A big tip of the TVWriter™ hat to screenwriter-blogger Scott Smith for reminding us this great book exists:
Offensive & Defensive Screenwriting (Tip #62) – by Scott W. Smith
“The biggest lesson a screenwriter can learn is how to master a rewrite of his own script, or someone else’s, and make the change a studio wants without destroying the story. It’s like a football game: If you think of writing an original screenplay as ‘offensive’ creativity, then rewriting is all about ‘defensive’ creativity.read article
You know what time I’m talking about! The week to two weeks that every major organization tracking gender diversity in theatre/television/film creation releases their terrible statistics on how few women and people of color are making their way to the top of their profession so we can write angry blog posts about it for a week and then go back to business as usual!
The big push is on as CBS tries desperately to make us sample – and love – ELEMENTARY, their quasi-Sherlock Holmes quasi-adaptation. We’ll have our own review up today or tomorrow, but, till then:
How Elementary Won’t Go There with Sherlock and Watson – by Natalie Abrams
Millions of Sherlock Holmes fans can rest easy; CBS’ Holmes adaptation Elementarywill pretty much never suffer from theMoonlightingcurse (and here’s hoping that is the last time we’ll ever mention those two ideas in the same sentence).read article
They’re everywhere! With everybody! (Okay, almost everybody. We don’t see our names below…dammit.)
Thinking of making this the permanent image for our deal announcements. That work for you?
Ricky Gervais’s new series, DEREK, will be a Netflix production, and we think it’s safe to predict that it will be much better/more successful than Netflix’s opening salvo in its attempts to become a kind of faux network, LILLYHAMMER. (Unless it’s set in, you know, Iceland.)
Ron Moore (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) is adapting A KNIGHT’S TALE for ABC on the theory that jousting is cool. Well, maybe it is. (And maybe not.)
Esteemed feature director Alfonso Cuaron (HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN)will be directing a J.J. Abrams-Mark Friedman script for an unnamed spiritual world type pilot about a girl who is developing super powers and the tough guy who’s released from prison to protect her.Whatever.
Garry Marshall (HAPPY DAYS, LAVERNE & SHIRLEY, et al) is co-writing GOLDEN GUYS, a sitcom about a down on his luck rich guy with his son, Scott Marshall (um, son of the writer/producer of HAPPY DAYS, LAVERNE & SHIRLEY, et al). Does this mean ole Gar’s down on his (feature film) luck now too?
Ilene Chaiken (THE L WORD) is writing a crime drama pilot, SOLVE FOR X, for CBS, about a game developer who consults with the San Franciso PD. Cuz, you know, San Francisco is so hip the cops actually think gaming is, um, for smart people. Or something like that. Oh, the edginess of it all!
Offensive & Defensive Screenwriting (Tip #62) – by Scott W. Smith
How Elementary Won’t Go There with Sherlock and Watson – by Natalie Abrams
