Interview: Brandon Violette On Building a Successful Children’s TV Writing Career

Brandon Violette went from a temp job at Hasbro to being the head writer and co-creator of the Moonbug/Netflix children's animated series "CoComelon Lane" in just a few short years. He was most recently the head writer for Disney's "RoboGobo," and is already more than 30 episodes deep into his own podcast, "The Story Series," which he launched in March of this year.

The middle of autumn is a good time of year to catch up with old friends and colleagues, and that was exactly how I ended up getting to meet Brandon.

I was chatting over Linkedin DM’s with producer and creative executive Mary Bredin, who hired me to write for a project at TeamTO a few years ago, when she suggested introducing me to another colleague of hers. Brandon and Mary were first introduced to each other by Farnaz Esnaashari-Charmatz, the creator of the series "Shimmer and Shine," and Mary appeared in a recent episode of Brandon’s podcast.

I mention all of this to illustrate one of the themes that appears throughout this interview and others—how spontaneous networking and meeting new people can be, and why making a point of staying in touch with people you know can not only be fun but can also lead to future professional collaborations.

During our first conversation, we found each other’s life stories so interesting that Brandon asked me to be a guest on his podcast (spoiler alert!), and I asked him if I could write up an interview with him for Pipeline Artists.

We had a great conversation about what choices and attitudes that got him where he is today, and I hope our readers will learn at least as much as I did from hearing about how Brandon’s love of animation and storytelling, and desire to broaden himself as a person, built his career brick-by-brick.

Hilary: So, I know you’re from Santa Clarita. Did that proximity to L.A. and the entertainment industry influence your path?

Brandon: Yes, it did, but I think not in the way that you would expect. Growing up 30 miles away … As a kid you can't really process it, right? But getting older—high school, college—I went to a community college, and then I went to CSUN, which they call the "commuter school." Like, most people drive in and drive home. I was living with my parents, and I knew I wanted to work in entertainment, which was essentially down the street, and so I had the feeling of "I don't know if I'm ever going to truly leave home."

And there was a part of me that wanted to do that. So, I applied for a scholarship to study overseas when that opportunity came up really randomly, and that was something I really longed for because I didn't have a feeling of leaving home before that. So, growing up so close influenced me by wanting to make sure I left home and didn't spend my whole life in and around Hollywood.

Hilary: Did you consider how some people go to university on the opposite side of the country, like the East Coast, if they grew up in the West and vice versa?

Brandon: Yeah, I didn't really consider that, and I don't know why. I think it's because I didn't have the grades to go to university after high school. I went to a community college, which was a really great one nearby, and then from there it just seemed like, "Okay, I'll just go to CSUN,” and it was almost like a predetermined path. I only ever applied to one community college, one university which was CSUN, and then one scholarship. So, it was just, it seemed like for whatever reason I didn’t.

Hilary: Did you always want to be a screenwriter?

Brandon: The short answer is yes. One of my earliest memories was "Rocko's Modern Life," the 90s Nickelodeon cartoon. But specifically it was the making of that they would show during the commercial breaks and that was, as far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a cartoonist, and I told everybody who asked me ... “cartoonist.” As I got a little older and interested in films and other things, and I realized I was a mediocre artist, the next best thing was writing. And so it was like, okay, screenwriting, that's a thing I can pursue. And so it started to take shape. But it was always pretty much that area.

Hilary: When did you write your first script or story, or whatever you want to call it?

Brandon: Elementary school. There were comic books, so I would just draw like "Rocko's Modern Life" ripoff comic strips, or you know, make my own little stories and characters, or of superheroes, things like that. But it was definitely elementary school.

Hilary: So, I know we talked about this before, but tell me about how you ended up studying screenwriting in Beijing.

Brandon: So, I was going to Cal State Northridge, CSUN, at the time, and I was getting close to graduating with a degree in screenwriting, and I was getting general meetings around Hollywood at different production companies with my scripts. And these were meetings, just meet and greets, and that was really cool, but then after a bunch of them I thought, "I can't really see any of these people hiring me. I need to do something, and I want to keep writing."

So, I applied to a master’s in humanities, because I thought humanities would make me a broader person, and if I'm a broader person, then I'll be a better writer. Like, I don't need more screenwriting, I need more life. I think that was partly going back to, "I've never left home." There was a part of my head that was like, “I feel so clustered and in this bubble,” and so I knew I needed to just grow.

I applied for the humanities, but then on a random Saturday afternoon, I got an email from a Chinese film professor that just said "China scholarship opportunity," and I opened the email and said, "Oh my gosh." The scholarship placed you wherever you wanted to go in China—if you're studying film, they put you at a film school, if you want to study music they put you at a music school, and that's what the scholarship was, which was like insane. I had never thought about China ever before, but it made perfect sense because I thought, “This is like the humanities, but in real life.”

So, I'm gonna leave home, I'm gonna grow as a person, I'm gonna do all the things that I wanted to have happen. That was how I ended up there. I graduated in June, and then in September, I was on a plane to Beijing for almost two years. And it was just incredible, just to be in a totally new environment and setting up a life somewhere else.

Hilary: Did you always want to write for children’s media?

Brandon: No. The scripts that I was writing in college, that I was getting the general meetings for, were all genres but more adult. I was just doing what I was taught in class and doing what I liked, and so I was trying to just experiment, and it wasn't until I got back from Beijing, back to Los Angeles, I got a job at Hasbro. That was my first job back from China, as a temp, that I was exposed to the animation department. Through the animation department, they greenlit a show called "Stretch Armstrong," which was a 6-11 show. And I read the script, and I thought it was so good! I didn't know about it, that you could find your way into animation, until I was exposed to it, and then it brought back my childhood love of animation. And I loved writing it. I found it very creatively fulfilling. So, it was kind of a happy accident, but it felt natural at the same time.

Hilary: How did you get your first job at Hasbro?

Brandon: Oh, that's a good question. So, I came back from China, and I was back at my parents’ house. I was applying for jobs for about six months—didn't get any hits. You know, you never know if people are gonna read your resume. And I was trying to figure out what else I could do, and there was a temp agency in Santa Clarita. A temp agency places you at different companies for a temporary amount of time. I got in contact with them, and I told them I was looking for an entertainment company, and they said, "We don't really have those, but sometimes we do.” And I thought that’s way better than no times, because I had six months of nothing.

So, I signed up with them and the next day they said, "We have something called Hasbro," and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I've heard of Hasbro. They have film, they do Transformers, they have everything!” I went to interview, and then on the way home from the interview they called the temp agency and wanted me to start the next day. So, that was how I got into Hasbro.

Hilary: That's awesome. And tell me how you found yourself being a writer, PA, and then Post Coordinator on "Stretch Armstrong"?

Brandon: I was hired as a PA and that was my animation school, so I got to learn the whole pipeline. But I did tell the head writers who I interviewed for, and I was working with, that I had aspirations to write, and so they told me early on, "Always be writing because we might be calling on you to write an episode."

That’s all I needed to hear. I felt seen, and I was like, okay I'm not gonna bother them, I'm just gonna work hard.

Halfway through the season, they said, "Hey, we're gonna give you an episode," and that was my first professional episode. The show was continuing on and going into post-production, and because I was kind of the longest running PA, they were like, "You know the show, you've written on the show; do you want to stay through post-production?” And I said "yes, that's great." So I was doing multiple positions on the same show for that reason.

Hilary: And how did you make it known that you had aspirations to be a writer? You said you mentioned it in the interview, but did you also have conversations with your coworkers where it just sort of came out? I ask because I know a lot people starting out will just keep their heads down and work, and that's not necessarily the best strategy.

Brandon: I'm glad you said that because that is not a good strategy. I was told, from someone else, by another assistant at the same company, that, "Oh, they don't want to hire writers. Don't tell anyone that you want to be a writer. They want executives." And I saw that he wanted to be a writer, but that he didn't have that trajectory, so I thought, "Well, I'm not gonna follow his advice because I don't want to go where he's going."  

I had just come back from China, so I felt that I had done something really hard, and I didn't come back to just settle. I came back to tell people what I wanted to do and to really push myself.

I say again, make it known what you want to do, in the right way. So, when it came up in the interview of what do you want to do? Of course, they saw my resume and screenwriting degree, so, it was kind of there. But make sure that you tell people what you want to do because I find that people generally want to help you, but they need to know how to help you.

Thankfully they helped nurture that and pushed me into story breaks. I took notes during meetings, and they were kind of pushing me to be exposed to that knowing that that's what I wanted to do.

Hilary: With all the ups and downs we’ve seen in the industry over the last few years, what motivates you to keep innovating and moving forward in your career?

Brandon: What I try to follow within myself is to do what still feels hard, and if it still feels hard, but satisfying, then I know I'm on the right track. And that's really the thing that I can control. Like, the way it feels to write a script now, even though I’m more experienced than when I was starting out, is the same feeling of, “Ooh, I don't know if this one's gonna come together," you know? But with enough sweat, and just getting the words down enough on the page, it starts to come together in a way that's really fulfilling. And that's really what I try to use to gauge how I feel by.

It's really the approach to the work that hasn't changed, because the outside forces change, and that's outside of my control. But trying to write great scripts as best as you can is still the thing that's most important. And that's as true as it was when I was starting out until now, and that's really, I think, the number one thing.

Hilary: I know at some point you actually went back and taught in China. How did that come about?

Brandon: Well, I was coming off of a show. I was the head writer for season two of "Robogobo" for Disney Jr., and it was an amazing experience. I was coming off of that and going into a new job, and I just started to feel like I had enough experience to start giving back in my career, at that point.

When I was a student in China, I saw visiting professors, and I thought one day, I want to do that. So, I just started putting the word out to my friends in Beijing. I said, "I want to do this. How do I get to a University?” and they just started putting the word out, and it started coming together. I was there for nine days and did about 10 lectures over seven days of being there. It was an amazing experience.

Hilary: You started your own podcast earlier this year. Where did the idea for that originate?

Brandon: The name is called "The Story Series Podcast," and I've had the name The Story Series for like eight or nine years. Back when I was at Hasbro, I started something called The Story Series, where it was an after-work event or series of meetings where executives would come and talk about their job, and then every other week, people would get together and brainstorm and try to take advantage of the fact that we were all there as up-and-coming creatives.

It was around the same time that I was coming back from [teaching in] China, and I was on another podcast for the first time. It was a great experience, and I saw his setup in his house and thought, there's no excuse anymore. I've gotta do it. The Christmas/New Year's break of last year, my younger brother and I got the equipment and set it up. I love it. It's just so fulfilling. It's just a chance to connect with people that I don't know or that I don't know very well and learn how they think and how they approach their creative work.

Hilary: I know you’re out pitching an original 11-minute series now. Can you share a little about your strategy, or do you have an agent submitting?

Brandon: I have a manager, and I always send him everything first. He's kind of the first person to give me honest feedback and let me know what parts I can improve or what's working, what's not. So, I went to him first, did some revisions, and now he has taken the lead on getting in contact with different companies that we think it would be a good fit for and taking the pitch out. So, that's that process. I've basically written a document that tries to make the pitch sound exciting and fun to hear and fun to listen to, because I don't have any visual aids, and so it's just me giving this presentation.

Hilary: And how did you find your manager?

Brandon: That was a recommendation from another writer friend who has been with him for many years, and it was on T.O.T.S. which was my second show, and kind of a mentor/writer friend was like, "Hey, you should meet my manager." He set up that initial contact. I had some writing samples that I gave the manager and he read them and really liked them, and so that's how it started.

Hilary: Okay, final question: What advice would you have for someone just starting out now, like still in film school or maybe not even there yet?

Brandon: Advice for someone starting out who wants to be a writer?

Hilary: Yes.

Brandon: It's a great question. There's a lot of talk about how, and we said it earlier, you and I, about how the industry's changing and something that came up on the podcast—I was talking to a studio head, and I asked him something because he had decades of experience—"What’s as true now as it was when you were starting out?" He said this thing that's true is that there is always disruption.

Another way to say that is to expect change all the time. What's happening now is in some cases unique, but it's also part of a larger pattern, and so that's something you can't control. For people that are starting out, I would try as best [as I could] to separate your personal feelings and your validation from what you can control and what you can't control.

It's easy to put your validation on something you can't even control, and you're just going up and down emotionally—you're trying to figure yourself out and your path. You have to focus on the things that are in your control, like the work that you do, who you collaborate with, the scripts that you write, how you want to get better, your discipline … I think those are the things that you need to focus on and put more of your energy into because that's always going to serve you well.

It goes back to those kind of universal truths.

*Feature photo of Brandon Violette by Bonchi Kyoto