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Posts tagged as “Structure”

TV Outlines: At Home and in the Writers’ Room (PT207)

TV Outlines: At Home and in the Writers’ Room (PT207)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:55 — 32.2MB)

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Alex and Nick take a look at the outlining process in television writing. Whether you’re working on your own TV sample scripts, or asked to deliver outlines in a writers’ room, we dig into everything you should watch out for.

Why is outlining a critical step in television? How do we approach outlines? Have there been times we’ve decided not to outline? How early in the process do we outline? How do outlines differ between your own work and what is expected in a writers’ room? Why has there been a push against outlines by some showrunners?

Content

1 – Outlines in your own work: TV samples, specs, pilots (00:28)
2 – Outlines in a professional environment: TV writers’ rooms and pushback (19:21)

Links

From Outline to (First) Draft (PT28)
Twitter thread on TV outlines

If you enjoy Paper Team, please consider supporting us on Patreon at paperteam.co/patreon! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex – @TVCalling
Nick – @_njwatson
For any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]

The Paper Team 200th Episode Special (PT200)

The Paper Team 200th Episode Special (PT200)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:04:18 — 168.9MB)

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Alex and Nick celebrate the two-hundredth episode of Paper Team with a livestream event featuring several of our past guests, including TV writers, producers, and showrunners from a wide array of shows.

In this first-of-its-kind live and interactive special, we cover all major TV writing topics, from building a competitive TV portfolio and managing industry relationships, to being a useful writer on staff, balancing character with story in scripts, strategies for virtual writers’ rooms, spec scripts, pilot scripts, formats, and so much more.

NOTE: This is the direct audio recording from our Twitch livestream with minimal editing. Occasional bumps are to be expected since we were live, plus hosting while handling the technical side of the event.

Content

Reflections on our first episode, the first Paper Team mentorship, being in L.A. for the industry, and building a TV writing portfolio (00:00:30)
Balancing character with story/structure, and managing industry relationships (00:54:00)
Being a useful writer on staff, and how to approach blue-skying (01:57:00)
Reflections on our second episode, declaring a TV major, evolution of episode formats, and future of the medium (02:36:00)

Links

Alex’s Twitch channel
Video version of our 200th episode special livestream
Moving to Los Angeles (and Things We Wish We Knew) (PT01)
Comedy v. Drama: Declare Your TV Major (PT02)
Paper Team Mentorship I – “Mid-Death Crisis” Overview (PT128)
Paul Chang on Twitter
Alex Switzky on Twitter
Alison Tafel on Twitter
Julia Yorks on Twitter
Jordan VanDina on Twitter
Tamara Becher-Wilkinson on Twitter
Mike Scully on Twitter
J. Holtham on Twitter
Jimmy Nguyen on Twitter
Hilliard Guess on Twitter
Franki Butler on Twitter
Caroline Levich on Twitter
Evelyn Yves on Twitter
Logan Kriete on Twitter

If you enjoy Paper Team, please consider supporting us on Patreon at paperteam.co/patreon! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex – @TVCalling
Nick – @_njwatson
For any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]

2020 Paper Team Mentorship III – “The Pirate King” Outline (PT198)

2020 Paper Team Mentorship III – “The Pirate King” Outline (PT198)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:31 — 41.9MB)

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Alex and Nick continue the 2020 Paper Team Mentorship with mentee Ben Warner and the beat sheet of his drama pilot THE PIRATE KING.

Step three of the process: a detailed outline of the pilot episode, with every act broken down scene-by-scene.

We answer some feedback and discuss our thoughts on Ben’s outline.

Reminder

We’re having our 200th Paper Team episode event STREAMED LIVE! We’ll be talking TV writing and celebrating this podcast with some incredible guests. So mark your calendars for Saturday, December 5 and follow TV Calling’s brand-new Twitch channel.

We also want to hear from you! Do you have a favorite moment or guest from the podcast you want us to highlight? Let us know at http://paperteam.co/200

Content

Quick recap about the first two 2020 mentorship episodes (00:42)
Discussion of “The Pirate King” outline (03:32)

Links

“The Pirate King” outline
2020 Paper Team Mentorship I – “The Pirate King” Overview (PT190)
2020 Paper Team Mentorship I – Ben’s Update
2020 Paper Team Mentorship II – “The Pirate King” Beat Sheet (PT193)
2020 Paper Team Mentorship II – Ben’s Update

If you enjoy Paper Team, please consider supporting us on Patreon at paperteam.co/patreon! :)

Special thanks to Alex Switzky for helping us edit this episode.

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex – @TVCalling
Nick – @_njwatson
For any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]