Category: News

Women Still Under Represented in TV and Film

Like the title of this article says, “Let’s get mad!”

There. All better now, right? No? Hmm, does this mean we, like, need a real plan?

womenontvLet’s Get Mad: Center for Study of Women in TV and Film Releases 2013 Findings
by Susana Polo

Just a couple months ago, the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film released their report on the gender ratios of Hollywood’s workers, discovering that the ratio of women to men in various behind the scenes roles such as editors, writers, cinematographers, composers, and special effects supervisors has not changed more than three percentage points in sixteen years. That was pretty disheartening, but theoretically, men should be just as able to craft female characters that don’t play to stereotypical tropes as women are at creating relatable male characters. So how did that go? read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 3/13/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
by munchman

  • Peter Lenkov (HAWAII Five-0) has made a 2-year deal to develop new series at CBS Studios. (Cuz…HAWAII FIVE-0. Waitaminnit, what? HAWAII FIVE-0 has been the epitome of the in-danger, borderline show since it debuted. Which brings us to the real question: WTF?!)
  • Max Brooks (World War Z) just sold his upcoming graphic novel, The Harlem Hellfighters, to Sony pictures. Which is a major victory for literature cuz your favorite munchman has seen this baby and it’s, like, real in every way. So real that mm is glad to forgive Max for the fact that it’s going to be a movie and not a TV series. C’mon, Maxie, give us TV addicts a little something too, willya?)
  • Alec Berg (the upcoming SILICON VALLEY) has made an overall deal with HBO. (Which makes more sense than Petey Lenkov’s cuz the dood was writer-director-executive producer of a little show called CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM for 4 years and therefore probably knows a little something that audiences will like. Whereas anybody associated with FIVE-0…well, you get it.)
  • Petter Skavlan (KON-TIKI) is devloping the Norwegian TV series THE INSTITUTION, which is a fictional look at the inner workings of a contemporary European royal family. (And which must be headed for U.S. TV because otherwise why would whatever mysterious institution that’s running this show be announcing it here? munchie is munchin’ at the bit for this one. Honest.)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 3/11/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
by munchman

  • Chrissy Pietrosh & Jessica Goldstein (COUGAR TOWN) have signed a 2 year deal to develop new projects for Universal TV. (So if you’re a big fan of COUGAR TOWN, MY NAME IS EARL, and something called BIG DAY, rejoice cuz with this kind of money changing hands something these two ladies write will definitely show up on your screen. OTOH, if you aren’t a fan….)
  • Lena Dunham (GIRLS) is writing a 4 part comic book series about everybody’s least hip, trendy, edgy, or even interesting teenager – Archie! Yep, she’s going to give the world her take on Archie and his gang. (And to make matters worse, Archie Comics is actually paying her to completely destroy their franchise. Oh, has the munchie one gone too far in showing his displeasure? Nah…I haven’t even come close to adequately expressing my disgust.)
  • Dylan Morgan & Josh Siegal (30 ROCK) have joined the uber talented Chrissy and Jessica with a 2 year deal of their own at Universal. (Except on this one el muncho is looking forward to the results of their labors.)
  • Leesa Dean (CHILLTOWN TV) has won the Focal Press “Bound to Create” contest, and TVWriter™ couldn’t be happier. (Cuz not only is she a genius animation writer-creator-producer, she just happens to be one of our featured columnists. Congrats, Leesa. Just one question…who’s Focal Press? Please spill cuz let’s be honest here, your friendly neighborhood munchman is way too lazy to google)

Writers Guild of America, West March 2014 Calendar

Banner_wga2cwga-march-14-calendar-awga-march-14-calendar-bGo to the online, clickable version

WGA & AMPTP Wrapping Up New Deal?

Deadline.Com seems to think that negotiations re a new deal between the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers are all but finished. Sure hope they’re right:

wga-good-guys-logoAMPTP-bad-guys-logo

WGA & AMPTP “Very Close” To New Labor Deal
by Dominic Patten

Four days after returning to the negotiating table, the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers are near an agreement on a new three-year contract, I’ve learned. “We’re not there yet and there are still a few more I’s to dot and T’s to cross, but we’re very close,” one insider told me today. With many of the bulky points already coming together in the first two weeks of talks, the two sides spent some of their two-week temporary recess fine-tuning the agreement, sources on both sides say, before sitting down again at AMPTP’s Sherman Oaks HQ. An official announcement could come as early as the beginning of next week. If you take out the downtime, this year’s talks pretty much follow the timeline of the placid 2011 negotiations, which started on March 3 that year and were all done by March 20. read article