Free Updates
Navigation
Categories
| November, 2008 (9) |
| October, 2008 (20) |
| September, 2008 (14) |
| August, 2008 (15) |
| July, 2008 (12) |
| June, 2008 (8) |
| May, 2008 (10) |
| April, 2008 (14) |
| March, 2008 (15) |
| February, 2008 (23) |
| January, 2008 (42) |
| December, 2007 (24) |
| November, 2007 (40) |
| October, 2007 (1) |
Search
Archives
Blogroll
...By Ken Levine
The world as seen by a TV comedy writer |
Brian A. Klems' Questions & Quandaries
Let this WD columnist answer your most pressing grammatical, ethical, business and writing-related questions. |
| Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market blog |
| Chuck Sambuchino's Agents Blog |
Complications Ensue: The Crafty TV and Screenwriting Blog
The craft of screenwriting for tv and movies by a working screenwriter... with forays into life and political theater. |
Daily Script
A huge online of screenplays and TV scripts... often including different drafts of the scripts! |
Deadline Hollywood Daily
News for, and from, industry insiders... by L.A. Weekly columnist/blogger Nikki Finke |
Drew's Script-O-Rama
Hundreds of downloadable TV scripts and movie screenplays |
FishbowlLA
A blog about the Hollywood creative community and L.A. media |
Internet Movie Script Database
Produced movie scripts to read online |
Jane Espenson.com
A terrific blog from "Buffy" and "Battlestar Galactica" writer Jane Espenson, who offers everything from practical advice to writing tips to Hollywood commentary. |
John August.com
A ton of useful information about screenwriting... from the writer of "Corpse Bride," "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory," and "Charlie's Angels" |
Kung Fu Monkey
Hollywood commentary from screenwriter/producer John Rogers (Catwoman, Cosby, Transformers) |
| Maria Schneider's The Writer's Perspective |
Morning Call Time
The only daily podcast designed specifically for the entertainment industry! We not only give you today's industry headlines... we tell you how the trades are reporting them. |
News From Me
Mark Evanier's blog about TV, movies, comics, theater, news, politics, and other forms of fantasy |
| Novel & Short Story Writer's Market blog |
Past Deadline
Hollywood commentary from columnist/reviewer Ray Richmond (The Hollywood Reporter, The Pulse) |
| Poetic Asides |
Script City
A great site where you can buy produced scripts for hundreds of produced movies and TV episodes (they also have various drafts of different scripts) |
Simply Scripts
Tons of free downloadable screenplays and TV scripts |
The Artful Writer
Information, theory, and debate for the professional television and film writer |
The Thinking Writer
"A conversation about screenwriting" with a bonafide ntertainment lawyer and screenwriter |
The Unknown Screenwriter
A wonderful (and bit mysterious) meeting place for screenwriters looking for writing tips, Hollywood business advice, or fun commentary on the art and craft of screenwriting. |
| This Writer's Life by Kevin Alexander |
TV by the Numbers
Daily TV ratings, analysis, and commentary |
Without A Box
Streamlines the distribution process both for filmmakers seeking contests, festivals, & distribution and for distributors searching for content |
Wordplay
Screenwriters Ted Elliott & Terry Rosso (Aladdin, Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean) offer advice on everything from the art of screenwriting to the science of pitching. They also have guest writers like Walter Parkes and Nina Jacobson. |
|
 Friday, November 14, 2008 Thursday, November 06, 2008
Best Book Recommendation EVER!
Posted by Chad
Hey, everyone-- I'm super-psyched to announce that my new (and first) book, Small Screen, Big Picture: A Writer's Guide to the TV Business (which officially comes out November 25), is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Noble! The book is a user-friendly "business guide" for aspiring TV writers. It explains the differences between networks, studios, and production companies... how TV series make money... the new show development and production process... and how all this affects the creative process. It then talks about what happens in a writers room... how to break in and get your first writing job... and how to survive once you're there. It also features interviews with almost 200 working TV professionals... network and studio executives from almost every network and studio ( NBC, ABC, FOX, the CW, TNT, Comedy Central, E!, you name it)... showrunners, writers, and producers from all your favorite shows ( Lost, Psych, Dexter, Life, Army Wives, Alias, Prison Break, Buffy, 24... and more)... and agents from Hollywood's top TV agencies ( UTA, ICM, APA, Gersh, etc.). Now, granted, I’m biased, but if you’re an aspiring TV writer… or even just love television and learning how it works… I think/hope this is a really helpful, important book. Most books focus on the creative aspects of being a TV writer: how to write comedy, how to structure a pilot, how to pitch a show, etc. Small Screen, Big Picture looks at these things… but from a business perspective: what executives really want, how to design a show that will be profitable for its studio, what agents need to get you work, etc. So please… take a look… and lemme know what you think! 
Books Tools Resources | Career Advice | Fun Stuff | Writing Advice | Writing TV
11/6/2008 5:00:31 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
|
|
Sunday, November 02, 2008 Tuesday, October 21, 2008 Thursday, October 16, 2008
Batman vs. McCain: Last Night's Debate
Posted by Chad
Fun Stuff
10/16/2008 6:40:22 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Friday, October 10, 2008
Free Theater Across America!
Posted by Chad
Hey, everyone-- Huge thanks to my friend Hallie for cluing me into this, but this is awesome! Free Night of Theater is a program designed in cooperation with Theater Communications Group and the Association of Performing Arts Service
Organizations to get people out to see more live theater, introduce newbies to live performance, etc.... and it coordinates hundreds of theaters in cities across America! Between October 16 and October 31, hundreds of theaters in Atlanta, St. Louis, Los Angeles, New York, Austin, San Diego, Cincinnati, Lexington, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Portland, Boston, and almost 100 more cities will be offering FREE NIGHTS OF THEATER! Click HERE for more info, or click HERE to find theaters near you... and enjoy a great night of live theater!
Events Activities and Things To Do | Fun Stuff | Theater
10/10/2008 3:07:40 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Thursday, September 25, 2008
In Honor of Matt Damon...
Posted by Brian
Fun Stuff
9/25/2008 5:29:58 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Monday, September 22, 2008
Awesome-- You Gotta Read These!
Posted by Chad
First of all, huge thanks to an anonymous reader who directed me to "Little Big Screen," James Wolcott's terrific piece in this October's Vanity Fair about the quality of TV writing vs. movie writing. And second of all, huge thanks to Dewayne, who pointed me to this incredible Aaron Sorkin piece in yesterday's New York Times. Basically, Maureen Dowd asked Sorkin to write a piece for her column, so Sorkin wrote a scene in which Barack Obama asks for advice from The West Wing's President Bartlett. It's terrific-- you gotta read this! (Why couldn't Studio 60 have been this good?!)
Fun Stuff | Writing TV
9/22/2008 4:02:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
WEBSITE OF THE DAY: Amanda the Aspiring TV Writer
Posted by Chad
Props to my friend Charlie for turning me on to this site, but I wanted to let you all know about a pretty great blog... from Amanda the Aspiring TV Writer. I don't know Amanda personally, but if you're interested in television writing... or how to break in... this is a terrific site. Here's the scoop... Amanda is a young woman, here in L.A., trying to make it as a television writer. So she's doing what many people do when they're trying to get their foot in the door: working at an agency, which is one of the best-- if not THE best-- way to get your start in Hollywood (especially in TV). So Amanda uses her blog not only to give writing advice, but also to advise people on how to get their start, how to navigate the world of agencies, etc. She even posts interesting events and writer-centric activities around town. But perhaps most interestingly, Amanda captures what it's like to be twentysomething and trying to make it in television. She writes about everything from the culture within an agency... to why she loves TV... to how to network and find jobs. It's half memoir, half advice-column, half behind-the-curtain-glimpse at Hollywood. (And yes-- that's three halves. I am HORRIBLE at math.) Anyway, check it out... it's a different (and, I think, fresher and perhaps more honest) look at writing-- or trying to write-- in Hollywood then you get at blogs of more established writers.
Books Tools Resources | Fun Stuff | Writing Advice | Writing TV
9/17/2008 8:58:31 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Palin vs. Clinton: The SNL Match-Up
Posted by Chad
For those of you haven't seen last night's Saturday Night Live sketch starring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton, I'm posting it here. I love this not only because Tina Fey does a DEAD-ON Palin impersonation, but because this is some great political sketch producing. I love it not only because of Fey's performance and the biting wit, but because the SNL writers do a terrific job of creating a little "relationship" between these women on screen. (For those of you who haven't been to one of my L.A. classes, I'm a HUGE proponent of pounding home that all good storytelling-- regardless of length or purpose-- is about only three things: RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS.) It would've been easy for the writers to simply string together some snarky political one-liners and rely on the strenth of their performers' impersonations (Amy Poehler does a decent job, but not as good as Tina Fey), but instead they took the time to let the fictional Palin/Clinton relationship build. Both characters in this sketch have strong personal/emotional wants... which they articulate at the beginning of the sketch... but in order to achieve their wants they're forced to team up with the one person most antithetical to their objective. (Well, Hillary is, anyway-- Palin is practically oblivious to the tension in the relationship.) You can almost hear the SNL writers asking themselves "how would these two women feel-- and behave--
if forced to join together for a brief moment on the political stage?"
"How would their world-views conflict, and how would these conflicting
views affect their behavior?" Take a look... lemme know what you think...
Fun Stuff | Writing Advice | Writing TV
9/14/2008 7:39:05 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Monday, August 25, 2008
Two Cool Web Series!
Posted by Chad
Hey, everyone-- Not sure if you've seen these, but wanted to turn you on to two interesting web series... 1) Stephen King's N. This is an adaptation of a short story coming out in Just After Sunset, a collection of Stephen King stories coming out this November. The web series, written by Marc Guggenheim (creator of Eli Stone on ABC), is basically a "filmed" graphic novel... it's illustrated with actors doing voice-over. N. tells the story of Charlie, a psychiatrist who receives a bizarre box from an old school friend. In that box are notes from the friend's brother Johnny, also a psychiatrist, who recently committed suicide after treating a mysterious patient known only as "N." The story follows Charlie as he explores the contents of the box... and learns the secret that drove Johnny to his death. Each episode is around a minute and a half... and they are addictive. Watch one, you'll definitely watch another. This is a great example of how even with the simplest production values, well-crafted storytelling is utterly riveting. Also-- the series premiered July 28 and has been posting a new episode every day until today... which is the finale. All the episodes are now available HERE or you can check out the widget I put below... 2) Gemini Division. Produced by and starring the super-cute Rosario Dawson (who is also a self-professed comic book geek), Gemini Division follows an NYPD cop, Anna, as she tries to avenge the death of her fiance... and finds herself pulled into a sci-fi world of cyborgs and conspiracies. There's been a ton of buzz around this series because it's got a ton of heavy-hitters involved, including Sony and NBC. I'll be honest... I don't think it's the best thing ever done on the Internet (I wish each episode was a bit shorter, and I wish the story integrated the "webbiness" of the web a bit more... interactivity, etc.), but it deserves kudos for being more ambitious and sophisticated than most web offerings out... and it's a great example of how much you can do if you use your green screen creatively. Anyway, check 'em out and lemme know what you think... Stephen King's N.
Digital Media and Web Series | Fun Stuff
8/25/2008 6:33:03 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
CONTEST: Worst Logline Ever!
Posted by Chad
Hey, everyone-- The Guide to Literary Agents and its editor, Chuck Sambuchino, are hosting a hilarious contest... the search for The Worst Storyline Ever! Basically, they're looking for loglines... and the lamer, stupider, and more ridiculous the better. The winner gets a query
letter critique from Chuck, a follow-up phone call to discuss the query
critique, a plan of action for seeing your work published, and copies of the 2009 Guide to Literary Agents and the 2009 Writer's Market. Runners up will receive a free copy of either the 2009 Guide to Literary Agents or the 2009 Writer's Market.
Either way, this contest sounds like a blast... click HERE to check it out!
(Oh-- and the deadline is the end of August...)
Events Activities and Things To Do | Fun Stuff | Jobs Contests Opportunities
8/19/2008 12:25:13 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Great Performances
Posted by Chad
Hey, everyone-- Check out this webisode that was shot for Reality Binge, the talk/sketch show I'm working on for Fox Reality Channel. (I'm the hot guy in the blue t-shirt, the one with the sledgehammer idea at the beginning.) Reality Binge: Mustache StalkerBy the way, if you liked this, and have quick moment, please do me a super-fast totally self-serving favor!!!... On the Reality Binge website, you can ask questions to our host, Eric Toms, and he'll answer them on the site. These questions can be funny, serious, scientific, political, religious, insulting, absurdist, kind, arrogant, gentle... whatever you want. And you can submit as many as you want! But we want/need/would love to have more questions! Just click HERE and it'll take you to the question form on the site. Thanks a million, guys-- I really appreciate it!
Digital Media and Web Series | Fun Stuff
8/14/2008 3:26:54 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Give Your Characters A Personality Test!
Posted by Chad
Fun Stuff | Writing Characters
8/12/2008 10:50:43 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Watchmen Trailer Online!
Posted by Chad
Fun Stuff
7/17/2008 6:30:33 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Calling All Buffy, Angel, & Firefly Fans!...
Posted by Chad
Hey, guys-- I don't know that you're all Buffy, Angel, Firefly fans (but you should be), but since I am, I wanted to give you this update. (Also, show creator Joss Whedon is definitely a writers' writer, so I'm guessing you enjoy him as much as I do...) Anyway, Joss Whedon's new Internet short, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, starring Neil Patrick Harris, has arrived! It debuted yesterday, and is now available at iTunes through July 29 for $4.99. Check out the preview... DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG PREVIEW
Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.
Digital Media and Web Series | Fun Stuff
7/15/2008 7:53:09 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Saturday, July 05, 2008
A Few Moments with Diablo Cody
Posted by Chad
Hey, guys-- Happy Fourth of July weekend! I wanted to point you all to my interview with Diablo Cody, the Academy-Award-winning screenwriter of Juno, which appears in this month's issue of Writers Digest. Diablo was one of the most fun interviews I've done, and she's got some terrific insights into screenwriting... take a look HERE! In the mean time, have a great weekend!... Chad
Career Advice | Fun Stuff | Guest Perspectives | Screenwriting (Film) | Writing Advice | Writing TV
7/5/2008 2:59:31 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Friday, June 27, 2008
Great "Wall-E" Lesson!
Posted by Chad
Fun Stuff
6/27/2008 12:42:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Friday, June 13, 2008
WEBSITE OF THE DAY: ScriptCity.com
Posted by Chad
Hey, everyone-- Special thanks to Jen Grisanti, of Jen Grisanti Consultancy, for pointing me to this week's great website. But if you're looking for particular movie scripts or scripts of produced TV episodes, check out Script City at www.scriptcity.com. Unlike Drew's Script-O-Rama or Daily Script, Script City is a pay site... but it has a MUCH larger library than any of the free sites. Most scripts are between $10 and $20, but they have scripts (and different drafts!) of hundreds of movies and TV shows. Whether you're researching a TV spec you want to write or just love reading sceenplays, this is a terrific site!
Books Tools Resources | Fun Stuff
6/13/2008 3:07:21 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Sunday, May 18, 2008
VIDEOS OF THE DAY: Take That, Bill O'Reilly!
Posted by Chad
And as long as we're talking politics, you gotta see this clip from Thursday's Hardball, where Chris Matthews destroys right-wing talk show host Kevin James with his own petard. (They're discussing Bush's Thursday morning speech to the Israeli Knesset, or Israel legislature, in which he compares Democrats today to Nazi appeasers.) Hardball: Chris Matthews & Kevin James(Although I have to say: the Democrats won't shut up about how inappropriate and uncouth it was of President Bush to criticize Barack Obama, a political rival, while on foreign soil, and I really wanna say, " Really, guys? That's what you're upset about? He criticized a rival while he wasn't standing on U.S. soil? Do we really live in a world where you can't talk about someone-- especially if you're saying something inordinately stupid-- unless you're standing in the same country? In a world of globalization, supersonic jet travel, and the Internet, what does that matter?! As if Bush would've been standing in Alberton, Montana, or Leesville, Louisiana, that somehow would've given the comments a better context?! Really?!!" Come on, Democrats, you can do better than that.)
Digital Media and Web Series | Fun Stuff
5/18/2008 1:30:10 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
TALKING POINTS: The Top 5 Most Influential Bands?
Posted by Chad
Okay, guys-- I'm turning to you to weigh in on a debate I was having with my neighbors a couple nights ago. My wife and I were having a barbecue with our neighbors and we decided to make a list of the top 5 most influential bands/musical artists of the last... well... we didn't really clarify, but I guess we're pretty much talking about the 5 most influential artists who have shaped rock/pop music today. This doesn't mean they're necessarily our favorites, it just means they're major "rocks" that changed the course of the stream. Here's my list... 1. The Beatles2. Led Zeppelin3. Elvis Presley4. The Sex Pistols/The Clash/The Ramones (3-way tie, depending on who you credit with the real birth of punk-- which technically, would probably have to be The Sex Pistols, but I think the others are valid choices) 5. Bob Dylan (to be fair, my original list included a 2-way tie here between Nirvana and Black Sabbath, but then I got talked out of it-- I think rightfully so-- to put in Dylan) Anyway, things got heated when some people felt The Rolling Stones should be included in the top five. Now, I like the Stones... but come on-- they weren't really all that influential. Or at least, not "top five" influential. I mean, anything they did, the Beatles did first: first hit, first album, first Ed Sullivan appearance. And while Keith was an incredible guitarist, I don't know that he contributed more than Jimmy Page, Hendrix, or-- perhaps most importantly-- Chuck Berry. In fact, you could probably argue that the Stones' biggest influence on music wasn't music at all... it was their bad-boy/fight-the-establishment persona, which-- honestly-- may be more important than anything music-related anyway. (I'm not actually arguing that, I'm just saying you could. If you wanted to. Which I'm not. Yet.) Anyway, things got pretty fiery around the grill, so I figured I'd open up the floor to you guys and the comment section. So... whaddaya think, screenwriters? Who are your top 5 most influential bands/musical acts? And do the Stones deserve to be in the top five? Post away...
Fun Stuff
4/30/2008 7:53:33 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
|
|
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
WEBSITE OF THE DAY: TVbytheNumbers.com
Posted by Chad
Hey, TV fans-- Wanted to introduce you to my new favorite website/blog, TVbytheNumbers.com. Here's what's awesome about this site... first of all, it's dedicated only to TV ratings, so unlike Variety or The Reporter or Mediaweek, you don't have to wade through a bunch of other news and information in order to get the numbers. It's just ratings. Second of all, it gives you easy-to-understand analyses and puts shows' ratings in the context of other shows, networks, and recent history. The two bloggers, Bill Gorman and Robert Seidman, aren't TV professionals, but they're astute observers and analysts. They're also unabashed TV fans, so they're not afraid to inject their their opinions on what good shows (like 30 Rock, one of their favorites), should be doing better. TVbytheNumbers also lets you sign up for daily ratings emails, which is terrific, because Variety and The Hollywood Reporter's emails come out at night, so you don't get the ratings till the end of the day, which is pointless. Anyway, take a look... it's a wonderful site... and a terrific help for anyone who loves or works in television... (P.S. And I swear to you, these guys didn't pay me to write this. I've never even met them--but I think I'll drop them an email and tell them how much I like the site...)
Books Tools Resources | Fun Stuff
4/29/2008 11:42:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) | |