Category: Resources

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

John Ostrander on Giving Your Audience Some Nasty Surprises

by John Ostrander

aandeI’ve heard it said that old friends are the best friends. That makes sense to me. Over time, you’ve shared experiences together, both good and bad. You’ve grown to know each other, to know the little idiosyncrasies that make up who we are, that make the bonds between us.

You can form that kind of relationships with books as well, especially series. The first time you read the book, it’s to discover the story, to learn what happens next. As you return to it, or read another book in the series, it’s because you want to revisit them.

For example, for me every new book in The Number One Ladies Detective Agency series byAlexander McCall Smith is like a new visit with old friends. I know the characters, the main ones and the wide supporting cast as well, and I want to learn what is going on with their lives. There are surprises in each visit, to be sure, but I now know the locale and what these people are like, I know their foibles and their virtues. They do grow but they are still the same characters I know and love. read article

Writer Glen Mazzara’s Fight to Bring True Diversity to TV

Go get ’em, Tiger!

by Susan Karlin

glen mazzaraOnscreen, TV producer Glen Mazzara shines a light on our darker natures. Offscreen, he’s trying to improve them.

Mazzara, creator of A&E’s Damien, inspired by the 1976 horror film The Omen, and former showrunner of The Walking Dead, is among the leading advocates to increase diversity among TV writing staffs, crews, and casts. read article

Troy DeVolld on Promoting Yourself

invitefinalby Troy DeVolld

With hundreds of hours of television in the rearview mirror, you’d imagine that it would get easier for me, this business of promoting myself among my peers.  Truth is, it can still be tough.

I’m very big on gentle reminders… the occasional email here or there, a lunch invitation between shows to catch up with those I’m often too busy to connect with in person or those who are hard to connect with unless it’s over a quick bite near wherever they’re working.

Others in the business go big.  A successful Executive Producer pal of mine threw a birthday party for herself this weekend at a trendy venue designed to hold about 35 people. Many multiples of that number showed up to pack the little space, invited guests including company owners, network execs, and other busy colleagues who knew it would be a fun opportunity to reconnect with each other as well as wish the birthday gal a great night. read article

How writing a novel is different from writing Danger Mouse

After a decade and a half of writing children’s TV shows, Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler have written a book together. ..and in the process learned about a whole ‘nuther world:

dmby Mark Huckerby & Nick Ostler

What’s the difference between writing a script and writing a book? That was the question we were nervously asking ourselves when, after 16 years of scriptwriting for a living, we decided to embark on our first novel.

It couldn’t be THAT different, could it? Well, yes and no. We’d been lucky enough to be on the writing teams of some fantastic children’s TV shows, including Danger Mouse, Thunderbirds are Go and Shaun the Sheep. Those are some pretty fun sandboxes to be allowed to play in, so why the sudden desire to strike out into unknown territory? We’ve always believed that an idea will tell you what it wants to be. read article

Does Your Writing Suck?

You want to be a writer. More than that, you know you’re a writer – you just haven’t been discovered yet. But others don’t share that optimism…what do you do?

For starters, you read this:

Found at Dreamstime.Com
Found at Dreamstime.Com

by Joleene Moody

When I was in college, I wrote a farce for the stage. It was weak, at best, because I couldn’t come up with a decent ending. I don’t want to destroy my reputation here, but the first ending had an alien kidnapping the protagonist during Christmas Eve dinner. (Please don’t delete me from your network. I was only 21 and likely under the influence.) read article