Dolly Alderton and Phoebe Robinson in adapting their memoir for television

at first sight, everything is garbage s Everything I know about love. It might sound like the closest of their titles, both surnames are full of potential for a “who goes first” puzzle. Both series deal with the dangers and pleasures of being young in the big city. everything is garbageIts protagonist, Phoebe, a famous podcast host who lives in New York, finds herself at this particular crossroads of adolescence, where her career boost has yet to translate into the life she hopes for; but Everything I know about love.Maggie has just moved to London with her three friends (post-college) and is desperate to get her foot in whatever career door she can. trash’s Phoebe navigates the details of a black woman in a field still dominated by white men; loveMaggie pursues teenage sexual politics.

But where the two shows really overlap is in their origins: both are adaptations of bestselling memoirs that the memoir authors themselves have translated into their largely fictional screen versions. love, taken from Dolly Alderton’s 2018 memoir (of the same name), was released on Peacock on August 25, after airing in her native UK earlier this summer. “Everything I write, whether it’s my memoirs or novels or columns, is very emotional and quite honest, so by its very nature it resonates with people, because we all go through heartbreak,” says Alderton. THR. “But it was a television show on another level. People are so passionate about this world.” An adaptation of Phoebe Robinson’s second memoir, It’s all rubbish, but that’s okay., is currently in the midst of its first season on Freeform – the season finale will air on September 7. “I always try to stay away from comments because I want to do what I want to do,” says Robinson. “But you know, I was on Twitter and most of the comments were good. (laughs.) It’s great to feel a sense of camaraderie with the audience.”

Robinson and Alderton talked THR About the unique process of taking their most personal words and translating them, through a group project, for a wider audience, and what they learned about themselves and their craft in the process.

On your adaptation journey

Alderton’s show was in production until he finished writing the source material. commanded the first half Everything I know about love. Introduced to booking agents nearly six years ago (at age 28), Scout accepted the proposal and sent it to production company Working Title, who picked it up almost instantly. “It was very lucky and privileged to be in this position, but I had to pretend I didn’t fit in so I could focus,” says the author, now 34. “I couldn’t finish. I was writing about my life and thinking about how that translates to cinematography.

Robinson himself bought an adaptation of his memoir. In 2019, he launched his own production company, Tiny Reparations, and partnered with ABC to create a half-hour comedy in which he would star. His agents arranged blind dates with the showrunners, and eventually he met TV veteran Jonathan Groff, known for his work. Happy ending s black in color. “I wanted a black woman, but my agents thought I would look great with Jonathan,” he says. “We FaceTimed and had fun, we’re both comedy nerds, and he was reading my book, and the very essays that resonated with him were really interesting to me at the time.” the couple got together It’s all rubbish, but that’s okay. as his source for the sitcom: “It’s a little aspirational, but it’s still grounded in reality, especially financially and what it’s like to live in New York as a creative,” and he built the show from there.

about inventing your life stories

“I always want to try to write the most interesting story possible, and when you’re working on a television series in the writers’ room, you want to take advantage of everyone’s different experiences,” Robinson says of the decision to let go of his strict guard. Details of the plot of the memories. “The rule was, the funniest or most exciting idea wins, and we built a world around it.” We knew we wanted to stay true to the spirit of the book, but we wanted to have the flexibility to tell great stories for television.” The result was a protagonist played by Robinson that very much reflects the real Robinson in his sensitivity and sense of humor. The show’s Phoebe is also a podcast host who lives in Brooklyn, but they added fictional supporting characters and gave her a brother in the same neighborhood (Robinson’s real brother lives in Ohio).“I wanted to prioritize the sibling relationship,” she says. “We’re pretty close, and I felt like I hadn’t seen a show that put that dynamic front and center.”

Alderton’s creative team initially considered following his memories closely, but soon abandoned the idea: “You’re very limited when you’re just following real-life stories; It just isn’t a juicy enough story.” He describes the fiction process as taking the essence of a book and putting the details and characters into a boundless wonderland. “We knew we wanted it to be a great love story between two childhood best friends, and that there would be a big tense moment when one of them falls in love for the first time,” he says. living together.

Robinson also made a point of staying true to some of the real elements of his book, namely its discussions of money and financial security. “When my podcast Two drug queens It came out in 2016 and went to number one on iTunes, people thought that because it was successful, it had a lot of money,” he says. “But he was still struggling with student loans and credit card debt, and I wanted to show that in this character, even though he has a career, he doesn’t have everything, he’s still trying to figure things out.”

Shift from solo writing to group projects.

Everything I know about love. A very unsanitary portrait of youth: Maggie and her roommates drink, do drugs and have sex. Alderton was concerned about the need to negotiate with the network. He produced the show with the BBC and describes how pleasantly surprised executives tackled the most illicit material in his memoir. “A funny thing happened, which I’m sure sounds more British than ever,” he says. “All the potentially offensive elements were raised with different people on the network, and in the end, we got an email that said, ‘We can see the editorial justification for all the fuss.’ I bought it on a Friday afternoon and said, ‘Have a drink at the pub tonight!’

Robinson noticed the difference between writing a book and writing for television more clearly through the network recording process. “When I write my books, my publisher gives general ideas for changes, I take what I want, leave the rest and never come back,” he laughs. “You should talk more about subjects on television. “One of the areas where I grew the most from this experience was being able to give feedback and understand that everyone wants the show to be successful – they don’t give feedback because they don’t trust you.”

Looking at our own stories differently

“I’m certainly grateful that I wrote the script when I was 33 and not before,” says Alderton. “The further you move away from youth, the more you understand what was important and what was temporary.” He remembers a particularly poignant scene on the show that asks Maggie to confront her own reflection in the mirror; In the script notes, Maggie wrote her face, which she had chosen since she was 13. “Seeing these actors in these situations, I felt more compassion than ever, compassion for not knowing your worth in the world and still feeling confused about who you are.”

Robinson, for her part, uses her show to reflect on how far she’s come in her career and life, especially when it comes to finances (a topic on the series she says she’s received a lot of positive comments about). “I am proud of where I have come. When I wrote about the first season PortlandI took all that money and paid off my credit card debt and that prepared me for the Phoebe 3.0 life I wanted to have. Now I have a book publisher and a production company, and I don’t feel like I have to say yes to every job for fear of running out of money. And it helped me figure out where I want to go, where I’m even more confident and able to prioritize my personal life. I know I want to experiment and enjoy.”