Tag: online TV writing workshop

Did You Know that ‘Smilf’ Started as a Short Film?

Believe it or not, not only was an earlier version of this season’s latest breakthrough TV series a short film, it is far from the only show that started that way. Who says your short script has to be an end in itself?

ALTERNATE ROUTES: Using Short Films to Develop Your Stories
by Marty Lang

Every now and then, I’m lucky enough to find a movie or television show with a new storytelling voice that blows me away. I had a moment like that last week when I watched the pilot of the new Showtime series SMILF. The half-hour dramedy, written, directed and produced by lead actress Frankie Shaw (MR. ROBOT), is a hilarious, fearless story about a single mother in South Boston, and her struggles to balance motherhood, family, career and a fulfilling sex life. It really hit me as something with a singular vision.

After digging online, I was surprised to learn that SMILF started as a short film. Shaw also wrote, directed and starred in the short, which tells the story of a single mom trying to have sex with her boyfriend – while her baby sleeps next to them in the same bed. The film won the 2015 Short Film Jury Award at Sundance, which got Showtime’s attention, leading to the show. And it all came from Shaw taking matters into her own hands. read article

9 Series Bosses on the Challenges of Rebooting Beloved Properties

This is worthwhile reading, even if you’re one of those (erm, kind of like this TVWriter™ minion), who’s anti-reboot. Because in this business you just might encounter a situation where you can make a shit ton of $$$ by doing something you don’t like. (Gasp!?)

by Craig Tomashoff

There’s no clear consensus about the origins of the phrase ‘Everything old is new again.’ But whoever coined it must surely have been working as a television programming executive at the time. This season’s schedule — filled with a wide variety of reboots, sequels, and spinoffs that have taken previously popular shows and updated them for a 2017 audience — is all the proof you need. Producers, showrunners, and stars share the challenges and changes they faced when it came to getting these born-again series on the air. read article

Larry Brody’s Poetry: ‘Meeting With the New Kid Hollywood’

NOTE FROM LB

I met Steve McQueen back in the late 1960s. OK, I didn’t exactly meet him, but we interacted. I was stuck in an unmoving lane on the Hollywood Freeway, and with nothing else to do I glanced over at the car to my left and saw an equally unmoving Steve McQueen, tapping on his windshield. read article

TVWriter™ Don’t-Miss Posts of the Week – November 27, 2017

Good morning! Time for TVWriter™’s  Monday look at our most popular blog posts of the week ending yesterday. They are, in order:

‘Longmire’ Proves Hard to Kill read article

Happy Thanksgiving from TVWriter™!

Grant Snider makes another appearance this week at TVWriter™ to express our feelings about the holiday weekend far better than we ever could ourselves:

Welcome to TV Thanksgiving

And, with that bit of genuine emotion out of the way it’s time for a quick look into Thanksgiving as portrayed on TV! read article