Interview with Deaf “Echo” writers Josh Feldman and Shoshannah Stern
Alex (Daily Moth): Did you know that two of the writers of the “Echo” series are Deaf? They are Josh Feldman and Shoshannah Stern. Josh is credited with Episodes 1, 2, and 4, while Shoshannah is credited with Episode 3.
I have reached out to both of them. I asked what it looks like in the writer’s room.
Josh Feldman: So, in the writer’s room, when we start out, all of the writers are together with the showrunner. We will discuss the general arc for the season. What will happen in each episode? What are the big moments we have to hit? So we plan all of that together. Once we have a good idea of the season plan, then the showrunner and Marvel’s producers will determine which writer is best suited for an episode. Maybe a writer is stronger with dialogue or with action. They can be put together.
Shoshannah Stern: It’s not like it’s your episode and you decide everything that happens in it. The writers gather in a room and we will “break” stories together. So we all brainstorm ideas and develop a storyboard. We then delegate. It’s not like “it’s my episode, I decide everything that happens.” The plot is already laid out so you can see our ideas showing up in other episodes.
Josh: I was known in the room for being Kingpin, I know Kingpin’s character well, so that’s why I got Episode 4 in the beginning. But the process of writing television is complicated and long. Typically, you have a general idea of a season then whoever is delegated Episode 1 will go and have one full work week to write on their own. The rest of the room stays together to discuss Episodes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and so on. Then when the Episode 1 writers, after about five days, come back in the room, the Episode 2 writers leave. We’ll keep on working on Episodes 3, 4, 5, 6 and 1 because we have a script now. It’s like a train that goes on, you can’t stop.
Shoshannah: That’s a part of being in the writers’ room. That’s why if some don’t get credit for an episode, it doesn’t mean they didn’t contribute. They may have contributed a lot of ideas but that’s just how the writer’s room is organized.
Alex: It’s very interesting to get a glimpse of the writer’s room. My next question was on if, because they already knew the characters were Deaf or signing, did it change how they wrote their lines?
Josh: For me as a Deaf writer who is already fluent in ASL, 100% from the beginning, when I write, I think of the translation. What is best, what makes the language as simple as possible. It’s so on the set, they can easily translate rather than having complicated sentences with a typical English structure or very big words. Do you think we want to waste time fingerspelling? So I always try to think of that, me and Shoshannah, as the Deaf writers in the room, try to advise others. “That sentence won’t work, you have to revise.” But in the end we can only do so much with the script. It has to go on the set and that’s why we have an ASL master. The ASL master will help with this process. In the room, we try to keep the sentences as simple as possible.
Shoshannah: One of my responsibilities is to look at episodes and do some consulting on certain lines because not all English words has an equivalent translation. So I feel like I already know… I FaceTimed with Alaqua Cox so I knew how she signed. I knew that some certain characters, although they were not yet cast, were hearing, so I could visualize what is easier for them to translate from script to their strengths with their dialogue. To make it easier for them to translate. That’s one thing that I did in the writer’s room, making sure the translation is good and fits the character.
Alex: My next question was to Shoshannah on how she feels to see her writing and ideas come to life on the screen.
Shoshannah: I actually cried. I really wanted for Maya’s mother to be Deaf. The backstory is that Maya’s family and her tribe had many Deaf ancestors. That’s why they signed. In the (writer’s room), there were representatives for five different tribes. Some said they knew of a tribe having Deaf genes. So I thought, “What if theirs had a long line of Deaf women?” I wanted (Maya)’s mother… I felt if Maya’s mother was Deaf, then she lost her mother at an early age, it would explain a lot why she is the way she is today, filled with rage and cut off from her family. Nobody spoke her language, not in New York City. Compare that with if she was at home with those who understood. But she still lost her mother. I would understand why she is so angry. I didn’t know if they would actually make this happen. I was a bit anxious until I found out that the actress they cast for the mother was Deaf. I cried, it was a really emotional experience for me.
Alex: That’s touching and really cool to see that Deaf writers had an impact on making Maya Lopez’s mother Deaf.
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Alex: I asked Josh the same question, on how it feels to see the writing work come to life on the screen.
Josh: The week before the show was released, I saw online that Marvel made a poster of “Echo” using ASL fingerspelling. E-C-H-O. I didn’t know about that and I had goosebumps. Because even five years ago, although I already had my own show with Shoshannah, “This Close,” I never thought that I’d see the day where Marvel released a poster using ABCs in ASL. Then, watching the show, although I wrote it, I already knew everything that happened, it was still a trip for me to see ASL on the screen, a Deaf lead, Marvel with all those badass explosions and fighting and special effects… I honestly never thought that would happen. And up to when I saw the show itself, a part of me was still convinced that it wouldn’t have happened. I think we have really come a long way where we have Marvel, one of the biggest studios in Hollywood, actually finance and back a project with a Deaf Indigenous lead. I think that’s huge. I personally never thought it would happen in my lifetime. So I think it's a huge sign of a possible moment where the dam breaks. I hope so. We’ll see.
Alex: Thank you, Josh and Shoshannah, for your time and for sharing what it looks like in the writer’s room.