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Posts tagged as “Staffing”

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]

Paper Scraps Monthly II – Audience Questions and July TV News (PT97)

Alex and Nick answer more TV writing questions and react to recent TV business news, including WGAW’s yearly earnings, CAA’s Amplify database, Snowpiercer reshoots, and industry mergers.

Where should you get feedback on your TV scripts? Is it better to write single-cams over multi-cams? Should a one-hour drama writer switch to writing half-hour comedies? How much of an impact does Netflix have on TV viewing habits? What influence do the AT&T/Time Warner and Disney/Fox mergers have on content?

Plus, we reveal a major announcement for our 100th episode and crown the July Paper Tease winners.

The Paper Team buys in…

SHOWNOTES

Content

100th Episode Announcement (00:54)
Paper Tease Session (02:39)
1 – Audience Questions about TV writing (14:33)
2 – July TV news: Netflix, WGAW’s earnings, CAA’s database, Snowpiercer, industry mergers, showrunner panel, TV writing Twitter thread (37:00)

Announcement

The 100th episode of Paper Team will be a live event on Saturday, August 4.
Find out more and get your free tickets now at http://paperteam.co/panel100

Paper Tease Entries

“Miracle Village” by Alan R. Baxter
“Unpresidented” by Matty Mendez

Links

Rewriting Your TV Script (PT90)
Feedback and Notes: Building Your Reading Onion (PT08)
CoverflyX
Comedy v. Drama: Declare Your TV Major (PT02)
TV Spec Script 101 (PT34)
TV Spec Script 201 (PT79)
“Netflix Is No. 1 Choice for TV Viewing, Beating Broadcast, Cable and YouTube” – Variety
“WGA West Earnings Hit Record $1.4 Billion In 2017” – Deadline
CAA’s Amplify Database
Scott Derrickson tweets about Snowpiercer reshoots
Time Warner acquisition by AT&T
Acquisition of 21st Century Fox
Electronic Frontier Foundation
“An Evening with Female Showrunners – Panel 1” (Video)
“An Evening with Female Showrunners – Panel 2” (Video)
Jose Molina’s Twitter thread on “things you wish you knew then”

This episode brought to you by Roadmap Writers’ JumpStart Writing 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]

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]