Month: March 2015

Milwaukee Man is Creating an Empire with Hit Television Show

One of the best things about making it in showbiz is when the ole hometown newspapers start lauding you. “Take that, homecoming queen who wouldn’t talk to me! Take that, English teacher who tried to get me kicked out of high school! ” Yep, we’re wondering what Eric Haywood’s old peeps are making of this (and what Eric’s making of them):

by Karen Stokes

eric-haywoodFrom writing screenplays to directing and producing movies and music videos, Milwaukee native Eric Haywood has built an impressive resume.
The most recent addition to his career is writing for the powerful family, musical drama “Empire”.

Empire, which debuted in January was co-created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong who also collaborated on the movie “The Butler”.
The runaway hit show centers around the Lyon family headed by Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) who runs the hip hop music and entertainment company, Empire Enterprises. Along with his ex-wife Cookie (Taraji P Henson) and their three sons, the family tackles illness, betrayal, homosexuality and bipolar disorder. read article

John Ostrander: How it Feels When Your Characters Come to Life in Other Media

GOING WALKABOUT
by John Ostrander

They grow up so fast.

I’ve worked on/created a number of characters in my writing career, trying to define them through my writing. They exist first in my head and then become incarnated through my words and stories and the depictions by the artists. In some ways, they are like my kids – my murderous, nasty kidsGrimJack

In the movie Stranger Than Fiction (one of my Mary’s fave films and the most atypical Will Farrell movie ever), the writer of a novel finds that her lead character – who she was planning to kill off – is a real person and comes face to face with him. I don’t think I’d ever want to do that for the main reason that I tend to make the lives of my protagonists pretty miserable. If I’m their creator, I’m a pretty asshole god. I have very good reasons for doing these terrible things – it reveals character and makes a better story. At the same time, I’d never want to meet any of them face to face. I’ve given them cause to do really nasty things back to me. read article

munchman: TV Viewership Down 10%; Industry Blames Streaming Video

Blame? Fuck “blame.” This TVWriter™ minion thinks streaming video deserves the credit:

oldtvby Chris Morran

Even though many of us have hundreds of channels to choose from on cable or satellite, we’re choosing to watch less live TV. But it’s not just because we’ve all decided to go outside and take up steeplechase; it has a little something to do with the availability of subscription streaming services.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a recent talk held by the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau in which the trade group tried to assign blame for the drop-off in TV viewership over the last two years. read article

Peggy Bechko: More Online Writing Resources

solar-energy

by Peggy Bechko

Okay writers – you’re on the web, you’re working, so now’s the time to share a few more links that might well be very helpful to writers of a variety of stripes.

First and foremost for screenwriters. I know you’ve been there, or I hope you have, but if you’re just starting out and haven’t focused in yet, check out Writer’s Guild of America, West. You don’t have to be a member, and it’s packed with lots of helpful materials. There’s contract info, screenwriting credit info, lots of writing tools and you can register your script there if you want. You can learn the lingo as well, screenwriting terms, etc. Head on over and root around. And if you need it, their  script registry is here.

And if you write scripts you just gotta read ‘em. So Simply Scripts is good at  and Drew’s Script-o-rama was still out there last time I checked. read article

Does TV Still Have a Place for the Not-So-Getalong Guy?

Know how we’re always talking about the need for writers to be able to get along with everybody, especially suits and stars, not necessarily in that order? Well, it wasn’t always that way. Here’s a unique remembrance of a unique and very, very talented writer, as volatile as he was creative. We think it’s safe to say that Sam Simon never went down without a fight, right to the very end:

Sam Simon New Republic CaptureSam Simon’s Fractious Four Years With THE SIMPSONS Changed TV History
by Jeet Heer

ollaborating on a masterpiece might be heaven, but arguing over credits can be hell. The television writer and producer Sam Simon, who died March 8, was best known as a co-creator of “The Simpsons.” Working with cartoonist Matt Groening, producer James L. Brooks, and a boatful of others, Simon was as responsible as anyone for the unique “Simpsons” sensibility, that combination of gleeful impudence and populist courtesy, which has made the show a pillar of global pop culture. Yet Simon’s tenure at the show lasted only its first four seasons, from 1989 to 1993. A tumultuous battle with Groening over the show’s direction and its acclaim marked his brief but groundbreaking stint. Without that rocky marriage, “The Simpsons” as we know it might never have been. The final product grew out of their competing designs, as well as their very wrangling.

“Brilliantly funny,” Groening said of Simon in 2001, “and one of the smartest writers I’ve ever worked with, although unpleasant and mentally unbalanced.” The dismissal was mutual, going back to the earliest days of the show. In a 1990 interview, Simon curtly defined Groening’s role as “the show’s ambassador” rather than a hands-on creator.  “That’s a little bit condescending,” Groening responded in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, adding, “There’s definitely a power struggle here. There’s a scramble to claim credit for the show now that it’s become successful.” read article