Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 11/22/12

Showbiz Secret Number Three: There is no Showbiz Secret Number Three

  • Nina Colman (DR. DOOLITTLE 3) is writing the pilot for BOOK CLUB, the CW’s adaptation of Hope Harman’s documentary about a young woman who starts a book club in New York (because the CW thinks its teen audience will go gaga over reading? What?).
  • Peter Calloway (BROTHERS & SISTERS) is writing the pilot for MTV’s adaptation of Gwenda Bond’s novel Blackwood, about a bunch of supernatural weirdness (because Kelsey Grammer’s company is producing and supernatural anything is hot now, don’tcha know?).
  • Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick (ZOMBIELAND) are writing the pilot for HBO’s OUR FATHER, a drama about a “powerful pastor” who “fights to rediscover faith and connect with his family” (because God always opens well in middle America, where HBO’s audience is weakest, so…).
  • Ryan Murphy’s (LAST RESORT) adaptation of Larry Kramer’s play The Normal Heart has died as a feature film project but is now at HBO as a miniseries (because dead big screen projects by writers whose most recent series was just cancelled just say “Big Winner” all over ’em, right?).

How Many Shows Have You Seen That Were Cancelled Before They Ever Appeared?

Um, probably none, right? Writer Stephen Falk wishes he could say the same thing. But instead we’ll just have to appreciate his insight and learn from his experience:

Stephen Falk is executive producer of WEEDS & showrunner of REVOLUTION. Are either of those still on the air?

Advice To Young TV Writers (but really: What Happened To My NBC Show) – by Stephen Falk

Hey, you aspiring TV writers. It’s a hard job to crack into, but if you’re good enough and driven enough, it will happen for you. Don’t give up!

For if you work hard enough, someday you too may work on your own show for a year — from pitch to outline to script to pilot to the triumph of being picked up to series: the Golden Ticket. Then you might move across the country to actually make the show, hire a hundred actors and writers and crew members, and then in the middle of editing the 4th episode, get your show abruptly cancelled via late-night Friday phone call from Los Angeles. Then the fun part: you get to walk in shock back to your office — abandoning the confused editor waiting to lock the episode — and personally call all the actors and writers and crew and inform them the proverbial plug has been pulled and they no longer have a job, sorry. You will talk them through the tears and confusion — attempt to ameliorate the soon-to-be full-blown PTSD taking root already in them, all the while pre-knowing yours will go untreated and indeed sneak up on you weeks later. Do you clean out your office now? Do you wait — ? Shit! But first you better go see about that one prop for episode 5 you had to approve — oh, yeah. None of that matters. Everything has stopped. This is the moment after the 10.0 earthquake. Suddenly, nothing is the same. You don’t have a show anymore. Twenty minutes ago it was what took up 17 hours of your day. 24 hours of your mental real estate. It literally doesn’t exist anymore. The frozen people of Vesuvius had more warning than you did. read article

Top 10 Essentials to a Writer’s Life

Erik Larson (In the Garden of Beasts) writes bestsellers, but we forgive him:

by Erik Larson

1. Good Coffee: Every writer has a ritual that begins the day. It’s like turning a key to start your car. For me, the key that starts the day is a good cup of coffee, preferably Peet’s Coffee. read article

See the DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL Prequel: Here! Now!

That’s right. The whole bloomin’ thang! (How’s that for crossing our accents?)

Hey, we’re talking Strax! Vastra! Jenny! And the new girl AKA Companion Clara. Who could ask for more? read article

Hey, Kids, It’s TV Network Apocalypse Time!

Aha! The world is going to end this year. Just not in the way we expected:

So here’s the deal. According to Toni Fitzgerald of MediaLife, broadcast viewing is continuing its slide. With the exception of NBC, which is up 23% in the ratings so far this season, the broadcast networks are down a total of 11% among adults 18-49. (Ooh, that’s TVWriter™’s demo. We’re so damn significant!) read article