Television auteurs? Can that be? Doesn’t the medium of TV by its very nature force everything presented on it to be “collaborative,” with the collaboration totally controlled behind the scenes by TV executives?
And yet – does anyone remember a fellow by the name of Gene Roddenberry? He certainly ruled the original Star Trek with an iron fist. And what about Joss Whedon and his control over Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, more importantly, the ultimate genre classic, Firefly?
Think about it. Both Star Trek and Firefly went ‘cult’ on a global scale. Star Trek has not only become deeply entrenched in pop culture over the last forty-five years, and the ‘Prime Directive’ is, according to Aaron Miller, recognizable in current US foreign policy.read article
Specifically, “one that doesn’t fall apart two days later.” He said this in a speech back in 1978, but, like his fictional universes, this article’s wisdom is still standing:
Our kind of guy
by Philip K. Dick
First, before I begin to bore you with the usual sort of things science fiction writers say in speeches, let me bring you official greetings from Disneyland. I consider myself a spokesperson for Disneyland because I live just a few miles from it—and, as if that were not enough, I once had the honor of being interviewed there by Paris TV.
For several weeks after the interview, I was really ill and confined to bed. I think it was the whirling teacups that did it. Elizabeth Antebi, who was the producer of the film, wanted to have me whirling around in one of the giant teacups while discussing the rise of fascism with Norman Spinrad… an old friend of mine who writes excellent science fiction. We also discussed Watergate, but we did that on the deck of Captain Hook’s pirate ship. Little children wearing Mickey Mouse hats—those black hats with the ears—kept running up and bumping against us as the cameras whirred away, and Elizabeth asked unexpected questions. Norman and I, being preoccupied with tossing little children about, said some extraordinarly stupid things that day. Today, however, I will have to accept full blame for what I tell you, since none of you are wearing Mickey Mouse hats and trying to climb up on me under the impression that I am part of the rigging of a pirate ship.read article
Seriously. Here’s how to do it. Because there may be times when you actually want to create a ‘cardboard’ villain, one who is ‘hilariously’ even one-dimensional. There are times…
On the other hand you might want to go 180 degree turn and actually create a villain who has some moxie, some real reasons for villainous behavior.
Writers kick ass! Absolutely! We always knew it cuz, writers. But now there’s proof:
by Vandita
Believe it or not, just 15 to 20 minutes of writing once a month is enough to make you physically and mentally strong. A study on the emotional and physical health benefits of express writing has found that there is a considerable amount of improvement in mood, stress levels and depressive symptoms in people who love to write. Those who write about traumatic, stressful or emotional events spend less time in the hospital, have lower blood pressure and better liver functionality. According to researchers, writing about distressing events helps people make sense of the events and therefore reduce distress.
Another study shares some more surprising findings. Writers’ wounds heal faster than the rest of us! In 2013, researchers monitored the recovery of wounds from medically necessary biopsies on 49 healthy adults. 76% of the group that wrote about their thoughts and feelings for just 20 minutes, 3 days in a row, 2 weeks before the biopsy had fully healed; 58% of the control group had not recovered.read article
