In a cover story for TIME, director-writer Ryan Murphy discusses the many projects he's working on.

The 53-year-old Murphy has at least 15 projects in the pipeline. Notable titles include a feature film adaptation of the Broadway play The Boys in the Band, which he revived on Broadway in 2018, an origin story about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest's Nurse Ratched, screen adaptations of Broadway plays A Chorus Line and The Prom, and two documentaries. One documentary, a 10-part series, features Andy Warhol, while a feature looks at a lesbian couple who came out in their 80s.

“I'm only into April of next year's calendar,” Murphy said.

Murphy is best known for co-creating Fox's musical-comedy Glee and FX's drama Pose. Both properties are known for their LGBT storylines.

“ I wasn't allowed to have a gay character,” Murphy said of his early career. “They told me that I didn't understand the tone of it. I was like, 'It's my show!'”

Murphy, who is raising two children with husband David Miller, said that growing up gay in Indianapolis was difficult.

“[My dad] would ask me, 'Why aren't you like me?'” Murphy recalled. “I was constantly in existential crisis about who I was.”

Murphy, who reconciled with this father before he departed, said that his father's rejection still stings.

“I never got over that,” he said, “and I probably never will.”