Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
Marti Noxon (MAD MEN) & Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (SEQUIN RAZE) have co-written the pilot for UNREAL, based on Sarah’s prizewinning short film original (SEQUIN RAZE) for Lifetime, which just greenlighted the pilot. (Hey, there’s a way to get your new self an Old Media TV gig: Create something that can be interpreted as tried and true. See what winning a prize can do?)
Dustin Lance Black (MILK) is writing an 8-hour miniseries about the history of the gay rights movement for ABC. (To which we can only add: It’s about time!)
FX is developing a limited series cleverly called THE UNTITLED JOHN BROWN PROJECT about, we imagine, John Brown’s abolitionist raid in Virginia, which is usually identified as the event that started the Civil War. It’s based on Tony Horwitz’ book, Midnight Rising, and no writers are attached tothe project yet. (Iconoclasts that we tell ourselves we are, we’re wondering if John Brown’s action really was the cause of the war. After all, governments – and history – have kinda twisted the truth a little about the beginnings of other wars, haven’t they? Wouldn’t it be cool if that’s what this project really was about?)
Jonathan Lisco (SOUTHLAND) will be showrunner of AMC’s upcoming series HALT & CATCH FIRE as part of this new overall deal with the network. (AMC is the new TNT. Ahh.)
FWIW, to me, this is what everything’s all about. Doing your best at what you believe in. Risking everything. Taking a flyer. Plunging in.
Maybe you’ll fly. Maybe you’ll crash and burn. But while it’s happening…well, my generation had an overused saying, but I believe it applies here: “Wotta rush!”read article
The fact of the matter is that Brad is a very smart man, who, as he says, likes to talk. Especially about the interwebs. We particularly like (as in enjoy and agree with) this particular Brad Frost talk:
Yeah, we know this is sexist as hell. But it’s the only Amazon Studios pic we could find that was even mildly interesting.
Prime Instant Video Greenlights Five New Pilots
by Team TVWriter™ Press Service (yeah, it’s a press release)
Following the positive response to its first set of TV pilots, Amazon Studios has announced it will produce five more original pilots for kids, including the first pilots for ages 6-11. The new pilots come from Emmy Award-winning creators as well as a Hollywood newcomer discovered though Amazon Studios’ open-door submission process. The pilots will stream on Amazon Instant Video and LOVEFiLM in the U.K. for customers to watch, provide feedback, and help determine which shows should be produced as series.read article
No surprise here. Keep in mind, though, that these web TV creators aren’t newbs looking for a break. They’re Old Pros with a lot to lose if they alienate the Hands That Have Previously Fed them.
During a morning producers panel at TCA that focused on the brave new world of web television, a handful of pros held court to talk about all of the ways the Internet is changing the content game and taking the programming monopoly away from the living room. The five included Jane Espenson and Jeff Greenstein, producers of the Internet sensation Husbands(along with many network series); Mike Rosenstein and Stuart Cornfeld, exec producers of the web reality dating spoofBurning Love; and Ryan Lewis, exec producer of the web series Chosen.read article
