It is no secret that the entertainment industry is crawling with nepotism babies. For those of us without our parents’ illustrious networks, the path to a career within the industry is unclear and unpredictable, but McGill alumna Samantha Shier (BA ‘14) is climbing the ranks. Starting as an undergraduate at McGill’s Faculty of Arts, she is now a Staff Writer on FX’s English Teacher, which premiered on Hulu and Disney+ on Sept. 2.
In an interview with The Tribune, Shier emphasized that she does not define her undergraduate years by the things she did, but by the people she met.
“I was still trying to figure out who I was,” Shier said. “I had friends who started doing improv and stand-up […] and I never really found my footing while I was there, but I made connections.”
Shier’s narrative—of feeling stuck and uncertain about where to go or how to get there—is one that undergraduates don’t hear very often, but reflects the inevitable hurdles of young adulthood. Now, at 31, Shier’s credits include Emmy-winning series What We Do in the Shadows and The Bear, highlighting that it’s not only okay to feel lost, but it’s part of the journey.
When she moved home to Toronto and pursued a Television Writing and Producing Diploma at Humber College, her innate ability and genuine desire to seek out fellow TV enthusiasts proved crucial. In the entertainment industry, it is often those skills that, more than anything, propel careers to new heights.
“We weren’t handing scripts to anyone, we were just gabbing […] because all of those things count,” she explained.
Upon completing her diploma, Shier worked at various production offices in Toronto, running errands and filing paperwork for big shows. By the time she received an offer to be an Office Production Assistant on What We Do in the Shadows, Shier had begun moving up the ladder as an assistant on other American shows. She was familiar with the 2014 movie of the same name that inspired the series and seized the opportunity to join the production.
“It was a movie I had seen and if it was going to be a TV show, that’s the best I’m going to get,” Shier said. “I immediately said yes, knowing that it’s the lowest position, but that I’d be so happy to be in that situation [….] And that is the show that changed everything for me.”
While working for Shadows, Paul Simms (Girls and Atlanta), a writer and Executive Producer for the series, hired Shier as his assistant after the first season. In this coveted role, she frequently corresponded with the show’s writers and executives at FX, which helped her land a writer’s assistant job in the same company. Finally, in 2022, the network promoted her to Associate Producer on Shadows.
Shier joined The Bear for its third season as a Writer’s Assistant and Script Coordinator. Five years after she began working on Shadows, Shier presented her spec script to Simms and comedian Brian Jordan Alvarez, who were developing a new show at FX. At last, Simms and Alvarez offered Shier a spot as a Staff Writer for English Teacher. In many ways, it was a dream come true for her.
“My main goal was to work on a half-hour comedy. It’s the only thing I’ve been interested in,” Shier expressed. “TV has always been in my body. I feel like all of my home videos are of me glued to a TV screen.”
Anyone who loves TV knows how important it is for a show to have writers who are as passionate about the material as the viewers. Between her work on Shadows, The Bear, and English Teacher, her trajectory has not always been clear, but seeing Shier work her way into the writer’s room to accomplish her dreams will inspire a new generation of McGill writers to do the same.
English Teacher, The Bear, and What We Do in the Shadows are available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
