We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with screenwriting alumnus, Samuel Jefferson, who told us all about his journey from grad to co-creator and head writer of the award winning Apple TV Original series, Berlin ER. The series won Best Drama Series and Best Cinematography Fiction (Tim Kuhn and Jieun Yi) at the German Television Awards, and was nominated for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Directing Fiction and Best Editing Fiction – an incredible achievement! Samuel passionately shared many valuable gems of knowledge that emerging screenwriters and filmmakers can benefit from – so be sure to dive in!
After graduating in 2014, would you be able to share a little about what the journey was like post-graduation?
I loved my year at LFS. I was doing medicine full time and I applied for film school and I had no plan if I didn’t get in. I am so glad I got into LFS. I love the “we’ll get it done” attitude and the plucky underdog quality of the school. Since graduating I applied to lots of competitions including crap American ones that I don’t recommend, which just gave a paid for version of Final Draft as the prize if you win.
BAFTA Rocliffe Competition is a really good one that I applied for with scripts I wrote at LFS in 2015. It was a great chance to feel like I was stepping up a little bit and I went to New York. Farah, who ran programme, recommended I send thank you cards to everyone in the judging jury and ask to buy them a coffee if they were ever in London. Richard Bowden agreed to meet with me, who then kindly put me in touch with his agent at Curtis Brown, who signed me. This really opened doors.
After that I was doing a lot of pitching and writing. I had a part-time job working in the emergency room and during the rest of time in my twenties, I was writing. There is no set path into the industry as a screenwriter and you have to keep knocking on every door and using every opportunity that comes your way. Usually you will have your mind set on one project but then you might meet someone who has an idea for another project which turns out to be the way in. This was how it worked out with me and Berlin ER.
I downloaded scripts, bought the books and started writing screenplays and wrote a couple plays. For about six or seven years, before Berlin ER, I would try out new ideas. I’d think, oh – I’ve never written a horror before, I wonder if I could write one and I would do it and make it fun. I would write sitcoms and horrors and dramas and feature films. Most people aren’t able to explore this because of having full time jobs. Sometimes the set schedule doesn’t work, it didn’t work for me. I think if you have an idea - write it down and then develop it.
Also, have a job that is your main source of income that allows enough flexibility and time to write. You need some way of making money first, not a lot of people realise how financially hard it is to get started. There is a lot of time spent working for free because people don’t trust you or think your work isn’t worth paying for yet. Boundaries are easier to set once you have a few things made. It’s helpful if you have a job that doesn’t take up all of your time or drain your creative energy - when you’re desperate for cash you might take jobs you don’t want to do. It is very tricky at first.
You wrote some short films in the years leading up to Berlin ER’s release, would you be able to share a little about them, were you working with friends or did you pitch to producers and did this lead towards your series in any way?
It led towards the series in that it helped me learn and taught me how to collaborate and what it means to be a screenwriter rather than director/writer. Networking and going to events also really helped, being in the kind of rooms where you meet and chat to people who are the people that you want to connect with, like a director looking for a script. I recommend BAFTA Connect which is a discounted membership for those new to the industry. The short films were also a good chance to work with two lovely directors and made me realise all the work that goes into it. I learnt to work with a director and to be open to their vision and not be so wedded to the script so your inflexible.
Think of designing a series like designing a new kind of chess game – the world of the show is the board and the way it works, the various pieces are the characters and how they interact with one another, their special moves etc. Once you have the characters, the world, and the reason why you even want to tell this particular story, you can then try out many different games and see how each one unfolds. You iterate "the plot" over and over, trying different moves and positionings until it starts to come together. The plot should be something interactive. Something that you can try out in different ways and if it doesn’t work, you can go back and try something else.
Fundamentally, you need to know why you are telling the story in the first place. If it’s just because you like the genre, while that’s still valid, it's by definition a little weak, and probably won't lead to doing anything than a copy of pervious examples you've liked. It's vital to dig a little deeper into that, what it is exactly that you like. For example – "I want to write this show because I love pirates", but then you think about it longer, go deeper and realise, actually I am really interested in the idea of freedom, or the lack of it – so then you ask yourself what is a great character that can talk about freedom? Maybe a pirate held in a prison? Then you start building out the board, the characters and then you start playing the game you've just designed - the plot will then "appear" as you "play it out" multiple times, reiterating as you go. If you know what story you want to tell and the characters involved, the plot will start to reveal itself. Then you can focus on making cool, unexpected or interesting choices.
Unfortunately, at the moment, what a lot of the streamers are focused on is: "Does this moment/story/scene get eyeballs onto the screen and help retain those eyeballs?" This is the same motivation as "content creators", like those using Instragram and TikTok. They just want to fight for attention. This is because to them numbers and data are key. The main concern is people's attention. There's little thought to if it's actually worth the audiences' time watching the thing you're giving to them. Is it even worth their attention?!
So, we are in a bit of a battle between art and content – the trust of making something meaningful is being eaten away, which makes stories weaker and audience’s attention shorter, and everything looks a bit the same and nothing is really touching us because we don’t need to engage with it in any meaningful way. I make sure to check my ego to make sure I’m not the problem, expecting too much or focusing on the wrong things, but I also make sure to educate the people around me, just as I was educated at LFS and here in Berlin at the DFFB (Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin, German Film and Television Academy Berlin). I really learnt what goes on underneath the hood of great TV shows. The feelings you're left with, the deeper exploration of themes, ideas, and the human experience - focusing on these things are what it takes to make a series people will remember.
Halt and Catch Fire is one of my favourite series. It’s phenomenally good, but it had very limited viewing figures at around 1.2 million for season 1 and by the end about 300,000 people were watching it, which is nothing, but it is often listed in Top TV Series lists, Best Shows That Never Won An Emmy, Most Influential Series lists etc. The fact it’s not marketed well is not the fault of the show. It makes you think and feel about the state of the world, and it has inspired me massively as a writer more than some of the bigger more well-known shows. You should know the world you’re in, and the people at the top and how they made it. We’re currently in a battle to keep making great TV. A battle to keep making things that are meaningful and not only "forgettable attention content".
Berlin ER was a part of the Berlinale Series Market showcase, Up Next: Germany in 2024, where it was presented within an exclusive selection of the country’s upcoming high-end series to international buyers at the European Film Market. Would you be able to share a little about what this was like and what came from it?
We did Buyers Days at Berlinale and Screening Days in London with big international distributors, looking for buyers who would take the show to their regions. We screened the first two episodes and I did an introductory speech beforehand. Someone from AppleTV watched the show and loved it, eventually they “acquired us” for the global rights and we became an Apple Original. AppleTV came to a deal where in Feb 2026 the show will be removed from AppleTV in the German-language territories and it will “premiere again” in German-language public broadcast TV via ZDFneo. This deal meant the reach was instant and meant we were immediately more international. We'll also get a second run on public TV, which is great.
You became Co-Creator and Head Writer of your original series – I think this is something every aspiring screenwriter dreams of. Could you share a little about how you secured this? Did your past experience have a lot to do with it?
We created a hybrid version of the typical showrunner model which aimed to protect the show's vision. So that included a producer, director and head writer who are all in charge of the vision. This works well as long as that team works well together. The producer is more focused on the business side of things, the writer and director are focused on executing the vision, but there is a lot of cross collaboration. It helps if you can put yourself out there early and establish yourself as a collaborative part of the team, one who understands the business side (and the limitations brought by it) too. That's only if you want that responsibility of course, it also comes with a lot of pressure!
Being on set, working on short films, learning from director and DP and being able to speak the language helps and knowing when to speak up and when not to. Showing your trustworthy and professional and not difficult to work with or inflexible on ideas “because I’m the writer”.
More and more I see now that it is not enough to be a writer unless you have a great director/producer who you can write and hand over scripts to. You have to be more entrepreneurial. You have to go to festivals, sell yourself, and know actors that you can bring in. Streamers like IP because of it being less risk, it’s the same with writers - the less of a risk you are the more power you will have. You have to present your passion to be involved in all aspects of the series, show that you want to learn more and help pick the director and actors. I eventually set up my own company where I exec produce. Once you’re more established you can be more confident in saying what you want.
But you can’t be too overconfident about it. You wouldn’t go into your first job asking to be CEO. In the UK there is no formal mentorship programme or a way to climb the career ladder in the way you can in the US, e.g. working in the writers room. Work with people around your level and remember the skills you get as a screenwriter are so transferable. There is a lot of narrative scope in games and interactive theatre where you can still have fun with it and it be your vision, as well as make some cool contacts. Writing in video games is as valuable as the experience you get from TV. Don’t think it’s lesser than TV or to try a new medium. That’s what people thought of TV when movies were the most important thing. In 30 years people may talk about games the way we speak about The Sopranos.
Would you be able to share a little about what it's like being the Co-Creator and Head Writer of your series?
Stressful. A lot of time to take on, you realise finding new people is a really important thing in high pressure moments. You may have stressful arguments then have a moment when you realise we are talking really passionately about a fictional being. And it’s all about play. People still love little moments of play – something that Secret Cinema do so well, even football stadiums. Getting to do a job where you get to play in your imagination is such a fortunate place to be in. Even in the stressful moments you realise the process is meant to be fun and playful.
It took years, 7-8 years to do eight 45 minute episodes of Berlin ER. The end product is 6 hours but to get there was years of work. You have to remember your life is the process, don’t chase the final destination so much. Even if you get the TV show, there is still the process to get it done. So always enjoy the day to day and who you are working with – otherwise you break yourself to make this thing but is it worth it in the end?
You have shared so many valuable gems of knowledge already, but as a note to end on, is there any further advice or words of wisdom that you would give to screenwriting students and grads?
It boils down to writing. If you want to do it, just write. Want to write a horror film? Just start writing. Look at meaningful competitions like BAFTA Rocliffe that are all about creating contacts rather than winning a generic thing. Networking - look at things like BAFTA Connect. Don’t try to target big people, go and meet people on your level. Those are the people in five years’ time who will be able to bring you in on projects. Find a plan that supports you so creating your art doesn’t become a way to survive.
Feeling inspired? Head over to MA Screenwriting for all the details on how you can get started on your own screenwriting journey.
Photo credit
Berlin ER, creators: Viktor Jakovleski and Samuel Jefferson