Turning Personal Crisis Into a Hit Show- The Making of "Crackhead" w/ Holly Shervey and Emmett Skilton

Welcome to the Actor's Guide to the End of the World Podcast, Episode 76! Holly Shervey and Emmett Skilton, friends of the show and the creative force behind “Crackhead”, the New Zealand hit series now streaming on HBO Max. The show, which Holly stars in and wrote while Emmett directed, is based on Holly’s personal experience in a psychiatric clinic early in her life and has been getting rave reviews, sitting at the top of the charts alongside “The Pitt” and “Euphoria”. This episode, E-Kan and Rían get a treat and hear the entire journey, before the network deals, the cold call pitch to Warner Bros, how Holly and Emmett self produced TWO hit series, “Auckward Love” and “Millennial Jenny” before tackling the riskier and uncompromising “Crackhead”. This is a valuable lesson in creating your own content, finding the story that only you can tell, and why budget doesn’t mean “fu** all”. And how this creative dynamic duo discovered verticals before they were even a thing. On top of it all, Holly and Emmett just had their first child within weeks of their show premiering. This is an even better love story- you’ll also hear how Emmett was one of the things on Holly’s vision board that came true… This is a master class in finding your truth and listening to your gut.  Follow @actorsguidepodcast wherever you find your podcasts, including YouTube and Substack! New episodes every week! Follow @hollyshervey @emmettskilton @crackhead_2026 @ekansoong @riansheehykelly Hidden Gems: "Deadloch" -Amazon Prime TV show "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"- a Game of Thrones spin-off Alan Trinca VO demos- https://www.voicedemodude.com/ Free Ben and Jerry’s ice cream!   Time Stamps:  (00:00) Intro (00:39) "Crackhead" is top of the charts (03:24) Start of their acting careers (06:45) Holly's early experience in psychiatric care (07:45) Emmett was on Holly's vision board (08:15) First jobs in New Zealand (10:00) Best lesson starting out (11:50) Their training ground for "Crackhead" (13:40) The actor is a very small cog (16:23) They got locations paying them to shoot there (17:40) They shooted the vertical before it was a thing (19:49) How they made it out to Los Angeles and fell in love (24:30) The training at Lesly Kahn and Los Angeles (26:45) The pitch to Warner Bros for "Crackhead" (28:30) Making people care (32:40) Taking shame away about mental health (36:00) "Crackhead" was a dream situation creatively (44:14) Bringing it back to what's real and true (50:40) Why Emmett was a "frame fu**** and a perfect director (51:40) The biggest challenges working together (55:35) Lessons from parenthood (56:42) Biggest tips for aspiring creators (59:08) Hidden Gems