Quinta Brunson received the Variety Showrunner Award at SCAD TVfest on Feb. 6, joined by her “Abbott Elementary” co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph for an honest conversation about the highs and lows of the television industry. Variety moderated this conversation in partnership with SCAD TVfest.
Brunson was introduced by Ralph, who praised her as someone truly rare in the business. “There are a lot of talented people in the industry — and she is talented. There are a lot of gifted people in the industry—and Quinta is gifted,” Ralph said. “But Quinta is also something we don’t often find. She is rare.”
Ralph credited Brunson’s leadership for the show’s success. “Everything trickles down from the top,” she said. “[She’s] the reason, five years into it, we still laugh and talk together. All of us as a cast, some of us even spend time together on the weekend.”
Taking the stage, Brunson dismissed shortcuts to fame in favor of mastering fundamentals. “The ‘Abbott’ pilot is a result of me focusing on my craft,” she said. “If I didn’t sit there and learn how to properly write a pilot, how to do a three-act structure, none of this would’ve happened. I know there’s so many other ways to make it big and get famous and blah, blah, blah, but man, that craft will gift you all of this.”
During a candid Q&A following the award presentation, Brunson and Ralph offered students a dose of reality about the entertainment business — one that balanced encouragement with unflinching honesty about the challenges ahead.
“If you think this is difficult, if you think this is hard, please find another occupation,” Ralph told the audience. “None of what we do is for the faint of heart. It is very difficult exposing your raw feeling and talent, your art to people to have it rejected over and over and over again.”
The Emmy winner didn’t mince words about the arbitrary nature of rejection in Hollywood, noting that even stellar work can be dismissed for reasons like resembling someone’s “ex-wife.” She warned students that the business “will take a nice bite out of you, chew you up, maybe lean back, put some salt and pepper on you and decide I don’t like it. That’s showbiz.”
Brunson added that success doesn’t shield anyone from criticism. Even with “Abbott Elementary’s” acclaim, she said, “We be getting our ass beat too. You deal with a lot every day. It’s just as much bad as it is good.”
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A revealing moment came when Ralph teased Brunson about directing, something the showrunner has notably not done on her own series. When Ralph suggested she was “working on becoming a director,” Brunson pushed back, explaining that juggling multiple roles can be too much. Directors need prep time, meetings, shooting, then editing and a director’s cut. “When we have writers do it, we lose them in the room for like four weeks and it hurts,” she said. “I can’t afford to lose me in the room.”
Instead, she’s focused on supporting other directors, calling it one of the most rewarding aspects of running the show. “It’s been so wonderful to give new directors experiences,” she said. That focus on nurturing talent connects to a larger theme both women emphasized: the value of honing one’s craft. “Lean into your craft because your craft will carry you,” Ralph said. “A lot of people think you just roll out of bed and do this. No you don’t.”
When a student asked for advice on staying true to herself as a Black woman in the industry, Brunson emphasized community and foundation, crediting her college friend Lana as part of the reason she graduated. “We feed into each other as women and as Black women,” she said. “So you can stay grounded.”
Ralph emphasized knowing yourself before entering an industry designed to break you down. “I’ve seen it and I had to walk away,” Ralph said. “I know who Sheryl Lee Ralph is.”
Throughout the panel, Brunson’s advice came back to a consistent theme: don’t lose yourself in pursuit of success. “I’ve read movies, pilots from people all the time. Some of them are unknowns and it’s the best writing,” she said. “So just be good at what you do. I feel like that’s getting thrown out the window. That’s why I’m putting so much emphasis on it.”