Tag: People’s Pilot Contest

The Whole Crazy Process Of Creating A TV Show, From Pitch To Pilot

Charlie Jane Anders, our favorite sf-fantasy critic, has turned her discerning mind to illuminating the darkness that makes websites like TVWriter™ and contests like our People’s Pilot Competition possible. That’s right, kids, it’s time to home right in on This Amazingly Cool TV Show Creation Thing That We (Try So Hard To) Do! A big tip of the hat to CJA:

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by Charlie Jane Anders

During pilot season, tons of TV shows are ordered and then enthusiastically spruiked in trade magazines. And then, nine months later… most of them will not be on television. What is this mysterious crucible? Here’s our step-by-step guide to the process of pitching a brand new television show.

[Full disclosure: A TV show based on my story “Six Months, Three Days” is in development.] read article

John Ostrander on Writing: The Faces We and Our Characters Show

by John Ostrander

Ostrander-2Every once in a while, I’ll come across a picture of me from back in my twenties and thirties or even earlier. I look at myself and what I was wearing and how I wore my hair (I had more hair back then to wear).

I sometimes had a mustache, I sometimes had a beard, or even big sideburns and that was always a little bit odd. My beard especially came in sparse in some areas, tightly curled all over, and a touch red. Likewise, I sometimes let my hair grow long although it too was very curly so it never achieved any great length. It was longer on the sides than on the top of my head; I referred to as a bozfro.

I suspect a lot of people look at these older images of themselves and go, “What was I thinking?” And yet, it was a choice that I made. Part of it would have been influenced by the fads and fashions of the time but did I really think at the time that I was looking good? read article

LA Must-See: “Forgotten Baggage” by Robin Walsh

One of these objects isn't an object at all - it's our wonderful subject: Robin Walsh!
One of these objects isn’t an object at all – it’s our wonderful subject: Robin Walsh!

by munchman

Robin Walsh, longtime TVWriter™ friend and puppeteer genius behind The Devil You Say and It’s a SpongeBob Christmas has a new must-see show for us at the Hollywood Fringe, but not with SpongeBob or Satan this time. This year’s she’s showing a work-in-progress version of her new show: Forgotten Baggage: Stories from the Willard Suitcases.

The true backstory:

In 1995, workers cleaning out the Willard Psychiatric Center in upstate New York discovered hundreds of suitcases from former patients packed away, their owners buried and forgotten. The objects within were time capsules of lives disrupted and interrupted, simultaneously rich with details about their owner’s past yet devoid of answers to how or why.  The suitcases were unfinished stories trapped in time. read article

Amy Schumer’s Head Writer on Comedy and Her New Book

It’s one thing for Amy Schumer to have become redhot famous over the past 18 months, but lookee here – somebody actually has been smart enough to interview the head writer of  Inside Amy Schumer. We’re all richer for this:

JessieKlein

by John Williams

Jessi Klein is the head writer for “Inside Amy Schumer.” She has also written for “Saturday Night Live” and “Transparent,” and has performed as a stand-up comedian. Her book, “You’ll Grow Out of It” (July 12), is a series of autobiographical essays about her life, career and aversion to taking baths. In a recent email interview, Ms. Klein discussed the book. Edited excerpts from the conversation are below.

Do you remember how old you were the first time you wrote down a joke? read article

Award Winning Web Series Pilot – LILAC – Needs Us!

EDITOR’S NOTE: In the past we’ve published several articles about the astounding success Hank Isaac’s pilot, LILAC, has had on the indie film festival circuit. It seems as though, award-wise, LILAC sets a record every time it is shown. But like every other important new creative development, Hank Isaac’s gutsy tale needs help to find a larger audience. We at TVWriter™ would like to see this series get that help so now, without further ado, we present:

by Hank Isaac

lilac fundingWhen finished, Lilac will be a series of thirteen ten-minute episodes that asks the question:  What if Robin Hood was a homeless ten-year-old girl living in a modern city?

The Pilot Episode of Lilac has already been an official selection in 45 international film festivals and has won a total of 33 awards for acting, directing, cinematography, pilot teleplay, story, original score, original song, and series concept. read article