#103 | Craig Carlisle | Writing Kids' Animation

Emmy-winning writer Craig Carlisle on writing more than 100 episodes of children's animation and head writing over 225 more. Craig Carlisle is an Emmy Award-winning and Humanitas Prize Finalist writer, as well as a head writer, a story editor and a voice director. Current career focus is animated children's programming. He has written over 100 episodes of animated kids TV and served as head writer on more than 225 episodes. Tune in for a wide ranging conversation. To learn more about Craig: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcarlisle Chapters 0:00 Welcome Craig Carlisle 2:35 Thinking about leaving 5:00 Movies and growing up in Indiana 7:32 A scholarship to Indiana State 10:07 Walking around LA with an Emmy 12:31 Theatre, acting and playwriting 15:02 Why playwriting helps an animation writer 17:31 Directing actors and extras 20:01 Doing a few things well or staying in one lane 22:32 Ryan on producing, directing and hosting his own shows 25:02 Someone else's success is not my failure 27:34 Ryan on basketball in Canada 30:06 Ryan on finding writing and photography 32:36 Ryan on showing more than one side of China 35:02 An early web show and the arrival of DSL 37:36 Playing a character on a podcast 40:03 An early adopter 42:32 Comedy animation writers 45:05 Spalding Gray and the Wooster Group 47:34 Ryan on getting his shows on US TV 50:05 Support from a partner 52:36 Ryan on shooting the way things actually happen 55:01 We want this to work more than you 57:35 Credits and the top writer in the room 1:00:06 Family roots in Indiana 1:02:30 Eddie Murphy's Delirious 1:05:03 Directing a basketball play Off Broadway 1:07:37 Starting out on paper 1:10:06 Plugging cars in at the mall 1:12:38 New York at the holidays 1:15:05 The 2023 strikes 1:17:36 Raised around teachers and women 1:20:08 Learning the rules before breaking them 1:22:34 Books instead of comic books 1:25:00 Collaboration in theatre design 1:27:32 Life after sports fame 1:30:03 Knee replacements and slowing down 1:32:31 Health, travel and Portugal 1:35:00 Writing on a show about a Black family 1:37:31 Ryan on filming 250 days a year 1:40:06 Feeling the years 1:42:31 An old headshot from the 90s 1:45:06 Not holding on to old work 1:47:36 A pitch for Seth MacFarlane 1:50:00 Working with Jessica Biel 1:52:31 Singers in the voice cast 1:55:06 Video stores and late night rentals 1:57:33 Explaining the job at the video store 2:00:07 Orgazmo and a superhero parody 2:02:32 Two months in Brazil and Portuguese 2:05:01 Wrapping up 2:07:37 Reaching back to help others 2:10:02 New obstacles in the industry The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com