The 6'4", 245-lb. Disney storyteller
by Barbara Wiedemann
UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media graduate Jake Lawler ’20 was born in New York City. His parents Michele and Andrew, both Carolina graduates, moved the family to Charlotte when Jake was three years old. He still calls the North Carolina city home. Jake went on to play football for South Mecklenburg High and was a highly recruited linebacker by the time he committed to Carolina in 2016. At UNC, he was a three-time ACC Academic Honor Roll member and a three-time UNC Scholar-Athlete recipient. Writing has long played a significant role in Lawler’s life. By his junior year at Carolina, he was ready to pursue his Hollywood dreams full-time. He had enough credits to graduate in May of that year (2020). Last month, Lawler stepped into his dream job as a writer for an upcoming Disney+ show. We caught up with him yesterday by Zoom in his Los Angeles apartment.
Q
You used to be described as “a 6'4" 245-lb. linebacker who finished his senior campaign with 65 tackles, 20 TFL and 10 sacks.” How do you describe yourself now?
A
[laughing] I’m still the same height and weight, but I am not as accomplished a sports person anymore. I still go to the gym and I try to keep in shape, but I’m thankful that I don’t have to use my body the way I did in that way any more.
Q
Some people know you more for your June 6, 2018, blogpost “A New Life” where you spoke openly about battling depression since childhood. That vulnerability took a lot of courage and I know you reached a lot of people with that post. Are you glad you did it?
A
I still think it’s the best thing I have ever done. Not just for me, but also for other people. I’m aware that [my blog post] reached a lot of people. In retrospect, I am glad it succeeded in that capacity.
Q
Even before you graduated early, I understand that you’d written full screenplays and sent them to L.A. Tell me about that in terms of studying media and journalism and then jumping into Hollywood with both feet. Was that a lifelong dream?
A
Yes, I’d written a few screenplays as a student. I went out to Los Angeles over spring break in March 2020 to meet with a few people who [Carolina football] Coach Brown had connected me with, so that was an important time. But even before that, in October or November of 2019, I had made the internal decision to move on. So I started writing.
I had one script — a full TV pilot — that I took out to Los Angeles with me, about a Black teen with telekenesis called “Martin Clay.” That was the first one I felt comfortable sharing, and it opened a lot of doors for me. So I’m very grateful for it. “Martin Clay” is the reason I’m in the position I’m in today.
People were receptive to that story. One of the people that I met through Coach Brown is a guy named Luke Ryan. He owns a production company out here in California, and he was gracious enough to meet with me. We talked about my script. He was a fan of it and of my work. We hit it off, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to work for him when I first got out to LA.
Q
Had you taken any screenwriting classes at Carolina?
A
No, I consider myself self-taught. Good writing is good writing, to a certain extent. But screenwriting is completely different from anything I was doing in the journalism world.
I realized I had none of the skills, so I had to find them on my own. I looked at YouTube, learned online. I tell people I got my screenwriting degree from Google University. Reading screenplays was helpful. Watching “directors commentary” versions of films. Listening to podcasts about people who write scripts. It was months and months of self-teaching about how to format a screenplay; what a good story is; and how to tell it in “X” amount of pages, that kind of thing.
Q
As a student here at Carolina, you also helped found a nonprofit organization called “Uncut” that gives student-athletes a platform to be their full selves. How did the idea for “Uncut” come about? Are you still involved?
A
Luke Buxton ’21 [now at Bleacher Report] was a J-school major at UNC as well. We were really good friends for a while at Carolina. He approached me with a friend named Alex Mazer to tell me that they were thinking about this idea that would help shed a light on the more nuanced aspects of being a student-athlete, about being a holistic individual not just a sports player. I had a great relationship with them and with UNC Athletics, so it was a good fit. We brought on Justin Hadad and Jill Shippee, and the five of us became a tight unit who worked to make “Uncut” what it is today.
I’m very grateful to see how far it’s spread and how others are shaping it today, not just at Carolina but at other schools. I’m not involved on a day-to-day level now. I’ve stepped back into an advisory role. We as a core group talk every now and then about what’s happening and what it is becoming, but I think that is part of the reason it is still around—because other people believe in the vision and have taken the reins.
Q
Your history includes you having a vision for the type of stories you want to see out there, and then taking charge of how to learn what you need to know in order to get those stories told. Is that something that current UNC Hussman students can learn from?
A
Yes. It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to get a job just off a college degree, unlike 20 years ago—back when it was almost guaranteed the moment you graduated. I would say especially if you are doing something like football with the kind of time constraints where you can’t apply for internships over the summer; or if paying for the costs associated with an internship are out of reach.
So I think there are a lot of really talented and really smart students at Carolina. Students who are just as driven and devoted to doing what you are passionate about doing. Find those people, and stay with those people. Together, you can do what you want to do. If it fails, it fails. If it succeeds, it succeeds. But either way, you did something no one else has done.
In any creative field, I think that’s true. Surround yourself with talented people. To achieve what you want to achieve, the way to go is to not try to do it on your own. Create a community that collaborates.
For example, I work a lot with my brother Conor Lawler, who is a sophomore at UNC School of the Arts, in their directing program. We collaborate on a lot, and it’s better than what I could do on my own.
And now, being a staff writer on Disney+, I’m surrounded by very talented people. Some of them have been doing this for a long time, and I can lean on them for support. We constantly bounce ideas back and forth.
That is something that I love about L.A.. Out here, there is a certain level of understanding and appreciation for the same things I appreciate and basically can’t breathe without doing.
I’ve found people who are just as passionate about the medium, the art form and the craft. It is very inspiring to be surrounded with great people who care as much as I do about what we do. It’s made a world of difference for me.
Q
You posted to Twitter last month on your first day as a staff writer for an upcoming Disney+ show that we can't talk about yet. On that thread you said, “My hope is that with stories like mine, more kids from the South can begin to see that the pursuit of creativity and expression isn’t a fantasy. It’s as real as you make it.” I know you have to keep a lot of details under wraps, but what can you tell us about the job and how you got it?
A
That’s about all I can say right now — I’m a staff writer on an upcoming Disney+ show.
It’s not a requirement but it is helpful to have a manager or an agent, someone to get you in the door. My manager, Ava Jamshidi, is incredibly talented and knows so many people out here. She was gracious enough to sign me in May 2021, and it has been a nine-month odyssey. I’m grateful to have her on my team.
So I work with let’s say “less than 10 writers,” and we’re working virtually for now.
It’s nice but I prefer in-person, and I hope someday there is a hybrid structure ideally. The Disney+ (virtual) writer’s room is welcoming and supportive.
Q
Would you call this your dream job?
A
Absolutely. It’s been less than two years since graduating in May 2020—I got the job in March 2022. No journey is the same. In some ways, mine is incredibly fast. It could have taken five years or more to get the job I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid.
But it’s taken some perseverance. It is a matter of: If you don’t believe in yourself, then nobody else will. Some people think it happened overnight. But they are wrong. It’s about proving to yourself that you can do this, and that is an every day process. There is so much rejection out here. People can pass on your work. Think you’re not good enough. The rejection can be crippling or at least debilitating. You really have to be your own North Star.
Even once you break in, you have to do it again. Because no opportunity is guaranteed.
Q
Are there classes at UNC Hussman that you remember, or professors from that time in your life?
A
Trevy McDonald was incredibly supportive. I took her “MEJO 441: Diversity in Communication” class, and she had an impact. Tim Crothers was super supportive as well. I remember his “Creative Sportswriting” class — MEJO 455 I think it was — over the summer. And Amanda Reid, who taught me media law. She’s a great teacher who really helped put a tough topic into perspective.
They were people who I wouldn’t say “set me up” to be a screenwriter, but who were supportive of the vision and what I wanted to do. I’m very grateful to have been in their classes.
Q
I know many student-athletes who have honed some incredible time management skills. Did playing football at Carolina leave you with that talent?
A
Time management skills, for sure. I’d say that despite UNC being a great school and experience, I find that what I take into my daily life today on a day-to-day basis are all things I learned in the football program. Time management. The importance of teamwork. Collaborative effort and what you can achieve when you work together. Showing up, day after day, for practice. I find all of those things really helpful in my life now as a Disney storyteller.
Photos courtesy Jake Lawler. Portrait with film reel by Lukas Markman.