let me see these permissions left to the zoo, and they better be real because I can tell if you're fake to herb be Hancock. Oh it's John Hancock. Girl. I know, I'll just say whatever I want. We learned that. Yet it's funny how like how complex sort of all these things are in terms of the dialogue and the plot lines. And I wanted to ask you two about Tyler James Williams, who is subtle who Um I've really enjoyed watching as well. Tell me a little bit about that character and where Tyler came from. So yeah, I mean that character. Well, I'll go to the first part. So Tyler. I had worked with him one Black Lady Sketch Show, and I just so enjoyed working with him. It was just a wonderful experience for me with him One Black Lady Sketch Show that was kind of like my first time um acting with uh, with the guy with the man and had that I had to be romantic with. It was like get in the sketch or whatever. But it's a sketch, so we didn't have time to like build much uh chemistry, you know. We had to say our lines and do it. But I felt as though we had the natural chemistry that you look for with with all of the actors in your life, like it's a chemistry I look for with Janelle with um, you know, with with all of the actors in my show, I have that chemistry. I knew it would have to be special though, with the Gregory Jeanine relationship, since you know, it's insinuated that it's romantic. And when I was writing this character, I just kept seeing Tyler in my head. I was like, you know what, Tyler has the right look for this. I know he can act it. I know we have a natural chemistry there. I really hope he can't do it. So I told him about it. This was during the pandemic, so I didn't know how he was gonna. I don't know if he would be one of those people that's like, I'm never working again. I don't want to. I don't want to do TV to the Mountain said. I didn't where it would go. But he was like yeah, he said that sounds great. And I sent him the script once it was finished and he was like, I really like this, and um, he was just like a shoeing. I think we auditioned some of other people, but no one beat out Tyler's approach on the character. He just headed down and so, um, you know, His character comes in very much not wanting to be here and now, As I said, watching him grow and he he comes off super suave and and and everything in the beginning. But one thing that I'm really proud of in this show is we've gotten to show his quirks and he still gets to be, like, you know, to the audience, this guy who's exciting and kind of a heart throb, but also it is a dork and has these quirky things about him. All right, man, you I can't do this. I just don't like pizza. Said that again. I don't think I heard you, son, sweetheart, What do you mean you don't like pizza? I just don't understand the concept of having a bunch of ingredients just slosh around in your mouth. It's not just pezza to I've got like four or five things that I actually like and I just stick to those. Do you like pie? Fruit should not be hot? And I think that's really important for a black male character to be all of that at the same time. And it's just exciting to watch that character form um through the writers and through Tyler's performance. That's Tyler is the king of unexpected choices. And I find it so exciting, you know, to see what kind of choice he's gonna make. I absolutely love acting in scenes with him. He and I mean, I love acting scenes with all of my um all of my cast members, but him and Jacob Chris Parfetti. I love acting in scenes with Chris. Makes me feel like a better actress. Like, well, now that you brought him up, I don't want to leave him out, you know, like, uh, he put the off and off right tell me about him and and and sort of the inspiration for his character. So the inspiration for his character was kind of like my um. I had a friend and I have a friend in New York named Matt, and I love Matt. I think he would go to the ends of the earth for his children and was always coming up with new fun projects and um and just loves his job. He genuinely does, loves it so much. And he's one of the teachers in my life that I talked to the most. And I really wanted to have a character someone like Matt represented in this show. And so with Chris's character Jacob, I felt like it would be easy to say, oh, this white guy, he's being a white savior blah, blah blah, but like, no, there's more than that. There's more to him than that, and his position and why he winds up in the school like this in the first place, and the choices he makes, and I just think that Chris had such a handle on him. It could have easily been a very stereotypical portrayal of Jacob. But Chris was so subtle, I felt, I love subtlety, and it still funny and exciting. Hey, do you want cheesesteaks from the corner store for launch day? Not from there? The guy behind the counter he calls me white boy. Well, it's like a term of endearment, and like, if you don't like it, just ask me this up no way. There's an entire chapter on white fragility on that, okay, Robin D'Angel And she says, when you start policing people, who, Hey, Melissa, can you please tell Tana has He quotes here that white boy is a term of endearment from the corner store people. So Zach Gertz, Yeah, for him, it's an insult. I think he's so funny because he's so earnest, he's trying so hard, and he's trying I think he's one of these people who is maybe hyperbolically progressive and and and really um almost performatively uh progressive in a way, which is you know, you know, his heart's in the right place. But and we we talked about that a lot of One of the main things in this description for the character and the pilot was he is woke to a fault, Like is that a bad thing? I don't know, let's find out. Like I I kind of dough all of my characters. I don't like to label people bad or good or wrong or right. I think the exploration of how all of these different points of view mixed with each other. So putting them in a scenario where all of their points of views, you know, collide, that's the real way to get something good. Instead of just labeling Jacob bad because he's you know, overly woke, labeling Janine bad because she's overly optimistic. It's just playing with those in between gray areas. They give you a good story. After the break, Quinta talks about her family and her wild and wooly twenties. So you're the youngest of five kids, and um, you grew up in West Philadelphia. As we've established, your mom was a kindergarten teacher. You were the baby, um, and what about your dad? Tell me a little bit about your family dynamics and were you the the family clown. I'm the youngest of four, and I was like that, Oh, I've talked about the youngest a lot um being the youngest. Talked about it with Nick Kroll. Actually he's the youngest in his family. We've talked about with that freedom you're allotted when you're the youngest child. Do you feel that too, Yeah, definitely. My parents were tired by the time I came around, and I think they were much harder on my older sisters and even my brother. I agree, um so had. My dad was actually a manager of parking lots, which I think was so cool in retrospect. It's funny enough. I just had the experience that I had going back to my mom's school. I had the experience. I went into a parking garage and had to go into the little booth you go to you know whatever, and I was like, wow, this this smell, this familiarity. I spent so much time in these kinds of booths as a little girl with my dad, and I was like, oh wow, is my next show going to be about parking lots? But no, but he was a parking manager. He UM. My dad's fascinating. I think he is simply everyone says it's about their dad, but he's one of the best men I know. And I think he made a lot of sacrifices to raise so many children. I think it's just, you know, he had a whole life. My parents were you know, they were they were explorers, hippies, you name it. And he settled down in out like a real job to be able to take care of his children, which I think is so admirable because both of my parents is they're they're so talented. My dad was a gymnast, he was an artist, and they decided that the children they were having were more important. And I don't know, I admire him so much for that, I really do. So you you graduate from Temple and then you kind of are are searching for what you want to do. Just tell me a little bit about your twenties, Quinta um and and how you ultimately ended up making videos for BuzzFeed. But just just fill in the blanks for me. The twenties. I loved my twenties, Um, I did. I really lived it up. I'm so proud of myself, um to the point where it makes me sad when I see other kids not doing it. I'm like, no, this is the time to live it up, be safe, but have fun. But no, I graduated from Temple, had a ball in college. Or I'm sorry, I didn't graduate from Temple. I just left and went out. Came to l A around twenty three, was it. Yeah. I had some breakups, had some fun, and then I started working at Apple out here to help, you know, I had to have a job, and I explored. I was on my own and really explored it. Like I had fun. I made new friends. I um, I went where I could with the little money I had. I took you know, went to Palm Springs, went to josh for Street, took the trips I could take, met people. Um. When I started, it was around two thousand and fourteen when the platform Instagram got video, and before Instagram had video just pictures and you know you that was it. But the video part really opened up a certain section of virality. I was already practicing comedy before then. I was doing improv and I really wanted to make it big. With stage improv and you know, going to either be on SNL or somehow find my way to making my own show. But then, um, I just started making these little videos with no intention of going viral or fame or anything. It was just I'll make these little videos for my friends to watch. Students, This is peces and a large form a large you got your money, he got money, get it all. You know. They went super viral, which was super new for that platform, and I just started serializing them, which was exciting because it made me feel like, Okay, I don't know what I'm doing and I don't know why I'm doing it, but I'm enjoying this idea of you know, serializing, making sort sort of a universe, sort of a show. This is what I've always wanted to do, and it's cool to be able to do it. And um I had fun doing it and made a lot of money from selling T shirts with the catchphrases. But eventually that money ran out and I needed a job, and honestly, I missed the stability of a job. I didn't like the idea of all of that being on me, having to sell T shirts and having to make weird appearances for money. I was like, I'd rather have a nine to five than live like this, And so BuzzFeed came into play, which would up being a perfect job for me because I was able to be creative, have an audience, and have a consistent income for a very long time. I worked there for three years, I think, and it wasn't I needed that. I needed two having a consistent check. And over time while being at that company, you know, my income grew. I was able to save, which I had never been able to do in my life. Savings was just out of the question, and I finally was able to put money away, which wound up being important for me later um to have money, I could you know, live off of well, I failed my way after I left BuzzFeed. So my twenties was just a lot of building career wise, and also I was a young single woman for most of my twenties and I really enjoy at that time. You know, I feel like I lived a lot of life and I I love that. And it's funny because people they'll I think I come off a little unassuming, but like I lived a lot of life during that time, a lot of relationships, a lot of experimenting, a lot of fun. I had so much life, So it was good. And you're lucky because that sort of got through your twenties before the pandemic, which was really fortunate because I think for a lot of kids, you know, at that age now the pandemic has has really kind of affected them in a negative way. And I hate that, Yeah, I really do. I wish that weren't the case. It makes me sad because even you know, there's a twenty six year old p a writer's pa, and I talked to him be like, how you know what's going on? Like are you dating? Are you going on? And no? He's like, yeah, no, it's a pandemic. Like we've never he's like in his twenties, he hasn't really practiced the art of like going out, meeting meeting people, meeting girls. It's all been digital for them, even more than it was during the pandemic like that. It's just become a more singular life. It's kind of left a pall over I think, sort of people's uadity. If you will, I agree, I agree, which is which is a shame it is. I hope they find their way. I hope so too. My daughter's twenty six, and I feel like it's it's had an impact on her and a lot of kids her age. You did the what was the sketch show called again Quinta that you did? Yeah, you did that. Um, but this has been obviously sort of off the charts successful. Do you do you prefer acting to to writing or if you had to pick one or one or the other, which would you do? Or do you feel like they're inextricably linked. Oh that's a good question, you know what, that's a really good question. Um. I think now at this point in my career, I realize that when it comes to acting, I guess I don't want to just act in just anything I do want And I feel like every actor feels this way. So I don't feel especial in saying this, but you know, I want to feel like I can do I can do this. Rule Like, I want to have the feeling of like I not only can I do this, I will also be challenged by it and that feels exciting to me. So I've I've gotten offers to do some other things, and I just feel like, oh, if I don't feel challenged or excited by it, I don't want to do that as an actor, I'd rather do something that makes me feel artistically fulfilled, like a real piece of the puzzle and somebody else's vision, and that I can add to it and also perform exactly the way that they like me too. I like acting, it's just that, you know, I do. I do enjoy writing. I think just a little bit more. But but who knows, you know? I think that for instance, like when I got to go to the opera role such a small thing that was so exciting for me and joyful, and like I said, it was like something where I'm like, I can do this, but also I feel like it's going to be a challenge to do this right, and that is exciting, you know. I think that's that gets any creators blood pumping. And I respect other people's creative vision so much so to be able to be a working um cog and another machine is actually quite exciting to me. It sounds like you're going to have your hands full too with Avid Elementary, which I know they ordered more seasons, I mean more episodes, right, didn't they order? Didn't they order twenty two instead of twelve? Or like crazy? So they did? It was thirteen for the first season and this season. Our second season, which we're currently filming and airing, is twenty two. And do you see it lasting a while longer? Yeah, as long as they wanted to and I wanted and we wanted to. Yeah, you know, I love what Abbott is for ABC, and I love making the show. Well, I think they love you and appreciate you too, which is a good and important feeling. But listen, I'm really thank you very much for the time. Thank you for doing this interview. It's really really a treat to meet you. And I'm really enjoying the show, so continued success with it. Thank you so much, Katie, I really appreciate it. You can watch Abbott Elementary on ABC or String both seasons now on Hulu, and if you want more of Quinta, you should also check out her book of essays, perfectly titled She Means Well. Next Question with Katie Kirk is a production of My Heart Media and Katie currec Media. The executive producers Army, Katie Curic, and Courtney Litz. The supervising producer is Lauren Hansen. Associate producers Derek Clements and Adrianna Fasio. The show is edited and mixed by Derrek Clements. For more information about today's episode, or to sign up for my morning newsletter, wake Up Call, go to Katie currek dot com. You can also find me at Katie curriic on Instagram and all my social media channels. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,