Category: TV Writing Deals

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/20/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
by munchman

  • Jessie Eisenberg (THE REVISIONIST – a play) has sold a short story collection,  Bream Gives Me Hiccups: And Other Stories to Grove Atlantic. (And you thought the Jessman was just another nerdy pretty face, no? Hey, baby, take it from the muncher – star power sells.)
  • Gillian Flynn (GONE GIRL) is adapting the British thriller drama series UTOPIA for HBO. (Cuz she has a hot indie film and a deal already in place at HBO which makes her the perfect choice. Especially that last bit – the deal already in place. Hey, peeps were asking why I’ve been so positive lately so I’ve gotta squash that, you know? Wouldn’t wanna ruin me rep.)
  • Sarah Schecter (Warner Brothers production exec) is the new head person at Berlanti Productions. (Which means that if you know her, use her! Cuz that, friends and neighbors is the heart and soul of that wonderful little thang called showbiz!)
  • Frank DeJohn & David Alton Hedges (2013 Nicholl Fellowship Winners) are writing a Lifetime movie about “Jesus’ early life and formative years.” (And you betcha ole’ muncher can talk trash about this one. But won’t. Except to point out that this is another wonderful example of showbiz in action. Hire award-winning, high-style writers to churn out some “Young Jesus” or “Jesus: The Lost Years” trash. Welcome to TV, Frank and David!)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/18/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
by munchman

  • Neil Gaiman‘s novel Anansi Boys is being made into a BBC miniseries. Although Neil wrote a screenplay for a movie version that fell through a few years ago, no writer has been set yet for the TV version. (Me! Me! See my hand up in the air? See it? Look closer, dammit! Look!)
  • Dan O’Shannon (MODERN FAMILY) is leaving his Exec Prod gig on that series to start slaving away in a 3 year overall deal with CBS TV Studios. munchman and TVWriter™ will be looking forward to everything that this very funny guy comes up with during his CBS stint. (And you should be calling your representative to see about replacing him on MF cuz you know in your heart you’re just as funny, right? Or almost, anyway.)
  • Daniel Brocklehurst (UK version of SHAMELESS) is developing Hannah Fidell‘s feature, A TEACHER, into a drama series at HBO. (And munchie’s absolutely positive he’s gonna live this one cuz “The series centers on a high school teacher in her late 20?s in the midst of a torrid affair with one of her students.” Tastelessness and political incorrectness rule!)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/14/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are=&0=& Regina Hicks & Karin Gist (nope, Yers Trooly has no idea who they are) are writing DRUMLINE: A NEW BEAT, a sequel to DRUMLINE (um, not the New Beat, it seems) as a TV movie for VH1. (And it’s going to star Nick Cannon again! Ooh! Well, better Nick than his diva wife whatsername anyway.) Andre & Maria Jacquemetton (MAD MEN) are adapting the comic book DMZ into a drama series at Syfy. (Another hit in the making! After all, who can resist a future in which Manhattan is the demilitarized zone in a future post civil war – yeppers, a new one, not that business with Abe Lincoln and all – ? Still, ya gotta wonder. How much more chewy comic book goodness can TV audiences that aren’t as nutso as some of us take?)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/12/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are=&0=&Speaking of science fiction, Todd Slavkin & Darren Schwimmer (SMALLVILLE) are showrunning Syfy’s upcoming supernatural type series, DOMINION. (So if you know ’em, it’s definitely time to take these boys to lunch. Oh, hell, even if you don’t know em!) Timothy Patrick McLanahan (evidently a newb) is suing Tom Cruise, Brad Grey and all the production companies and studios involved in the making of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PATROL for, you know, “copyright infringement.” (Which our favorite copyright attorney tells me is exactly the wrong thing to do even if the facts favor Tim cuz there’s a statutory damages limitation on on that particular allegation and legal costs start at fifty gs. Go for more gold, Timmy. C’mon, give the Man real hell!

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/10/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are=&0=&Chris Moynihan (MAN UP) is writing the ABC pilot SAINT FRANCIS, about a no-nonsense Long Island cop who “butts heads with the modern, liberal world when his…” unmarried sister gets pregnant. (Yes, friends and neighbors, this kind of archaic dog doo passes as new and original to the great thinkers running network TV development. Don’t get yrs trly started on this…no, don’t, I mean it….) Frank Spotnitz (THE X-FILES) is the new showrunner of TRANSPORTER: THE SERIES, a French series that’s coming to TNT this fall. (It’s based on the popular French film franchise of the same name – well, without the “The Series” part, and this guy here (that would be me) is really looking forward to it. But what do I know?) Neil Gaimon’s novel American Gods is being developed as a TV series by FremantleMedia North America, which is cause for all of us to shout “Hallelulah!” cuz…masterpiece, right? (No writer’s been set yet, so if you think you’re qualified it’s time to get on the horn. Invite Neil to dinner. Kiss up. Show the genius a really good time…and then, when you’re set, don’t forget to talk up your pal munchie. I know I can count on you!)