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Writers engage in prolonged conversations about each episodes themes to find narrative connections.
They prepare questions to help Wilson structure his forays into unknown worlds.
They help pen the joke-filled, poetic, and emotionally resonant voiceovers Wilson records to accompany his footage.
Congratulations on your Emmy nomination!Thank you!
Where were you when you heard the news?I was writing.
Im in the production office right now, doing a revision on one of the scripts.
My mom called me, because she was watching it very closely.
She was very excited.
It was very sweet.
What was that conversation like?She said Johnny, you got it!
And I was like, What are you talking about?
She was like, You got the nomination!
And I was like, How do you even know?
It almost feels like getting Best in Show at a horse competition.
I always wanted to consider it like a documentary show.
But I was always horrified of writing my whole life, so I find this so strange.
I obviously cant take all the credit.
I texted them immediately, and they were all really excited.
Theyre all legends in my eyes.
What did you find so horrifying about writing?I felt stupid.
I was always afraid of saying the wrong thing and having the wrong ideas.
The reason I started writing narration for theHow tomoviesinitially was to get over that.
Thats why I think its so wild that were being recognized for writing.
I also always thought that I would end up in some kind of movie-adjacent thing.
Im still registering the fact that its all TV now.
Its almost like being nominated for a Tony.
I never thought that I would be in a world like that.
Maybe Ill make a musical one day.
Then we got into a larger conversation about taste, and its an iterative process from there.
Thats when we encountered these energy-drink people.
That was completely unexpected, and it ended up becoming a huge third-act piece we didnt anticipate.
And I always had the NXIVM story in my back pocket.
I wasnt quite ready to come out with it in the first season.
I got over the embarrassment of it pretty quickly, and Im actually kind of proud of it now.
Lets just go and see what happens.
It was one of the most exhilarating afternoons of my life.
Hopefully the leg section will take us over the finish line.
I would consider that to be one of the best pieces of writing in the episode.
How did you curate your writers room?It was all new to me.
I had no idea what a writers room was supposed to be.
I just knew who inspired me the most.
I love being in environments that Im not usually in.
I dont know what Im going to wear.
But I think people might be starting to catch on.
I might need to get something new.
Is it the pop in of thing youd want to bring your camera to?Totally.
So, I will be shooting it if Im fortunate enough to be able to go.
But even if so, that would be funny to document.
