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A TV Writing Chatroom: #TheGreyBox

Blogs and other Twitter accounts about writing obviously exist, but I have yet to encounter a place where television writers are able to discuss and interact, let alone “in real time.” A Starbucks is fine if you’re living in the same block as one, and a small writer’s group is great if, well, you’re a member.
Besides your run-of-the-mill message board though, there doesn’t seem to be a place where a community of TV writers, aspiring and pros alike, can get together and talk. Incidentally, the best way to recreate that experience online, and without the barrier of geography, is an old-school chatroom.

Ladies and gents, I present to you #TheGreyBox.

Why?
I was looking for a space dedicated to television writers and spec writing where people could interact. Besides niche blogs and sometimes Twitter, there’s pretty much no place like that.
Through this chatroom, I’m hoping at least to be able to bring people with similar passions and goals together.
Even if you’re in LA, it is difficult for anyone to meet new people, let alone people dedicated to the same craft, and have honest conversations. Hopefully, an open, free and accessible place like a dedicated chat can help a little.

Where?
If you seem surprised that the name of the channel is a hashtag, don’t be (because it’s not).
The chat/channel will be on IRC (Internet Relay Chat), where all ‘chans’ are actually prefaced by the hash symbol.
For those not in the know about IRC, Wikipedia describes it as a “a form of real-time Internet text messaging (chat) or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message.”
It predates Facebook, Skype, BitTorrent, Kazaa, and even AOL Messenger, yet is still extremely active, simple to use, and just great. Twitter’s whole existence is pretty much based on IRC. The @ in front of people’s names? Those are OPs in the IRC world.

Not that I’m complaining about this walk down technolane but we have more pressing matters at hand.

How to access it?
The webchat version is available to all through the following site:
http://www.thegreybox.net
All you have to do from there is input your name, click ‘Connect’ and wait a couple of seconds.
Welcome to #TheGreyBox!

What now?
This post can only get us so far so if you can, please spread the word.
Of course if you don’t care about TV writing you can just hang back and watch the Titanic sink.
I’m hopeful however that you’re as excited as I am about this opportunity to meet fellow writers and (re)create an amazing community.
If you have ideas or thoughts about the chat, feel free to drop a comment below.

Write on!

Spec Script: Is fresher better?

Would you rather spec Better With You or The Big Bang Theory? Blue Bloods or The Good Wife?

I’ve recently received a few comments about the annual “Hot Spec Script” list and how it’s apparently already outdated.

[The list] is stale, if not outright old, as that’s a post from March. Might want to issue an update as it’s six months later…

I’m amused at the thought of a post being stale after six months, especially something called an annual list.
Has the state of television series changed so much in the last six months that an addendum–nay, a revisal of the list is required?
Either the person is talking about shows getting canceled, or how some shows are outdatedly classified as mainstream or wild cards. And I’m pretty pleased to see that out of over fifty shows listed, only three have been canceled in the past six months.

This brings me however to one of the core issues in picking a show to spec: longevity.
Before trying to break a show, or even research it, you obviously need to choose it.
Of course, each person has his/her own ability to take on a given show, regardless of the series’ age, and I’ve already talked a bit about this tricky subject.

There are two aspects to longevity.
The first is the fear of renewal.
As Lone Star and My Generation can both attest, being on the air is one thing, getting renewed is another.
Though it might have seem tempting to spec My Gen before it even premiered (what with all the billboards and whatnot), it would have proven to be a waste of time.
No one can really predict with 100% accuracy if a given show is going to get renewed, you can only guess it to a certain extent. If the series has ratings and an interesting story-world, then I’d wager it will continue.

The other aspect to the “longevity” issue is what is debatable, and perhaps even more important.
At the center of this is a simple question:
If a show has been on the air less than a full season, should you consider speccing it?
Blame it on Facebook, ADD or Jersey Shore, but it seems that people are not happy anymore sticking with the “at least one season under the belt” formula.
Everyone wants to “get ahead of the curve,” and the most obvious way to do it is to spec a brand new show.
Is this a ground-breaking issue? Hell no. But it’s now more than ever a central one.

Perhaps the best example of this situation is last season’s Modern Family and Community.
Both shows had been on the air for only a few months, and already you could tell they were going to be great comedies to spec. And the fact that neither of them were renewed at that point made no difference.
It was, and still is, a smart choice to try to spec them, but one key component that many people seem to miss is the fact that a new show hasn’t found its footing.
Case in point with Glee. Watch the first half of season one, then compare it to last week’s episode.
If you can’t see how vast the show has changed, you should reconsider speccing it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t think about writing a Nikita spec script.
It’s always good sometimes to take mitigated risks when it comes to choosing a show to spec. But no one should feel rushed into breaking an episode of, say, The Event before it’s even renewed for a second season.
The show is as speccable now as Caprica was only two weeks ago. And then look at what Syfy did.

If you are going to commit several months of your life researching, breaking, and then writing a spec script for a brand new TV show that has been on the air for less time than the Chilean miners were underground, wait a bit.
You need to really think things through in terms of storytelling, dialogue, structure, characters; not gimmicks.
The show might not have found its foothold in the first season, let alone first two months of being on the air.
It’s certainly a safe bet to say Hawaii Five-0 will soon be the go-to action procedural to spec in a few months, but until then, don’t presume that a show two seasons in, like NCIS:LA, is already past its due with no more stories to tell.
I’m sure a few people are already spit-balling spec stories for The Waking Dead right now.
By all means, jot down your ideas. But maybe it would be wise to hone them once a few more episodes have been shown. You know, more than one.

You have to realize that if you have so much faith in your chosen show and your script, then neither of them are going away anytime soon. You are aiming for a shelf life of a year or two at the max, which is plenty of time for you to go from research to final draft. Don’t rush into a spec just because you have found a new show and “omygod no one has thought of this but me!”
This is tantamount to being scared of your own shadow. You’re racing against an imaginary enemy.

Your script isn’t going to stand out because you are the first person ever to spec Modern Family or Hawaii Five-0.
It will stand out because it is great by itself.

3 Screenwriting lessons from Coupling

A key part of writing for television is watching television. And learning from it.
Screenwriting lessons from tackles series past and present, analyzing them through the prism of screenwriting.

Today, we take a look at one of the greatest British sitcom, Coupling.
You might know the series from its infamously aborted American adaptation, but just like pretty much anything, the original by Steven Moffat is vastly superior to its remake.
Though similar to Friends, the show ends up being quite different from it, both in its length (four seasons of six 30-minute episodes), and subject matter (sex is omnipresent for one).


Lesson 1: Context is key

Coupling is built around the relationship of six friends, but more than that, the peripeteia stem from their adventures outside the group.
Some jokes on the show might seem easy, or downright idiotic, but the truth is there are “no jokes per se” as Steven Moffat puts it. The humour comes from the context.
This ties back to the true essence of sitcom, or rather situation comedy.
Most of the memorable scenes of Coupling are exactly what makes the genre so appealing: comedy through situation, double-entendres, and other qui pro quo (not to be confused with quid pro quo). There are no punchlines or zingers on the show, it’s all about what the audience knows vs. the characters. This allows you, the writer, to play with two key aspects of TV series: character points of view and audience expectations.
Qui pro quo are classic and traditional, but they works extremely well when done right.

Lesson 2: “Traditional” format doesn’t necessarily mean “traditional” content

Bold and ballsy are not incompatible with the classic multi-camera format. Sometimes, you shouldn’t be afraid of avoiding the cookie-cutter and go where no show has gone before.
Multi-camera might seem at first constrictive but it might actually end up being the complete opposite. Moffat understood perfectly that the format was going to have to evolve, and he used this as an advantage.
Coupling thrived with its innovative use of storytelling. Rarely (if ever) has a sitcom so successfully utilized such a wide variety of non-linear techniques.
The main episodes that spring to mind are The Girl with Two Breasts, Split , The End of the Line, and Nine and a Half Minutes.
Don’t get fooled by the titles.
The Girl with Two Breasts played with the qui pro quo to a new extreme by introducing a foreign language. Almost half of the episode was in Hebrew, with most notably a crucial exchange between an Israeli woman and one of the main characters. The tour de force employed in the series was to show the same exact scene once more, only this time with the Israeli woman speaking in English and the other character in gibberish (ergo from her point of view).
Though the idea of showing back-to-back the same scene may seem almost ridiculous, the gutsy (and well executed) move actually paid off and proved extremely popular.
From that moment on, each season had at least one “epic” episode, as Moffat called them.
The second in the list is Split. As the name implies, it used throughout the entire episode a continuous split-screen (to showcase the split between the two main characters).
As always, the episode was filmed in front of a live audience, which means that, thanks to the multi-camera format, they had to shoot the two sides simultaneously on two different sets. Hilarity ensues.
Once again, this is a truly awesome use of what has since become more of a gimmick (I’m looking at you 24).
The End of the Line and Nine and a Half Minutes use the perspectives of different characters by showing different angles and POVs. What is great is how the various scenes intersect with one another, providing each time additional information regarding what came before (or will come after).

Lesson 3: Don’t forget continuity

Sitcom and serialized storytelling might seem antinomic, but in truth, even the most rudimentary comedy will have some form of continuity: relationships.
If anything, television is the land of characters, and especially in sitcoms you need to embrace that.
Somewhat like Arrested Development (though less pronounced), Coupling had numerous references to past episodes and small details. Beyond that though, the relationships between the characters evolved organically and clues regarding what was to come were disseminated throughout the show.
It wasn’t a surprise then when a Season Two episode “flashbacked” all the way to the Pilot to provide additional perspective on a certain relationship.
Don’t be afraid in your script to leave some questions/relationships open, even if it’s a comedy. After all, a pilot needs to set up the world. You don’t necessarily have to enter a super-serialized form of storytelling (especially for a sitcom), but don’t necessarily presume your audience is made out of amnesiacs. Even Friends had arcs.

What to take from the show

The audience has expectations that need to be managed, characters have points of view that must be thought out, and situations have perspectives that can (and should) be manipulated.