Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerry Kazmierowicztrimm.

Hi Kerry, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

I first discovered my love for theatre when I was eight and saw my dad audition for a production of LEND ME A TENOR at a local community theater. My dad was always a quiet, shy man; but when he got on that stage, he dropped into a voice and presence I’d never seen from him before. As a child who was extremely insecure and overwhelmed by social interactions (I wouldn’t be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder until my thirties), I was immediately enraptured by the idea of being able to loudly, boldly express myself within a structure that made sense to my brain.
I received my undergraduate degree in acting and moved to Los Angeles. Before long, I found that I got more satisfaction out of writing my own stories than telling stories written by others. Since I had no formal training in writing, I woke up every day at 5am and wrote for three hours before going to my day job working in retail. With my remaining time, I worked two unpaid internships where I read three to five scripts per day.
Eventually, I started writing for a publishing company that specialized in children’s musicals. This gave me the opportunity to write musicals that helped children understand why characters would break into song (speaking from experience, playing a 60-year-old in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, JR. at 11 years old is a confusing process), and to explore topics that I wish had existed in kids’ media when I was a child. I eventually went to graduate school for musical theatre writing and have had my musicals produced over 700 times in 25+ countries. 10 of my scripts have been published and six studio recordings have been produced, and another two scripts and recordings will be released later this year.
Around the same time that I started writing for the publishing company, I wrote and produced a play that opened at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and was invited to transfer Off-Broadway. A film producer reached out and optioned the script, which I adapted for film. While that film is yet to be made, it put me on the radar of a director who hired me to rewrite his screenplay. He came from a background of working in video games, so I expressed my passion for the medium and desire to write interactive stories. He helped me get my foot in the door in the games industry, and since then I’ve written for half a dozen video games; two of them have shipped so far, with two more coming out next year.
This December, I had a bucket list moment occur, when a game I wrote (SCREAMER by Milestone s.r.l.) had its trailer premiere at the Game Awards, which is watched by over 120 million people internationally.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

No, it has not, for a variety of reasons.
In Los Angeles, there’s no straightforward path to becoming a screenwriter, which means working in other fields while also pursuing what you actually want to do. This presents multiple challenges.
One is that, whether it’s working in casting or development or production, the entertainment industry often expects an incredible number of hours from you; for a long time, I was averaging 70 to 80 hours per week. And if that’s what you’re doing just to survive, it doesn’t leave you a lot of time to better your craft, especially when you consider the advice that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Like I said, I wrote three hours every day – on top of 70 to 80 hours of work per week – which did take a toll on my physical and mental well-being. It’s something I had to do because I knew I couldn’t be happy spending my life doing work I didn’t love, but it’s not a lifestyle I can recommend. At the same time, for people without family who can provide financial assistance, and who don’t have nepotism on their side, I can’t think of a good alternative. I will say that there are a lot more conversations around work-life balance and not allowing internships to go unpaid than there were when I was in my early 20’s, and I see that as very much a positive.
Another issue with working in another field in LA while pursuing screenwriting is that not everyone around you is happy that you have alternative ambitions. Whether it’s because they’re bitter that they had to give on the dream that originally brought them out to LA, or they just think that to do your job well it needs to be all you care about, it’s easy to end up feeling like you have to keep your real aspirations secret. That’s why writing groups in LA so can be so helpful. Whether or not you find the feedback on your scripts beneficial, having a community that reminds you you’re not alone in pursuing this dream can be a tremendous help.
There’s also the struggle of learning how to collaborate effectively. Whether it’s film, theatre, or video games, a key part of the job is collaboration. You will spend the rest of your life finding new ways to be a better collaborator – because every collaboration is different and requires its own unique negotiations and rhythms to make sure everyone feels heard. That being said, you will also join projects you’re super excited about, and then have your heart broken when you realize the collaboration just isn’t a good fit, and there’s no fixing that, no matter how hard you’ve tried.
There’s the added complexity that the role the writer plays is very different whether you’re writing for theatre, film, or video games. While in all three the writer has job of writing the literal words on the page, the way they serve and respond to the rest of the creative team varies wildly depending on the medium. That took me a long to recognize.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I’m a writer who works in theatre, video games, and film. I am proud of the fact that my work is not confined to one genre or medium.
As a playwright, there have been hundreds of productions of my musicals, including an open-ended run of my musical CHASING THE SKY performing in Poland for the last two years.
As a screenwriter, I have several screenplays optioned and in development.
As a video game writer, my first shipped game came out this past October: A QUIET PLACE: THE ROAD AHEAD, and my second this spring: VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE – MILAN UPRISING. I’m currently writing on three different video games, one of which is a game being developed to serve people on the autism spectrum, such as myself.
I’m also incredibly proud of the children’s musicals I’ve gotten to write, because I always start by asking myself, “What stories do I wish existed when I was a kid?” When I was a child in the 90’s, it felt like the vast majority of children’s stories had the theme, “Nothing is more important than family.” Well, if you come from a broken, abusive home, that sentiment sounds like a prison sentence. I’m glad to see that modern entertainment tells a lot more stories about found family, the idea that it’s okay to be sad, etc., and I do my best to contribute to that conversation with every children’s show I write.
I’m also proud to use my experiences with PTSD to inform my work. In video games and film, I write a lot of horror, a genre (in my opinion) that’s at its strongest when it’s an exploration of trauma, with characters who only have a chance at a happy ending if they face their trauma – usually in the form of a grotesque monster – head-on.

What was your favorite childhood memory?

I mentioned it earlier, but the one I go back to again and again is when I saw my dad audition for the first time. It was for a production of LEND ME A TENOR and it’s the first time I saw him take up space. It gave me the courage to start acting so I could start to take up space and find my voice, too. If I hadn’t first gained my confidence as an actor, I don’t know that I would have found it in my daily life. That memory of my dad auditioning continues to motivate so much of what I do – both by reminding me of how I want to exist in the world and informing the kinds of stories I want to tell. I hope that a kid out there can find their voice while acting in one of my shows.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kerrykaz.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kerrykaz/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-kazmierowicztrimm-a5884730/

Image Credits

WOUNDED poster – Matthew Hill