Category: Resources

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

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie

red_carpet_entrance_camera_flashes

Chapter 48 – Shooting
by Leesa Dean

After last week’s debacle, we picked ourselves up and got an actor/comedian I’ve worked with a lot to fill in. The new shoot’s on Sunday, we’re rehearsing this evening and I’m pretty psyched. He always delivers plus is ultra reliable and a nice guy. That always wins the the race. So, although I’ll be missing part of the red carpet of the Oscars, it’s cool to be actually working towards making my dreams come true then vs. sitting around and watching other people live their’s out (though it is fun to either drool over or mock the outfits; yes, I’m DVR’ing it).

Meanwhile, this week I’ve been in mini-film school. Been doing the camera workshop and it’s been great! Classes on camera technique, lighting, audio, composition, production. And tomorrow we do an all day shoot. We paired up (there are 8 people in the class) and last night, each team put together a script. I was partnered with Tara, who seems really cool and we seem to have the same sensibility (she works for Complex Mag). She & I put together an Oscar’s red carpet parody. We’re shooting in Union Square Park and already, mostly, have picked the locations. We have our shot list and I’m bringing some props.

Early tomorrow morning, we arrive at DCTV (where the classes are held), pick up our kits (we’re each getting a camera, tripod and wireless laveliers), jump on the subway and have about 4 hours to shoot. As part of our parody, we’re getting people on the street interviews so I hope we can some to be on camera. Luckily, the temperature’s supposed to be warmer (40 degrees) than it has been the past few days (it’s in the teens today!) and there’s no snow expected. read article

What You Need to Know About Getting A New Agent or Manager

The Bitter Script Reader offers some sage advice on how to choose…erm, advisors?

How to Vet a Potential Agent or Manager

by The Bitter Script Reader

Winnowing riceI often get asked for advice about pursuing agents and managers.  A lot of the questions I get revolve around how to get an agent to read your work.  It’s not often I get asked questions that deal with the scenario of “I’ve caught him, now what do I do with him?”

So let’s say a potential rep likes your work and calls you in for a meeting.  What now?  The most important thing to remember is that it might not always be best to go with the first agent or manager to show interest.  Not all agents and managers are created equal, and if you’re selecting someone with that much power over your career, it’s pretty damn important to determine if they’re right for you. read article

MINDY NEWELL: WHO’S THE REAL YOU WHEN YOU’RE WRITING?

Avatars! Can’t write with ’em, can’t write without ’em. Do you create characters who act as avatars for your personal point of view? Do you do it without making them simpering strawmen? Well, just to make sure:

faceyourmanga-mngWho’s the Real You When You’re Writing?
by Mindy Newell

“Whenever there is a decline of righteousness and rise of unrighteousness then I send forth Myself.”
—Lord Krishna to Prince Arjuna,The Bhagavadgita (Song of God)

Sanskrit in origin, and a central principle of the Hindu religion, an avatar is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the incarnation of a deity in human or animal form to counteract an evil in the world.  A central principle of Hinduism, it usually refers to 10 appearances of Vishnu, including an incarnation as the Buddha Gautama and the Buddha yet to come, called Kalkin.” read article

This Could be Our Favorite TV Blog

nc-17We’re talking about From the North, an examination of all sorts of fascinating UK TV bits by Keith Telly Topping.

Make that an “eccentric examination.” This blog is so wonderfully personal that it makes our head spin. Take this recent paragraph about DOCTOR WHO, for example:

Yer actual Peter Capaldi his very self surprised attendees of a BBC Worldwide event on Monday, when he turned up on stage in his recently unveiled Doctor Who costume. The actor emerged from the TARDIS (not the real one, obviously, because that would have been against all the laws of God and man) and spoke, briefly, with presenter Graham Norton at the annual showcase taking place in Liverpool. The twelfth-that’s-really-fourteenth incarnation of The Doctor sports a dark blue Crombie coat with red lining, dark blue trousers, a white shirt and black Doctor Martens boots. Of the outfit – created by costume designer Howard Burden – Peter said: ‘He’s woven the future from the cloth of the past. Simple, stark, and back to basics. No frills, no scarf, no messing, just one hundred per cent Rebel Time Lord.’ read article

Cheating Could Lead to Better Creativity

We knew this:

some-simpson-kidby Whitson Gordon

A recent study found that cheating and creativity have a lot in common: in fact, cheating may actually increase your creativity.P

The study, published in Psychological Science, performed five different experiments in which participants performed various tasks, with an opportunity to over-report their performance. Those who cheated performed more creatively on subsequent tasks, even when accounting for individual differences in creativity.