Tag: Variety

BEYOND WORDS – Celebrating Writers Guild Award-Nominated Writers

Photo Credit: Michael Jones/WGAW

by Kelly Jo Brick

The Writers Guild of America, West, the Writers Guild Foundation and Variety gathered together several of this year’s award-nominated writers to speak about their films. From craft to the business side of entertainment, nominees shared inspiring stories of the persistence and drive it took to get their movies made, the worst notes they ever received and that sometimes you need to break the rules.

TVWriter.com’s Contributing Editor, Kelly Jo Brick, talked with several of the writers to discover what’s the best advice they received early on in their writing careers.

ALLISON SCHROEDER – HIDDEN FIGURES read article

SUBLIME PRIMETIME 2016 – Writing Advice From Emmy-Nominated Writers

Photo courtesy of Michael Jones/WGAW
Photo courtesy of Michael Jones/WGAW

by Kelly Jo Brick

Sublime Primetime, an annual event presented by the Writers Guild of America, West, the Writers Guild Foundation and Variety, hosted several of this year’s Emmy-nominated writers who discussed the inspirations for their nominated episodes, the importance of research and realism in the stories they tell, how they got their first breaks and the need for greater diversity both on the screen and behind the camera.

These Emmy-nominated writers shared with TVWriter.com their advice for writers who are just starting out in the business.

Joel Fields (THE AMERICANS) – Write a lot and read a lot. I remember once when I was having a moment in my career where I was struggling, I was talking to my agent about it and he gave me some great advice. He said, “Keep writing.” I think that’s what it’s all about. Find what you’re passionate about and the stories you want to tell and tell them. read article

Sublime Primetime – Insights From Emmy-Nominated Writers

 Sublime Primetime

by Kelly Jo Brick

Several of this year’s Emmy-nominated writers attended the annual Sublime Primetime event presented by the Writers Guild of America, West, the Writers Guild Foundation and Variety. Writers Elliott Kalan (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), Jane Anderson (Olive Kitteridge), Joshua Brand (The Americans), Alec Berg (Silicon Valley), Stephanie Gillis (The Simpsons), Christine Nangle (Inside Amy Schumer), Semi Chellas (Mad Men) and Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) spoke about the episodes they submitted, their inspirations, challenges and the business of TV.

Emmy-nominated writers shared with TVWriter.com some of the best advice they got as they were growing their careers. read article

STORYTELLING AND THE FAITH-BASED MARKET – HIGHLIGHTS FROM VARIETY’S PURPOSE SUMMIT

image found at fbcontheweb.com
image found at fbcontheweb.com

By Kelly Jo Brick

Be authentic. That was a major theme of PURPOSE: The Family Entertainment and Faith-Based Summit presented by Variety, where industry leaders gathered to share their perspectives on family and faith-based entertainment. Speakers including Mark Burnett, Roma Downey, David Oyelowo and DeVon Franklin repeatedly focused on authentic storytelling and creating projects that resonate with viewers.

Faith has long been part of film and it’s no secret that there’s a large market for faith-based projects, in fact over 225 million Americans self-identify as Christians. These people are hungry for content and eager to engage through social media with those who are creating this content.

In a story-focused session, panelists further echoed that audiences don’t want to be preached to. People want to relate to what they see. Producer Cale Boyter (Same Kind of Different As Me, The SpongeBob Movie: The Sponge Out of Water) reminded attendees, “You gotta entertain people. You gotta take them on a ride. You can’t make them feel like they’re in Sunday school.” read article