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Posts tagged as “Books”

An Evening in the Writers’ Room – Paper Team Live (PT100)

Alex and Nick present two back-to-back TV writing panels, one for comedy and one for drama, digging into the intricacies of the writers’ room.

From staff writer to showrunner, we’ve assembled a dozen TV writers across every level to get a sense of what it’s like to navigate a writers’ room and sustain a career.

Comedy/half-hour and animation panelists include Nina Bargiel (Barbie), Vicky Luu (Superstore), Adam Stein (Harley Quinn), Alison Tafel (BoJack Horseman), Brittani Nichols (Take My Wife), and Lauren Bradley (Spirit: Riding Free).

Drama/one-hour panelists include Alison Schapker (Altered Carbon), Monica Macer (Queen Sugar), Chris Levinson (Tyrant), Grainne Godfree (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Britta Lundin (Riverdale), and Hilliard Guess (Deadly Class).

How do you navigate a TV writers’ room? How does the dynamic and etiquette of the room influence pitching? How can you gauge if a script is effective? How have writers’ rooms evolved over the years? What do showrunners look for when hiring their staff? How can you approach breaking macro and character arcs? What is the best way for lower-level writers to make themselves valuable in the room? How do you address notes without compromising creative integrity? What are ways of dealing with the instability of the profession?

The Paper Team drops the mic…

SHOWNOTES

Content

TV comedy (half-hour shows) panel (00:01:04)
TV drama (one-hour shows) panel (01:02:22)

Links

Nina Bargiel on Twitter
Lauren Bradley on Twitter
Alison Tafel on Twitter
Vicky Luu on Instagram
Adam Stein on Twitter
Brittani Nichols on Twitter

Britta Lundin on Twitter
Monica Macer on Twitter
Hilliard Guess on Twitter
Chris Levinson on Twitter
Alison Schapker on Twitter
Grainne Godfree on Twitter

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]

Creating and Running a Children’s TV Show ft. Mike Alber (Kirby Buckets) (PT96)

Alex and Nick invite Mike Alber, co-creator of Disney XD’s Kirby Buckets, to discuss everything about running a kids show, from producing a pilot and staffing a writers’ room, to generating new material and staying creative.

What is the process of selling a show? What is the journey of getting a pilot produced? How is a writing staff assembled? How do you transition from writer to showrunner? How is a kids television show made? What was it like working on Death Valley and Supah Ninjas? What was the experience of getting a freelance script on The Flash?

The Paper Team gets warped…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Getting a first writing assignment, moving to LA, working on Death Valley and Supah Ninjas, selling a show to Disney, getting the pilot of Kirby Bucket produced, interaction with other producers and showrunner, staffing and running a writers’ room, breaking stories, production on a live-action children’s show, freelancing on The Flash, transitioning between formats and genre (00:27)
Resources and Next Week On (1:02:48)

Links

Mike Alber on Twitter (@MAlber)
Mike Alber on Twitter (@MAlber2000)
Kirby Buckets
Gabe Snyder
Death Valley
Supah Ninjas
Kristofor Brown
“Subject 9” (4×14 – The Flash)

Resources

“Small Screen, Big Picture” – Chad Gervich
“The TV Writer’s Workbook” – Ellen Sandler

This episode brought to you by Roadmap Writers

Use code ROADMAP to get $15 OFF your first Roadmap Writers Program

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]

From Intern to TV Writer ft. Bob Dearden (iZombie) (PT87)

Alex and Nick invite Bob Dearden, writer on the CW’s iZombie, to discuss how he worked his way up from assisting Rob Thomas on the Veronica Mars movie to being staffed on a television show.

What is the journey of becoming a television writer? How do you work in US TV as a Canadian? What is it like working with Rob Thomas and cowriting for Play it Again Dick? How was the transition to iZombie from writers’ assistant to staff writer? How does the writers’ room break episodes and arcs?

The Paper Team picks a brain…

SHOWNOTES

Content

MFA programs, moving to the US, living in Austin, getting involved with Rob Thomas, experiences on Veronica Mars, experiences on Play it Again Dick, joining iZombie, being staffed, writing for iZombie, fandom (00:27)
Resources and Next Week On (57:07)

Links

Bob Dearden on Twitter
iZombie on The CW
Rob Thomas
Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars Movie
Play it Again, Dick
Party Down
Jason Dohring
Ryan Hansen
CW Seed
Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television
Search Party

Resources

“Adventures in the Screen Trade” – William Goldman
“Which Lie Did I Tell?” – William Goldman

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]