Who are you, and what do you do?
My name is Langan Kingsley - I am a writer and performer living in Los Angeles. Right now I am writing on a new Comedy Central show called "Robbie."
What hardware do you use?
The hardware I use the most is my MacBook. I bought it last year because I had spilled water on my previous computer, rendering my exclamation point / "1" key useless. I lived like that for a few years (copying and pasting as needed). It was a nightmare because if you don't use exclamation points in emails you might as well be a sociopath, and it makes it near impossible to enter addresses/passwords/credit card info with any regularity. Very cool. After finishing my first TV writing job I decided that maybe it would behoove me to possess a functioning keyboard. Because I'm attracted to superficial, shiny things I got the rose gold color. It wasn't until afterward that I realized that rose gold is essentially pink. So now I am a female writer with a pink computer. It is humiliating.
In the writers' rooms I've been in we use some combination of whiteboards and index cards to plan season arcs and episodes. The Writer's Assistant or Script Coordinator usually hooks up their computer to a TV monitor/computer and then take notes as we talk so we can all see them.
I use my iPhone for things like social media and recording dumb videos to put on Twitter. I also have a Snowball mic I've used on and off through the years, but now iPhones are so good at voice recording I rarely need it. When I tape auditions at home, I use my iPhone and edit them in iMovie or in QuickTime. Pretty sophisticated (JK).
When I'm working on a bigger project (like a short film or beautiful web series) I will use rented/borrowed equipment and then store it on a hard drive that joins a bunch of other sad hard drives in a basket by my desk.
Most importantly, I have about 1000000000 notebooks which I use to plan, write to-dos, and journal. I also used to take notes in them when I taught improv, so if I ever lose one they do indeed look like the ravings of a lunatic.
And what software?
I am so resistant to any type of change in my life that every time I try and use fancy software I immediately freak out. I use Gmail, Google Docs (truly an amazing tool for collaborative work), Microsoft Word, and Final Draft. I only script in Final Draft and I know precisely no one who uses it for outlining and notes. I know some people who have used a software called WriterDuet where you can write in Final Draft form with another person, but I haven't used it too much myself.
When I'm working on my own stuff I do most things in Word or Google Docs. Many people will plan TV and feature stories on corkboards but I have never figured that out and they seem to take up a lot of room, so I just dump everything onto physical paper or a virtual document.
As mentioned earlier, if I have to edit video I use iMovie or Quicktime because most things I'm working on are so simple. For more complicated things I will use Premiere but I usually need help with it because my knowledge of the software is extremely basic.
I do not use Google Calendar which often is a huge pain in the ass. I buy a very cheap and light monthly calendar planner from CVS and use that to write down all my appointments.
I paid for a Freedom subscription and I have never looked back. 100% the software that has helped me the most.
What would be your dream setup?
Honestly, at this point, my dream setup would be to have my desk outside my bedroom. But for now? The girl with the pink computer can only dream.