Month: May 2015

IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, IT’S A GIRL!

The SUPERGIRL trailer from CBS has gotten mixed reviews. Some viewers love it. Others think it’s an abomination. This particular TVWriter™ leans mostly toward agreeing with what ComicMix writer Martha Thomases has had to say:

 Supergirl-Super-Horseby Martha Thomases

My editor suggested, if I was having trouble coming up with ideas about what to write, that I note that the new CBS prime-time show,Supergirl, will air at eight o’clock Eastern time on Mondays when it starts this fall… up against Gotham on Fox.

The assumption, when he mentioned this to me last week, was thatSupergirl would have trouble against the adventures of Bruce Wayne as a boy, since the Batman character has a known success across several media for more than fifty years. Kara Zor-El, on the other hand, starred in one lousy movie and guested on a season ofSmallville. read article

23 Top Showrunners Tell All

We didn’t know there were 23 top showrunners, but here they are, in all their too cool for school glory:

ShowRunnerSurvey

by Lacey Rose

If these top showrunners were running their networks instead of their shows, what would their first move be? And how about if it were these guys (and gals) who got a shot at writing the finale episode of Mad Men as opposed to creator Matthew Weiner? We asked these and many more questions of the masterminds behind such hits as Scandal, Empire, Modern Family, Arrow and more in THR‘s third annual showrunner survey. Below are a collection of their honest, comical and, at times, biting responses. read article

Peggy Bechko: Stuck in the Mud – The Bogged Down Writer

mud

by Peggy Bechko

If you’re a writer there are times when you get stuck. I’m not talking about full-blown writer’s block (which I have a few opinions on but won’t get into here) just stuck. You know, it’s not that nothing will come and you can’t come up with any creative ideas, it’s more like you reach a point where you have to work out what comes next. You might have ideas that aren’t working or you might just be spinning your wheels.

So here’re a few guidelines to help you, the hapless writer stuck in the mire, to move forward. There are basics to story. Characters, what they need or want, what happens if they don’t get it, how they can get there, what’s the worst thing that can happen and how does the character(s) change throughout the story.

It really is mostly the same for scripts and novels. read article

LILAC Captures 3 International Independent Film Awards

Lilac Awards

Hack Isaac and his cast and crew do it again. But we’ll let him tell it:

“I just learned that the pilot episode of Lilac has won three Silver Awards in the Spring 2015 International Independent Film Awards. “Congratulations to our entire production team and especially Elora for her third Best Actress win in this category in three separate awards competitions! read article

Suburban ‘Dexter’ writer found Hollywood and ‘never looked back’

Yes, it’s true. Real people from real places where nobody’s in showbiz or even thinks about being a writer can still become TV writers. (But you still have to move to L.A.)

Another story of the Possible Dream:

by Jamie Sotonoff and Dann Gire

lauren-gussisCaptureIn the career assessment portion of the PSAT in high school, Lauren Gussis struggled to check a box that matched her interests. read article