Podcast Pornography

It’s been a year since I discovered the Stephen J. Cannell podcast and, frankly, I didn’t think I’d ever find a show that could offer the same amount of nourishment to aspiring TV writers like myself.

I was wrong.

Recently, I discovered the Nerdist Writing Panel podcast and WOW, is it inspiring! They’ve only done a handful so far but the show is wall-to-wall awesomeness for anyone interested in the TV writing process. Listen to writers like Steve Levitan or Jane Espenson talk about how they got started, what it’s like in different rooms, how they tackle technical problems in structure, etc. Basically, questions that no other interviewer is asking are boilerplate on this show.

If you’re reading this blog, you’re in the same business as me, so I imagine nobody has even read this far – that you’re already downloading the first episode.

Enjoy.

You WILL Get A Shot

I had a buddy back when I was an actor who booked a big guest starring role…strike that, a HUGE, recurring guest spot on a giant show at the time. And his character was instrumental to the show and to one of the series regulars’ life. (more…)

TV Writing Master Class With Steven J Cannell

Stephen J. Cannell was one of the most prolific and successful television producers of all time. If you IMDB him, you’ll notice a ridiculous amount of produced shows – especially during the eighties. And I’ll bet everyone has heard his logo sequence music one or twice. It certainly brings back memories for me. (more…)

Writer’s Assistant Purgatory

One of the most prescient pieces of advice I received was from a showrunner buddy of mine. He said that it was imperative for me to do anything else besides work as an assistant while working towards for a staff writing gig – what he specifically said was, “Go hang cabinets until you get hired. But assistants tend to be seen as assistants…not writers.” This guy’s been a pro for almost twenty years and his resumé is all high-line stuff, so I greatly value his advice. (more…)

TV Showrunner Boot Camp

I first heard about the WGA Showrunner Training Program from the sorely-missed podcasters over at Sam & Jim Go To Hollywood – in fact, the “Haven” creators dedicated an entire half hour to the subject after they ended up getting in. Here’s the direct iTunes link. (more…)

Tweet Your Way Into The Writer’s Room

Just like anything that achieves massive popularity, social media sites like Facebook & Twitter have their detractors. Lately, I’ve been hearing more and more writers whining about how you can’t get anything real done without meeting people face to face, making FB/Twitter “a waste of time”.

Try telling that to Chris Masi, aka the new writers assistant at “White Collar”. (more…)

Fresh TV Writing Podcasts

While I still stand behind my list of ongoing awesome TV writing podcasts, here are some recent episodes that made it into my permanent library of resources (more…)

Inside The Writers Room • Emmy Nominated Showrunners

Another great roundtable amongst TV writers at the top of their game – this time it’s showrunners from some slightly-successful series like “Lost”, “Damages”, “Breaking Bad”, “The Good Wife”, and “Burn Notice”.

Great stuff in this one.

Staff Writing At “Battlestar”

Juliana Weiss-Roessler has been cranking out some sweet TV writer interviews lately over at “Pink Raygun”. And, as usual, I’m all over any article that offers a peek into the writer’s room – let alone one as legendary as the “Battlestar Galactica”.

Nothing super-new in the chat but it’s still good to hear some of the old favorites reinforced – hard work is imperative? Check.

Spec Pilot Tips from Jane Espenson

Once again, master-of-all-things-TV Jane Espenson has thrown up an amazingly-useful post on her blog. Those of us toiling away trying to find a way into the room know having an awesome original spec is required nowadays.

And Jane helps address the number of ways we can build a solid foundation under whatever premise and/or characters we’ve decided to tackle.

Great stuff.