Tag: online TV writing workshop

Now THIS is a TV Review!

 EDITOR’S NOTE: Nobody here at TVWriter™ knows Shane Barnes, the writer of the following review, but we’re all big fans. For those of you who’ve been inquiring about writing for the site, particularly those who’ve been wanting to write TV reviews, we’re presenting this recent Shane Barnes classic as an example of the kind of thing we’re looking for.

And Shane, if you see this, please give us a holler. We want to praise you to the skies and then make you an insulting employment offer. You know, just like real-life showbiz.

Anyway: read article

Here’s Why More Writers are Turning to TV than Film Writing

Short answer: TV writing employs more people and pays better. But you probably want specifics, so:

Once upon a time, the term "golden age" referred to quality. But in today's economy, who's got time to worry about that?
Once upon a time, the term “golden age” referred to quality. But in today’s economy, who’s got time to worry about that?

WGA West Annual Report Shows “Golden Age of TV” Continues for Writers
by Jonathan Handel

The WGA West’s latest annual report, released Tuesday, provides continued good news for television writers, along with a smidgen of hope for feature writers as well — but an analysis by The Hollywood Reporter of almost a quarter-century’s worth of WGAW data underscores just how completely the 1990s surge of independent cinema has transformed into a new golden age of television

From 1992 through 2006, aggregate TV and theatrical earnings for the WGAW’s members were roughly equal. That changed after the 2007-08 WGA strike, and THR’s review shows that the two industries have trod very different paths since then. Aggregate TV earnings have nearly doubled since the walkout, rising from $462.5 million in 2008 to a THR-estimated $859 million last year. Meanwhile, theatrical earnings, which spiked to $526.6 million in 2007 as studios stockpiled in advance of the strike and slumped to $375.1 the year after, trended slowly down for several years and have gradually increased since 2012 — but at $387.4 million (THR est.) last year, they have never fully recovered. read article

SHADES OF BLUE AKA The Art of Sex, Lies, and Power Plays

Jennifer Lopez's character believes she's a strong, empowered woman. But is she really?
Jennifer Lopez’s character believes she’s a strong, empowered woman. But is she really?

by Diana Black

What has sex got to do with Television – everything and nothing, and I’m seriously not trying to be ‘clever’. No smut intended – but think about it – it’s all about the promise, tease, tension, reveal, fear, pay-off, raw intimacy, honesty or deception etc. etc.

Or is it? Is all this sex really about…sex? Let’s explore ‘the elephant’ in the bedroom. Isn’t TV sex, in essence, actually an efficient – and entertaining – way of presenting something deeper, as in power and manipulation?

Going further, we could contemplate whether that manipulation of power is: balanced or totally one-sided, violent – psychologically and/or physically, or heart-felt tender? Does this all sound familiar? And in no way am I referring to anyone’s ‘status’ regarding virginity. read article

DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS WANTED

Embedded Moviemaker Capture

If you’re a documentarian looking for a chance, here’s something that might be just that. The New York Times and PBS are looking for new filmmakers for a new project about race and ethnicity. And if the Times and PBS don’t sound legit enough to you, the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is on on this as well.

Titled, the “Embedded Mediamaker,” the “project will allow a documentary filmmaker, creator or creative technologist rooted in documentary storytelling to work for 20 weeks at The New York Times alongside some of its most creative journalists. The mediamaker will work with The Times and POV to create new forms of documentary and interactive content with a team of Times writers, editors and visual storytellers involved in Race/Related, a newsletter and reporting project exploring race as it is lived today.” read article

“From “CHEERS” to “GRIMM” Bound by “FAMILY TIES”

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Part III of “My Life as a Couch Potato: The Spuds Have Eyes”
by Dawn McElligott

On April 5th of this year, NBC renewed “GRIMM” for a 6th Season. The show has everything I like: shadows, surprises and romance but it has not done particularly well in ratings. Its April 15th broadcast only bought in 3.75 million viewers. With misgivings for my own future, I live vicariously through Grimm’s stars. Every year they’re surprised and grateful to see the series renewed and every year I vow to keep writing scripts that may become my own series.

My pursuit has been a long journey, beginning as soon as I could read the credits on “I Dream of Jeannie.” However, by the late 1970s, network TV was being criticized for poor quality and the death knell began to toll for the half-hour sitcom. Still a teenager, I began to wonder about my vocation. Yet, when I began college, two shows debuted, letting the world know that the sitcom was alive, well and— necessary.

I adored “CHEERS” from the beginning. It had Diane, the well-spoken lady, in an awful bind. Her education should have qualified her for a good job but the only work she could find was in the neighborhood bar. She didn’t fit in. Sam, the bar owner, was an athlete. Like most of the patrons, he lacked a college degree. For Diane to be accepted, she’d have to play down her education. Her family is revealed as cold, causing Diane to wrap herself up in education. In the new setting, Diane’s security blanket was causing her pain. read article