Category: Resources

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

Letterman Writer’s Good-bye to Dave

Bill Scheft, one of the backbones of the Letterman show over more than twenty years, has written this insightful look into the finale. When TV series work, everything about them becomes family. Scheft’s article works wonders, letting everybody who reads it into the clan:

lettermangbye (Final) Show Diary of Stuff Noteworthy Only to Me, Day 28 (End of Daves)…
by Bill Scheft

It is Sunday, around 1:30 pm, as I write this. If you must know, my boss of 24 years, Dave Letterman, is where he always is on this day, somewhere on Pit Row at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His driver, Graham Rahal, is currently running ninth with 132 laps to go. Maybe by the time I finish this, he’ll be further up on the others. And so will you people….

If you must know, I feel relieved and extremely proud. But that’s all I can give you right now. Mercifully, for the purposes of this exercise, how I feel is not important. You saw it, you know how it made you feel. That’s all that is relevant, practical and real. But I can take you through the last day and maybe they will be something there. Something else. Something else, like that last 78 minutes we all had together. read article

23 Top Showrunners Tell All

We didn’t know there were 23 top showrunners, but here they are, in all their too cool for school glory:

ShowRunnerSurvey

by Lacey Rose

If these top showrunners were running their networks instead of their shows, what would their first move be? And how about if it were these guys (and gals) who got a shot at writing the finale episode of Mad Men as opposed to creator Matthew Weiner? We asked these and many more questions of the masterminds behind such hits as Scandal, Empire, Modern Family, Arrow and more in THR‘s third annual showrunner survey. Below are a collection of their honest, comical and, at times, biting responses. read article

Peggy Bechko: Stuck in the Mud – The Bogged Down Writer

mud

by Peggy Bechko

If you’re a writer there are times when you get stuck. I’m not talking about full-blown writer’s block (which I have a few opinions on but won’t get into here) just stuck. You know, it’s not that nothing will come and you can’t come up with any creative ideas, it’s more like you reach a point where you have to work out what comes next. You might have ideas that aren’t working or you might just be spinning your wheels.

So here’re a few guidelines to help you, the hapless writer stuck in the mire, to move forward. There are basics to story. Characters, what they need or want, what happens if they don’t get it, how they can get there, what’s the worst thing that can happen and how does the character(s) change throughout the story.

It really is mostly the same for scripts and novels. read article

Suburban ‘Dexter’ writer found Hollywood and ‘never looked back’

Yes, it’s true. Real people from real places where nobody’s in showbiz or even thinks about being a writer can still become TV writers. (But you still have to move to L.A.)

Another story of the Possible Dream:

by Jamie Sotonoff and Dann Gire

lauren-gussisCaptureIn the career assessment portion of the PSAT in high school, Lauren Gussis struggled to check a box that matched her interests. read article

How a Writing Contest Launched the Career of EXTANT’s Creator

Why should you enter TVWriter™’s currently running (and only a week or so away from closing) People’s Pilot competition? Well, here’s some food for thought:

Mickey Fisher of EXTANT

by Jacob N. Stuart

I first met Mickey Fisher back in September of 2014. We were both scheduled to speak at the Cincinnati Film Festival‘s screenwriting panel. Mickey, however, was scheduled a few hours before me. Usually when I’m speaking at a film festival, I use the time before my slot to network, exchange information, and form new industry relationships. But with Mickey, that all changed. I found myself fascinated by his amazing story, and how over night, through a screenplay contest, his life changed drastically. Still to this day, I can’t figure out why I would be scheduled after Mickey; who in the world would want to listen to ME after hearing Mickey speak first!

So who is Mickey Fisher? Mickey is a native of Ohio, who is the writer and creator of the popular CBS series, EXTANT, staring Hale Berry, and executive produced by Stephen Spielberg. Need I say more? read article