by Peggy Bechko
Really, just do it.
Seriously.
Okay, that’s all good and stuff for me to say. I’ve been finishing what I began to write for a whole lotta years now.
Category: Resources
40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.
Are These the 10 Best Structured Films of All Time?
Whether they are or they aren’t, this video remains our favorite kind of critique:
More by the same creators – Cinefix – at…oh, you guessed it?! The CineFix Channel.
LB’s NOTE: I do have one complaint about this post. The narration of the video says “Good film-making isn’t all clever dialog and….” But the blurb under the video on YouTube puts it a bit differently:
Allie Theiss: Daniel Thomsen’s Approach to TV Writing Success – Part 2
by Allie Theiss
Time now for the second part of our conversation with writer-producer Daniel Thomsen of TIME AFTER TIME, WESTWORLD, ONCE UPON a TIME, and other fine TV shows. Making it in Hollywood is hard in itself but isn’t the end of the road. You have to keep your career going too! Danny tells us how he’s handling the challenge:
What path do you recommend a budding TV writer take to get hired onto a show?
I’ve worked in a lot of writers rooms over the years, and if you’re going by the numbers, the vast majority of first-time staff writers get their gigs in one of two ways: They’re promoted from an assistant desk, or they come through a studio program. (Most of the studios have great programs that are designed to help writers from underrepresented backgrounds.) I always recommend that people try to go through one of those doors because that’s the path of least resistance.
Bri Castellini: Dream Bigger – @BrisOwnWorld
by Bri Castellini
A few months ago I did a podcast called The Other 50%- Women in Hollywood, hosted by Julie Harris Walker. As you can probably guess, it was on the subject of being a woman in the entertainment industry (and relentless self promotion). Near the end of the podcast, Julie asked “what’s your big dream?”
“Honestly, just to be able to support myself with my art.” I told her. “Whether that’s in the independent sphere, creating my own production company and running it like that, or getting to be a staff writer or a showrunner on a TV show. I want to be able to not have a day job, to not have to worry about side hustles and freelancing and stuff like that. To be able to say ‘I am a professional filmmaker’ and be able to live a simple existence.”
After a pause, she responded “You can dream bigger.”
“WHAT-IF” PHENOMENA
by David Perlis
“What-Ifs” are big these days. Maybe they always were. What if we had lost WW2? (Man in the High Castle.) What if plummeting fertility rates threatened our society? (The Handmaid’s Tale.) What if 2% of the human population suddenly vanished. (The Leftovers.) One of my professor’s at UCLA lauded the What-If. “That’s your hook,” he’d say. No arguments here. I’m convinced. But I’ve decided there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Here’s the issue: What-If’s are often about building worlds—but drama is about building characters.
Doing it Wrong