Category: News

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 1/13/14

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

  • Shawn Ryan (THE SHIELD) has re-upped at Sony Pictures TV for another 3 years. (Remember when Shawn was relevant? In the days before LAST RESORT and the never-to-be-seen BEVERLY HILLS COP pilot? Sigh…)
  • Jeff Lowell (TWO AND A HALF MEN) is writing an untitled ABC comedy pilot that “exposes the unfiltered internal monologues of a young couple embarking on a new relationship. (Which sounds pretty cool until you realize that TV networks think that the only way to “expose…internal monologues” is to do those stultifying “interview” scenes ala THE OFFICE and MODERN FAMILY and a zillion others shows. Sigh…)
  • DENIS LEARY (RESCUE ME) is writing and ultimately starring in SEX&DRUGS&ROCK&ROLL, a comedy pilot for FX. (And I’m grinning from ear to ear here kids, just from the title – and, yeppers, Mr. Leary. Nothing to sigh about with this one!)
  • LaKendra Tookes (newbie) has joined the writing staff of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. (She’s black, she’s a woman, she’s a writer…oh, Lord, it’s a Whole New World at last! And no, I’m not being sarcastic. I think this is great.)
  • Leslie Jones (newbie) has also joined the SNL writing team and is also an African-American woman. (And I’m lovin’ on this as well. Big thanks to old pal Lorne Michaels. Yeah, that’s right, I’m tight with the Lornester. You didn’t know your friendly neighborhood munchman was so well-connected, didja?)

The International Academy of Web Television 2013 Awards

IAWTV Awards Finalby Team TVWRITER™ Press Service

For the, you know, best, brightest, funnest shows made especially for, and appearing on, our beloved interwebs:

Best Writing (Comedy) – Squaresville – Matt Enlow
Best Writing (Drama) – The Booth at the End, Season 2 – Christopher Kubasik
Best Writing (Non-Fiction) – The Flog – Felicia Day

Best Animated Series – Red vs. Blue
Best Cinematography – H+ The Digital Series – Brett Pawlak
Best Comedy Series – Squaresville
Best Costume Design – The League of S.T.E.A.M. – The League of S.T.E.A.M.
Best Design (Art Direction/Production) – Continuum – Eric Whitney
Best Directing (Comedy) – My Gimpy Life – Sean Becker
Best Directing (Drama) – Anyone But Me – Tina Cesa Ward
Best Directing (Non-Fiction) – The Flog – Sean Becker
Best Documentary Series – PRODIGIES
Best Drama Series – Leap Year
Best Editing – Continuum – Blake Calhoun
Best Educational Series – Engineer Your Space
Best Ensemble Performance – Squaresville
Best Female Performance (Comedy) – My Gimpy Life – Teal Sherer Teal
Best Female Performance (Drama) – Blue – Julia Stiles – Blue
Best Host (Live) – What’s Trending – Shira Lazar
Best Host (Taped) – Daily Grace – Grace Helbig
Best Hosted (Live) Series – What’s Trending
Best Hosted (Taped) Series – Daily Grace
Best Interactive/Social Media Experience – The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Best Live Event – Bill Maher: CrazyStupidPolitics
Best Makeup/Special Effects – The League of S.T.E.A.M. – The League of S.T.E.A.M.
Best Male Performance (Comedy) – The Jeff Lewis 5-Minute Comedy Hour – Jeff Lewis
Best Male Performance (Drama) – The Booth at the End, Season 2 – Xander Berkeley – Leed
Best News Series – The Philip DeFranco Show
Best Online Channel – Nerdist Channel
Best Original Music – Cost of Capital – Rob Gokee
Best Supplemental Content – Red vs. Blue
Best Variety Series – Rhett & Link
Best Visual Effects (Digital) – H+ The Digital Series – Faction Creative and The Sequence Group: VFX Supervisor Ian Kirby; Digital Effects Supervisor Chris van Dyck; VFX Producer Caleb Bouchard read article

Netflix Continues Its Plot to Take Over Future TV

What? You think we’re kidding? Sorry, kids, but no way. These guys are so far ahead of the business plan/technology curve that if Old Media doesn’t act mighty fast it’ll never catch up:

netflixspeaksby Leslie Horn

Netflix seems to be really leading the charge on this 4K thing. CEO Reed Hastings…took the stage at Sony’s CES presser and said that all of its future original content will be shot in ultra high-def. That’s a whole lotta pixels.

It’s also worth pointing out that it’s not the first time Hastings has been around the show touting 4K on Netflix today. This morning he made an appearance at LG’s press conference to talk 4K support for Netflix on LG TVs. Liked House of Cards? Kevin Spacey is probably even more sinister in 4K.

Stan Lee Talks About Launching a New Superhero Franchise

…And, since it’s Stan Lee, who to us is at the very least the 2nd Most Interesting Man in the World, we bring you this report about what he said:

Stan Lee's Mighty 7 Capture

by Kimberly Nordyke

The comic book legend is taking on his first starring role in Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, the first of three animated movies created by Lee and produced by Stan Lee Comics, a joint venture among Genius Brands International, run by Andy Heyward and Amy Moynihan Heyward; Lee’s POW! Entertainment, run by Lee and Gill Champion; and Archie Comics. It’s set to premiere at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Saturday, Feb. 1, on the Hub Network, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively. (The kids-targeted channel has the worldwide premiere of all three movies.)

Based on the comic of the same name and described as the “first superhero reality show,” Mighty 7 features Lee as an animated version of himself, a legendary superhero creator who teaches a crew of alien prisoners and their jailers, who have crash-landed on Earth, how to work together and use their powers to be superheroes — and he in turn documents their adventures in comics. The 90-minute movie features the voices of Sean Astin, Jim Belushi, Mayim Bialik, Darren Criss, Flea, Armie Hammer, Teri Hatcher, Michael Ironside and Christian Slater. read article

Crazy Fan Creates ‘Star Trek’ Enterprise Replica in Basement

flat3

…Cuz, you know, she could.

In the words of TVWRITER™ contributor Herbie J Pilato, who discovered this particular almost-news item, “Ok, THIS is crazy – and yet…pretty dang cool.” read article