facebook_pixel Press "Enter" to skip to content

Looking to start your TV writing journey?

Posts tagged as “Structure”

TV Writing for Comedy & Drama ft. Michelle Badillo & Caroline Levich (One Day at a Time/The Bold Type) (PT115)

Alex and Nick invite Michelle Badillo & Caroline Levich, writers on Neflix’s One Day at a Time and Freeform’s The Bold Type, to discuss their experiences working in both half-hour and one-hour TV writers’ rooms.

How do you approach your first days in a writers’ room? What are some of the differences and challenges between breaking a half-hour and a one-hour show? What lessons can TV writers take from working in both multi-cam and drama rooms? How do you adapt to differences in tone between the formats? How are stories broken on One Day at a Time and The Bold Type? What was it like working on a Humanitas-nominated episode of TV? How can you use branding to your advantage as a writer? What are some tips for successfully transitioning between formats and genre?

The Paper Team changes tone…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Writing for both TV comedy and TV drama with Michelle Badillo & Caroline Levich (00:37)
Final Advice, Resources and Next Week On (47:28)

Links

Michelle Badillo on Twitter
Caroline Levich on Twitter
“One Day at a Time” on Netflix
“The Bold Type” on Freeform
Gloria Calderon Kellett
Hollywood Fringe Festival
Dan Hernandez
“Hello, Penelope” (2×09 – One Day at a Time)
Amanda Lasher

Resources

“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying” by Carol Leifer
“Just the Funny Parts” by Nell Scovell
The Comeback

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]

How a TV Writers’ Room Works (PT105)

Alex and Nick give an overview of what goes on inside a TV writers’ room during a Roadmap Writers webinar.

What is the purpose of a TV writers’ room? What are the most important skills to have on a writing staff? Who’s who in the room? How do shows break stories on a macro and micro scale? Why is room etiquette so important?

The Paper Team calls in…

This episode brought to you by Roadmap Writers

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

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]

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]