At last! A web comedy series that doesn’t just intend to be funny but actually is funny. Especially when it’s taking shots at itself. In other words, EVERYONE’S FAMOUS is about the wonderful interweb phenomenon where all of us believe fame in and of itself is a worthy life’s goal – made by people who are slogging away at achieving that very goal.
In other words – we love this:
Everyone’s Famous is a comedy web series created by Andrew Bush, Walter Forsyth and Angus Swantee.
The news hit hard. Kiss of the Black Forest aka Legend of Black Lotus did not make it to the quarterfinalssemifinals of the Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Contest. Time to pull myself up by the bootstraps and get busy. At the time we were eight and 3/4 months into 2014 and there wasn’t much time left to get things done. I decided that something had to happen in Q4. Forget about anything and everyone else who couldn’t or wouldn’t see my aspirations or vision — something had to happen.
I was spread pretty thin: screenwriting contests. Prepping TV pitches. Getting ready to launch a feature film project.
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
And when that writer is responsible for such hits as MAD ABOUT YOU, THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR, FULL HOUSE, et al, that’s a reflection to bask in:
by David S. Simon
Here’s what I’m thinking.
The Bitter Script Reader tells us the 2 most important things every writer – regardless of the medium she or he is working in – must know. (Especially if you want to get paid!)
Back in July, I attended San Diego Comic-Con and was lucky enough to attend a panel with a murderer’s row of TV writers. Speakers included Ashley Edward Miller (who was kind enough to praise my puppet videos when I introduced myself to him,) Jose Molina, Sarah Watson, Christine Boyan, and a number of other writers whom I regret I cannot recall at this moment. As these gatherings often do, the subject turned to the topic of breaking into TV writing and working on staff. Unsurprisingly, many people had varying stories, though just about all of them agreed it wasn’t easy.
One point stressed again and again was the need to be the kind of person whom other people want to spend 12 hours a day with. You’re spending five days a week in a writers’ room with maybe a dozen other people. No matter how good a writer you are, if you make that an unpleasant experience, you won’t last long. For a number of showrunners, a key question they ask themselves when considering a new hire is “Can I stand being with this person constantly?”
My old bud from the heyday of the Writer Action Forum, Troy DeVolld, is one of the primo reality TV producers in the country and author of Reality TV: An Insider’s Guide to TV’s Hottest Market, a truly inside and extremely helpful look at the reality TV biz and how to get started in it.
Troy is also the very helpful owner-operator of RealityTVTroy’s Blog, and TVWriter™ merrily reprints Troy’s posts there whenever possible. The pickings have been scarce lately, and for awhile everyone here was a bit worried about him.
