Think about the zeitgeist-y shows from the past five years or so. Whatever series pop into your head, chances are Marquita Robinson has worked on at least one of them. “Black-ish,” “New Girl,” “GLOW,” and “You’re the Worst” are among her credits, after all.
As Robinson told her alma matter, Washington and Lee University, she “learned how a writers’ room operates” as a writer’s assistant on the short-lived series “Lucky Seven.” A lot has happened since then.
She’s been a researcher for late-night game show “@midnight” (“I got to click on what you’re not supposed to click on at work”); served as a showrunner’s assistant on “Black-ish”; and worked as a staff writer on roommate comedy “New Girl” and “Survivor’s Remorse,” a Starz dramedy about a pro basketball player who moves his family with him to Atlanta. Most recently, she wrote the game-changing Season 2 episode of “GLOW,” “Work the Leg,” and on the final season of caustic rom-com “You’re the Worst.” She serves as a story editor on both those series as well. Did we mention she’s also been hired to pen the “Clueless” remake from producer Tracy Oliver (“Girls Trip”) and Paramount?
These projects all vary in subject matter and character, but Robinson’s approach as a writer has stayed the same. “The writer has to find the balance between what’s really funny and what’s important for a character’s emotional arc,” Robinson has said of her craft.
There’s no doubt Robinson’s career is on fire. But her success doesn’t mean she, as a black woman, hasn’t come up against Hollywood’s many barriers to entry.
“We have such little room for error. We have to be exceptional,” she told The Hollywood Reporter about women TV writers of color. “Those writers who always move up despite being ‘just OK’? None of them are black women. If a white male staff writer is bad, it’ll never keep those in power from hiring another white guy.” She continued, “I’ve heard people say that they ‘tried’ to hire diverse, but the black writer they hired didn’t work out, so they never hired a black person again. Incredible.”
One of the ways Robinson contends with the sexist, racist bullshit of show biz is Black Women Who Brunch, a networking group of black female TV scribes founded by Lena Waithe, Nkechi Okoro Carroll (“All American”), and Erika L. Johnson (“The Village”). Not only does the group of 80-plus rebuke the oft-heard excuse that “we couldn’t find any women writers of color hire,” it offers said women a space to celebrate milestones and vent about roadblocks.
And “being the only one” — as in being the only black person in the writers’ room — has been a major roadblock for Robinson. “[It’s] difficult to pitch something you know is a killer joke or story that has a ton of specificity and you know your friends and family would die to see, but because you’re the only black person, you have to explain why it’s good or funny. And by the time you have, it’s a dead pitch,” she explained. Inclusion isn’t just about hiring one person of color, or one woman: it’s about bringing in multiple fresh perspectives and voices.
In Robinson’s opinion, having even one other person of color in the room makes a huge difference in her working life. “Sometimes just having one other black person or person of color helps because if I pitch something specific to black people, there’s someone there for it to land on,” she said. “And it doesn’t matter that the white people don’t get it. If we’re making prestige cable television or a standout network comedy, you should be dying to include those types of moments that you, as a non-black writer, could never pitch.”
The way Robinson sees it, breaking up the white homogeneity of writers’ rooms could also do away with some microaggressions. “[Please stop] asking me if I cut my hair,” she quipped. “Natural hair shrinks. Write that on your arm and never ask me again.”
The fifth and final season of “You’re the Worst” airs Wednesdays on FXX. “GLOW” will return for Season 3 on Netflix later this year.
Previously on Writer to Watch….
“The Little Drummer Girl’s” Claire Wilson
“Speechless” and “Friends from College” Scribe Broti Gupta
Sierra Teller Ornelas of “Superstore”
“Sierra Burgess Is a Loser” Scribe Lindsey Beer
“Atlanta” Emmy Nominee Stefani Robinson
