The Perfect Last-Minute Christmas Gift for your TV Writer – And It’s Almost Free!

$4.99, to be precise. Not bad, eh? Especially since it’s one helluva book.

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Written by TVWriter™’s boss – Larry Brody, a writer-producer with 40 years of experience in every aspect of television – Television Writing from the Inside Out is a true Insider’s Guide that offers his unique expertise and an outlook that’s the direct result of having written and produced almost 1000 hours of television of all types, from daytime serials to animated children’s series to syndicated, cable, and U.S. and European network primetime series, pilots, and Movies of the Week.

This book examines the entire procedure not only creatively but in terms of how television actually operates. TV as a medium is both creative and commercial, but this really isn’t a fact to be bemoaned. Instead, Television Writing from the Inside Out shows how to make the situation work for you by using creative elements for commercial ends–and commercial elements for creative ones. In fact, it’s so practical that it tells you what neighborhoods to live in when you move to L.A., how to dress, even what kind of car to drive. read article

Writers, Want to be Discovered? Try This!

Somebody went to a lot of work…and is going to make a big score out of this:

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Mystery: University of Chicago Sent Elaborate Package for ‘Indiana Jones’ – by Seth Abramovitch (H’WoodReporter.Com)

Officials at the admissions department of the University of Chicago are baffled and amazed at a package that landed in their mailroom on Tuesday, addressed to “Henry Walton Jones, Jr.” read article

Disney Allies With Netflix – Is This the Start of a New Showbiz Paradigm?

Last week Netflix blew the minds of those who have always regarded it as being near death and bought exclusive U.S. rights to films from Disney Studios. Not only will Netflix be carrying new content, it also has non-exclusive streaming rights to older films such as DUMBO and POCAHONTAS.

According to the L.A. Times and New York Post, the 3 year deal will cost Netflix in the neighborhood of $350 million a year when it starts in 2016. (The streaming of older material starts immediately.) read article

Peter Chernin Mints Himself Some More Media Money

What a happy camper! (Too bad we hate happy campers!)

Lookit that picture up there, kids. Just look at it. Damn that boy looks pleased.

And why not? After a zillion years (well, over 20 for sure) as the world’s highest paid assistant (to Rupert Murdoch, no less), Mr. Chernin left his $15,000,000+ a year gig as President of News Corp. and formed the Chernin Group, forming all kinds of cool alliances with Fox, Dreamworks, and lesser entities. No more Rupert butt to kiss. Yay!

Earlier this year he scored $200 million in working capital from Providence Equity Partners, possibly to fund a merger (read “takeover”) of Endemol, one of the biggest produces of reality TV in the world, and Core Media, which produces AMERICAN IDOL and SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE and, better yet, holds the licensing rights to Elvis Presley and Muhammed Ali. read article

munchman: TVWriter™ Pays Tribute to the Recent Marijuana Initiatives

To be precise, we’re saluting an unsung old sitcom that, as you’ll see, had a lot more going on than it’s usually given credit for.

To be more precise, this little life lesson comes from the old Redd Foxx series SANFORD AND SON…which turns out to be much, much funnier, truer, and more dangerous and disruptive than we remembered: read article