Today we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Swank.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Morgan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My story started in New York in the comedy world. I began working as an intern for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Comedy Central before realizing television was where I wanted to settle into a career. When I finally graduated in 2013, I stayed writing anywhere I could pick up jobs in the same Broadway Video production family on episodes of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live. I also tried getting involved in the standup world, knowing I wasn’t very good, but need to figure out how to write all kinds of jokes for the universe I was throwing myself into. It was fine for a while, if nothing else, it was a way to get out a lot of the comedic content I wasn’t able to get in my sketches. This was all from 2012-2015.
I realized it was my time to spread my wings, and scripted television was where I needed to stretch my wings next. I made a web series in 2015 about three pornography writers called “On The Job” for Funny or Die (RIP Funny or Die) that was my first foray into wearing all the hats of writing, directing, and producing my own project. Thank god for that project. It sent me to about 10 film festivals, got me my first manager, and helped me meet the people I needed to in Los Angeles to start making television full-time.
Flash forward to now. I’m making the shows I want to make. I’m working with a management team I love at Beverly Road. We’ve got two pilots out at networks, which feels like a major accomplishment for someone of my age and I don’t take that for granted. I’ve got an Emmy on my mantle, and a production company based out of Atlanta and a remote office in Los Angeles I run with my business partner (and amazing actress/writer) Blair Allison called Moonscar Productions that I’m incredibly proud of.
Moonscar is my baby right now. It’s dedicated to working with writers and producers wanting to create more genre content and represent the underrepresented voices that may not feel like they have a voice. We want to make Moonscar a place for anyone and everyone looking to create. It’s a very good place to be. It’s Atlanta-born and raised. It’s really hard having any sort of place to break into entertainment when your voice is already pushed under a rug. We want you to be heard and your story to be read and seen. We’re building that empire from my home of Atlanta, where that culture is so prevalent.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not been a smooth road along the way. Choosing to be a creator is a hard life. It seems like it’s constantly against you and the way the entertainment industry is structured and changing for artists and writers, you constantly feel like you’re struggling until one day you get lucky.
However, I wouldn’t change my story or my career in the world. Now I’m trying to do what I can to help guide others to a place where it’s easier to create and be seen and heard with Moonscar Productions. Any way we can help each other in this world is invaluable.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Moonscar Productions story. Tell us more about it.
Moonscar Productions was founded in 2018 as a full-service production company that prides itself on developing a variety of projects across film, television, theater, and the digital space. We are committed to working with diverse creators of all genders, ethnicity, age, and background. Moonscar is a place to help collaborate and bring stories to life from the challenging and unconventional, to the downright horrifying. It is especially dedicated to adding to our production teams to help narrow the gap of Hollywood’s gender imbalance, particularly when it comes to women of color.
My business partner Blair and I started Moonscar originally as a place for us to create our short form genre content. It grew to be the company our management teams needed for us to host our network contracts. As we grew with our work and brand, we realized Moonscar could and should be a safe place for us to work with other creators, specifically won, and really use all of the resources we’ve been given into this company to give back to others. Atlanta was a great place to host Moonscar’s main office, not only because I was raised there, but the culture of the entertainment industry is very much a “serve and be served” family, which is all we strive for with Moonscar. We also work out of Los Angeles.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Being in entertainment is all about luck. It’s about who you know until you prove your talent and worth and then you struggle for a while and one day, BAM! You just get lucky. Being at the right place at the right time with the right people and working nonstop the whole time is the name of the game. My whole story is just about getting very, very lucky with my hand.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://moonscar-productions.webnode.com/submissions/
- Email: moonscarproduction@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonscar_productions/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/morganswank/
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