Category: Productivity

WGAW 2018 Feature Writers Access Project Now Open

by TVWriter™ Press Service

If you qualify for this project, this is a hell of an opportunity. Definitely worth checking out for writers with the required relationship to the Writers Guild of America West.

Sounds awkward, yeah, but keep reading and you’ll understand:

Dear WGAW Member:

We are now accepting submissions for the 2018 Feature Writer Access Project. The project seeks to identify outstanding minority writers, writers with disabilities, women writers, writers age 60 and older and LGBTQ+ writers and make their scripts available to entertainment industry decision-makers, including producers, studio executives, agents and managers, in order to help raise their profile and generate potential employment opportunities. This program is modeled on the success of the TV Writer Access Project for mid-level television writers.

PLEASE NOTE: At the time of submission, a Project participant must be an Associate, Current Active (including Lifetime Current), Post-Current Active or Associate Caucus member in Active status of the WGAW. If submission is made by a writing team, both writers must be an Associate, Current Active (including Lifetime Current), Post-Current Active and Associate Caucus member in Active status of the WGAW.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, August 3, 2018 – 6:00 p.m. (PST)

The Feature Writer Access Project guidelines, application and release form can be accessed at: https://www.wga.org/fwap

Please e-mail or call the Diversity Department if you have any questions about the application process at: diversity@wga.org or 323-782-4589.

Sincerely,

Tery Lopez
Director, Inclusion and Equity Department

Stop Sabotaging Yourself

Even the most successful among us – whatever your definition of success may be – have moments where our fears rear their unreclaimed little heads and screw us over, and as writers, we’re especially prone to this situation..

So here’s Tony Robbins his very self on how to conquer our worst enemies…ourselves:

More videos about everybody’s favorite productivity problems HERE

HOW TO PITCH A TV SHOW TO NETFLIX & NETWORKS

Speaking of “the binge factory,” as we were just a couple of days ago, Script Reader Pro is one of the best script service sites around, and this is one of the best guides to successfully pitching your series that this TVWriter™ minion has ever seen. But I’ve already taken too much of your time so all I’ll add now is, “Dig in!”

Dammit, Munchman, how many times do we have to tell you to stop using this pic? It’s not this kind of pitching!

From Script Reader Pro

Learning how to pitch a TV show is just an important skill to learn as writing the script itself. If you’re hoping to break into the world of television as a writer, you can write the best pilot in history, but if you don’t know how to pitch it, it’s unlikely your show will get produced.

Apart from great writing, you need to be able to convince the financial gatekeepers (read: executives) at any cable, network or reality channel that your idea has the originality, longevity and “wow-factor” to turn it into a successful series. And to turn over a tidy profit.

To do so, you will need to learn how to pitch a TV show, but what does “pitch” mean exactly?

  • What kind of pitch should you put together in order to sell them on your big idea?
  • What should you include in such a document?
  • How should it be tailored to suit the particular entity you’re pitching to?

Below, we’ll aim to answer these queries by running through the means and methods behind pitching a variety of documents to a variety of TV formats and mediums.

In this post you will learn:

  • The #1 thing that makes a successful pitch to a TV show
  • How to create a pitch document
  • How to pitch a TV show to Netflix and other streaming and cable platforms
  • How to pitch a TV show to a network
  • How to pitch a reality TV show
  • Why writing credits are so important when pitching TV shows

We’ll also include a TV show pitch example in each section so you also get an idea of what you should be creating as part of the pitch process. So let’s dive on in…

How to pitch a TV show: the #1 thing you should have

Of course, just like with a feature screenplay, it all begins and ends with the concept.

A TV script lives and dies by its concept: the core idea behind the show that will make people want to watch the pilot and keep watching the series.

The cable and streaming world in particular have never been bolder creatively than they are today, so you must really put in the effort to make sure your show’s concept stands out from the pack….

Read it all at scriptreaderpro.com

Kelly Jo Brick: 7 Tips to Stay Motivated When Writing Isn’t Your Day Job (Yet!)

TVWriter™ Contributing Editor Kelly Jo Brick is taking a break from our e-pages to write for FinalDraft.Com, but that doesn’t mean y’all have to miss her because linking, you know? So here’s the latest from our favorite award winning screenwriter, documentarian, blogger:

by Kelly Jo Brick

It’s your dream to be on the writing staff of a television show or to sell your feature film script. Until that happens, you’re working a day job, grabbing spare moments to write. So, how do you stay motivated until your breakthrough?

Set attainable goals

 One of the best ways to stay motivated is to have a simple goal in front of you that you’re trying to reach.

This could be creating an application for a contest or fellowship. Use that entrance deadline as a ticking clock to keep you moving on your script. As you set goals, challenge yourself. Instead of thinking, “I’m going to work on this new project,” break down the steps by creating a timeline for it, starting with how long you want to spend on your outline.

It’s surprising how having a goal in front of you makes it easier to keep on task. When you hit a goal, reward yourself; take time to enjoy your accomplishment — however big or small — then get back to work on reaching the next one.

Join a writers’ group

 Being part of a writers’ group is a great way for creatives to support each other and stay motivated. Whether you’re in Los Angeles or a small town in Wisconsin, there are people with a love for writing around you. If you can team up with other screenwriters, great. If not, your screenwriting can still benefit from input from playwrights, poets and novelists. Regular meetings will push your productivity; you’ll need to present new material each time, and feedback from fellow writers can spark new energy in a project that you might be feeling stuck on.

Get an accountability partner

 Writing can be lonely and keeping ourselves on task can become difficult. Social media, household chores or chatting with people at the local coffee shop can all be distractions from working on your script with your butt in the chair. This is where an accountability partner can help.

An accountability partner is someone with whom you check in regularly, usually with a phone call to touch base on what you’re working on and what you want to accomplish….

Read it all at finaldraft.com

Art is an imperfect catharsis

Author Nathan Bransford of How to Write a Novel and Jacob Wonderbar fame has been thinking about recent events many of us may want to forget. But if anything is worth remembering it’s this look into the arts, and artists, and our world of pain:

We’re so glad we saw this extraordinary image at podwabbit.com

by Nathan Bransford

My heart is incredibly heavy this week with the suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, and the ongoing poisoning of our shared culture by people who see more to gain in distracting us with hate than in inspiring love.

This is a moment in history that seems designed to bring out the worst in all of us, rather than the best.

We need art more than ever, but art is not the potion we want it to be. It helps, but it doesn’t solve. It illuminates, but it doesn’t guide. It salves, but it doesn’t cure.

If you’re trying to transubstantiate pain into light: we need you now more than ever.

Bathing in these waters can bring down the hardiest of swimmers. If you need help, please get it. If you can’t think of anyone to reach out to, reach out to me….

Read it all at Nathan Bransford’s very helpful blog