A few days ago, we merrily re-posted “My Dad, The Doctor,” a 1000 word short story written by DOCTOR WHO scriptwriter Jamie Mathieson. Today on his blog, Jamie talked about how that story came to be. And let’s face it, for many of us as writers, this will be even more interesting:
Category: Resources
40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.
Kelly Jo Brick: The Write Path With Manager Geoff Silverman
A series of interviews with hard-working writers – by another hard-working writer!
by Kelly Jo Brick
Finding the right representation can be a key component to growing and developing a writing career. TVWriter.com sat down with several managers to find out what they’re looking for in writers and what writers can be doing to help achieve success in the industry.
As a young PA on the Suzanne Somers show SHE’S THE SHERIFF, Geoff Silverman got some career changing advice when the show’s EPs suggested he go where the real money is, the executive side. That set Silverman on a path working as an assistant at the William Morris Agency and Susan Smith and Associates before working in drama development with Robert Greenblatt, Brandon Tartikoff and Brett Ratner and then embarking on a career as a literary manager with The Cartel.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY THE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?
Peggy Bechko Ponders the Prologue
by Peggy Bechko
Ya gotta start the story somewhere right? Whether screen script, TV or novel. Sometimes we can just jump right into the story following that old adage “start late and finish early”, but other times we need a little something to kick start things. It can be particularly important in Science Fiction or Fantasy or Horror to give the viewer a hint at what’s coming and engage him.
It’s a bit more straightforward with a movie. The prologue can actually be a springboard into what happens next. It’s usually something that foreshadows some element in your script that slithers throughout the main element of the story or it’s something that lets the viewer know the characters of the movies wouldn’t have been in the upcoming situation if not for this happening. Think about the latest Jurassic World. The gigantic water predator (whatever the heck its long scientific name was) leaping out of the water and devouring… foreshadows what happens later in the movie. Ponder The Sixth Sense in which the viewer sees a shooting of a psychologist before the meat of the story begins.
Now I do want to add here, since I’m writing on TV Writer, that TV is a different animal in that TV most often offers ‘teasers’ rather than full prologues. Instead of a flowing element like in a movie at the beginning it more likely to have bits showing to entice viewing – such as a shot of this or that, the arrival of main characters on the scene and into the story. HOUSE, one of my favorite shows, did it admirably with medical conditions, who’s sick, how, why, what’s House’s (or one of his doctors’) problem this week, and into the story and the scrolling titles.
The 10 Most Common Reasons Why Scripts Are Rejected
Time now to write about rejection. Because writing about it is so much better than feelin’ it. And, yeppers, learning is so much better than throwing our laptops into the freeway and screaming with frustration:
by Corey Mandell
Whenever a script is submitted in the industry, it is passed off to a reader for analysis. The reader will give the script a “recommend,” a “consider” or a “pass.” And unless it gets a recommend, probably no one else is going to look at it.
So how many scripts get a recommend? About two percent….which means roughly 98 percent of spec scripts are dead on arrival. Many of these scripts make the same mistakes. Here’s my take on the ten most common mistakes reported by the studio and network readers who recently visited my UCLA class:
Peggy Bechko’s 6 Tips for Getting Your Script – or Novel – Read
by Peggy Bechko
…In Hollywood – or somewhere!
You’ve no doubt been told some of these things before – perhaps even here on TVWriter™, but it is worth bringing up again and reminding you of some things you should and most certainly should not do in order to get someone, somewhere to read what you’ve written.
You DO want to appear professional, don’t you? In fact I’ve no doubt you want to BE professional. So here goes.