Dude nails it…again:
by Ken Levine
Here’s a Saturday question. It’s like a Friday question except the question itself is longer than the answer….
From Josh:
Category: Resources
40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.
IT’S NOT YOUR FATHER’S BOOB TUBE ANYMORE
Comic Mix is a comic book site with lots of inside info. But although we love comics, what really draws us to it are the columnists. No matter what medium you write for, this post by Mike Gold, for example, is a gem:
by Mike Gold
It just started to snow out here in the Atlantic Northeast. I got the mandatory robo-call from our mayor telling us the world is coming to its end. There’s just enough white stuff on the ground for a 1980s yuppie to slip into a twitchy nostalgic daze. Going outside would be stupid: people out here don’t know how to drive on snow, and they act as though a little bit of snow is a sign from their lord telling them they’re going to hell. Which, given the fact this is snow and not hot hail, seems oxymoronic.
I’d give up and just watch television, but I really haven’t enjoyed daytime television since Phil Donohue got liquored up and threated to bite Mike Douglas’s balls off, and besides, odds are in favor of my losing power for at least a while. The good news is, I’ve got lots of stuff on my iPad – including work – and I can recharge that in my car. The better news is, pretty soon we’ll all have access to a lot more fun stuff.
Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie
Chapter 43 – The Shoot, Part 1
by Leesa Dean
So did the first shoot on the TOP SECRET PROJECT and it turned out really well. This was not the one featuring the celeb (that one’s this Sunday!!) and I specifically wanted to use this one kinda like a test run, to get the feel of the place, the mix of the crew, etc. It all worked.
I arrived the same time as the talent and second shooter, about ten minutes before our allotted time. I’m one of those people that’s always on time, early even (yes, not so chic), so having them arrive promptly just instantly de-stressed me. Aside from lateness kinda driving me nuts, I’m footing the bill for studio time so it was a relief to not have to worry about that. And believe me, until you’re in it, you really don’t know how people will act.
For the talent, I ended up casting a guy I met at a YouTube event who’s a rapper/producer and just happened to have the look I wanted. At the YouTube event, we worked together on a sketch and really hit it off. He really looks good on film, I thought he was naturally funny and decided to give him a shot. It paid off. He killed it.
Investors don’t want to meet you. They want to be introduced to you.
Feel entrepreneurial? Have the greatest TV/interweb production idea since the last greatest idea? Then you’re ready to play Meet the Investors. But are they ready to meet you?
by Jason Freedman
I remember when I first started fundraising for my first company, my investor network was pretty weak. Not only did I not know many investors, I also didn’t really know how to pitch them.
I‘d basically take any meeting I could with any investor at any time. I went to conferences, meet-ups, pitch competitions. Every investor was an opportunity for an elevator pitch. I was doing whatever I could, trying everything to succeed. I figured this it what it took. This was hustle.
John Ostrander: Bad Boys, Bad Boys
by John Ostrander
I was watching perhaps my favorite new TV show of the season, The Blacklist, last Monday. James Spader’s Raymond “Red” Reddington exacts a fierce revenge on those who wronged him. Reddington has done terrible things throughout the series and yet I find myself drawn to him, even rooting for him. I doubt that I’m the only one.
It’s not the first time for me. There was James Gandolfini in The Sopranos and, to an even greater extent, Michael Chiklis in The Shield. Who is the real center of The Dark Knight – Christian Bales’ Batman or Heath Ledger’s Joker? It’s a tradition that goes back a long way – the most interesting character in Shakespeare’s Othello isn’t the title character but Iago, the great and cunning villain of the play.