Category: Resources

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

Diana Black Begins Our Hero’s Journey

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The Hero’s Journey in Episodic Television – Part 1
by Diana Black

Before we explore the concept of ‘The Hero’s Journey’ in relation to episodic television, let’s first define ‘The Hero’ and the nature of the ‘Heroic journey’.

It’s generally hard to be heroic while doing the laundry, the weekly grocery shopping, shaving or any of the other mundane day-to-day things we occupy ourselves with…hence we unconsciously yearn for more – to experience ‘living on the brink’ , in fear of losing that life, so as to test ourselves on ‘the battlefield’ where we hope like hell to prevail. Perhaps this is the reason why high-intensity sport is so popular – for the adrenalin rush it provides. Perhaps it’s also why for more than a few, there’s a desire to reminisce with cherished comrades who also survived the insanity of ‘the’ war.

So if ‘normal’ life falls short of providing us with self-validation, what can we do? Among other things, we can experience pain and triumph by proxy – ‘experiencing’ being a hero via the big or little screen. read article

Female Showrunners Discuss – Showrunning, of course

The CW has opened its doors wide to female executive producers this fall. A few weeks ago, 8 of female showrunners gathered in front of the Television Critics Association and spoke with a candor…well, with a candor we don’t often get from, you know, those Big Boss Men:

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by Pilot Viruet

During Tuesday’s CW session at the Television Critics Association summer tour, the network only had one show to preview: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. But followed it up that presentation with a fascinating panel of eight women executive producers. It was easily a highlight of the TCA tour so far, as the women — Aline Brosh McKenna (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Jennie Snyder Urman (Jane the Virgin), Gabrielle Stanton (The Flash), Diane Ruggiero-Wright (iZombie), Wendy Mericle (Arrow), Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals), Caroline Dries (The Vampire Diaries), and Laurie McCarthy (Reign) — spoke candidly but optimistically about their experiences and the importance of women on television.

“You definitely feel when you’re working at The CW like female voices and female stories are welcomed enthusiastically, and that’s great. I never feel like it’s being second-guessed in any way or that our experience is being hemmed in in any way by men. I just feel like it’s a very obviously female?friendly group,” said McKenna, on how welcoming the network is to women. Later, McCarthy echoed the statement: “I feel like [The CW executives] treat us like we’re showrunners. They don’t treat us like we’re female showrunners.” read article

How Much Should Spec Writers Worry About the Budget In Their Scripts?

The Bitter Script Reader has one of the most informative sites on the web for new writers. Here’s proof from a recent post there:

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by the Bitter Script Reader

Kris writes —

As I’m currently trying to grind out my first feature-length spec, a bit of a harrowing thought crossed my mind; something that often is discussed in various podcasts and blogs of this nature — keeping budget in mind when writing.

I’m confidently certain that it can happen to any screenwriter might get swept by the imagination he/she puts unto paper, but also understand that studios ultimately answer to what can be afforded, with X amount of blockbusters eating up studio funding.

Anyways, this concern of mine came into fruition amid writing my script; where a teenaged protagonist undergoes a transformation early on and remains in her changed form (a centaur) for the rest of the story. Given that the story is geared more as a drama with supernatural elements — the focus more on the protagonist’s decision to act on her sudden change, and how her family is affected by it — I don’t know of too many films that would have the level of practical-SFX integration I assume would be needed to budget (of course, if on fate’s good luck it ever gets picked up); especially for the centaur FX.

I feel the transformation is key in the story to help conceptualize the forced change the character faces to keep it in the story, but also understand how a studio may not pick it up if they deemed it too expensive for a smaller tier film that would likely not be blockbuster material. And I must admit if a potential producer would ask me how much budget I thought the film, my vague understanding of SFX budgeting, being a screenwriter, would cripple my ability to answer effectively.

Given the aforementioned scenario, and writing skill aside, would it better to tailor down the SFX featured in the script to make it appealing to potential producers? Or can I try my best to make the premise and script solid enough that if the script was green-lit, that the SFX projections could be adjusted during pre-production? Also, in your experience, what is often the biggest reasons for a otherwise solid spec reliant on SFX to be rejected due to budget concerns? read article

The Real Life of a TV Writer

Writing and living, living and writing – can they truly co-exist? Here’s how THE MIDDLEMAN and LOST writer-producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach approaches the dilemma:

Javier-Grillo-Marxuachby Mark Rozeman

Take a moment to think of some of your favorite shows. Chances are Javier Grillo-Marxuach has helped to pen quite a few of them.

A 20-year veteran of the industry, Grillo-Marxuach began his career as a writer on the NBC sci-fi program seaQuest DSV. Over the years, his resume has grown to include Boomtown, Charmed, The 100, Medium, Helix and, most notably, the first two seasons of Lost. It was Grillo-Marxuach’s experience on this latter series that inspired a widely distributed blog post, which documents the years he spent writing and developing what would become one of the biggest game-changers in the history of the medium. Besides Lost, Grillo-Marxuach is perhaps best known among TV aficionados for his short-lived ABC Family series The Middleman, a program that, despite low-ratings and a premature cancelation, grew to become a beloved cult hit. read article

Pulling punches: why origin stories keep superhero films from soaring

A UK newspaper analyzes an American tradition – and gets it right:

ff-yechhby Noah Berlatsky

Superhero origin stories are a problem.

You can see that demonstrated at seemingly interminable length in Fox’s new Fantastic Four reboot. The film starts with Reed Richards and Ben Grimm (Mr Fantastic and the Thing) as fifth graders working on a science project. The science project that (predictably) will eventually give them their powers. read article