Tag: TVWriter™

MODERN FAMILY Exec Prod Writes a Book About Writing Comedy

We’re hoping that it’s at least, you know, funny.

Everything you ever needed to know about comedy
by Ken Levine

Dan O’Shannon is one of the executive producers of MODERN FAMILY.  He was a showrunner of FRASIER and an executive producer of CHEERS.  The man knows funny.  Recently he wrote a terrific book called WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?  A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE COMEDIC EVENT.   Somehow he managed to explain comedy, which to me is harder than trying to describe the color red over the radio.   As insane as it is to plug someone else’s book when I’m still shamelessly hawking mine (available here — go buy it), I really recommend Dan’s book (which you can order here).  Recently, I had the chance to talk to him about it. read article

Our Last Network Executive Bio

Erm, probably. (Would you believe maybe?) We’re just doing this because we feel sorry for NBC, which needs all the positive P.R. it can buy get.

Meet Pearlena Igbokwe, NBC’s New Executive Vice President of Drama Programming
by Alanna Bennett

NBC has named its new head drama exec, and it is veteran TV executive Pearlena Igbokwe. She’s been working with Showtime for the past 20 years, during which time she worked on the development of shows like Dexter, Nurse Jackie, The Big C, and the upcoming Masters of Sex. Oh, and she also happens to be a woman of color. As someone who follows television news as if it held the same national importance as the electoral race, and who also happens to be a woman of color, this makes me pretty happy. read article

Now Charlie Kaufman & Dan Harmon Have a Kickstarter Project

So, uh, Kickstarter no longer is for you and me? I mean, how do we compete for the bucks when it’s rapidly becoming overrun with stars? Deserving stars, we don’t doubt. But still…

The deadly duo

Charlie Kaufman Pens Stop-Motion Animated Film ‘Anomalisa,’ ‘Community’ Creator Dan Harmon Exec-Producing
by Oliver Lyttelton

Charlie Kaufman might be having some issues getting his next directorial effort, “Frank Or Francis,” up and running, but he’s not exactly lacking for work. The writer of “Adaptation” and “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind” is adapting young-adult novel “The Knife Of Letting Go” for Lionsgate, and he’s developing an HBO series starring Catherine Keener. And now, he’s moving into new territory with some very, very interesting collaborators.

As pointed out by sometime Playlist contributor @williambgoss on Twitter, a Kickstarter page popped up today for a project called “Anomalisa,” a stop-motion animated film written by Kaufman, his first incursion away from live-action. And he’s teamed up with Starburns Industries to get the film made. What does that mean? Well, as the title might give away to fans, it means a “Community” tie-in, with the cult sitcom’s creator and former showrunner, Dan Harmon, along with his friend and sometime collaborator Dino Stamatopolous, who played the occasional character of Starburns on the series, as well as being a consulting producer. But he’s probably best known as the man behind cult Adult Swim animation “Moral Orel” and “Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole.” read article

Whatie Looks at Amazon Studios (PART 2)

by Whatie

In part 1, I talked about the concept behind Amazon Studios and what I liked about the new approach.  Here’s what I don’t like.

Of course, Amazon Studios has taken the new “crowd power” mentality all the way home, as well. Originally, when a writer posted a project on Amazon Studios, that writer automatically agreed to allow anyone at all to revise the script and upload a new version of it. Of course, that revision did not replace the original; both versions would sit on Amazon Studios to collect comments, and people could read them both and decide which one they liked better. Now, the revised Amazon Studios TOS says that writers may opt either to allow anyone to create revisions or to “control” who can make revisions by making the upload of that project’s revisions an invite-only process.

Frankly, I hate this. Comments and critique are one thing, but letting some random stranger take my stuff and rework it pushes every control-issue button I have. Sure, as anyone savvy in the television industry will point out, once a sale is made, there’s always a chance – no, make that a likelihood – that somebody will make changes to my work that I cannot control or stop. The difference there is that this happens AFTER the sale has been made. I have given up my rights to creative control when I signed it over. read article

The NCIS Team is Back

‘NCIS’ Co-Stars Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette & Sean Murray Ink Deals To Return
by Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: The entire cast of NCIS will come back intact when the veteran CBS drama starts production on its 10th season next week. Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette and Sean Murray have all signed two-year deals to continue on the hit procedural starring Mark Harmon. Weatherly, Perrette and Murray are three of four veteran NCIS cast members whose contracts were up after Season 9. The fourth, David McCallum, re-upped in April, while negotiations between CBS/CBS Studios and Weatherly, Perrette and Murray continued on-and-off until separate agreements were reached over the past 10 days. read article