Category: TV Writing Deals

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/25/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
  •  James Yoshimura (HOMICIDE, TREME) is joining HOMELAND as a writer and consulting producer. (The “consulting producer” thing probably means some other writer’s deal on the show kept the studio from giving him Exec Prod. credit, but he needed the gig and took it this way instead.)
  • Billy Ray (THE HUNGER GAMES) has a deal with Universal to write the script for its MUMMY remake. (Nope, this isn’t a TV deal, but we do want y’all to know how showbiz in general works. The MUMMY project already has a screenwriter, Jon Spaithts (PROMETHEUS), but the studio is putting a competing screenplay into work because they’re such treacherous bastards you never know how well anyone’s script will come out.)
  • If  you know Zooey Deschanel and haven’t yet hit on her for a gig, now’s the time – especially if you’re a writer. Ms. D and her company just signed a development deal with 20th Century Fox TV, which means they’ll be looking for projects. (This has been a public service announcement. But don’t be shy. We’ll be glad to take 10% if you make a deal.)
  • Chris & Paul Weitz (AMERICAN PIE, ABOUT A BOY) are writing and producing the pilot for REAMDE as a TV series for Fox, based on Neal Stephenson’s book of the same name. (Because God forbid that a television writer should get the television writing gig on a property that probably cost so much to buy. Those TV guys can’t be trusted, y’know. Especially with, um, TV.)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/22/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • George R.R. Martin (GAME OF THRONES) has signed an overall deal with HBO to continue on THRONES and also develop and produce new series. (We admit it. We love this guy. Everything he writes perfectly justifies our, you know, paranoia worldview.)
  • Want to write an animated TV series based on FarmVille? (We didn’t think so, but if you do, have your peeps get in touch with Brett Ratner’s peeps cuz he’s all gung-ho about such a project and doesn’t have a writer – or network – for it yet.)
  • Justin Herber & Adam Hoff (no credits, which is cool) are writing the pilot for THE EDGE, a thriller type drama about dark goings-on at a hot financial institution for USA. (Music legend John Legend looks like the guy who made the deal…but he doesn’t have any TV credits either, does he?)
  • Frank Spotnitz (THE X-FILES) is adapting Philip K. Dick’s muy heavy novel The Man in the High Castle into a Syfy TV film. (We know Frank’s a Big Writing Gun, but how do you get good science fiction past the Syfy Gateskeepers of Crap? Even with Ridley Scott on board to produce?)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/13/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
  •  Roseanne Barr (don’t try to pretend you don’t know who she is) has signed a development deal with NBC, although we don’t know if she’ll put on her writing hat.  (Hey, don’t be sad. The network wanted her to play a part on THE OFFICE and this is just part of her payment. Oh, wait, maybe we should be very sad.)
  • Lena Dunham & Jenni Konner (both of ROBOTS GIRLS) are writing an HBO pilot based on Betty Halbreich’s upcoming memoir All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go,  about the trials and tribulations of a Bergdorf Goodman personal shopper. (Yeppers, it’s a fact of life that all HBO subscribers know all about that particular store and even what personal shoppers are. Maybe they even all have them. America, we love you.)
  • Speaking of books, Nathan Bransford’s new book, Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp is coming out this week, and we’re going way out on a limb to recommend that everybody read this latest installment in his Jacob Wonderbar series.  (Who knows? Maybe he’ll get a TV deal out of it, and we can move into the limelight and claim it’s all because of us. Yeah, we’re adorable that way, hmm?)
  • And, speaking of people who don’t write TV,  MTV has named Mina Lefevre, formerly of ABC Family, head of scripted  programming. If you know Mina, you should give her a call and start pitching. If you don’t know her, you should find a way to wangle a meeting and start pitching. (And if you’re Mina herself, you should start writing your own stuff cuz then you’ll get TVWriter™’s ultimate honor: We’ll put your name in bold the next time we mention it here.

Aha, we knew there was something else. In honor of the fact that we think Nathan Bransford and Jacob Wonderbar are both way cool, here’s the trailer for the new book:

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 2/11/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
  •  Moira Walley-Beckett (BREAKING BAD) is writing an unnamed Starz drama pilot about the gritty, dark side of…ballet? (C’mon, ya gotta love the switch. Ya gotta…unless, of course, you don’t.)
  • Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (both of SKYFALL) are writing the pilot and, we suppose, more for BARBARELLA, currently being readied for international syndication. (Yeppers, it’s that BARBARELLA. Yippee!)
  • Bryan Cranston (actor – BREAKING BAD) has a first-look deal with Sony to develop and produce new series…and then star in them. (Once upon a time this kind of thing was reserved for writers. But, well, we’re all writers now…right?)
  • Rashida Jones & Will McCormack (CELESTE & JESSE FOREVER) have a deal with Warner Brothers Television to develop, write, and produce their own TV projects there. (Yes, she’s the actress from PARKS AND RECREATION. We toldja everybody’s a writer now.)

Survival of the Fittest Dept – TV Production Deals for 2/1/13

writer-producersLatest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are – Because Their Pilots are Being Made

  •  Hannah Shakespeare (Sofia Vergara’s friend) is developing KILLER WOMEN, a “soapy procedural” about a female Texas Ranger for ABC. (Yes, MODERN FAMILY star Vergara is the producer and ABC wants to keep her happy.  ‘Tis how it goes, kids.)
  • Kyle Killen (AWAKE) is in charge of another ABC drama pilot called INFLUENCE, about an agency that solves problems by using “the science of human motivation and manipulation.” (What? This makes the heroes seem kinda sleazy and unethical to you? Grow up!)
  • David Shore (HOUSE) has a go for a third ABC pilot, DOUBT, about an ex-cop turned attorney who occasional takes time off from fighting with his ex-wife to help a client. (Wow, this sounds so familiar that it’s almost welcome. Don’tcha love TV?)
  • Kass Morgan’s (RAISING HOPE) THE HUNDRED, about a spaceship containing the last remnants of humanity – 100 juvenile delinquents – is a go to pilot at the CW.  (Um…where else? Huh?)
  • Elizabeth Craft & Sarah Fain (both of 666 PARK AVENUE and THE VAMPIRE DIARIES) are supplying The CW with SELECTION, about a romance 300 years in the future. (A future where teens play HUNGER GAMES type, um, games to see who becomes – wait for it – queen. Yikes!)
  • Sera Gamble (SUPERNATURAL) scored with a Navy drama called COMPANY TOWN, which will also be made for the CW. (We’re having a tough time picturing teenage admirals, but maybe that’s just us?)