Quotes from Nahnatchka Khan

Find like-minded people who are on the same page as you, and then lift each other up.

Randall Park and Ali Wong, they are so many things; they're not just one thing, they're bigger than just their identity.

When you're writing a pilot, unless you already have an actor attached to the project, you're writing it with all the voices sort of in your head. Once you actually cast it, the actors become the voices of the characters, and you start to write for them and their strengths.

If you want to be a writer, you have to learn to write in other people's voices until you get the chance to write in your own.

I've always been passionate about movies, TV, and writing, and I've been working so hard at it for so long. There were lots of setbacks, but I loved it so much, there was no alternative.

Women behaving badly has always been funny, to me personally, so I knew I wanted to do something like that.

I was Persian-American, but I hated bringing Persian food to school. I just didn't want to stand out in that way. I wanted to be like everybody else.

You can be a successful woman and also be vulnerable, and that's important to show people.

If I waited to write only for a Persian lesbian, I'd still be waiting. But I can write for straight white men because those are the jobs.

You can be layered and more than one thing - you can exist outside of the box.

I've read many great samples, both of existing shows I liked and original pilots, and definitely hired the writers - or, at least, tried to!

Some people don't have a sense of humor about certain things, and other people do.

I grew up watching television as a kid. It was always something I wanted to pursue.

I never had a backup plan. I've only been good at one thing. I admire people who are jacks-of-all-trades. That's not me.

Sometimes you can feel the gears shifting in scripts, like really trying to make something work that feels sweaty for whatever reason. I really enjoy reading material that just flows - it's definitely a skill to make something feel effortless.

Using humor as a wedge into different kinds of stories is my go-to. I think anything I do would have some sort of streak of humor in it.

I personally feel like the end product is always better when you can make a collective. It's like a band. You can have a bunch of individual great musicians, but when you come together, there's a sound that it creates that you couldn't do on your own.

Networks love data. They love to be able to look at numbers and try to predict what they think will work.

Sometimes you can't really control the language around you. All you can do is follow your voice and your path - dedicate yourself to stories that matter.

Whatever I do - whether it's directing, producing - I just come at things from characters, from stories, from jokes and scene rhythms. I'll always have that at the epicenter, I think.

It's cool to be able to use comedy as a way to make people feel like they're a part of a bigger collective rather than as a way to divide.

I love strong female characters.

Having a range of perspectives allows you to tell stories through a different lens and approach things from fresh angles. If you're straining everything through the same filter, you're always going to wind up with the same product.

In terms of leadership, you've got to allow for people to be amazing and to contribute in a way that's meaningful. You can't hold on so tight that people don't get a chance to do what they do best.