Tag: online TV writing workshop

ER’s Creator-Showrunner John Wells Puts His Money Where His Credits Are

If you’re a budding TV and film writer looking for the best place to learn your craft, we’ve got good news for ya. John Wells, of ER, The West Wing, Shameless, et al, has your back:

John Wells & some actor he’s worked with now and again

by Greg Evans

John Wells, the writer, director & producer behind such TV classics as ER, The West Wing and Shameless, has endowed a “significant gift” to the USC School of Cinematic Arts Division of Writing for Screen & Television.

Reflecting the gift, the division will now be called the John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television. Wells is a USC School of Cinematic Arts alumnus.

“I’ve been very fortunate in my career, a career that would not have been possible without the USC School of Cinematic Arts,” Wells said. “It’s where I learned to write, where I learned to produce, where I learned how to direct. My career would not have been possible without my time at USC and without the many wonderful professors who gave unselfishly of their time and expertise.” read article

Ethics in TV Storytelling from ClexaCon

A Report on ClexaCon, Part 1
by Kathryn Graham

When you sit down to write a story, have you ever thought about whether or not you’re telling it ethically? I don’t mean does it have a lesson at the end. I mean, do you think about your characters, who you’re depicting, and if you might hurt real live people in tangible ways if you screw it up? I mean, is that really a thing? It’s ‘just a story’, after all.

The panelists at ClexaCon’s Ethics in Storytelling panel have a lot to say about that, and they’re here to help you make better decisions in your stories (and just be really damn smart in the process). read article

John Ostrander: Talking The Talk

by John Ostrander

So you had a story idea and you’ve worked it up into a plot. The characters are defined, you know who is doing what, the twists and turns and even the theme.

Now you have to put words into everyone’s mouths or, more precisely, into their word balloons. For some would-be writers, that’s where the wheels come off. How do you write dialogue? More importantly, how do you write good dialogue?

Let’s start with a basic: all dialogue is action. No one just speaks: they cajole, they explain, they confirm, they deny, they confront, they exalt, they exult, they attack, they defend, they lie and so on.  It is an active transitive verb. When a character speaks, they are doing something or attempting to do something. What’s important is not what the character is saying but what the character is doing or trying to do when they speak.  What does the character want, what goals are they trying to achieve? In short, what drives them? What is their motivation? What do they need? Not just want – need. read article

Kate G Sees THIS IS US – Season Finale

by Kathryn Graham

This entire season of This is Us has had a theme running throughout – obligations to loved ones vs. personal desires. Last night the show faced the issue head on.

We all compromise with the people closest to us, but what happens when you sacrifice too much? read article

Writers Guild Strike, Anyone?

NOTE FROM LB: Negotiations regarding a new Writers Guild of America (both West and East) contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (all the major networks and studios) began yesterday. Here’s an informative breakdown of what it’s all about…as in what’s at stake here (a lot for both them and, yeah, us.)

by David Robb

Negotiations for a new WGA film and TV contract get underway Monday, and if the two sides fail to reach an agreement in a couple of weeks, expect a rush to get film scripts completed in anticipation of a strike come May 1, when the union’s current contract expires. read article