Tag: Spec Scriptacular Contest

What ‘Agent Carter’ has that ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Doesn’t

…And why it matters:

agent-carter-hayley-atwell

by Andrew Bloom

While watching the first season of Agent Carter, I couldn’t help but wonder why I enjoyed it so much more than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., its much maligned and mildly resurgent Marvel television counterpart. Although the two shows have different teams behind them, they are, nevertheless, small screen cousins, with Peggy Carter making more than a few flashback cameos on AoS. The two series would seem to have too much shared DNA for anyone to have such different reactions to them. But in investigating this mystery, I kept coming back to one, overwhelming factor – Hayley Atwell.

Atwell soars as the protagonist of Agent Carter and commands nearly every scene she’s in. She portrays the titular character as a woman of quiet strength, with a steadiness in everything she does despite the tumult that surrounds her. But Atwell’s take on the character transcends the trope of the typical “action girl”, instead making Peggy a fully realized, three-dimensional character. Atwell acquits herself well when Peggy is exhibiting a steely resolve in a tense situation, and can just as convincingly show the character’s vulnerability and empathy in a private moment, with each emotional state feeling genuine and inhabited. She brings an undeniable presence to the character, and her rising tide lifts all boats in the series. read article

My Pilgrimage to Austin – Part 2

EDITOR’S NOTE: Before you start this, be sure and read Part 1 HERE

pitch contestants

by Lew Ritter

The Pitch Session:

I was selected to participate in a Pitch session at the church. The room was filled with people, but only ten lucky people per session would be chosen to pitch their script ideas. read article

Success stories: Crime writer P.D. Viner

Phil Viner’s the real deal, a bona fide full-time crime writer whose first novel is being turned into a TV series by Warner Brothers. (Yeah, we hate him already. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to learn here. Because there sure as hell is)

PD Viner

Phil Viner describes himself as a full-time crime writer with four kills under his belt. Under the name P.D. Viner, he’s written two novels and two novellas, all of which centre around the Lancing family and the troubled policeman their lives are caught up with – Detective Tom Bevans, AKA The Sad Man. read article

What to Do on Your First TV Writing Gig?

More great advice from the Big Kahuna of Writing Advisors – Ken Levine

Cookie-Monster-Breaks-the-Internetby Ken Levine

Here’s one of those Friday Questions that thanks to long-winded me now becomes an entire post.

It’s from Sarah. read article

My Pilgrimage to Austin – Part 1

by Lew Ritter

Twenty years ago, when I met my future wife, I told her with a straight face that “any day now, I would get a call from Hollywood.” At that time, I was writing screenplays that were frankly “ Not Ready for Primetime.” The chances of getting to Hollywood, much less leaving New Jersey were remote. However, after all those years, she humored me. Writing screenplays in her mind was safer relationship than with a guy whose hobby was stumbling out of bars or playing poker all night. Mark Goffman of SleepyHollow and WhiteCollar

Twenty years later, I finally got an email that put my destination to Hollywood closer. It would take me not to the West Coast, but at least as far as Austin Texas. My latest screenplay, Whistleblower, had been selected a “Second Rounder” for the prestigious Austin Film Festival. This was particularly impressive, as it landed my script in the top fifteen percent of scripts. This was out of over eighty five hundred submissions. After many years of trying, my writing had finally elevated itself to a professional level.

After much soul searching, I decided to take a chance and attend the Austin Film Festival. I felt that I could only afford to take off one day from work, so I purchased a Weekend Badge. I had printed over two hundred business cards. They featured my contact information on the front of the card and on the back were a compendium of the numerous scripts that I had written. read article