Breaking into the Hollywood boys’ club: Nell Scovell pulls back the curtain

Even if you don’t know the name Nell Scovell, you’ve probably seen her work and laughed at her jokes: she’s written for The Simpsons, Late Night with David Letterman, Murphy Brown, created Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, and co-wrote the 2013 blockbuster book Lean In with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. She has also written jokes for President Obama and Hillary Clinton. Scovell has just penned a new memoir, Just the Funny Parts…and a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking into the Hollywood Boys’ Club. She talks about her funny and not-so-funny experiences confronting sexism, the #MeToo movement, writing for celebrities, dealing with rejection, her advice to others on how to break in to male-dominated industries, and offers a joke for James Comey, if he needs one.

Nell Scovell, author, TV writer, producer, director