Last year was busy for writer-producer-director Ryan Murphy. At the beginning of the year, two of his documentaries, A Secret Love and Circus of Books were released on Netflix. They were followed by the series The Politician, two miniseries- Hollywood and Ratched – and two movies The Boys in the Band and The Prom. On top of that he’s been working on all of his other shows: 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Pose, American Crime Story, American Horror Story, and the spin-off American Horror Stories. Murphy tells HFPA journalist Scott Orlin that he is looking forward to taking a breath before he starts his next projects.

“It was a very strange year for me because everything that came out last year, I’ve been working on for three years or more. What I’ve learned as I’ve loved working this hard but I’ll never work this hard again because it was a lot. I’ve grown up sort of with this idea that whenever somebody says yes to you, take the yes because I had so many no’s and I know what it’s like to be rejected.”

He started his screenwriting career in the late ‘90s.  “It was really difficult for me. It was very, very hard and I was told many times that I shouldn’t be doing this; there was no place for me at the table. I was an out gay guy. I was in a group of other people who were gay in the industry and this was back in ’97 so this was not that long ago. We used to meet in private in somebody’s backyard and we would talk about can we be out in this business and keep working or will we be fired.”

He kept writing roles for LGBTQ people and women over 40. And from 2003 until now his shows have been successful.“I’m very grateful to have had a string of things that have been very successful. Along the way, I went from being seen I think as an underdog to somebody who is now seen as the establishment which is so bizarre because never in my wildest dreams did I think that way or have felt that way, and even now in my career where I do have the ability to kind of make what I want and green light what I want, I still feel like an outsider.”

Listen to the podcast and hear what he has learned from his eldest son; why his first agent was fired; who were his role models when he was in high school; what is his first creative memory; why he traveled with nuns when he was a child; how his time in the Singing Hoosiers Choir Club affected his creative path; how Cher boosted his writing career; what happened to his first screenplay that he sold to Steven SpielbergThe American Crime Story: Impeachment was postponed; why he bought theatrical rights to Funny Girl how he describes his friendship with Barbra StreisandThe New Normal was the biggest lesson in his career; what he has learned from success; and what kind of advice he gives people who want to be writers and creators, how he helps new talent.