Category: Resources

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

All the Stats You’ll Ever Need About TV Pilot Season 2015 – So Far

We’re writers. And we have great ideas for TV series. Ideas we want to sell. But it behooves us to do our level best to learn what Big Media wants, and thinks it needs, and, above all, is paying all those BIG $$$ for. Here’s what we know so far:

the numbers tell the story

by Leslie Goldberg

GRAND TOTALS

Total orders: 83 (95 in 2014, down 12)
Dramas: 40 (45 in 2014, down 5)
Comedies: 43 (50 in 2014, down 7)
Single-camera: 24 (32 in 2014, down 8)
Multicamera: 16 (17 in 2014, down 1)
Hybrid: 1 (1 in 2014, even)
TBD: 2
Series orders 2014: 54 read article

Peggy Bechko: Writers’ Resurces Deluxe Edition

Resources-For-Entrepreneurs

by Peggy Bechko

You’re a writer, right? And I’m assuming since you’re reading this on TV Writer you’re leaning a bit more toward script writing than novel writing – or you may be doing both.

And you probably love the web for all the great resources you can find (remember what I told you in a fairly recent post about turning off your browser when you’re actually writing/working).

Regardless, presuming you’re that sensible, I’ve rounded up a few resources you can make use of. Some you may have found on your own, others, well, read on and see what I’ve dug up. read article

TV and Film Writing Tips from Hindustan

…Cuz we’re all in the same boat when it comes to showbiz, no matter how unique we’d like to feel. Witness:

bharat-hindustan-india

by Divya Sharma

Most writers will tell you that storytelling is something that comes naturally to them. Such is the case of Pathankot resident Amit Babbar, 31, an alumnus of the Department of Communication Studies of Panjab University, Chandigarh.

“I come from a family of storytellers. My father used to tell me stories when I was young,” recalls Amit, who started working as a copywriter with a Chandigarh-based advertising agency during college days. He knew then that the next stop for him would be Mumbai, where he has been working for over seven years now. read article

Peggy Bechko: Writing, Solitude, and Us (Writers)

white-cedar-beamed-ceiling

by Peggy Bechko

Solitude

Yes, that’s the subject for today. A writer can’t worry about being alone. A reader must welcome alone time to be able to read.

Solitude is the sunshine that allows creativity to flourish. In the quiet time your thoughts can take shape and you can focus. You can unwind, face inner demons, reach deep and find out who you really are. I focus more on the writer, but the same applies to the reader. There are times when we simply need to do nothing, to just sit and be, in order to feel the creativity rise up from the depths of cool solitude. Even while you do nothing, you’re doing something. In the stillness lies the kernel of creativity. read article

Carl Charroux: Lessons learned in the entertainment industry…on accident #2

On the Set
by Carl Charroux

Carl_Charroux
In case you can’t tell, Carl’s day job is as an actor. Some guys have all the luck, right?

The Director has one job on the set.

As Harry Callahan said in the 1983 file Sudden Impact- “Make my day.” (Story by Charles B. Pierce and Earl E. Smith, screenplay by Joseph Stinson)
Make their day. This is what Directors are reminded to do ALL DAY, EVERY DAY. This means – they have a number of pages to shoot, within a certain amount of time and in order to stay on budget – they must accomplish this – they must make their day.

To make their day – they have tools they use.
• Location
• Script
• Actors
• Lights
• Sound
• Camera
• Makeup read article