W Files

Profiling Screenwriters at Work

Laura Kosterski: The Power of a Good Spec

by Matthew Hays

Laura Kosterski is feeling a bit breathless–that’s what comes of being in the thick of production on the quirky comedy Naked Josh. And, as if that’s not enough, she’s also developing Big Girl, an MOW for CTV about a young woman’s coming of age at a fat camp.

Set and shot in Montreal, Naked Josh, which airs on Showcase, centres on Josh Gould, a sexual anthropology prof with more than his share of dating and romance complications.

"Putting together any show is a lot of hard work, and getting across the finish line isn’t easy," Kosterski says. "But it is so gratifying to be working on a 10-episode season. We really hit our stride with the show." She adds, "The lows can be low, but the highs of getting a show done are unbelievable."

Kosterski, who co-created Naked Josh with Alex Epstein, co-writes the show and serves as supervising producer. She says the key to a successful series is keeping an open mind and experimenting a bit. "You as a writer want to put what you want into the show, the producers have their ideas about what they want the show to be, and the network is putting in its two cents. Everyone is trying to get onto the same page and figure out what they can come up with. A script is great, but it’s only a blueprint–there’s a lot of trial and error involved."

It was a steady stream of work that led Kosterski to Montreal and to Naked Josh, now into production on season three. While completing a philosophy degree at U of T, she began contributing to the arts section of the campus newspaper The Varsity. There, she caught the journalism bug, managing to get freelance work with eye weekly, The Globe and Mail and Flare.

"Journalism is a fantastic place to start, because I got to see so many plays for free and see so many people putting themselves out there that it was really inspiring."

Ultimately, though, Kosterski found journalism frustrating. "I figured, ‘What the hell, if they are putting themselves into these situations, why can’t I?’"

Eager to tell her own stories, she took a couple of screenwriting courses at George Brown University in Toronto, learning the basics of writing and formatting a screenplay. Then came her break. "I had written a spec script about a girl dealing with an eating disorder. Someone read it and appreciated the sensitivity of the way I dealt with the issue." That led Kosterski to a series of gigs writing for animated children’s shows, from Rolie Polie Olie to Dumb Bunnies to Anne of Green Gables and The Berenstain Bears.

"The fantastic thing about writing for children’s shows is that you must really think on two levels–you’ve got to come at it while thinking of an educational framework. When I was doing those shows, there was a move away from just the action-adventure stuff for kids. You couldn’t just have the spaceship explode anymore. It was character-driven storytelling, and about self-discovery. There were small plot points, things that apply to adult stories as well."

Kosterski paused to do the screenwriters’ boot camp at the Canadian Film Centre, an experience she now says was "completely invaluable. That program teaches you to pitch well, and to have several ideas to float at any given moment. It grants you a lot of confidence."

Then a spec script came to the rescue once again. Kosterski had circulated a spec on vampires, and it landed her a gig on Vampire High, a wacky show about vampires in a high school. With the job came a move to Montreal. "When they asked me if I’d move to Montreal I was like, ‘Isn’t that sort of like asking if you want some chocolate?’ I feel so lucky to be living in a city where you’re not identified by your work. Also, I get to dance more and dress better."

But Kosterski did want to traverse new ground work-wise, namely to be able to tackle more adult themes. One of her favourite shows was always Sex and the City, so she banged out her own spec episode. "That helped me prepare for Naked Josh, because I had a strong spec script at a time when everyone was looking for a show that had sexual content and yet also had ideas at the same time."

Kosterski says one of the most important things she’s learned as a writer is to "develop your shields for criticism. Don’t take it personally. Let it take you to another place. Don’t get defensive. A lot of writers get defensive, and if you do, you’re not cut out for television, I can tell you. My defensiveness still flares up at times, and that’s a bad thing in a business that’s so collaborative. You social skills are important–and writers can be so terribly anti-social."