Rising Stars: Meet Josh Isaacson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Isaacson.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My journey started off at birth. I was born with Asperger Syndrome, high functioning Autism and other mental challenges. I couldn’t read or write till I reached the 8th grade. Then when I graduated college after, I was in countless Special Ed. programs where they used to write my papers for me because I have a problem with visual perception meaning I have trouble comprehending what I read and write. It’s like gibberish to my mind. Right after college, I got a job working at the William Morris Talent Agency, now WME. There I met a Story Agent that inspired me to become a writer. I had some ideas but I couldn’t write them out. At the beginning of my writing career, it was brutal trying to get my ideas out. Then I attended the UCLA Extension Writers Program where I honed my voice and started to develop my craft. In 2015, I wrote, produced, and directed my first project, “Atticus’ Activists” starring Gerry Bednob from the 40-Year-Old Virgin. In 2019, I partnered with Todd Bridges, Jimmy Bridges, and Adam Ambruso and together, we have a company called Predator Apex Entertainment. We are all repped by Tina Contogenis at Eris Talent and Literary Agency. Todd, Jimmy, and Adam are my mentors and they are fantastic teachers. We will be going into our first production later this year.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has definitely not been smooth. Due to the Aspergers, it has been challenging to find the strength to connect with people along with my peers. Through years of struggle, I have turned what used to be a hindrance into a superpower… writing. Writing has become like breathing to me. On a good day, I can write 25 to 30 pages. On an excellent day, I can turn out 52 pages. That’s my record in a 7-hour writing sprint. I feel like I have all the life lessons and skills now where I can conquer my fears and achieve my destiny of rising up in this very competitive industry where it’s almost like the Wild West in that you never know what’s going to happen. This industry is not for the faint of heart and you mostly get a no with it being a 99% fail rate. But when you do get that yes, it’s completely magical.

Other struggles I have faced are internal. Am I good enough and do I have the thick skin required to face my demons and the blank page every single time I sit down and write? At the start of my career, it was totally debilitating. The blank page really scared me and I had intense writer’s block. But through lots of trials and tribulations and practice, I found the strength to face the blank page not only in writing but in life. Life is kinda funny… Forrest Gump said it brilliantly “Life is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get.” What this quote means to me is that life is so unpredictable that you almost need to buckle your seat belt because anything can happen. I have found the strength to be okay with uncertainty because this industry is totally uncertain. But with time, I have grown to get used to the rejection and continue trekking forward. Case in point, last year during Covid, I wrote an entire trilogy with my business partners. While most people were not inspired, I was completely inspired to write new material and it’s that very trilogy that got me, my agent. Talk about fate… we are in a global pandemic and while most people are struggling to find inspiration, I’m conquering my fears and challenges and moving ahead in my career. Through it all, I am not only working on becoming an established writer but I am also working on bring awareness to Autism and Asperbers.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in directing and writing scripts for film and television. I have a production company with my three business partners called Predator Apex Entertainment, and we are repped by a literary agency called Eris Talent and Literary. I am most proud of my ability to overcome my mental challenges and obstacles of not being able to read or write due to my Autism diagnosis and have turned my greatest weakness writing into an incredible strength after I dedicated over a decade of practice and due diligence where I am now not only able to excel in writing for myself but also teaching others screenplay writing, one of the toughest literary forms because you need to be incredibly terse and visual. I think the best thing is my description in my writing. They are so artistic and vivid that you escape reality. I’m also known for not giving up when the challenges became so great where most people would have thrown in the towel if they had to walk in my shoes for a day. My persistence fuels me and keeps me grounded and going strong. I have a huge amount of tenacity and I will never give up until I achieve my dreams, which I am on my way to doing. Having Autism is no picnic. It’s very challenging because you see the world from a different lens which most people will never understand unless they have been diagnosed with the illness. The best analogy I like to use is to imagine you are in Ancient Egypt and everyone speaks Egyptian but you speak Swahili. Everything seems to be gibberish and you don’t quite comprehend what is normal or seen as socially acceptable by most of society. There is a huge block when it comes to interpreting social cues and other social norms that most people understand quite easily but you don’t. For me, it has come at a great price but again, I have not let that slow me down one bit in trying to pursue my dreams of being an established writer/director in Hollywood.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
What has worked for me is joining networking organizations and just being authentic and real. People respond to authenticity and drive. You don’t want to come off as too desperate, which I had a problem with at the start of my career, but I learned to loosen up a bit and go with the flow more. I think the desperation came from my Autism and wanting so bad to make it in this industry that I got lost in my desperation, but I learned to hone my talents over time and let them speak for themself on the page. My approach is to get people to read my writing as quickly as possible to see the extent of my craft and voice. That can be extremely hard when most working professionals in Hollywood won’t read a novice’s script. Thankfully, I have an agent now, which makes it, so I have the credibility to get read by the right people, but that has taken me over 10-years to find an agent that was willing to work with me. Finding an agent or manager is extremely difficult, but if you stay the course and stay humble, you will find someone to champion you. One way to possibly overcome this is by being humble and there to help people any way you can. Have the attitude of service-to-others and how best you can extend a helping hand and make it about the “We” not the “I.” It’s not about what you need, it’s about how you can help other people and make a lasting impression. That’s how I originally started to get traction in this industry is by being of service-to-others. I didn’t focus on my needs, I focused on helping others achieve their goals.

This led to eventually getting read and gave me time to hone my craft in my scripts. The worst thing you want to do is have someone read your script when it’s not ready. I made this mistake several times at the start of my career and crashed and burned. Most of the time when you do get someone in a position of power to read your script, they will only take a look at it once, so you want to put your best foot forward before offering your work up to get read. The way I found my first mentor was at an industry party. I was working at 20th Century Fox, and a colleague invited me to a party. There I met a writer and told him I wanted to write and offered to help him any way I could. At that time, I struggled with writing screenplays, but he was kind enough to work with me every Saturday for a year, where I started to get a grapple on the screenwriting process. During this time, I also enrolled in UCLA Extension’s Writing Program to gain further instruction. With both those outlets, I was able to begin to rise above my mental challenges and start to develop what I like to call “The Writer’s Brain.” For those who want to become a screenwriter, I teach a class every Sunday to students of all levels. I welcome new students at any level. Just reach out, and I’d be happy to work with you.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @JoshIsaacson
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Joshua.Matt.Isaacson

Image Credits
Photo Credit: Erica Moore