Category: Resources

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

The Two Stages of a Hollywood Soul-Crushing

io9 strikes again!

hollywoodwar

by Daniel Wilson

I remember it clearly. I’m twenty-six years old, pacing around on the phone outside an Ethiopian restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I’m trying to figure out who the guy is on the other end of the line in a polite way, and also to determine exactly how he is trying to scam me. He says that he is my film agent and that Paramount has offered to buy the rights to my book How to Survive a Robot Uprising. A mid five-figure check is coming my way as soon as I say yes. That’s more money than I’ve ever laid hands on in my life. Also, I didn’t know I had a film agent. read article

Leesa Dean: Adventures in Web Series Creation – The Mistake

watch

by Leesa Dean

So, I created, wrote and animated Chilltown (and Lele’s Ratchet Advice Show.) They’re both cartoons for adults (you know, like South Park.)  They’re both pretty wild. Already described how/why I came up with Chilltown. Recently decided to start keeping an online blog describing the ups and downs of releasing a web series, guerilla style.

What this WON’T be, is a blow-by-blow of what it takes to actually promote one. Mainly cause I’m still sorta stumbling through that. What it will be, is stories/vignettes from the front lines. And my life. Every week. read article

Oscar-Nominated Director Benh Zeitlin on Not Waiting For Permission

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD is right up there as one of our favorite films of 2012. Right up there with, oh, MOONRISE KINGDOM.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

by Ariston Anderson

For most people, the idea of making it in Hollywood today involves a ton of backdoor wheeling and dealing, some backstabbing, and an endless fight to step on others to get to the top. read article

Peggy Bechko: Connecting Your Writing With Publishing

Otter

by Peggy Bechko

=&0=& Amazon Kindle   Don’t have a Kindle? Get a free reader for your computer: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311 Self Publishing Manual 2013 Writer’s Market – Kindle Edition

Angry Book Review: The Unoriginal Writer’s Daughter Revisited

Yes, the writer of this review is, well, let’s say “uncharitable” and let it go at that. But we gotta tell you: Where she’s coming from is a golden place. Read and absorb, Young Jedi Writers, for your own sakes:

madmans-daughterby Shana Mlawski

This week, the YA world is abuzz about The Madman’s Daughter, a new piece of historical fiction about the teenage daughter of Dr. Moreau. (Yes, that one.) (Yes, there is a love triangle in it.)

When I first got wind of the title, my mind immediately went back to one of the very first articles I ever wrote for OverthinkingIt.com. (Don’t read it. It’s meh.) In that piece, “The Unoriginal Writer’s Daughter,” I took writers – mainly women writers – to task for continually naming their booksThe Such-and-Such’s Wife and The Such-and-Such’s Daughter. A quick jaunt over to Amazon will show you that this trend is still very much in play today. read article