Los Angeles-based writer Gina Ippolito can recall the distinct moment at a family Christmas when she realized she wanted to tell stories for the rest of her life. The youngest of 27 cousins, she and her brother were in charge of the entertainment. Her brother counted to 100, and a four-ish-year-old Gina regaled her family with the tale of a brave carrot who tried desperately to escape from a bowl, hoping to avoid the fate of being eaten. (She thankfully reassured me that yes, the carrot did make it, and perhaps she will explore the rest of his story in a film one day.) After her performance, her mom planted the idea that she should tell stories for a living.
Gina began her career as an actor. A friend recommended she try improv comedy, and she fell in love. Multiple internships allowed her to study at UCB, where she realized she wanted to try her hand at sketch comedy. At the time Neil Campbell was putting together sketch teams, and hopefuls could submit as either a writer or performer. Gina submitted as both, and received a career-defining phone call from Campbell: “Congrats, you’re a writer!” Between UCB and iO West, Gina wrote on sketch teams for six years.
One of her first professional writing jobs was for Honest Trailers, where her work included both the Harry Potter and Twilight trailers. Early in her career she was given the opportunity to submit to write an episode for the reboot of The Powerpuff Girls, and got the gig. Soon after she started writing for Regular Show on Cartoon Network and has since written for numerous shows including Murphy Brown, The Unicorn, and Bunk'd.
In a writers’ room, Gina considers herself a “whenever they need me” person. She makes it her goal to come up with as many alt jokes as she can, as fast as she can, an ability she attributes to her time spent studying and performing improv. When writing on her own she has a process she says has taken many years to work out, which includes organizing her ideas into a rough outline before she starts a draft. While writing, her main goal for the audience is comedic escapism. Family has always been an important theme in her work, and many of her stories are either inspired by a family member or a story they’ve told.
Gina particularly loves animation, and a project that holds a very special place in her heart is an animated pilot she wrote, inspired by memories of playing chess with her Dad. He was a public school teacher, and at a very young age taught both her and her brother to play. It paid off; Gina was the New Jersey Woman’s Chess Champion at 17 years old and her brother is now a professional chess player. The pilot follows a family that travels around playing chess. Her dream is to make the pilot and hire her brother as a chess consultant.
In addition to screenwriting, she’s co-written a graphic novel with her long-time friend Haley Mancini called B.A.B.E. Squad, which she describes as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meets Sex and the City”. The two wanted to play with the idea of women in comic books being sexy for no reason, but with “a weird, gross twist”. The story follows a group of crime-fighting half aspiring supermodel/half animal mutants, and the first run of the novel completely sold out.
In addition to writing, one of Gina’s great loves in life is a good sandwich. Her favorite sandwich is the Taylor ham, egg, and cheese from Olde Towne Deli in her hometown of Boonton, New Jersey. You can find many pictures of it on her social media.