Tag: Spec Scriptacular Contest

John Ostrander: Back to the Beginning

by John Ostrander

Warp-Play-PosterWhen I get asked by earnest neophytes how to break into comics, my pat answer is “With a pick and a crowbar through the roof in the middle of a moonless night.”

Somewhat less than helpful, I know.

The truth is that I don’t know how to break into comics. I don’t think most of you can go the path I took. I had an old friend – Mike Gold, who you may have seen hereabouts – and he knew I loved comics and he had liked something I had written for the stage and offered me a chance. When Mike had first gone to NYC to work for DC Comics, I pressed on him a sample script I had written for Green Lantern. He dutifully did but the script didn’t go anywhere and it shouldn’t have. I was very keen but very raw in those days (although I did use elements of it eventually; writers are forever cannibalizing themselves). read article

Ageism and Showbiz – Oh Yeah, You Betcha, It’s There

Discrimination in showbiz has been a big deal of late, under a variety of terms and about a similar variety of targets. Here’s a group that no one’s brought up lately, and, in the name of diversifying our diversity, TVWriter™ encourages all our visitors to read on (and consider your own futures while you do so):

pic found on mayan.org
pic found on mayan.org

An Unpopular Reality
by Early Pomerantz

Is there ageism in show business?

In the literal sense, sure.  Just pop your head into any writers’ room and ask, “Anyone here get up in the middle of the night to pee?”  Or “Do you guys know any good plastic surgeons?”  And you are unlikely to get a response.  Beyond… read article

Big Deal TV Writers and Ratings Angst

Everybody knows TV ratings are inaccurate and obsolete and have been since the day they were introduced. But that doesn’t keep those whose careers depend on the TV shows they work on appearing to be huge successes from stressing out about them, even now, during our latest “Golden Age of Home Entertainment.” (Can we even call it “television” when the majority of the audience is watching on computers, cell phones, and tablets now?)

Cases in point:

30-ratings-anixety

Kurt Sutter, Adam Pally, and More Share Their TV-Ratings Anxiety
by Maria Elena Fernandez and Josef Adalian

…Liz Tigelaar, executive producer of Casual
There are a million wonderful things about writing for Casual on Hulu — the pedigree of the team involved, actors who are game to try anything and can do everything, creative support from our studio and network … and, for the first time, not worrying about ratings. Which, let’s face it, have become overrated. We no longer wake up the morning after we’ve aired frantically refreshing our browsers. We don’t utter the word demo or agonize over the Live+7’s. Gone is the arbitrary ratings roller coaster where a 1.8 means you’re a hit, a 1.6 means you’re on the bubble, and a 1.4 means the CW just put reruns of an unnamed show in your time slot (Hellcats). read article

Table for One: Cultivating Brilliance

eavesdropping

by Diana Black

Some writers are considered brilliant – born with a ‘creative spoon in their mouth’ – able to craft amazing stories with strong multi-dimensional plots, rich story-worlds and compelling characters lolling about on every fictitious street-corner. Their stories demand our attention from ‘Fade In’ to ‘Fade Out’ but let’s not sell these guys/gals short.

Celebrated writers tend to possess a strong mastery of their craft and able to work damn hard in a disciplined manner. While they may be gifted, they do have a ‘magic feather’….

Other writers, like you and I have to cultivate creative brilliance – and we can! Having a fire in the belly, that turns hours into minutes; with a gripping tale on paper to show for it – that’s often difficult; especially after a long, hard week at a shitty day job. So before we start turning a pale shade of green, or worse, giving up, let’s come up with a way to cultivate brilliance. read article

Cartoon: MY IDEAS

A little pen, a dab of ink, and the brilliance of Grant Snider:

ideascartoonThere’s more greatness where this came from. CLICK HERE!