Category: Resources

40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.

How To Make & Create A Web Series

There we were, roaming the web in search of a good illustration to accompany the article before this one, when suddenly – Wham! – not only did we just the right pic to run with an article about turning your indie feature film into a web series, we found it accompanying another terrific article on creating your own show.

So here, courtesy of TomCruise.Com (yep, that Tom Cruise) is more exciting info on one of TVWriter™’s favorite topics:

web-series-names

From Team Tom Cruise

We’re back with another installment in the #Aspiring2ActWriteDirect Series. This time TeamTC tackles the rapidly evolving world of web series and provides a primer on how to plan, prepare and produce your own original content. Of all our aspiring guides covering the entertainment industry—that list includes guides for actors, directors and filmmakers, film editors, producers, screenwriters, stuntmen, cinematographers and visual effects artists—this one on how to make a web series delves into a field that is just now beginning to take shape. read article

10 Reasons To Release Your Feature As A Web Series

This is such a great article. We hope that all of you read it, pay attention, and – we mean this – do it!

web series

by Kelly Hughes

You can now shoot a movie on a phone.

You can edit like a pro on a laptop. read article

Peggy Bechko’s World of Conflict!

calvin-hobbes-conflict-620x350

by Peggy Bechko

Writers know how important conflict is to a story; without conflict there simply is no story to tell. And, as we’ve all learned Conflict breaks down as Protagonist’s goal plus some kind of obstacle equals that coveted conflict. Yep, there it is. A character wants something…really really bad. He wants it in the overarching story and he (or she) wants it in every scene. Doesn’t matter if it’s script of manuscript – or for that matter advertising copy.

The thing that comes next is that obstacle or obstacles. Obstacles that are provided by the antagonist as a character or as a force of nature or whatever. It provides the stumbling block that keeps the ‘hero’/’heroine’ from achieving the goal that dangles out there like the proverbial carrot on a stick.

That’s it. That’s the beginning. That’s your story, but wait, is it? read article

Troy DeVolld: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Critics

buddha-on-grassby Troy DeVolld

I’m a basically happy guy, and only a couple of things ever really get to me in a way that messes with my default mood.

Dealing with the occasional insecurities of other people who need to tear others down to fulfill their own power fantasies is one of those, but what are you gonna do? It’s Los Angeles.

The other? The never-ending critical war on reality television. read article

LIMITLESS Co-Exec Producer & Writer Matthew Federman Speaks

…And we really hope you’ll listen (or at least read) cuz we really, really, really love this man’s work. He’s such a good writer that whenever we’re watching LIMITLESS we become absolutely convinced that Matt himself is on NZT.

limitlessExcby Jeff Sorensen

In 2011, Bradley Cooper starred in the film Limitless, a film about a struggling writer who is given an experimental pill that allows him to use 100% of his brain. He soon becomes incredibly successful, but the side-effects are very dangerous as he continues taking the pill called NZT. His new abilities and his rise to the top has attracted the attention of very powerful and dangerous people.

Limitless was a box office success after grossing over $161 million on a budget of $27 million. After the movie was over, I wanted more of this universe. A super-pill that allows someone to basically have a brain that can do all of that stuff? Someone should write a graphic novel sequel or create a television show about this movie. Luckily, Craig Sweeny came to CBS with a pitch for a show based on the events after the film, and the Limitless series was born. read article