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Posts tagged as “Pilots”

Assisting TV Comedy Writers ft. Gary Sundt (Superstore/The Goldbergs) (PT43)

Alex and Nick invite Gary Sundt, writers’ assistant on NBC’s Superstore and ABC’s The Goldbergs, to discuss the ins-and-outs of assisting TV writers in comedy.

How do comedy writers’ rooms operate? How do those experiences in the room help your own writing? When and how should you navigate asking your boss to read your content? What are the priorities when helping a writer develop a pilot? What is the meaning of storytelling?

The Paper Team pulls up a chair…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Being a writer’s assistant, assisting a showrunner in developing pilots, working in a writer’s room, and the role of comedy in politics (00:01:20)
Resources and Next Time On (1:14:32)

Links

Gary Sundt on IMDb
Superstore (TV Series)
The Goldbergs (2013 TV series)
Playboy’s the Antiviral Show
Archie Comics
Kill Bill
Angel (TV Series)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Marley & Me
Clerks II
Summertime Killers
Rick Wiener
Kenny Schwartz
American Housewife
Charlie Grandy
Guys With Kids
Super Fun Night
Justin Spitzer
Dan Harmon
Mulaney
America Ferrara
Ruben Fleischer
Colossal
Adam F. Goldberg
Joseph Campbell
Michael Arndt
Blake Snyder
“Save the Cat” – Blake Snyder
Neil Gaiman
Twister (Film)
Independence Day (Film)
Adam Wingard
Death Note (2017 Film)
“The Hidden Life of Trees” – Peter Wohlleben
“Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life” – Winifred Gallagher
“Essays in Love” – Alain de Botton
“Modern Romance” – Aziz Ansari

Resources

Michael Arndt’s “Setting a Story in Motion” (Video)
“What Are You Laughing At?” – Dan O’Shannon

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 Pilot 101 (PT30)

NEW: Get the episode cheat sheet on our Patreon!

Alex and Nick go over everything you need to know to get started on writing your new pilot script, as well as some dos and don’ts for each step of the process.

How do you juggle writing a compelling hour of television versus only writing the first hour of a television show? Who is your target audience? What concepts and story archetypes exist in pilots? Why is this pilot story yours to write? What are some particularities of writing a TV pilot script?

The Paper Team sets up their premise…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1 – What makes a TV pilot, a TV pilot or “what it’s about and who it’s for” (0:56)
2 – The particularities of writing a pilot script (25:36)
Takeaways and Resources (54:31)

Links

“Disappointed – Hercules” (Video)
17th Precinct
“Sunset” (3×06 – Breaking Bad)
“Bringing the TV Writers’ Room Process Home” (PT06)
“Act Breaks” (PT15)
“Exposition in TV Writing” (PT24)

Resources

“TV Pilot Checklist” – Secret of Story
“TV Script Standards” – The Black List
“Write to TV” – Martie Cook

Special thanks to Jason J. Cohn 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 Outline to (First) Draft (PT28)

Alex and Nick discuss how to turn an outline for a TV script (pilot or spec) into a fully-fledged draft.

Where should you begin? What if you’re stuck or don’t know where to start in a scene? What should you tweak and improve when looking back at your first draft? Should you use every option in Final Draft?

The Paper Team opens their screenwriting software…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1) Outline versus Draft (0:42)
2) Where to start? (2:23)
3) Scene Work (7:08)
4) Writing and refining the draft (14:51)
5) FAQs (22:23)
Takeaways and Resources (28:50)

Links

“Scribble version, final version” (John August)
The Wolf of Wall Street
Heat’s diner scene (Video)
Waze

Resources

Hemingway Editor
WordCounter

Special thanks to Jason J. Cohn 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]