Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are=&0=&Speaking of science fiction, Todd Slavkin & Darren Schwimmer (SMALLVILLE) are showrunning Syfy’s upcoming supernatural type series, DOMINION. (So if you know ’em, it’s definitely time to take these boys to lunch. Oh, hell, even if you don’t know em!)
Timothy Patrick McLanahan (evidently a newb) is suing Tom Cruise, Brad Grey and all the production companies and studios involved in the making of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PATROL for, you know, “copyright infringement.” (Which our favorite copyright attorney tells me is exactly the wrong thing to do even if the facts favor Tim cuz there’s a statutory damages limitation on on that particular allegation and legal costs start at fifty gs. Go for more gold, Timmy. C’mon, give the Man real hell!
Category: News
WGA East Foundation Announces Screenwriting Fellowship Winner
by Team TVWriter™ Press Service
Hennah Sekandary of New York University has been selected to receive the Writers Guild Initiative’s (WGI) 2014 Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting. The fellowship, which is funded by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, is awarded to a student who plans to pursue a career in screenwriting upon completion of his/her undergraduate course of study.
Sekandary will receive a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay, which she will do under the mentorship of David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face, Possession). She will be presented with her fellowship at the 66th annual Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2014 in New York City at the Edison Ballroom.
Sekandary is a senior in the Department of Dramatic Writing, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Her fellowship project, 48 Hour Fire, is about two people, a Korean deli-owner and a black teen, surviving against the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/10/14
Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are=&0=&Chris Moynihan (MAN UP) is writing the ABC pilot SAINT FRANCIS, about a no-nonsense Long Island cop who “butts heads with the modern, liberal world when his…” unmarried sister gets pregnant. (Yes, friends and neighbors, this kind of archaic dog doo passes as new and original to the great thinkers running network TV development. Don’t get yrs trly started on this…no, don’t, I mean it….)
Frank Spotnitz (THE X-FILES) is the new showrunner of TRANSPORTER: THE SERIES, a French series that’s coming to TNT this fall. (It’s based on the popular French film franchise of the same name – well, without the “The Series” part, and this guy here (that would be me) is really looking forward to it. But what do I know?)
Neil Gaimon’s novel American Gods is being developed as a TV series by FremantleMedia North America, which is cause for all of us to shout “Hallelulah!” cuz…masterpiece, right? (No writer’s been set yet, so if you think you’re qualified it’s time to get on the horn. Invite Neil to dinner. Kiss up. Show the genius a really good time…and then, when you’re set, don’t forget to talk up your pal munchie. I know I can count on you!)
Disney/ABC Writing Program Announces 2014 Participants
by Team TVWriter™ Press Service
Disney/ABC Television Group has chosen eight scribes for its 2014 Writing Program. Chosen from a field of nearly 2,000 applications, this year’s participants are comedy writers Lucas Brown Eyes (Pine Ridge Agency, SD), Lewaa Nasserdeen (Alberta, Canada) and Devanshi Patel (Pittsburgh, PA). On the drama side are Tamara Carter (Brooklyn, NY), April Fitzsimmons (Helena, MT), Nancy Kiu (Boston, MA), Ubah Mohamad (Queens, NY), and Davy Perez (Los Angeles, CA).
Tim McNeal, Vice President, Creative Talent Development Strategies said, “We’re looking forward to the unique contributions our newest group of writers will make to the creative process. Collectively these writers have intriguing backgrounds and life experiences that are sure to prove valuable in the writers’ room. Among the group include an Air Force Veteran, a bestselling author and a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.” McNeal added, “These are writers who truly have TV production knowledge and are on the cusp of breaking through and this program will greatly aid in providing access and strategies that would not otherwise be available to them.”
Kimberly Myers, Director of Diversity, Writers Guild of America, West said, “These writers are the next generation of Writers Guild members, selected for their writing talent and the originality of their voices. This unique program has proven to be an excellent launching pad for successful television writing careers through its combination of mentoring and hands on experience.”
Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/7/14
Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are=&0=&Justin Halpern & Patrick Schumaker (S#*! MY DAD SAID) just made an overall deal with Warner Brothers TV. (Cuz their last show turned to S#*! which means they’ll work for peanuts now. And don’t have to be paid nearly their weight in bitcoins…but don’t worry; their agents are painting a much rosier pic for them cuz that, in case you wondered, is what agents really do.)
Jackie and Jeff Filgo (THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE) are writing SAVE THE DATE, for CBS. The show’s a comedy, natch, about a woman “who drunkenly books a wedding venue and is now faced with the task of meeting the right man in the right time.” (Which is all well and good, but what’s gonna happen in the show after the teaser? Legs, Mr. Moonves, legs – don’t you want a show that has ’em?)