Tag: Hart Hanson

Kelly Jo Brick: The Write Path with Michael Peterson

A series of interviews with hard-working writers – by another hard-working writer!

by Kelly Jo Brick

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Aspiring writers often wonder how the pros got where they are. The truth is, everyone’s story is different, but there are some common elements: dedication, persistence and hard work.

Michael Peterson moved to L.A. with the goal of being involved in film, initially leaning toward directing. Once in California, he began writing features with his brother. Although several projects sold, none were ever made. At his wife’s suggestion, he transitioned to television and found the collaboration and camaraderie of the writers’ room more suited for him. Michael’s first TV show was BONES where through the years he has risen from staff writer to showrunner. read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 10/2/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green (THE SOPRANOS) are writing the pilot for NBC’s PARK ROAD, a U.S. version of a Danish black comedy about, well, let’s just say it has a few SOPRANOS elements of the kind we all love.  (Here’s hoping that this retains more of the comedy of the early seasons of THE SOPRANOS cuz, you know, fun.)
  • Adam Armus & Kay Foster (THE FOLLOWING) have written the pilot for ODYSSEY, a global conspiracy thriller for NBC. (And thank God for that “global” part. We mean, who cares about a conspiracy on say, your block? Those things just never work.)
  • Jeff Astrof (GROUNDED FOR LIFE) & Bill Lawrence (COUGAR TOWN) have sold MIDDLESENCE, a family comedy, to CBS. (This deal came about because of an already existing relationship between Bill and CBS. Jeff Astrof was brought in later…which is how it works in this biz, kids. So odn’t just sit there, make friends!)
  • Jill Gordon (THE SECRET LIVES OF WIVES) is writing an untitled Bravo dramedy about a family that takes justice into its own hands when its matriarch is murdered. (Yeppers, there’s nothing like a good vigilante show to make folks snicker. You suppose Bravo’s research backs that up?)
  • Hart Hanson (BONES) is writing THE GOOD THIEF’S GUIDE, based on a bestselling series of books by Chris Ewan about a thief who blogs about his adventures around the world. (Does the idea of bestselling books about a blogger sound sort of out-of-time to you? We’re having trouble wrapping our heads around it…unless these are ebooks. Hmm…)
  • Bruno Heller (THE MENTALIST) is adapting/creating/writing/whatever Fox’s GOTHAM, a drama about Gotham City’s Police Commissioner in the days before Batman. (Yup, we’re talking about a series about a young James Gordon here. And we mean series – it’s been given a series greenlight without a pilot or a script, just because…comics. Wonder what Fred Wertham would have to say about that.)

The One Film Every New TV Writer Must See

…And it wouldn’t hurt the film types either.

Some showrunner type you may have heard of – Damon Lindelof of LOST

If you want to know what it’s really like to toil in the diamond mines of episodic television, run, do not walk, to SHOWRUNNERS, a documentary that tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Directed by Des Doyle, the full-length film features the most powerful cast of superstar TV showrunners this side of, oh, Venus, including: read article