Marta Kauffman

In the half-hour, solo portion of her interview, Marta Kauffman talks about her childhood and her early love of musical theater. She describes how the entertainment industry treated women when she began her career, as well as how those things have changed since. She discusses the importance of caring about the characters you write, and details her production company and then-current projects. She speaks of missing the production of Friends, and gives advice to aspiring television writers. In the two-and-a-half hour joint portion of their interview, David Crane and Marta Kauffman talk about how they met, and how their writing partnership came about. They describe creating and producing the HBO comedy Dream On, for which they received an Emmy Award nomination, as well as working with Norman Lear on the short-lived series The Powers That Be. They speak in great detail about creating, writing, and producing the blockbuster-hit NBC comedy Friends, including casting, story arcs, the contribution of James Burrows, and their time slot on NBC’s “must see” Thursday night lineup. They outline the popularity of Friends, as well as its cultural impact and legacy. They recall the breakup of their Bright/Kauffman/Crane production company, and opine on the then-current state of network television. Beth Cochran conducted the interviews on October 7, 2010 in Los Angeles, CA.