Last week nearly 60 writers crammed into a room intended for 40, to watch episodes of pre-teen sitcom The Latest Buzz and hear what creator/showrunner Brent Piaskoski had to say about making it. Brent is tall, good-looking and low key but very funny. He is also very certain about his vision for the show […]
Friday, December 28, 2007
The strike, the internet and the future of television seem to be the topic of the moment. Will the strike drive viewers to the web? Will the internet spell the end of TV as we know it? Can television ever recover?
I think it’s pretty clear that if you’re a drama […]
Thursday, November 15, 2007
In Ireland, anti-competition laws prevent screenwriters from negotiating minimum terms because they are independent contractors. According to Chief Executive of the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild David Kavanagh it’s a difficult problem to solve. So the IPSG is developing best practice standards to help guide writers in negotiating their deals.
The TV writing market in Ireland […]
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Australian Writers Guild which has 600 full members. Executive Director Jacqueline Woodman told the IAWG that they have been in negotiations for the last few months. They secured a whopping 31% increase in their basic use fee and some conditions for new media use. But they still have important sectors not […]
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
For those who found this on a Google search for “free porn“, sorry. This post is actually about a fourth season episode of Friends, entitled The One with Free Porn — story by Mark J Kunerth, teleplay by Richard Goodman. And if you are looking for porn, I know you’ll be disappointed […]
I find myself working on some half hour comedies and hence watching them. In order to understand the half hour, I’ve tried to check in with a variety of series mid-run, rather than watching the pilots. So the next few posts will review what I’ve been watching.What I’m up to is a quick […]
Monday, September 3, 2007
I’ve been a little light on the postings lately, for a variety of reasons.
One of the reasons is that there weren’t that many new pilots on television in August and I’ve been in the mood for fresh pilots as opposed to archival. Plus looking ahead to September and October, I’m going to have my work […]
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Blood Ties aired in Canada at long last: mystery, monsters and one very hot vampire who appears shirtless a lot of the time. Excellent.
Blood Price, the pilot episode written by series creator Peter Mohan, is actually two one-hour episodes even though they aired together on Monday night. I know it’s two one-hours because […]
I never imagined I would like Friday Night Lights. A show about high school football in Texas?! I resisted until January of this year and once I’d seen the pilot, written by Peter Berg, I was hooked. I proceeded to binge on the series, watching the first 10 episodes in three […]
Here are three more techniques to keep in mind:
Sub-plot Free First Acts
A teaser or first act of a pilot can follow a single story line without introducing a single subplot. The teaser of the CSI pilot is almost all about one of the mysteries of the week. The seven minute teaser for Burn Notice, on […]
