Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are=&0=&(SPOOKS) are developing a drama series called HUMANS for – wait for it – XBox! It’s all about a parallel universe where humans use highly developed robot servants and the moral, ethical, and just plain dangerously real problems the situation creates. (A slavery parable, kids? Possibly. And also the prequel to BATTLESTAR GALACTIC that should have been. )
Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton (IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA) have a new 3 year deal with FX Productions. (And not only does it give them all kinds of development ops, it also renews IASIP for 2 more years and picks up their new Tracy Morgan comedy series as well. (Congrats, guys. Hey, remember how great I was when I guested on Philly?Wouldn’t this be a terrific time to, you know, lock me into your new show?)
The Weinstein Company has a new deal with Gannett giving the Weinsteins the rights to develop TV projects based on anything in Gannett newspapers, TV stations, websites, etc. (Which means – and this is confidential, just between us – that our Beloved Leader, Larry Brody, is sitting with his fingers crossed that somebody at Weinstein tries to develop LB’s old Gannett newspaper column, Live, from Paradise, into a series. But is that cuz he wants to see it on the air or cuz he wants to sue their butts off since Gannett never bought those rights from him? Whatcha think, fellow idealists?)
Month: April 2014
Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie
Chapter 53 – More on the Tween Front
by Leesa Dean
So I met with Kai yesterday. I’ve been SO busy, working till midnight most nights animating and in post, working on THE TOP SECRET project, but had promised him we’d get together to discuss the project we’re doing.
Before we got into it, we discussed the Disney buying Maker for $500 million news and, on the heels of that, AwesomenessTV buying Big Frame for $15 mil. Big Frame has more than 300 creator-run YouTube channels and more than 3.6 billion views to date. And it’s projected that together, AwesomenessTV and Big Frame will deliver 80 million subscribers and nearly 1 billion views a month.
Maker is huge and much bigger than Big Frame, but Big Frame has a couple of hit shows like DeStorm Power and Squaresville. AwesomenessTV, the digital media arm of Dreamworks Animation, was created by Brian Robbins, who’s an actor (among other things, he starred in Head of the Class), director and producer whose focus is mainly, you guessed it, tweens. Did a mention AwesomenessTV is also now a tv show on, where else, Nickelodeon.
What Should Critics Look for When Analyzing TV Shows?
The New Yorker is now in the business of analyzing the process of, erm, analyzing, and the result is this latest foray into that particular area, which we here at TVWriter™ find absolutely fascinating in an overthinker’s ultimate overthinking sort of way:
VAHIERS DU BUFFY
by Emily Nussbaum
A few days ago, the critic Matt Seitz wrote a valuable, provocative, and deliciously finger-jabbing manifesto, arguing that TV and film critics concentrate too much on plot and character and theme and don’t write enough about visual craft. This is true. It’s certainly been true at times in my own television criticism, although I could defensively point to counterexamples as well, as one does when jabbed. The challenge Seitz sets forth is particularly timely this year, because there’s been an amazing influx of film directors into television—and this cohort has begun, slowly but surely, to warp the medium’s writer-on-top traditions. On shows ranging from Jane Campion’s “Top of the Lake” to Mike White’s “Enlightened” and Brian Fuller’s “Hannibal,” creators have been breaking the rules of what TV is “supposed” to look like.
Here’s Seitz’s nut graf:
Nothing revolutionary about AMC’s ‘Turn’
We’re getting into mainstream TV reviews this week. Not sure why. Maybe it’s just fun homing in on local newspapers and seeing how their tastes in TV roll. So far we’ve been mightily impressed by the areas of agreement that we’re finding with what we read in print – way more than we’ve ever found with online critiques. What about you?
Not a zombie series – it just looks that way!
by Matthew Gilbert
It’s not easy to put together a decent TV series that’s also a period piece. The old-fashioned costumes, the dated manners and ye olde language, the elaborate set design — they’re all extra difficulties on top of the usual TV challenges, most notably the holy-grail challenge of finding good writing.
It’s WGA Minimum Basic Agreement Voting Time!
And here’s what the Guild is saying to its members:
Pass it on, Bruthas & Sistahs!
(Oh, and yep, LB has already voted – such a good boy!)