Streamy Award-Winning Writer: David Wain, WAINY DAYS

The 2010 Streamy Award for Best Writing for a Comedy Series went to David Wain for Wainy Days, distributed by digital comedy network My Damn Channel. The series stars Wain as a sappy, fictionalized version of himself looking for love, and features his pursuit of a new woman each episode. Wain is perhaps best known for his work on sketch comedy series The State and Stella, and penning the feature film Role Models.

Script asked David a few short questions about his Streamy win and what online media means to a working mainstream writer:

SCRIPT: How did you come to create Wainy Days?

David Wain: I’d always thought it would be interesting – in the spirit of “write what you know” – to do some kind of series where I’m trying to meet women and each episode is about a different one. The short form of the Web seemed to match it perfectly so it came to mind when I was approached by My Damn Channel to do something.

SCRIPT: If you could explain the show to your grandparents, what would you say?

DW: This is what my life is like in New York! But funnier!

SCRIPT: How does working with My Damn Channel compare to working with a traditional TV network?

DW: The only similarities is that the work itself takes on the same form and challenges - all the traditional processes in telling a story on film: crafting the script, casting, shooting, editing, etc. But My Damn Channel has never given me any creative parameters whatsoever. They just support the series and I make it – it’s a very fortunate situation.

SCRIPT: As someone who has worked - and continues to work - in traditional media, what does an online series provide you?

DW: It’s a different, fun and exciting venue. A chance to make material with lower stakes, lower budgets. A chance to work with actors I haven’t otherwise been able to. A chance for me to act in front of the camera. To try different things in the writing, directing. To work with new collaborators — all with a minimum of hassle.

SCRIPT: If you had one suggestion for up-and-coming writers, what would it be?

DW: Remember that quantity can be as important as quality.

SCRIPT: If you were to make a food truck that travels around LA (a la Kogi BBQ), what would it serve?

DW: Penne.

David Wain’s Wainy Days can be seen at WainyDays.com.

Alec McNayr and Robert Gustafson are writers and producers for Space Shank Media. Alec McNayr’s humor book Historical Tweets: The Completely Unabridged and Ridiculously Brief History of the World is available in stores everywhere.

[Full Disclosure: Alec McNayr is a member of the International Academy of Web Television, the voting body for the Streamy Awards.]

Photo Credit: The Bui Brothers