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TV Calling

Writing Samples and Preparing for TV Staffing ft. Liz Alper (The Rookie) & Kai Wu (Deception) (PT119)

Alex and Nick invite fellow TV writers Liz Alper (The Rookie/Hawaii Five-0) & Kai Wu (Deception/The Flash) to debate what samples are worth writing, and how they get ready for staffing season.

Are features better samples than TV pilots or specs? Should writers chase trends? What are ways of researching a spec script? How can you get ready for staffing season? How do you handle a difficult showrunner as a staff writer?

Plus, we give feedback on three Paper tease entries and discuss the latest TV writing news.

The Paper Team cuts deep…

PT119 Liz Alper Kai Wu

SHOWNOTES

Content

Paper Tease Session (00:00:48)
1 – TV writing samples and getting ready for staffing season with Liz Alper & Kai Wu (00:17:33)
2 – Paper Scraps: SMILF allegations, Bandersnatch, and TV watching (00:52:16)
Final Advice and Next Week On (01:07:53)

Paper Tease Entries

“Endwell” by Diana Lampiasi
“Test.ed” by Melissa Long
“Mediocre” by Chris Thomas

Links

Liz Alper on Twitter
Kai Wu on Twitter
The Rookie on ABC
Deception
Daniel Kunka’s Twitter thread
Kai and Liz’s Twitter responses
Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg on Writing (Video)
“‘SMILF’ Creator Frankie Shaw Investigated Over Misconduct Claims” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Sexually Explicit Casting Contract for HBO’s ‘Westworld’ Extras Has SAG-AFTRA Concerned” – The Hollywood Reporter
“HBO Hires “Intimacy Coordinators” To Monitor On-Set Sex” – Deadline
“Inside the 2-Year Journey of ‘Bandersnatch'” – The Hollywood Reporter
Lords & Ladles
Tidying Up with Marie Kondo
Nailed It!

This episode brought to you by Script PipelineSubmit by March 1st to the 2019 Script Pipeline contest for a reduced entry fee

Special thanks to Alex Switzky for helping us edit this episode.

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]

Directing TV Comedy ft. Alethea Jones (Queen America/Wrecked) (PT118)

Alex and Nick invite Alethea Jones, director on Queen America, Wrecked and Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, to discuss what goes behind directing TV comedies and half-hour shows.

What is the role of a director in television? How can writers better convey action for directors? How does a director work with a TV writer on set? What are differences between directing children’s television and comedies? How do directors handle crossboarding? What are the responsibilities of being a producing director?

The Paper Team takes the shot…

PT118 Alethea Jones

SHOWNOTES

Content

Directing for TV comedies and dramas with Alethea Jones (00:43)
Final Advice, Resources and Next Week On (44:27)

Links

Alethea Jones on Twitter
Queen America on Facebook
Wrecked
Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street
Strictly Ballroom
Gretchen Enders
Charles Randolph
Babylon Berlin
Succession

Resources

DaFont
Shot Designer
Scriptation

This episode brought to you by Script PipelineSubmit by March 1st to the 2019 Script Pipeline contest for a reduced entry fee

Special thanks to Alex Switzky for helping us edit this episode.

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]

Paper Team is now on Patreon

After three years and well over 100 episodes, Paper Team is now on Patreon!

As our podcast grows, it gets more expensive to maintain. Patreon allows our listeners (you!) to make ongoing contributions of a few dollars – in exchange for amazing rewards.

Our goal with Patreon is to not only allow our listeners to sponsor the show, but to offer exclusive content to Patrons as well.
When you become a patron, in addition to supporting our long-running podcast, you will get more content, more advice and become a part of our TV writing community:

Get More Content

Joining our Patreon gets you access to more of what you love about Paper Team – including our new monthly “Paper Patron” mini-episodes where we answer your personal industry questions and give additional TV writing tips.
Patrons will obtain an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at our upcoming “Paper Team Mentorship“, where we guide one of our listeners through the process of writing a new TV pilot.
Patrons also receive exclusive full-length bonus episodes plus detailed, practical “cheat sheets” of our most popular content.

We’re launching with THREE cheat sheets, which you can access right now if you sponsor us for only $5/month:
TV Pilot 101 ?
Bringing the TV Writers’ Room Process Home ✍️
Moving to L.A. (and things we wish we knew)

tv pilot 101 cheat sheet

Get More Advice

We’re dedicating a “Paper Tease” slot to our Patreon supporters – which means we guarantee that at least one of our Patrons gets feedback on their TV pilot during each session.
In addition to insight from us, you’ll also get the opportunity to have your questions answered directly from some of our guests.
If you’re a friend of the call, then you know our past guests have included TV writers/producers from shows like BoJack Horseman, Riverdale, Altered Carbon, Queen Sugar, Into the Badlands, Superstore, Harley Quinn, Animaniacs, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and many more!

Join Our Community

Becoming a Patron of Paper Team invites you to be part of our TV writing community. Our private, curated Facebook group is filled with fans and friends of Paper Team and TV Calling. We try to make this a real look into the world of Paper Team. We post about upcoming episodes, TV writing news, as well as opinion polls that influence upcoming topics/guests.
Patrons also get early access to tickets for our mixers and live events – which fill up quickly.

If you’re interested in improving your TV writing and your career, then we believe this Patreon and our podcast are for you. Each tier offers amazing value for only a few bucks a month – and this support means we can continue to produce high-quality content on a weekly basis without compromise.

Write on.