- Paul talked about his first job, Clarissa Explains It All. He had a writing partner at the time and they got an agent. Paul and his writing partner actually hated each other's stuff and didn't think the other was funny. They fought all the time and split up during that show, after only four months. The show didn’t want them separately, only thought they were funny together, so they were fired. Paul then moved back to LA and couldn’t get any work. His first solo job was a TV version of Weird Science, where he learned nothing about the creative process, but learned plenty about working on a show and the politics involved.

- At the start of King of the Hill, the writers spent a month just talking about the characters and how they would talk and what things they would be into and which one would be obsessed with death, etc. Paul also spoke a bit about Mike Judge and his working relationship with Greg Daniels.

- He described the writing process on The Office as “incredible”. They talk about a story until it has a shape, conflicts, and set pieces. The writer of that particular episode then goes off with a pack of notes, and comes back with a script. They write a lot of ideas on index cards and put them up on a wall. Some of these things are total nonsense, like a weird name that has nothing to do with anything and will never get used, just so they can get it out and stop talking about it, and sometimes they are real, solid story ideas.

- Jim going away to Stamford was Greg’s idea, and all the writers were nervous about it. They hated to take the heart of the show away, because Jim was what made Dwight or Michael funny, and without Jim’s reaction, there was no punch line. But as a result, they had to find new ways to make the characters funny, and finding those answers helped them expand the lore of the show, making it richer and better.

- Having to perform AND write is difficult, because if he was away from the writer’s room for too long, he would come back and find things had evolved without him, with cliques forming to kill certain ideas. Normally, Paul does a couple of days a week on set. This is why they put all the writer/performers in the annex, so they don’t have to be seen in every shot, like, say, Steve, who sits in the background for hours doing nothing.

- When Norm asked if performing in the show informs his writing choices, Paul answered that the processes of acting and writing are similar. You really have to get inside the character’s head. But being an actor is worse, because he hates having to do stuff like remember if it was his left hand or his right hand up on the desk in the last take. He also talked about how some writers “write from the outside” and in those cases, dialogue could be switched from one character to another. That would never work on The Office, because the lines are so specific to each character that, for instance, Jim’s joke could never be given to Dwight.

- Usually, they have one week to write a script. After the season three finale, they spent six weeks talking about stories, increasing the amount of index cards, rearranging them on a ton of cork boards. At the end, the chose the twelve favourite (fullest) cork boards and the writers took them home over the break and worked on their scripts. It was the first time they’d used that process.

- Some stories came from ideas that weren’t great at all, but Greg saw something special in them. Take Your Daughter To Work Day started as an episode title, no more. They figured if they put some daughters in the office, it would write itself. The Carpet was based on the idea of what would happen if Jim had to sit in the back/get taken away from the rest of the gang for a while. The “package” on the carpet came later, one of many possible reasons for Jim to be displaced, like renovation/construction or something similar. They were just looking for a way to change the dynamic. Paul came up with the idea for there to be poo on Michael’s carpet, and was really nervous to pitch it to Greg.

- After the reveal in the premiere that Jim and Pam are dating, there is a big fear among the writers that the show will lose steam, but it was something they had to do. It was the only thing that felt “real” and they didn’t want to frustrate the audience. There was really no other choice, logically. They hope to do a new take on the relationship that hasn’t been seen on TV before.

- The one hour episodes are approached the same, writing wise. It’s hard, when your brain has been trained to write 22 minutes for the last fifteen years to keep it together. When they have an hour (two episodes put together) then there are two cork boards. Says Paul in a hilariously whiny Toby-like voice: “It’s hard to look a two cork boards.”

- Paul spoke for a bit about re-writes and the “invisible weakener”, which means that sometimes you can change a line to make it funnier, but that line originally had something like four pieces of plot/information/emotional relevance/story relevance. And maybe that one line is funnier now, but it completely screws up the ripples in the rest of the pond. As a result, they stay much closer to the original writer’s drafts for hour-longs (less re-writes and improv), to avoid the “invisible weakener”. When they do re-writes, they often write a few alternate lines under the original line, so they can have options, or leave it as is. Paul mentioned Judd Apatow, and how for one of his movies, he shot so much alternate material that Judd joked that he might release an alternate version with all new material.

­- When asked about working with Steve, Paul talked a bit about directing him (they would do a few takes of the scripted lines, and then Paul would ask Steve if he had anything he’d like to try). Then he said it was scary acting with Steve; he can devour another actor in a scene, but it helped to create the character of Toby.

- Greg Daniels loves to overshoot, and each script, before going to camera, is usually about 35 pages long. He likes to have a lot of choices in editing and they lose almost half the show each time, and bring it down to the bare bones, the funniest moments. They write something for EVERY character in every episode, but a lot of times it gets cut. And Greg doesn’t care where a good idea comes from, even if it’s from the network executives. A good idea is a good idea.

- Paul sang Steve’s praises (he’s so deep into his character that one time Paul asked him why he made a certain choice and Steve just looked away, then came back a half hour later  with an explanation about Michael’s insecurities, which led to one thing, which led to the next, etc. until it made sense) throughout the entire forum (it was actually really nice), but joked “he doesn’t seem to be racking up the awards” after Norm suggested that Steve’s next big win would be an Oscar for something dramatic that would blow every one away. Paul also said that Steve was the funniest guy in TV and film, but that he’s obviously biased.

- The network doesn’t come to table reads (except for fun!) , which is unusual, and they only have one “intelligent” phone call. Paul explains the process that killed the sitcom: there is a table read Monday morning. On Monday afternoon, they do a full run through. Anything that doesn’t work gets cut. That night, the writers re-write, and the process is repeated the next day, and every day after that until Friday, when they tape. Jokes that are funny at the run through on Monday fall flat by Thursday. And as a result of all these re-writes, the actors are essentially performing a rough draft of a script on Friday, in front of a live studio audience. The actors tend to panic and make last minute changes. Paul did not seem especially keen on this version of writing for comedy. On The Office, they do one table read, trust their instincts, believe in the moments, and read it intelligently. Also, the single camera allows them to control the pace of the show, rather than the actors controlling the pace.

- The editing process: Writer’s cut, then director’s cut, then producer’s cut. 

-I saw this on Greg Daniels' post "Fun Run" blog:

about camera setups:

We don't really set up reaction shots.

Dave: We should. Then maybe I won't have to go hunting through episodes from two seasons ago...

Greg: Shut it! Actually, our fantastic camerapeople Randall Einhorn and Matt Sohn swing around at will and follow the story on their own a lot. At least when I direct. Was I supposed to tell them where to point that thing?

Paul did mention this. Sometimes they need a reaction to make the joke funny, and desperately scour previous episode footage to find the right shot, in the right costume. 

- At this point, Paul set up the clip of the show he brought. It’s from his debut as a director, and a rough cut they threw together so he had something to share with us. It was about 7.5 minutes by his count, and the editor wasn’t really happy with it yet. It was quite rough, and one story thread edited into a whole continuous clip. It was weird to see The Office without bouncing between stories. It makes you realize how much work goes into polishing the final product. Paul worried that he shot it too much like a movie, and they had almost an 80-90 minute episode.

- Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant weren’t around in the beginning. Paul was worried they would ruin the show, like NBC had already done with Coupling. They decided to do their best, but to realize that maybe they wouldn’t reach the brilliance of the original. They really had to fight to keep the show on the air. Season Two only had an order of six episodes, then three and the season was pieced together like that. The introduction of the show on iTunes helped reach the internet fans, and gave them a cult following that showed the network they were worth keeping. Basically, though, they thought the show could get cancelled any day.

- An audience member asked how they broke away from the awkwardness of the original UK version and Paul credited it to the summer release of the 40 Year Old Virgin. They suddenly saw the warm and funny side of Steve and they used that as a model for how to write for him. They allow Michael to climb out of the holes he digs for himself, while David Brent just got lower and lower until he was fired. But they wanted to keep Michael around, so he couldn’t be quite so awful anymore.

- Paul finds it hard to write for Toby, but lots of the other writers love it. He says Toby doesn’t hate Michael; there’s a lot more to life than his crazy boss, and looking after Michael is probably why he has a job. 

 - He talked a bit about the process of writing “the voice” of a character, and ultimately, it’s the actor who has to guard the character’s voice, since there are often many different writers and directors.

- A guy in the audience asked:  “I’m not fishing for spoilers, but are we going to see any more of Karen?” Paul hummed and hawed and eventually said that we will see her again. And then added “And of course you were fishing for spoilers!”

- Randall Einhorn and the cameramen get notes on motivation just like the actors. Every pan, every reaction shot should have a motivation, and if it doesn’t, it usually gets cut. 

- They discuss character arcs, but mostly nothing is set in stone at the beginning of the season.

- The episode order for this year is 28, but possibly 30.

- They have already shot all four hour long episodes. (Totaling 8 episodes)

- Paul laughing = love