Will JonesGillian Maltz is quickly becoming an unstoppable force in the comedy writing sphere. The Canadian-born writer transitioned from USC into professional representation, and she hasn’t stopped since.
“I think the training at USC gave me a real sense of what professional-level work looks like,” Maltz says. “I developed my comedic voice and my point-of-view, which is essential for distinguishing yourself in the entertainment industry.”
What it meant for Maltz was a script that could hold its own in one of the most competitive arenas in the business. Her script DOUGH placed at the Austin Film Festival’s Screenplay Competition in 2025, which is a festival organized specifically around writers, and whose competition is judged by working professionals with actual development credits. It was her second consecutive year placing there; a different script had done the same in 2024.
Gillian then caught the attention of Jason Lubin at First Story Entertainment, who signed Maltz directly out of her graduate program. “Getting signed was a very significant moment for my career,” she says of having management early. “Having someone in your corner, writing and networking-wise, is invaluable, plus a huge vote of confidence in your work.”
After that, Gillian began working as a comedy writer on the podcast Filling in Phyllis, which featured Joel Kim Booster, Jackie Beat, and Kevin Avery, among others. Booster’s work includes the Hulu romcom Fire Island, as well as series like Loot, Big Mouth, and Search Party, as well as his own Netflix special.
“You learn a lot about economy when you’re writing for strong comedic voices,” Maltz says. “Every word is doing something, or it isn’t, and you find out pretty fast which is which.”
Her own creative instincts have found expression in Birthday Girls, a web series she developed that attracted an Emmy Award-winning writer as a collaborator. Before that, Maltz wrote on a web series under the supervision of a WGA Award-winning writer, titled Welcome to Aloha.
Her attention to specificity extends to her work as a script analyst and reader, where she provides studio-style coverage and feedback to writers navigating the development process. It’s a role that requires the ability to identify what’s working at the level of structure, character, and voice, and to articulate clearly what isn’t. It also requires a generosity of attention that not every writer brings to it.
“Reading other people’s work seriously is one of the best things you can do for your own writing,” she says. “You start to see patterns and learn how to articulate issues in others’ work in a critical yet helpful way, which makes you a better writer and a better collaborator.”
Maltz moves between working as a collaborator, creator, analyst, writer for hire with a fluency that reflects not just range but a coherent understanding of how the industry actually works. She’s been building intentionally, across every dimension of the craft, and developing her unique comedic point of view as she goes. Maltz herself has said that she’s interested most in unpacking the stories of outsiders, and the (often misguided) steps they take to fit in. It’ll be exciting to see how Maltz’s career continues to tell these stories in darkly humorous, yet innovative, ways.