Tag: TVWriter™

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 10/25/12

“The best-kept secret in show business is that it’s a business.” (Paul Junger Witt, in Larry Brody’s Television Writing from the Inside Out)
  • Dave Goetsch (THE BIG BANG THEORY) is writing the pilot for CBS’ sitcom SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT. (You remember this one. It’s the show that Courtney Love is going to make a shitload off of via lawsuits.)
  • Greg Daniels (THE OFFICE) is writing the pilot for an NBC workplace sitcom about, presumably, things that happen in an office. (We predict Ricky Gervais won’t sue. Unless Courtney love gets to him about it.)
  • Jake Johnson (NEW GIRL) is writing THE B TEAM, a sitcom about “real-life” superheroes for Fox. (How many lawsuits will this one create? Just count the number of films/TV shows that already have done this same thing and then multiply by, oh, let’s say 10 to take into consideration all the writers of scripts entered into online writing competitions with this same premise in the past 4 or 5 years.)
  • Abby Gewanter (PUSHING UP DAISIES) has sold his spec sitcom pilot, DEAR MOM, HERE’S WHY I HATE YOU, to ABC with Jane Fonda set to star. (Watch. Courtney Love’s going to sue because she thinks the show is about her.)
  • Peter Murrieta (WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE) is writing the pilot for an ABC sitcom about a New York handyman and his relationship with a rich young woman. The handyman will be played by Mark Consuelos of Kelly Ripa fame, and the young woman will be played by Kelly Ripa, not coincidentally also of Kelly Ripa fame. (TVWriter™ predicts that by the beginning of Season 2, Murrieta will be filing a lawsuit of his own – trying to get out of this deal.)

Peer Production: CV NATION

Cool web series here. These guys definitely know how to make the best use of their budget – and their actors:

Saving money by using characterization above action. Wotta concept! read article

The Wachowskis Rag About Hollywood

And here’s the thing: Just because they aren’t exactly first with this POV doesn’t mean they’re wrong.

‘Cloud Atlas’: Andy & Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer On The Problem With Hollywood – by Christopher Rosen

To call “Cloud Atlas” the year’s most ambitious film would be an understatement. The adaption of David Mitchell’s sprawling 2004 novel tells six interweaving stories — among them, a 19th century sea expedition, a present day fish-out-of-water comedy and a post-apocalyptic adventure set 106 winters after the fall of humanity — with stars like Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Jim Sturgess playing multiple roles of varying genders and race. read article

munchman: The Writer of GROUNDHOG DAY Tells How He Does It

Danny Rubin, whose credits include GROUNDHOG DAY and HEAR NO EVIL, has a book out called How to Write Groundhog Day. Inasmuch as I love the film, I’m hoping the book is great. Here’s a helpful sample:

How to Write Groundhog Day: 10 Rules for Screenwriters – by Danny Rubin

Last summer another list of writing rules popped up, this one in a Sunday edition of The New York Times.

The comfort of rules can be very important to a writer’s motivation because telling them the truth (there are no rules and nobody knows anything) is for most people not useful and a little intimidating. read article

More Great Productivity Tips from Lifehacker.Com

We wouldn’t dare argue with any of these. Well, certainly not with the doods who created them:

The Best Productivity Tricks Used By Evil Dictators – by Thorin Klosowski

History is full of evil dictators, and while the had their share of bad qualities, it’s undeniable they were efficient at getting things done. Here’s what we can learn from them, despite their evil nature. read article