The key to successfully writing for television is to remember that it is primarily a storytelling medium. All other considerations are secondary.
No one in TV is crazy enough to say that character and dialog don’t matter, but the truth is they don’t matter AS MUCH as story.
The Writers Guild of America Awards winners were announced last night in a virtual ceremony online, and, man there were a lot of them.
No, we’re not being snarky, we’re being honest. Similarly, we’re being honest when we say that all the nominated scripts were superbly written by true artists, and the winners were, when you get down to it, just a teeny-weeny bit moreso.
For all practical purposes, teleplays come in three formats. There’s one-hour film, half-hour film, and half-hour tape.
The hour film format is used for dramas, action shows, and primetime soaps. It looks a lot like typical screenplay format.
One of the most talented writer-directors in the world talks about one of his greatest works, The Grand Budapest Hotel. Settle back and enjoy while you’re learning.
One of the things that keeps viewers viewing is a constant increase in the dramatic tension of a teleplay.
That means you have to do more than just drop your hero or heroine into a jam and then help him or her get out of it. You’ve got to keep piling on the woe.