Category: Resources

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

Screenwriting: Don’t Fight The Feeling

Angelo_Bell_films_Captureby Angelo J. Bell

While testing a new registration service, WriteVault, by Stacy Porter and friends, I inadvertently repurposed my logline, going back in time to the BIG idea I had many moons ago in 2010. Back then, I wanted to write something fun, provocative (taking on the drug industry), sexy (gals with guns) and visually stunning — yeah, kick ass CG for everyone!

But as time progressed, and many rewrites were done to conform to what the industry said it was looking for, I felt as if I’d exorcised the life from the project. read article

KISS*

This article first appeared at ComicMix.Com, one of our favorite sites. And although at first glance it doesn’t seem to be about writing…believe us when we say it is.

Spence-Kateby Mindy Newell

Before you read this column today, go watch Spencer Tracy in Father of the Bride or A Guy Named Joe, or Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, or Bad Day At Black Rock, or Adam’s Rib, orJudgment At Nuremberg, orInherit The Wind.

Katherine Hepburn said to Spencer Tracy “you were, really, the greatest movie actor.  I say this because I believe it and I’ve heard so many people of standing in our business say it – from Olivier to Lee Strasberg, David Lean, name it.  You could do it, and you could do it with that glorious simplicity, that directness.”  Elizabeth Taylor said, “His acting seemed almost effortless, it seemed almost as if he wasn’t doing anything, and yet he was doing everything. It came so subtly out of his eyes, every muscle in his face…”  Richard Widmark said “It’s what every actor tries to strive for – to make it so simple, so real that anybody in the audience can say, ‘Oh, I could do that.’” read article

LB Hears You: “I Want to Write for TV. Should I Go To Grad School or to L.A.?”

Glad You Asked Department, 4/29/13

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Yep, my latest attempt to answer your questions so you can be as Enlightened as I am. Oh, wait…

Ah, well, once again into the fray: read article

And TVWriter™ ‘s Must-Visit Websites Are…?

tvwriter.com-fave-sitesPeople keep asking what the TVWriter™ I.S.’s (that’s Indentured Servants, actually) visit when we go interwebbing. Which we do, sure, every once in awhile whenever we get the chance constantly, as a matter of fact.

Each of us has a number of favorite sites, of course, but do you really want to know that munchman lives and dies by what he finds on TMZ and Naughty Alysha ? Yeah, we didn’t think so.

As an entity, though, TVWriter™ has Feedly RSS account that takes our spies writers to the places that we think will mean the most to our visitors in terms of productivity, resources, wacky web memes, that kind of thing. So for those who want to surf with us, here’s a clickable list of faves: read article

In Their Own Writ: Mel Brooks on TV Writing

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“Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin. The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities and have them relate to other characters living with him.

Mel Brooks