Month: April 2017

‘6 Things I Wish They’d Taught Me in High School’ @BrisOwnWorld

Found at http://www.academiclearninglabs.com/2012/09/challenge-talented-children/

by Bri Castellini

Bri’s note: This post is originally from 2012, when I was a wee 20 year old. Because it randomly still gets a decent number of clicks, I decided to update it a smidge.

It’s been almost seven years since I graduated from high school, but even now, several full time jobs into adulthood, there are still some gaps in my education that I wished were better filled before letting me fly from the public school nest. So here are the six things I wish I’d been taught back in high school that would have benefited me greatly out here in the “real world.”

1. How to write a resume and cover letter. Resumes are, arguably, one of the most important things to know how to create, and cover letters as a concept are confusingly vague. The problem is that you can write them in a lot of different ways, and there’s no central, agreed-upon format that everyone can easily follow. As such, a comprehensive lesson on the basics of what a resume and cover letter have to include would have been incredibly useful. How long should they be? Should you have multiple versions of each? They could have mentioned it in my intro to business class my freshman year, or really any other time in any other class because while it’s debatable whether or not I’ll need sine or cosine ever again, I’m definitely gonna need to whip up a resume and cover letter if I want to continue paying my rent. read article

Writing Gigs: Writers Wanted in L.A.

Yeah, we know. Writers are always “wanted” in L.A. Except when you’re the writer and you try to sell somebody your work or your services.

Still, the L.A. Craigslist always seems to contain an awful (and they do often seem pretty damn awful) lot of showbiz writing gigs just waiting (or not) for your/our magic talents. read article

John Ostrander: Wait. What Was I Thinking?

by John Ostrander

NOTE FROM LB: John Ostrander didn’t create the Suicide Squad, but he, along with various important partners, made it into something special enough to succeed as a film even though it starred Will Smith. I enjoyed John’s discussion of the evolution of the world’s most heinous super group and hope y’all will too!

On May 23, DC will release the sixth volume in their TPB reprint series of my Suicide Squad work. It’s sub-titled “The Phoenix Gambit” and, as is my wont, I’m going to share some thoughts about the stories therein. This might actually take a few weeks.

The volume covers issues 41 through 49 and, with one exception, was co-written with my late wife, Kim Yale. It was at this point that we shook up the Squad (and the book) to a large degree. When we last left the Squad in issue 40 (and the end of the previous TPB), the Squad had disbanded or dispersed. Amanda Waller was in jail as a result of her hand in executing the criminal gang calling itself the Loa; she just surrendered and, at the time, many people both within the book and without wondered why. Why didn’t she fight it? Why didn’t she scheme to get out of it? read article

Showbiz Agony Dept: ‘Smash’ Creator on Being Fired from Her Own Show

It happens sometimes – the dream turns into a nightmare. Getting a series on the air is a major high. Getting thrown off it, OTOH….

What Came Next
by Theresa Rebeck

So I’m walking to a rehearsal in Midtown, and my agent calls me. read article

You’re in Production! At Last! – @Stareable

 

So You Want To Make a Web Series – Step 8
by Bri Castellini

Congratulations, friends, you’ve done it. You have gathered your troops, made battle plans, and now, the real run begins. It’s time… for production.

Depending on the size of your cast and crew, your experience on set might be totally different from every other person reading this column. Even so, there are rules of thumb every production should follow when approaching the filming process.

Before you get to set read article