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Happy August! Before the Summer comes to an end, check out our chat with Success Story #464 Marianna Staroselsky, who signed with manager Seth Nagel through a Roadmap Introduction!
This interview was submitted on 7/29/2025
Firstly, tell us about yourself! Who are you as a writer & who did you end up signing with?
I'm a playwright, librettist, and screenwriter who discovered that I love writing for performance more than anything while doing my PhD in Chicago where I started churning out short plays for a 24 hour theatre festival there. I haven't been able to stop chasing the joy and fulfillment of impacting an audience through dramatic writing ever since.
I signed with manager Seth Nagel. I was thrilled to find someone as excited about my script as I am, with whom I have shared views and values, and with whom I get along with brilliantly! I count Seth as a friend and the fact that we have a great time hanging out and have tastes that align is a big deal. I could be writing academic articles instead right now if having a good time and relatability didn't matter to me. Not that academic articles aren't important and can’t be engaging for the right audience, but right now I’m especially interested and driven by creative experiments in wide-scale application.
How did you meet your now rep? What was that first interaction like and how did it lead to your professional relationship now?
I met my manager, Seth Nagel, through a Roadmap pitch session. He requested my script and then Joey helped set up a meeting for us on zoom a few months later.
That five minute pitch is a blur but the first time we had a real conversation over zoom it was super easy to talk with Seth and it felt like we might have already known each other forever. I was thrilled to find someone as excited about my script as I am, with whom I have shared views and values, and with whom I get along with brilliantly! I count him as a friend.
From the moment you started training and/or working with Roadmap Writers, how long has it been before you secured your current representation?
I would say about a year and a half to two years all in all.
How did (if at all) Roadmap Writers assist in getting you to this point? Do you think you could've made this step in your screenwriting career without Roadmap?
Joey and the Roadmap Team made introductions and helped me foster key relationships. Roadmap's support was pivotal at a stage when I had no representation and very much needed to grow my industry network overall. They were my main source of support in this way at the time and unless you already have super strong industry connections and mentorship built in, it’s challenging to navigate the industry initially without some kind of guidance which Roadmap and various execs they connected me with have provided.
What types of stories do you write? What's your "writer brand" and how do you think that helped you attract a good match for representation?
I come from a place that no longer exists, The Soviet Union, where Pushkin's epic tales sustained me until we dramatically uprooted our lives to go to the land of Barbie and Happy Meals. So I especially enjoy writing dark absurdist fables for the confused, wounded child in all of us, such as in my grounded fantastical sitcom, The Soviet Union of Iowa, which is loosely based on my own immigration from the breadlines of Soviet Kiev in the 90s to that fine corn-studded state. There is often a fantastical element in my stories and I draw on my experiences as a befuddled Jewish refugee kid turned psychological anthropologist and playwright to write marginalized characters learning to adapt to new environments and life challenges.
Has your mindset about what you're writing changed now that you've added representation to your team? What's the biggest lesson you've learned or had to adapt to since you've been working with your rep?
I feel significantly more supported and confident to have someone with experience who is looking out for my best interests and believes in me and my writing. This industry (obviously, unless you're a nepo!) is very tricky to navigate especially if you're just getting started, so having supporters with experience to turn to is everything. I'm someone who got used to navigating many complex things on my own, like I was basically my own PhD advisor for a long time, and it's so wonderful when you don't have to do it alone!
I’ve learned that building a relationship with a rep with whom you have shared goals and trust makes it much more doable to navigate the landscape of making industry connections and growing them, negotiating deals, and keeping an optimistic outlook that is also grounded in the reality of the industry’s current challenges. A shared sense of humor helps a lot as well.
What do you hope your next steps are? What are your immediate goals now that you've landed representation?
Next, I hope to have writing contracts I’m excited about–starting soon (fingers crossed!!!) I’m planning to make a short. I will need to find an agent. I’d absolutely love to work in a writer’s room. I’m going to continue to make and grow relationships, work on my projects, and learn as much as I can.
In 10 years, what do you want your screenwriting career to look like?
In 10 years, I mean this is an industry of and for dreamers so…I’d love to be able to be a show-runner and filmmaker creating and heading new projects that are thrilling to work on and low-key infuse my social impact missions into my viewers' brains. In particular, we need to learn to see each other beyond the binary of "us vs. them" and my aim is to have a thriving screenwriting career that promotes empathy and care while tickling and challenging audiences in unexpected ways. I hope to be doing that through my playwriting as well - impacting a live audience on the stage is a powerful social medicine as are the more accessible on-screen performances that we can replay again and again.
Are you ready to take the next step in your career?
We get it. Getting signed, or whatever your next step may be, can be hard. That’s why we’re here. Our programs are designed to help you find success, whatever that means to you. Here are some great ways to get started:
THE CAREER WRITER PROGRAM
This is the most extensive program we offer. The Career Writer Program doesn’t just get you and your material in front of industry executives. We make sure you’re ready for that moment, which is why most of our success stories come from writers who complete the Career Writer Program.
ACCESS PROGRAMS
Our Access Programs, 10-Minute Reads and Open Pitch Sessions, are named as such because that’s exactly what they are—accessible. These programs are one of the easiest ways we offer for you to get your material in front of industry executives. Plus you’ll get valuable feedback on what’s working, and what could be improved.
CONSULTATIONS
If you want to work one-on-one with industry executives, consultations might just be the program for you. We offer a wide variety of consultation types, so you can have a meeting for whatever you want to focus on. This program is a great way to dive in and get personalized notes from industry professionals.
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