facebook_pixel Press "Enter" to skip to content

Looking to start your TV writing journey?

Posts tagged as “Amazon”

Nonlinear Storytelling (PT70)

Alex and Nick discuss nonlinear narrative in television writing, from flashbacks to flashforwards.

What are effective uses of nonlinear storytelling? When should you work with flashbacks, flasforwards or parallel storylines? What are dos and donts of nonlinear narratives? Are there drawbacks of out-of-order storytelling?

Plus, we talk The Mick case and Amazon’s Lord of the Rings.

The Paper Team flashes around…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Paper Scraps: The Mick and Amazon’s LOTR (00:52)
1 – Brief history of nonlinear storytelling in TV and when to use it (04:52)
2 – Examples of effective TV nonlinear narratives (13:16)
3 – Dos-and-dont’s of nonlinear (31:39)
4 – Drawbacks of nonlinear (35:23)
Takeaways and Resources (40:43)

Links

“Protecting and Over-Protecting Your TV Script: Copyright, Ownership and Idea Theft” (PT23)
Wikipedia’s list of nonlinear narrative television series
Primer
FlashForward (TV Show)
“Time’s Arrow” (4×11 – BoJack Horseman)
“Thanksgiving” (2×08 – Master of None)
“The Visitor” (4×03 – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
“Get Me a Lawyer” (1×01 – Damages)
River Song (Doctor Who)

Resources

“Slaughterhouse-Five” – Kurt Vonnegut
“Nonlinear Storytelling” – Game Design Concepts
“The 21st Century Screenplay” – Linda Aronson

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]

Teasers & Cold Opens (PT61)

Alex and Nick discuss the importance of teasers in television writing and key elements that make cold opens effective.

What is the point of opening scenes? What makes a good teaser? How do you reveal character, story and theme in those first few pages? Are there teaser differences between comedy and drama?

Plus, we talk 2017 Emmy winners and the revamped Fox Writers Lab.

The Paper Team opens up…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Paper Scraps: Emmys 2017 & Fox Writers Lab (00:28)
1 – Why are teasers and opening scenes important? (11:00)
2 – What makes a good opener: tone, character, expectations, story, and world (14:55)
3 – Specificities of teasers: comedy vs. drama, length, pilot vs. normal episode (32:01)
Takeaways and Next Week On (38:19)

Links

69th Primetime Emmy Awards (2017)
The Handmaid’s Tale (TV Show)
Lena Waithe
Donald Glover
Sterling K. Brown
Frank Pembleton
Fox Writers Lab
“Six Feet Under” Pilot Opening Sequence (Video)
“Riverdale” Pilot Opening Sequence (Video)
Glee
Election
“Scandal” Pilot Opening Sequence (Video)
Firefly
Psycho
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Pilot Opening Sequence (Video)
In medias res
“Rick and Morty” Lighthouse Scene (Video)
“Breaking Bad” Pilot Opening Sequence (Video)
“Lost” Pilot Opening Sequence (Video)
“Breaking Bad” Crawling Scene (Video)
Stargate SG-1
Goa’uld
Futurama
Cheers
“Lost” Season 2 Opening Sequence (Video)
“Lost” Season 3 Opening Sequence (Video)

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]

The Paper Team 50th Episode Special (PT50)

Alex and Nick celebrate the fiftieth episode of Paper Team with a special look back at the first year of the podcast, including updates on past episodes, guests, and other news.

What are some of our own favorite moments and episodes? What are the most popular Paper Team episodes? What new lessons have we learned since recording them?

From assistants and coordinators, to writers and producers, we also catch up with several of our amazing guests: Tennessee Martin, Steven Darancette, Sam Miller, Chris Corbett, Maggie Herman, Jimmy Nguyen and Gary Sundt.

The Paper Team pops the champagne…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1 – Follow-ups to Paper Team episodes and some of our favorites (00:01:21)
2 – Follow-ups from our guests, ft. Tennessee Martin, Steven Darancette, Sam Miller, Chris Corbett, Maggie Herman, Jimmy Nguyen and Gary Sundt (00:15:01)
3 – One year of Paper Team (00:54:21)
Special Thanks, Outro and Next Week On (01:13:14)

Links

“How to Follow Up (Without Seeming Desperate)” (PT07)
“Getting Your TV Script Read” (PT29)
“TV Writer Representation 101” (PT31)
“Australian TV ft. Chris Corbett” (PT18)
Australian Survivor
“Managing Finances as an Assistant & Staff Writer ft. Kiyong Kim” (PT16)
“Web Series and TV Writing ft. Sam Miller (Single by 30/Mom)” (PT27)
SeeSo
Over-the-top content (OTT)
“Diversity in TV and the Writers’ Room ft. Francesca Butler & Kelly Lynne D’Angelo” (PT14)
“Assisting TV Comedy Writers ft. Gary Sundt (Superstore/The Goldbergs)” (PT43)
“Breaking in & Writing From “Outside the System” ft. Hilliard Guess” (PT47)
“Writing Adult Comedy Animation ft. Alison Tafel (BoJack Horseman)” (PT39)
“Act Breaks” (PT15)
“TV Viewing Habits: Writing for the Binge” (PT42)
“Bringing the TV Writers’ Room Process Home” (PT06)
“Writing Themes and Values in TV” (PT36)
“TV Writer vs. Fandom: Writers’ Rooms and Fan Interaction – Paper Team at WonderCon 2017” (PT38)
Tennessee Martin on Twitter
Lucifer
The Lady Parts Collective
The Lady Parts Collective on Facebook
Joe Henderson
Ildy Modrovich
Jennifer Graham Imada
Dawn Wells
“Writing Children’s Animation ft. Steven Darancette (Lalaloopsy/Tumble Leaf)” (PT41)
Steven Darancette on Twitter
Sam Miller on Twitter
American Airness (Video)
Vaudeville
Chris Corbett on IMDb
“TV Budgeting and Line Producing ft. Maggie Herman (Bosch) – On the Road at SDCC 2016” (PT10)
Maggie Herman on Twitter
People of Earth
Wrecked
Search Party
The Detour
The Last O.G.
Miracle Workers
Simon Rich
Man Seeking Woman
The Cops
Michael Showalter
“Independent Producing ft. Jimmy Nguyen (Showrunners)” (PT32)
Jimmy Nguyen on Twitter
Gary Sundt on IMDb
Death Note (2017 Movie)
Adam Wingard
Gary Sundt’s Kong tattoo
Will/Sean Podcast – Episode 255 “Retcon the Episode” with Alex Freedman & Nick Watson
“The 2016 Paper Team Holiday Special” (PT25)
“Joke-Writing, Stand-Up and Late-Night TV ft. Simon Taylor (The Tonight Show with Jay Leno)” (PT22)
“TV Pitching 101: Who, What, and Why” (PT13)
“Spec v. Pilot: What You Should Be Writing Next” (PT04)
“TV Writing Competitions” (PT33)
“TV Spec Script 101” (PT34)
“Supplemental Income for Writers” (PT35)
“Moving to Los Angeles (and Things We Wish We Knew)” (PT01)
“TV Pilot 101” (PT30)
Pocket Casts
“Goal-Setting as a TV Writer” (PT26)
Francesca Butler on Twitter
Jason J. Cohn on Twitter
Alex Switzky on Twitter
Evan Schmitt on Instagram
Elena Rodriguez Miranda on Dropr

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 and Joseph Yuan for the music.

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]