Tim Minchin said he was “traumatised” by the experience of having his animated film Larrikins cancelled.
The Australian comedian, 44, spent four years developing the project for DreamWorks Animation, but it was shelved indefinitely in 2017.
Margot Robbie and Hugh Jackman were thought to have signed up to voice characters.
The same year, despite a commercially successfully and well-reviewed run at the Old Vic in London, his musical adaptation of Groundhog Day closed early on Broadway.
Minchin told the PA news agency he had found the writing process for his TV series Upright therapeutic.
He said: “Yeah, I really like it. I mean, this is my first telly script. First script of any description really, apart from my film that will never see the light of day.
“And what I learnt… I mean, this is the point – I came off the back of losing four years of work in LA and having Groundhog Day shut down on Broadway and I was properly f***ing traumatised by those experiences.
“But out of that shit… Upright wouldn’t have happened without that, and Upright is the best thing I’ve ever been involved in.
“So interestingly, the show’s themes are reflected utterly by what the show did for my life, which was get me back on track.”
Upright airs on Sky Atlantic on November 28 with all episodes available on NOW TV.