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TV Calling

Being a TV Showrunner’s Assistant ft. Sydney Mitchel (NCIS: New Orleans/Outcast) and Zimran Jacob (Marvel’s The Punisher) (PT76)

Alex and Nick invite Sydney Mitchel from NCIS: New Orleans & Outcast, and Zimran Jacob from Marvel’s The Punisher, to discuss the responsibilities, duties, and opportunities of being a TV showrunner’s assistant.

What does the job of a showrunner’s assistant entail? How do you get hired on a show? What does a typical work-day look like? How do assistants communicate with their showrunner? How creatively involved are showrunner’s assistants? What amount of notes and feedback do showrunners get? How can you balance working long hours and writing your own scripts?

The Paper Team gets an in…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Working in television, what a showrunner does, hiring process, duties of a showrunner’s assistant, day-to-day, communicating with the showrunner, creative involvement, shooting and production, post-production, calls and meetings, tips and advice for showrunner’s assistants, balance work and life, future projects (01:01)
Resources and Next Week On (45:20)

Links

Zimran Jacob on Twitter
Sydney Mitchel on IMDb
NCIS: New Orleans airs Tuesdays 10/9c on CBS
Outcast available on Cinemax
Marvel’s The Punisher available on Netflix
“Kevin Pollak To Direct Indie Comedy ‘Swag’” – Deadline

This episode brought to you by Tracking Board’s Launch Pad Writing Competitions

Use code PAPERTEAM to get $15 OFF when you enter a Launch Pad Competition

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]

Putting Yourself Out There (PT75)

Alex and Nick discuss how you can put yourself out there as a creative and TV writer. From proactive networking to content generation, learn ways of staying in the loop and in people’s minds.

How do you build new connections and foster meaningful professional relationships? How do you stay in the conversation for new jobs and opportunities? What are ways of putting your content out there and creating a presence? What should you look for in a mentor?

Plus, we talk finding a first agent.

The Paper Team gets out…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Paper Scraps: Getting an agent and more reviews (00:52)
1 – Putting yourself out there: proactively building relationships (04:55)
2 – Putting your content out there: presence and branding (18:06)
3 – Putting others in there: mentoring and passing the torch (26:04)
Challenges and Resources (32:19)

Links

“TV Writer Representation 101” (PT31)
“189 – The Assistant’s Track” – Hilliard Guess’ Screenwriters Rant Room

Resources

“Breaking In: Tales from the Screenwriting Trenches” – Lee Jessup
Buffer

This episode brought to you by Tracking Board’s Launch Pad Writing Competitions

Use code PAPERTEAM to get $15 OFF when you enter a Launch Pad Competition

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]

TV Production Companies ft. Logan Kriete (Producer & Development Executive) (PT74)

Alex and Nick invite Logan Kriete, producer and development executive at Escape Artists (and formerly from Superb Entertainment/Baer Bones), to discuss how TV production companies work and find their projects.

What are overall deals or “PODs” and why are they important? How is material turned into a TV show? What makes a script stand out for an executive? How does the development and notes process work? How do production companies sell shows to studios and networks? How does the evolving TV format impact projects? Why does persistence matter in the TV industry?

The Paper Team does the POD challenge…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Becoming a development executive, working in scripted, overall deals, sister studios, development process, finding writers and projects, selling shows, advice for TV writers (00:57)
Resources and Next Week On (1:00:13)

Links

Logan Kriete on Twitter
Escape Artists
Meryl Poster
Neal Baer
Mosaic
One Day at a Time (2017)
Glitch
Trust Me

Resources

KCRW’s “The Business”
NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour”

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]