Month: September 2013

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie

keep-calm-i-am-backChapter 26 – I’m BAAACCCCKKK!!
by Leesa Dean

So. Back after a couple of weeks hiatus. Been on vacation, which for me means only working about 40 hours a week. And taking weekends off. It’s been great. Actually got to play a lot of tennis (I’m a huge tennis fanatic, albeit relative beginner.)
When I first launched 10 months ago, I jumped in with both feet, not knowing anything. Now I know slightly more. I normally put in, easily, 12-15 hours a day, seven days a week. While it was exhilarating (mostly), it was also exhausting. I needed the break.

During the hiatus I was working on the TOP SECRET PROJECT plus putting down ideas for the Chilltown and Lele’s Advice relaunch. Initially I thought I’d be ready in the Fall. More likely it’ll happen in winter. I just started writing some of the new Lele shows. I’m doing 36 new ones–a huge amount of work. Just structuring the new season outline is making me cross-eyed. And trying to get my ducks in a row for the Chilltown relaunch.

Plus, now that Labor Day’s over, the calls are coming back in. Meetings being set up. Next week, I go to another Big Screen Little Screen plus have two new interviews set up. And, on top of it all, who do I hear from? You guessed it. Rollo. We have drinks planned. Can’t wait to hear what he’s been up to after all this time (actually, I’m kinda scared to hear what he’s been up to!) Back to being uber-busy. It feels good.

Peggy Bechko: Have You Thought About Action in Your Writing?

by Peggy Bechko

actiontvwriter.comYour readers have.

Yep, that’s right, they pay attention. If you write a scene where your hero unknowingly slices off somebody’s head because your hero swung his sword the wrong way they’re going to call you on it.

I enjoy writing that contains action scenes and I think about them a lot when I put one together. read article

munchman: Holy Crap! This is the New Tinker Bell

And I wondered why this series was such a big hit:

TinkerBellOnce

All I can say to this pic of Rose McIver in the new season is that it tells us everything we could want to know. read article

Welcome to the Turning Point for Intelligent Television

No, we don’t mean the technology. We mean the writing.

Yay, team!

bb11by Sarah Fonder

Despite the oft-repeated assertion that this is the Golden Age of Television, TV has typically not been too kind to smart, well-written shows. When a network puts an underdog series like Bunheads or Happy Endings on the cutting board, it’s hard not to go from panic to complete resignation. Too many of us have had to get used to the phrase “brilliant but cancelled,” and for a long time it’s looked like daring television just isn’t all that lucrative. Thankfully, recent reports prove this might finally be changing: believe it or not, critical darlings are actually making money. read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 9/9/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Lauren Iungerich (AWKWARD) has sold DAMAGED GOODS, a sitcom about “sexual politics,” to ABC. (Ah, sexual politics. The buzz phrase of 2013. Who cares if nobody knows what it means? )
  • Mike O’Malley (SHAMELESS) is writing the pilot for Starz’ SURVIVOR’S REMORSE, a sitcom about sports stars and how they adjust to no longer living in, you know, a bad neighborhood. (It stars NBA all-star LeBron James, who should know…but how do you make this funny yet grounded in the real world at the same time?)
  • Jessica Sharzer (AMERICAN HORROR STORY) has the pilot for ABC’s NO WAY BACK, based on the bestselling novel by Andrew Gross. (The book is all about a “web of treachery,” so television definitely should get at least that part right.)
  • Sam Shaw (MASTERS OF SEX) is developing a WGN America drama series called MANHATTAN, about that thing they did in New Mexico that created the atom bomb. (So if you’re hoping for an adaptation of the old Woody Allen film – sorry.)
  • Todd Jones & Earl Richey Jones (JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION) are writing an untitled Fox sitcom about Judge Greg Mathis. (Cuz His Honor’s already famous, don’tchaknow, thanks to his own syndicated series, and since audiences are addicted to fame, well, everybody’s gonna watch, right?)
  • Michael Schur (PARKS & RECREATION) has extended his Universal Television deal through 2016. (And inasmuch as we lurves P&R we’re, um, thrilled not only for him but for ourselves as viewers.)