Q&A with Claire Friedman, Emmy-Nominated TV Writer

Claire Friedman is an Emmy-nominated TV writer and Peabody award winner for her work on Saturday Night Live. Claire worked at Goldman Sachs from 2007 to 2012 in Investment Banking in New York.

1. How did you start your career at Goldman Sachs and what was your path at the firm? What did you learn during your time here that helped you in the next phase(s) of your career?
I started at GS in 2007 as an Analyst in Structured Finance and left the firm in 2012 as an Associate in the same group. Even though I stayed on the same team, a lot had changed. I was working during the mortgage crisis so there was always a lot going on. The group was in FICC for the first few days of my training, and by the end of the week, the group had been moved to Investment Banking and I was moved into the respective training. I worked across several industries/asset classes and in two GS buildings: 1 New York Plaza and then 200 West Street. 

While living and working at GS through the mortgage crisis, I learned that no matter how “safe” you play it in your life, the world is not nearly as predictable as we may hope. This realization made me more willing to take risks (risks like quitting a stable career and pursuing a career in comedy) since I felt like any master plan could easily be overturned. I also learned that if you surround yourself with smart people, you can pretty much figure out any challenge.  

2. About five years after you left the firm, you became a writer for Saturday Night Live, won a Peabody award as well as an Emmy nomination, and have been involved in many opportunities since. Tell us about what inspired you to become a professional writer and about your journey until now.
Even though I studied economics in college and really enjoyed my time at GS, deep down I always wanted to be a comedy writer. I had done stand-up as a kid, comedy writing in college, and even continued to do open mics while I was working at GS, though I wasn’t sure comedy writing made sense as a career. The uncertain economy also kept me in finance a bit longer than I might have otherwise stayed. After GS, I got my MBA and moved to Los Angeles, where I slowly transitioned into more and more creative roles before I finally took the plunge and left a production job to start writing full time. I found representation, got involved in a few jobs and meetings, and the next year I was lucky enough to be hired by Saturday Night Live! 

3. What has been one of the hardest aspects of your job as a TV writer and what has been the most rewarding?
The hardest part of being a TV writer is that these days, you change jobs a lot. I’ve worked on five shows in seven years so there is not a lot of consistency to my daily routine. Though one major upside to shows being launched, cancelled, or changed is that I’ve gotten to work with tons of amazing comedy writers. Going on strike is another hard aspect. It was not fun to spend half the year not working.

The most rewarding part for me is having people tell me that they laughed at something I wrote, especially when those comments come from people I admire! Case in point, years after I left GS, I got the chance to speak with Lloyd Blankfein at a Saturday Night Live afterparty and he told me he liked my sketch and thought what I was doing was great. I called my parents the next morning to tell them and honestly, this was one of the highlights of my comedy career. 

4. What are your future aspirations, both personally and professionally?
I recently wrote and directed a ten-episode scripted audio series for Audible called “Trust Fall”, which I think is the only comedy series with multiple references to SPVs and Bowie Bonds. It stars some of my favorite comedians and actors including Colin Jost, Wanda Sykes, Cecily Strong, Chris Parnell, Heidi Gardner, Jay Pharoh and Neil Patrick Harris. I was recently lucky enough to be nominated for an Ambie award for best fiction screenwriting for the series. I loved being able to run every aspect of the series, from writing to production, and would love to continue to create my own comedy series across multiple platforms. I’m also interested in working on features and am currently writing a Rom Com script about a woman who is…an investment banker! As far as personal aspirations, my husband and I have two young children (3 and 7 months) so we’re looking forward to a time down the road when we can travel more, or even go out to dinner. 

5. What advice do you have for others who are interested in writing or in pivoting their careers more generally?
It seems like what I did was a crazy risky move, but there were lots and lots of incremental steps that got me from point A to point B. So, anyone looking to pivot should not assume it just happens overnight. I spent many years writing, performing, networking and finding small gigs in the industry before I was able to land my first writing job. I even graduated from my MBA program and took a job as an assistant at a TV network to get my foot in the door. If you are passionate about changing course, do whatever you can to get close to the job you want, even if you can’t get that job immediately. 

6. Have you leveraged your GS network since leaving the firm? If so, how?
While there’s not a ton of overlap between finance and comedy, I have stayed in touch with former colleagues from GS because it’s such an awesome group of people. In the past week alone, I’ve chatted with a former Analyst friend about the start-up she’s building and texted with a former colleague/fellow cinephile about a new movie that’s currently in theaters. Several GS friends also reached out after listening to “Trust Fall” to try and guess which of the scenes were inspired by my time at GS (hint: one of them was inspired by Associate IBD training)!