Tag: TV CAREER TIPS

Peggy Bechko: Don’t Say It! – A Writer’s Guide to, well, Writing

image found on idoincorporated.com
(image found on idoincorporated.com)

by Peggy Bechko

Have you ever noticed how many things we aren’t supposed to say, to talk about, to be ‘politically incorrect’ about these days in this society? Things that if you say them out loud not only will be real conversations starters but will probably have several people at your throat the minute the words come out?

Here’s the thing. You may not want to be a trouble maker at a party or a family reunion or at the office, but what better place to be one than in a novel, a short story, movie script or other attention-grabbing written material?

Think about it. What if you said you ~
• Don’t like babies – dogs – cats
• Don’t like Christmas
• Don’t like football or the Olympics
• Don’t like gay people and are against gay marriage and adoption
• Don’t like Republicans (or Democrats or Libertarians)
• Aren’t in favor of marriage for anybody
• Don’t’ like Dr. Who or Dancing With The Stars, or Survivor
• Firmly believe in the stereotype of one race or another, one culture or another read article

WGA East Foundation Announces Screenwriting Fellowship Winner

by Team TVWriter™ Press Service

WGAE Writers Guild InitiativeHennah Sekandary of New York University has been selected to receive the Writers Guild Initiative’s (WGI) 2014 Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting. The fellowship, which is funded by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, is awarded to a student who plans to pursue a career in screenwriting upon completion of his/her undergraduate course of study.

Sekandary will receive a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay, which she will do under the mentorship of David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face, Possession). She will be presented with her fellowship at the 66th annual Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2014 in New York City at the Edison Ballroom.

Sekandary is a senior in the Department of Dramatic Writing, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Her fellowship project, 48 Hour Fire, is about two people, a Korean deli-owner and a black teen, surviving against the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. read article

“Dilbert’s” Creator is Looking for a DILBERT Movie Co-Writer

Yeppers, he is. For reals. But don’t take our word for it:

fritznotes-doubleintegrals-screenshotEngineering a Dilbert Movie Script
by Scott Adams

Someday I plan to write a Dilbert movie script.

I anticipate your questions. Let me answer those before making my fascinating point read article

One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Hit Pop Song in the Last 20 Years

Well, this is just plain creepy.

Corporate creepy.

Quick, somebody, tell us how to think positively about it. Puh-leez? read article

Julie Livingston: The Big Leap

City-of-Los-Angeles-Downtown-Signby Julie Livingston

Or as LB calls it, “The Big Test.” Moving to LA. If you’re an aspiring TV writer, you’re probably already thinking about it. And, if you’re not, I promise you will. It’s not an easy choice to make (at least it wasn’t for me), so for anybody who might find a firsthand account of the experience useful (or just entertaining), I will blog as much of it as I can, as often as possible. Obviously, I can’t speak for everyone who comes to Los Angeles to try to make it in the TV business, but I will tell you honestly how it is for me.

I’m not gonna lie. This move is not for the faint of heart.  As soon as I made the decision, I started looking for ways to hedge my bet. I created a caveat: I’m definitely going to go but, not until conditions are perfect. No way was I about to haul my cookies (and my incredibly supportive spouse’s cookies) into town without some kind of foundation. In the fantasy I created, I would work from where I was until I landed a manager, an agent, a job. In reality, on the day I left, I had none of those things, but still it was time to go.

When I first decided I wanted to become a TV writer it actually wasn’t that big a leap. I already made a living writing commercials, so it is was kind of like deciding I wanted to give up my day job writing for TV in order to get my dream job writing for TV. read article