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Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
- Stuart Max Perelmuter (FAKE ID) is writing the pilot for WGN America’s SHADOW LAND, a drama set in feudal Japan. (Samurai fans have gotta love this one. And writers in general should too – cuz developing this baby is a sign that WGN America means business…and that means yay! a new market for us all.)
- Matt Silverstein & Dave Jeser (AXE COP) have written an untitled sitcom for Fox about brothers from a multi-racial family. (C’mon, Fox, give us a title. Show us how you follow one like AXE COP. Puh-leeze?)
- Kyle Jarrow (INSIDE) is writing the pilot for The CW’s ZE, a drama about a transgender teenager. (And if that doesn’t prove that The CW can do more than just shows about the youths of superheroes, then we don’t know what will. Except, that is, maybe actually broadcasting some non-super shows?)
- Emily Silver (BONES) has sold her script, FINDING CARTER to MTV, which just ordered a pilot. (This is good news for all newbies cuz it turns out that FINDING CARTER was the spec sample that Emily used to get her start in the biz. So there’s hope, gang. Hope for us all!)
- Emmy Grinwis (newb with some indie credits!) is adapting R.L. Stine’s novel Eye Candy into a pilot for MTV. The book’s about a young woman who teams with some cyber-cops to solve a series of murders that may have been committed by a dude she dated. (And another cable entity previously known for not doing scripted fiction enters the arena. We think this is a very good day.)
Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
- Ron Shelton (BULL DURHAM) is developing a new Showtime drama series focused on the L.A. Lakers basketball team. (Cuz Ron also is the genius – for reals – behind WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP, proving he knows all anybody needs to about basketball drama.)
- Stefan Jaworski (THOSE WHO KILL) ) is writing the pilot for FX’s AMERICAN PSYCHO drama series, a sequel to, right, that’s it – the AMERICAN PSYCHO film. (Cuz there aren’t enough TV series about serial killers on the air, and this one’s already got a following.)
- Kerry Ehrin (BATES MOTEL) has written the pilot for an untitled NBC comedy about two women who are partners in the Boston PD. (Serial killers? BATES MOTEL writer? The city that’s home to the Boston Strangler? Guess there aren’t enough serial killer shows on TV after all.)
- Dan Bucatinsky (GREY’S ANATOMY) is adapting his book Does This Baby Make Me Look Straight into a drama for ABC. (Um, this doesn’t sound much like a drama, does it? But then, its first season GREY’S ANATOMY was called a comedy. Soo…)
- Scott King (THE NEIGHBORS) is developing the comedy THE AFTER PARTY for ABC…and, simultaneously, another comedy called CLOTHING OPTIONAL, for Fox. (They’re both about families, but the family for Fox is, um, naked. Works for us.)
Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
- Sheldon Turner (UP IN THE AIR) is developing Fox’s FRAYED, a drama series based on a Dutch miniseries adapted from the novel The Power of Mr. Miller by Charles den Tex. (We love all these Scandinavian series adaptations and are absolutely certain that they’re based on the excellence of their sources. After all, U.S. development execs all speak fluent Dutch, Swedish, Danish, et al, right?)
- Alex Hawley (THE FOLLOWING) is writing the pilot for a drama series about a CIA analyst whose job is to keep the President informed. (We love all these CIA series and are absolutely certain that their existence has nothing to do with any pressure, overt or otherwise, from the CIA. After all, U.S. development execs all love America, right?)
- Patricia Breen (SUBPURGATORY) is writing the women’s prison sitcom DEAD BOSS, based on a British show created by Sharon Horgan & Holly Walsh for Fox. (Yeppers, we love all these wimmin’s prison shows and are absolutely certain that they exist because of the profound significance of their subject matter. After all, U.S. development execs are serious folks with absolutely no desire to engage in any kind of exploitation, right?)
- Naren Shankar (ALMOST HUMAN) is leaving his gig as co-showrunner of that upcoming Fox series and going off to new frontiers. (Oh, how we love those crazy, zany new frontiers. Naren’s gonna have a blast. After all, U.S. development execs would never fire a guy before his show even hit the air, right?)
- Mark Farrell (THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES – WTF?) is the creator/writer of SEED, a Canadian sitcom being ported to The CW and being presented as proof that the U.S. network is fully committed to putting some comedies on the air. (And, in a final burst of expressing our love we direct it now at this last batch of U.S. development execs. After all (as the saying goes), they’re fully cognizant of the fact that U.S. and Canadian senses of humor have proven in the past to be in no way even remotely related, right? And yet they refuse to give up trying cuz…cuz…oh, hell, why the fuck are picking up this show?)
- Michael Schur (PARKS & RECREATION) has extended his Universal Television deal through 2016. (And inasmuch as we lurves P&R we’re, um, thrilled not only for him but for ourselves as viewers.)
Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
- Matt Wheeler (newbie!) is writing the pilot for CBS’ SALVATION, a drama series about an earthwide catastrophe and its aftermath. Which seems fitting inasmuch as the concept was originated by, and will be produced by, those masters of disaster Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci & Peter Lenkov of HAWAII FIVE-) reboot, um, fame.)
- Adam Armus & Nora Kay Foster (XENA) are adapting Danielle Paige’s young adult novel Dorothy Must Die into a series for the CW. (Uh-0h, this is yet another Wizard of Oz-based project. Frank Baum’s lilterary estate must be the masters of high-fives by now.)
- Vijal Patel (TROPHY WIFE) is writing a Fox sitcom pilot about “tiger parents” who regret giving their kids too much confidence. (Maybe somebody can explain what the hell a tiger parent is and why too much self-confidence can be bad? Wonder if the Fox execs even know….)
- Sarah Thorp (THE BOUNTY HUNTER) is writing an as yet untitled drama series about a family that’s being mysteriously stalked for ABC. (No, ABC didn’t put the stalker up to it…or did they?)
- Matt Nix (BURN NOTICE) is thisclose to a pilot order from USA for COMPLICATIONS, his medical drama about a proactive doctor. (Wait, don’t despair. This one could be pretty cool. The doc gets involved in the environmental conditions that cause his patients’ problems. Like, you know, companies that dump dangerous chemicals, gang violence, that kind of thing. This could kick butt – provided the doctor kicks a little butt himself now and then.)
- David Hudgins (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS) just sold an untitled drama about a maverick judge to CBS. (Cuz if there’s one thing CBS adores it’s mavericks. Right, Les M.?)
Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
- J.J.Philbin (NEW GIRL) is adapting Amy Parham’s book 10 Lessons from a Former Fat Girl into a sitcom for NBC. (Gotta admit that the concept of a young woman discovering a whole other side of life because she’s now svelte and, we assume, gorgeous, is a TV natural. Just like the book’s title.)
- Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger (THE NEIGHBORS) are developing the sitcom, FIRST TIMERS, about a young business partner couple (like, you know, Isaac and Elizabeth) for ABC. (Yes, it’s based on the writers’ lives. Yes, it’s a celebration of the problems of success. We should live so long.)
- Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby (CHILDREN OF MEN) are adapting The Expanse, a best- selling novel by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck – under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey – for the Alcon Television Group.(Which hopes to sell this to a network soon so they can afford the outgo for all these writers.)
- Matt Angel (newbie who used Kickstarter to fund a pilot presentation for his show) has sold the sitcom HALF to NBC. (Let that be a lesson to all of us. Kickstarter works…especially if you’re actually talented at what you’re Kickstarting.)
- Joshua Safran (SMASH) has sold the drama SOCIAL CIRCLE, a thriller about a group of college friends who reunite, to ABC. He’s also sold ROYAL, another drama pilot, this one about the ex-wife of a Brit heir to the throne who’s so disgraced that she has to take a gig as a minder for a suicidal addict type. (Whoa, talk about trendy stuff, no wonder Josh keeps getting gigs. Too bad the shows themselves keep bombing…but that’s showbiz, y’know?)