Devin Mahoney - Television, Radio and Film '04
Devin Mahoney has the ultimate job perk. He gets to work with the minds behind the Emmy-nominated comedy series, “Scrubs.”
Mahoney, a Television, Radio and Film graduate, has worked for the past two years as a Writer’s Assistant on the popular sitcom, “Scrubs,” which follows the lives of several young medical interns as they hilariously navigate their way through the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital.
“I’ve gotten to know all the stars,” he said. “Everyone is so fun and down to earth. It’s a ball.” These celebrities also include the show’s creator, Bill Lawrence, an acclaimed television writer who’s also written for such shows as “Friends” and “Spin City.”
After graduating from Newhouse in 2004, Mahoney, 27, immediately headed out to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of television and film writing and rather quickly discovered a recipe for success.
“I kind of just took my resume and faxed it to every show on TV, and then called them until they gave me an interview,” he said. “I kind of just talked my way into it.”
After working briefly for the Spike Network’s “Most Extreme Elimination Challenge,” Mahoney eventually got the call from “Scrubs,” where he now works as a Writer’s Assistant, attending the show’s regular writers’ meetings and keeping track of all the ideas tossed around.
“The thing about the writers is that most of the time they don’t actually do any of their own typing,” Mahoney said. “I pretty much sit in the writers’ room and take everything in. I take down stories, joke pitches and make sure the good stuff doesn’t go away.”
He also has the added perk of working alongside fellow Newhouse TRF Master’s alumni Ryan Kemp (’05) and Brian Davison (’05) at “Scrubs.”
“It’s kind of a Newhouse breeding ground,” Mahoney said.
Mahoney credits some of his success to the TRF program at Newhouse and particularly its faculty.
“You learn by doing in the TV business, so it’s hard to teach,” Mahoney said. “But they give you the background and teach you how the business works so when you get here you kind of understand what’s going on.”
He noted that several of his teachers in the TRF program are especially well-aware of the tools students need before getting into the real world of television and film.
“Prof. (Andrea) Asimow, she’s still involved in the business, so it was kind of fun to learn from someone doing it right now,” Mahoney said of the film business teacher. “She loved sharing her knowledge with the class.”
Michael Schoonmaker, chair of the TRF department and professor of television writing and production, was also one of Mahoney’s favorites.
“He was great because he let us make a silly movie about a hot dog vendor and a stripper, and we got a grade for it,” Mahoney said. “He gave us the stuff and let us go and figure it out on our own.”
Even though he’s only being paid to write down other people’s ideas right now, Mahoney is still working on his dream job of writing his own shows and films, a task which the Newhouse program gave him plenty of practice with.
Writing with another Newhouse alumnus, C. Rego Marquiis (’04), who also moved to Los Angeles shortly after graduating, Mahoney continues to flex his own creative muscle writing spec scripts, features and original pilots.
“We’re just trying to get our ducks in a row, get real jobs and get rich and famous, preferably rich,” he said.
For now though, Mahoney’s content just getting to absorb the techniques and ideas of those behind the critically acclaimed “Scrubs.”
“It’s the working man’s version of sitting in a comedy club all day,” he said. “You sit there and listen to people who are the best in the biz and you can’t really beat that.”
