Month: September 2014

Writers – learn to meet deadlines & be collaborative!

The Bitter Script Reader tells us the 2 most important things every writer – regardless of the medium she or he is working in – must know. (Especially if you want to get paid!)

deadline

by The Bitter Script Reader

Back in July, I attended San Diego Comic-Con and was lucky enough to attend a panel with a murderer’s row of TV writers.  Speakers included Ashley Edward Miller (who was kind enough to praise my puppet videos when I introduced myself to him,) Jose Molina, Sarah Watson, Christine Boyan, and a number of other writers whom I regret I cannot recall at this moment. As these gatherings often do, the subject turned to the topic of breaking into TV writing and working on staff. Unsurprisingly, many people had varying stories, though just about all of them agreed it wasn’t easy.

One point stressed again and again was the need to be the kind of person whom other people want to spend 12 hours a day with. You’re spending five days a week in a writers’ room with maybe a dozen other people. No matter how good a writer you are, if you make that an unpleasant experience, you won’t last long. For a number of showrunners, a key question they ask themselves when considering a new hire is “Can I stand being with this person constantly?” read article

LB: What’s Up with Troy DeVolld?

troydevolldselling

My old bud from the heyday of the Writer Action Forum, Troy DeVolld, is one of the primo reality TV producers in the country and author of Reality TV: An Insider’s Guide to TV’s Hottest Market, a truly inside and extremely helpful look at the reality TV biz and how to get started in it.

Troy is also the very helpful owner-operator of RealityTVTroy’s Blog, and TVWriter™ merrily reprints Troy’s posts there whenever possible. The pickings have been scarce lately, and for awhile everyone here was a bit worried about him. read article

Why Danish TV is Better than US TV

Cuz wonderful, inventive, and controversial filmmakers not only have emerged from Danish television production. They often go back to it. Behold a magnificent case in point:

Lars von TrierLars von Trier returns to TV: what can we expect?
by Graeme Virtue

Good news for fans of the phrase “enfant terrible” – on Monday, Lars von Trier, the puckish provocateur of European arthouse cinema, broke his self-imposed media silence by Skype-ing the Venice film festival. Nominally it was to promote an extended cut of his sex diptych Nymphomaniac, but Louise Vesth, Von Trier’s producer since Melancholia, dropped a juicier exclusive by confirming the writer/director’s next project: an English-language TV series for Danish broadcaster DR (The Bridge/The Killing), with the working title The House that Jack Built. Had Vesth simply pulled the trigger, or jumped the gun? Von Trier hasn’t even finished writing the script and the earliest filming date would be 2016, but here’s what we might expect.

He Has Impressive TV Cred read article

Peer Production: TIME KEEPER

We luv us our DOCTOR WHO but gotta tell ya, friends: TIME KEEPER is a whole other kind of time traveling awesome. Beautifully shot, powerfully written. Fun and meaning intertwined the way they should be. TVWriter™ congrats creator Daryn Murphy and the whole TIME KEEPER gang on a job very well done!

All of Season 1 is HERE

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie 74

First Steps First
by Leesa Dean

I’ve been insanely busy, prepping for a few big meetings.  Animating, writing, ideating.  But I took a small break to meet an old friend for coffee.  He’s a wannabe tv writer who’s been thinking about writing/filming a film short and wanted to pick my brain about ultimately (meaning after he’s finished his short and, hopefully, made a little noise with it) doing a digital project. I’m thinking the sale of Twitch to Amazon for $1.1 billion made him suddenly and seriously pay attention to the digital world. He’s a  gamer (as a hobby) and I think, for whatever reason, it legitimized the digital realm for him. He never really took it seriously.  And truthfully, why it took him this long to drink the digital kool-aid is a mystery to me.

I told him I thought he had it backwards.

He should first start putting a few shorts online and see if they get any traction. Preferably do a web series. Then, ultimately, do a film short and submit it to film festivals. No, it’s not easy-particularly promoting them-but the one thing I’ve been observing over the past few months is exactly how much everything is bleeding together.  Yes, you have to still write a ton of scripts (it’s the only way anyone will consider really working with you professionally and the only way you’ll grow as a writer.)  Yes, it’s also a good idea to do a film short (or two) and submit it/them to film festivals.  But I really don’t think that anybody’s going to take you seriously if you don’t have a real web presence.  This is 2014.  That’s what it is. read article