Tag: Larry Brody

TVWriter™ Talks to WALKING DEAD Writer-Producer Curtis Gwinn

Curtis-Gwinn30-something “child” that he is, Curtis Gwinn has an IMDB page that many of us would, um, kill for. He writes and produces both comedy and drama and has extensive experience with broadcast, cable, and interweb TV. He even acts too, but we forgive him.

Oh, right, he’s also an alumnus of TVWriter™ ‘s Online Workshop and a former People’s Pilot Contest competitor. We forgive him for that as well. (But will he forgive us?)

Curtis’s biggies include THE WALKING DEAD, where he is Supervising Producer, NTSF:SD:SUV, ANIMAL PRACTICE (aka “The Monkey Show”), THE ONION NEWS NETWORK, and THE MAN SHOW. read article

LB: My Foray into Teaching College Screenwriting Part 2

Glad You Asked Department 5/13/13

question_ditkoTwo weeks ago I answered the question, “Should I go to grad school or to L.A. as the next step to getting into the TV writing biz?”

And I followed that last week with the first part of the answer to a related query, “Why do you hate television writing programs so much?”

I said then that “my personal experience so far is that only about 20% of the programs meet my criteria” and went on and on about my one positive experience in the college TV writing arena, when I taught TV and film writing at The College of Santa Fe twenty – yikes! – years ago. read article

Inside Amazon’s Super-Weird, American Idol-Style TV Series Development Process

TVWriter™ is still trying to figure out whether Amazon.Com’s “Hey, kids, wanna create your own TV show for us?” is real, P.R., or both. And we aren’t the only ones:

amazonby Stephanie Carrie

Amazon’s new production arm, Amazon Studios, is right now breaking new ground by premiering 14 scripted pilots and having the public help decide who will get series orders. But its avant-garde development process goes deeper than that.

Amazon’s original programming execs, Sarah Babineau and Joe Lewis, bought some finished scripts that had made the rounds at other networks in previous years but gone unpurchased. Others they bought from unknowns who submitted their full scripts through Amazon’s call for submissions on its website. From first-time TV writers to Academy Award-nominated veterans, Amazon gave many of its creators unprecedented freedom in casting, crew, content and production. read article

John Ostrander: Comics Writing Lessons from Shakespeare

FROM THE EDITOR: And they definitely work for television and film too:

Ostrander_Shakespeareby John Ostrander

When asked my influences, I invariably add William Shakespeare which may seem a bit pompous. Shakespeare? Really? (Aside: this column is not going to deal with the whole “Who Really Was Shakespeare?” debate. If you want to believe someone other than Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s play, you go ahead. It’s not germane and, frankly, I’ve read as much on the subject as I care to and so far as I’m concerned, Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s plays. End of discussion.) Please note I am not comparing myself toShakespeare; simply that I’ve learned some things about writing from him.

Such as: read article

John McCain Wants to Save Us from Our Cable Providers

Now? Now that Zero TV households are increasing and cablecos are starting to panic? Whazzup, John? What do you really have in mind?

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl - Navy v Arizona State

Pay No Heed to John McCain’s TV Unbundling Bill
by Year2

AArizona senator John McCain made some headlines yesterday when he announced that he will introduce a bill that, among other things, would force pay television providers to offer channels a la carte. This announcement qualifies as news around here now that the SEC is a major partner in a TV network. read article