…And if so, how long will New Media’s freedom last?
Turner’s March 31 investment into Mashable was just the latest in a string of investments from traditional media giants into new media ventures. Over the last year, especially, digital upstarts have become increasingly entwined with the companies whose business models they are disrupting.
In case you’ve missed what’s happening at TVWriter™, the most popular blog posts during the week ending yesterday were:
Yesterday we brought you 20 tips on successful writing courtesy of Stephen King. Today we’re going a bit further with a video of J.K. Rowling giving us her POV of success. (She is, after all, the writer of the best-selling series of books in history.)
Ah, what a culture! Who needs memes when we have TV shows whose darkest secrets emit wisdom like uranium sending out radiation?
(Whaat?)
Oh well:
The year 1974 found me California Dreaming most of the time. I was eager to begin my career as a TV executive. I didn’t bother informing my parents of these ambitions. I knew they’d weigh me down with the same arguments that have paralyzed so many aspiring TV showrunners before me: “You’re nine years old; you have to finish fourth grade and you haven’t written a darned thing!” Perhaps I hadn’t written anything because the times, they were a’changin’ and I didn’t know how to respond.
By the mid-1970s, all the supernatural shows that had inspired me to write had been cancelled. The audiences wanted more realistic fare. To create a sitcom, realism would have to be balanced with humor.
Fortunately, a grownup TV executive, James Komack, had already been developing new material. His efforts were undoubtedly informed by his experience as an actor, director, producer and standup comic.