Month: October 2014

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie

Chapter 77 – A Guide To Waiting
by Leesa Dean

waiting-room-signBeen working like a psycho putting in 12-15 hour days prepping a teeny tiny sizzle reel for a seriously long shot meeting I finally had this week.  What are the chances of anything happening with this?  Probably non-existent. So why’d I put all this work into something that most likely won’t materialize?  Cause one, it’s still a shot, two, if it doesn’t work out I can still use it and three, hey, I created a new show idea and really love it.

So while I await my fate (and plunge back into my usually scheduled work), here are some tips I’ve figured out to help get through the sheer hellish agony of awaiting your fate after an all-important meeting.  These not only apply to pitching tv writing/shows, but really, any type of job interview:

1) Stock up on sugar.  Yeah, you’ll be hyped up and, probably, destroying your body and teeth, but now is not the time to worry about minor stuff like that. The big picture: sugar’ll make you feel GREAT! plus it’s, generally, a better choice than substances that might be considered, say, a federal offense in some places. read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 10/7/14

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Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
by munchman

  • David Bickel (THE KING OF QUEENS) is adapting Dr. Scott W. Cohen‘s book, Eat, Sleep, Poop: A Common Sense Guide To Your Baby’s First Year into a comedy series about “a celebrity pediatrician who is…revered at work but is not as good practicing what he preaches….” (There’s more to that description, but yer friendly neighborhood munchman is pretty sure you get the idea. Sigh….)
  • Kim Stanley Robinson‘s bestselling and multi-prize winning series of novels about humans transforming Mars into a world we can live on is being made into a series for Spike TV to be called RED MARS. (Who’s writing it? Damned if I know. Looks like nobody yet…so excuse me while I call my agent and tell him my personal knowledge of, um, Mars, I guess. What? You don’t think it’ll work? Me neither. But the series just might.)
  • Craig DiGregorio (WORKAHOLICS) and David King (PARKS & RECREATION) are writing the pilot for an NBC comedy series based on the 1985 movie REAL GENIUS. (Hmm, I was a munchy 2 year old when that film was made. Ain’t it great to see something contemporary and relatable coming to TV for a change? Oh, wait….)
  • Lauren Gussis (DEXTER) has a shiny new overall deal with CBS to develop broadcast and cable shows. (Congrats to Lauren! Anybody who can write both DEXTER and ONCE UPON A TIME is my hero so here’s hoping you knock ’em, uh, dead. Hey, it’s just a saying, you know?)

That’s it for now. Write in and tell munchilito what you’ve sold today. TVWriter™ can’t wait to brag to all your friends. (And, more importantly, enemies. Hehehe….)

Yo, Peer Producers – Need a Great Video Cam at an even Greater Price?

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If you’re into peer production, slaving away for zero bucks day after day trying to make the absolutely best videos you can so you can put ’em on the web and get discovered (don’t laugh, unbelievers, it works), then you know all about GoPro video cams. They are, simply, the best, and at affordable prices.

Right now, Amazon’s got an awesome deal on the new GoPro Hero. As in $129.99. Cheaper than most point-and-shoot still cams and not much bigger. read article

Peggy Bechko: Thrill Obsessed

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by Peggy Bechko

Are we thrill obsessed? Well, yeah, kinda. Oh, heck, admit it, we are. As writers we’re even more aware of it than average.

You don’t think so?

How about this? Notice most stories we tell end when the good guy wins, when the hero marries the heroine, when the dragon is slain (literally or figuratively). Lots of people run around and do lots of stuff before that happens. There’s movement, action of some type. As writers we don’t pay much attention to the quiet times, the things people do every day like sitting on the couch reading or walking the dog or fixing dinner – at least not unless it’s a precursor to more action. That stuff would create major yawns in readers or watchers of movies or TV shows. read article

Peer Production: CONSTANCE AND FLORENCE & IS THIS THING ON?

TVWriter™ has written about Lou Stone Borenstein before. He’s a funny dood who, in addition to placing 2nd in the 2009 Spec Scriptacular, has also created some very funny videos, including this new web series called CONSTANCE AND FLORENCE:

Can’t help it. Lou breaks us up every time.