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# Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Diversity in Writers Rooms? Think Again...
Posted by Chad

Interesting, but sad, article in this morning's Variety... detailing the WGA's 2009 Hollywood Writers Report about diversity amongst writers.  And it turns out... there isn't much.

"White males continue to dominate in both the film and television sectors," says Darnell Hunt, the UCLA professor who wrote the study. "Although women and minorities closed the earnings gaps with white men in television a bit, the earnings gaps in film grew. These findings are clearly out of step with a nation that elected its first African American president in 2008, a nation in which more than half of the population is female and nearly a third is non-white."

Based on 2007 statistics, one of the more noticeable differences is in the annual income of "diverse" feature writers versus the annual income of white male feature writers.  Minority writers earned $61,912; white male writers earned $98,875; this is an even wider gap than four years earlier in 2003, where the difference was only $87,392 versus $90,476.

Click HERE to read the entire story...

Or click HERE to get the actual WGA report.


Industry Updates | Interesting Talking Points
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4:14:31 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1]
# Tuesday, November 17, 2009
WEBSITE OF THE DAY: JayCut.com
Posted by Chad

Wanted to pass along a pretty cool website...

For those of you who don't need all the bells and whistles (or pricetags) of Final Cut or Avid, but still want to edit home movies or online videos, check out JayCut-- a simple online editing application that lets you upload and edit videos, then put them on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc... or put them on DVD or iPod.  And best of all-- it's totally free!

In all fairness, I haven't spent a ton of time on JayCut... yet... but I've played around on the site... and it seems pretty cool and useful.  The site claims you can use it to make shorts or "creative masterpieces"... and while I'm not sure it's what you'd wanna use to make the next "This Is It," it certainly seems user-friendly enough to make quick and simple videos, shorts, even sizzle reels or short presentations.

And as a quick bonus-- also check out Download3000, a free site that lets you download YouTube videos (together, you can use these applications to download footage, remix it, mash it up, splice it into your own work, whatever you wanna do...)


Books Tools Resources | Digital Media and Web Series | Fun Stuff
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009 6:42:05 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1]
# Thursday, November 12, 2009
Meet Rick Qualliotine, Co-EP
Posted by Chad


I’m writing this while sitting in the office of our Co-Executive Producer, Rick Qualliotine—the only person at The Wanda Sykes Show who has actually PAINTED HIS OFFICE… making this easiest the coolest office in the place (one wall is a bright warm orange-yellow). 


Rick started his career in theater, producing plays and stage shows, before moving on to television, where he has helped get shows like The Showbiz Show with David Spade, HGTV Summer Showdown, and now The Wanda Sykes Show, up on their feet.

 

So I’m asking Rick…


What are the biggest challenges when getting a new show up on its feet?

 

Here’s what Rick says, in his own words...

 

1)   NOT MENTALLY IMPLODING WHILE YOU WAIT FOR YOUR DEAL TO CLOSE.  Getting to the point where you actually start making something is a grueling, pressure-filled, and sometimes a financially difficult time.  Even if you’ve pitched and sold something, sometimes it will take a long while for there to be any money.  So frequently you’re waiting and waiting for a deal to close… and waiting for production to start… and waiting for any money to start coming.  So just getting to the point where you’re actually making something can be very stressful and difficult.

 

2)   You’d be amazed how frequently it turns out that what you’ve sold isn’t what the buyer wants.  So going back and forth trying to figure out what the show is, depending on the genre, can be very challenging.  What people frequently forget is that when they say “I sold my show, I sold my project,” that really means someone else owns it.  So when you start telling them what the show is and that’s not what they want it to be, there’s a very difficult back-and-forth… and what the show is and who’s gonna star in it and who’s gonna write it.  After you’ve sold it, it’s somebody else’s.  They need you to execute it, but it’s theirs.

 

3)   Staying on top of all the different pieces as it starts to move really fast.  It’s a huge elaborate, collaborative process.  I always go back to this David Mamet quote, which I’ll paraphrase: “Producing a play or directing a film is like running a marathon. Launching a television series is like running until your heart explodes.” 

 

When you make a TV show, you’re usually looking at making 13 or 22 episodes. Just doing the math, that’s either 7½ -11 or 13-22 hours of material that you have to imagine, write, perform, and edit.  It takes years to do that for a feature film, to produce that much material.  And we generally have about 30 weeks.  So that requires a huge team and lots of people writing simultaneously.  You must overlap your writing, your production, and post.  So as soon as those things start to overlap, you have to—as a showrunner—move in and out of those essential pieces.  That’s why, in television, directors take an episode or a couple episodes; then, the next week it moves on to the next director, whereas producers and writers stay on and generate all the material.  So if you’re a showrunner, you must have someone sitting in the [writers] room who you trust.  You have to have someone on the stage who you trust.  You have to have someone editing who you trust.  But you also have to be able to interface with all those people simultaneously, while dealing with the network, and all the usual challenges of managing people.




Career Advice | Guest Perspectives | Writing Advice | Writing TV
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Thursday, November 12, 2009 6:22:18 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0]
# Friday, November 06, 2009
Live from the Wanda Sykes Show...
Posted by Chad

I've been meaning to write about this for the past couple of weeks, but I wanted to let you all know about the premiere of the new show I'm working on... "The Wanda Sykes Show," FOX's new late night talk show which premieres tomorrow night, November 7, at 11 pm (EST).


I’ve been a huge Wanda fan for years, so I was thrilled about the chance to work with her.  For me, Wanda’s at her best when she’s serving as the voice of the everyman, breaking down large social and political ideas into hilariously simple, digestible, no-bullshit bites and articulating thoughts and questions everyone’s thinking but is afraid to ask. 

 

This is my first time working on a network late-night talk show.  (I produced a late-night talk show pilot for E! a couple years ago, but this is a whole different ballgame…)

 

The show mixes traditional talk show elements, like the opening monologue, with dashes of “The Daily Show,” “Real Time with Bill Maher,” and “Chelsea Lately.”  It’s got a bit of everything: one act makes fun of that week’s news and clips, another has Wanda and a panel of guests debating controversial social topics.

 

I work with the writers, putting together all the clip-based segments… finding the clips, developing sketches or jokes around them, etc.

 

So far it’s been a great time… a lot of hard work and late nights as we figure out how the show plays, what works/what doesn’t, which sketches fit with Wanda’s voice… but an incredible experience.  This writing staff has some of the most talented writers I’ve ever worked with… watching them brainstorm, pitch, and punch the jokes is an incredible education.

 

Anyway, over the next few weeks and months, I hope to be able to bring you first-hand reports from the world of production, as well as interviews and advice from the writers and staff.  And if you have questions, please email them in… and if I can’t answer them myself, I’m sure someone here can!

 

In the mean time, here’s one of my favorite Wanda stand-up bits…




Writing TV
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Friday, November 06, 2009 4:55:10 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1]
# Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Pilot-writing Seminar next Tuesday!
Posted by Chad

Hey, everyone--

Thanks so much to all of you who came to last week's Final Draft/Script magazine and Writers Boot Camp panel, "Getting into the Writers Room."  It was a terrific evening, and it was great seeing some of you there!

Wanted to let you all know about another great opportunity...

Next Tuesday, Nov. 10, I'm teaching "Writing the TV Pilot," a 3-hour seminar for Mediabistro, here in Los Angeles

If you've got an idea for the next "True Blood" or "Modern Family"... or if you're toying with various ideas and trying to decide which to write... or even if you just want to get your creative TV juices flowing... this is a great three hours.  We'll cover the creative mechanics of what makes successful pilots work... how pilots and series are developed and produced... how projects are pitched and sold... and how to get to the right people so you can get your idea on the air!

Anyway, if you're interested, click HERE to sign up or get more information... or just go to this link...

http://www.mediabistro.com/courses/cache/crs5219.asp

Hope to see you all there!

P.S.  Also, in a shameless moment of self-promotional excitement, I just wanna tell you guys about some cool updates...

My book, Small Screen, Big Picture: A Writer's Guide to the TV Business,  was recently selected as a "textbook" for both NBC's Writers on the Verge program, as well as NAPTE's Diversity Fellowship.  And as of this morning, it hit some new all-time highs on Amazon's bestseller list...

#2 - Performing Arts career guides
#3 - TV/Screenwriting books
#86 - Writing reference books (I know this isn't super-high, but it's the first time it's ever cracked this particular list!)

Thanks to all of you for your support-- just wanted to let you know!


Classes Seminars Workshops | Writing TV
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Tuesday, November 03, 2009 12:31:41 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0]
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