Tag: Spec Scriptacular Contest

Why Danish TV is Better than US TV

Cuz wonderful, inventive, and controversial filmmakers not only have emerged from Danish television production. They often go back to it. Behold a magnificent case in point:

Lars von TrierLars von Trier returns to TV: what can we expect?
by Graeme Virtue

Good news for fans of the phrase “enfant terrible” – on Monday, Lars von Trier, the puckish provocateur of European arthouse cinema, broke his self-imposed media silence by Skype-ing the Venice film festival. Nominally it was to promote an extended cut of his sex diptych Nymphomaniac, but Louise Vesth, Von Trier’s producer since Melancholia, dropped a juicier exclusive by confirming the writer/director’s next project: an English-language TV series for Danish broadcaster DR (The Bridge/The Killing), with the working title The House that Jack Built. Had Vesth simply pulled the trigger, or jumped the gun? Von Trier hasn’t even finished writing the script and the earliest filming date would be 2016, but here’s what we might expect.

He Has Impressive TV Cred read article

Peer Production: TIME KEEPER

We luv us our DOCTOR WHO but gotta tell ya, friends: TIME KEEPER is a whole other kind of time traveling awesome. Beautifully shot, powerfully written. Fun and meaning intertwined the way they should be. TVWriter™ congrats creator Daryn Murphy and the whole TIME KEEPER gang on a job very well done!

All of Season 1 is HERE

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie 74

First Steps First
by Leesa Dean

I’ve been insanely busy, prepping for a few big meetings.  Animating, writing, ideating.  But I took a small break to meet an old friend for coffee.  He’s a wannabe tv writer who’s been thinking about writing/filming a film short and wanted to pick my brain about ultimately (meaning after he’s finished his short and, hopefully, made a little noise with it) doing a digital project. I’m thinking the sale of Twitch to Amazon for $1.1 billion made him suddenly and seriously pay attention to the digital world. He’s a  gamer (as a hobby) and I think, for whatever reason, it legitimized the digital realm for him. He never really took it seriously.  And truthfully, why it took him this long to drink the digital kool-aid is a mystery to me.

I told him I thought he had it backwards.

He should first start putting a few shorts online and see if they get any traction. Preferably do a web series. Then, ultimately, do a film short and submit it to film festivals. No, it’s not easy-particularly promoting them-but the one thing I’ve been observing over the past few months is exactly how much everything is bleeding together.  Yes, you have to still write a ton of scripts (it’s the only way anyone will consider really working with you professionally and the only way you’ll grow as a writer.)  Yes, it’s also a good idea to do a film short (or two) and submit it/them to film festivals.  But I really don’t think that anybody’s going to take you seriously if you don’t have a real web presence.  This is 2014.  That’s what it is. read article

Tips for Writers Editing Our own Work

It ain’t easy judging our own writing. Sometimes we’re our harshest critics, berating ourselves for not meeting  irelevent or uninformed aspirations. Other times we’re way too soft on ourselves. Is it even possible to find a happy medium?

Critical-Thinking-Skillby Brian McDonald

A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
– Thomas Mann

Don’t write for other writers. People are drawn to writing for different reasons and many people do it to seem smart. If you have a good first act, most will never recognize it, because they’re not really clear on what a first act does. They know nothing of construction, but will turn their noses up at the idea of it anyway. The less they know about it the more they will object to it. read article

Classic TV Writer Bill Taub Talks About His Career and His Method

And he does it right out in public, on YouTube, thanks to the wonders of a couple of organizations TVWriter™ sometimes feels jealous of: Script Magazine and TV Writer Podcast.Com. (No, sorry, we’re not related.) You really need to check ’em out.)

From Bill’s IMDB listing: