facebook_pixel Press "Enter" to skip to content

Looking to start your TV writing journey?

Posts published in “TV Writer & Branding”

From Actor to Writer and Working Across Genres ft. Justin Michael Terry (Stargate Origins) (PT98)

From Actor to Writer and Working Across Genres ft. Justin Michael Terry (Stargate Origins) (PT98)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:26 — 49.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS | More

Alex and Nick invite Justin Michael Terry, writer on Stargate Origins, to discuss working, acting, and writing across different TV genres, in both comedy and drama.

What was the process of writing Stargate Origins? What are the challenges in writing something within a pre-established canon? How do you approach writing mini episodes fitting a larger format? What lessons from improv and comedy can writers take? How do you transition writing between genres?

The Paper Team dials the gate…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Background, starting as an actor, improv, getting involved in Stargate Origins, writing SGO, Stargate franchise, shaping your writer’s brand, balancing comedy and drama, approaching new projects (01:17)
Final Advice, Resources, and Next Week On (47:28)

Links

Justin Michael Terry on Twitter
Stargate Origins
Stargate Command
Walking with Dinosaurs
Cannibal Holocaust
The Blair Witch Project
“The Torment of Tantalus” (1×11 – Stargate SG-1)
Catherine Langford
Fiasco
Taylor Sheridan
Robert E. Howard

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]

Branding Yourself (PT86)

Branding Yourself (PT86)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:28 — 28.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS | More

Alex and Nick discuss the importance of branding yourself as a TV writer and ways to define why you write what you write.

Why should you “brand yourself”? How are you able to drive the conversation about you? How to understand what you can bring to a writers’ room? Why is it important to know your strengths and weaknesses in TV? How do you translate your personal story into your writing? What are ways of showcasing yourself online?

Plus, an announcement about an announcement.

The Paper Team makes its mark…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Paper Scraps: Announcement of an announcement (00:31)
1 – Understanding who you are as a person (02:54)
2 – Understand who you are as a TV writer (11:24)
3 – Putting it all into application (21:49)
Takeaways and Resources (28:23)

Links

“Comedy v. Drama: Declare Your TV Major” (PT02)
“Putting Yourself Out There” (PT75)
Dunning–Kruger effect
$h*! My Dad Says
“Six Feet Under’s Alan Ball on grief and dying” – UTNE
The Goldbergs

Resources

“Building a StoryBrand” – Donald Miller

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]

Navigating Your First TV Writing Job ft. Britta Lundin (Riverdale) (PT67)

Navigating Your First TV Writing Job ft. Britta Lundin (Riverdale) (PT67)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:14 — 58.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS | More

Alex and Nick invite Britta Lundin, story editor on The CW’s Riverdale and author of Ship It, to discuss everything you need to know about your first TV staff writing job and working on a popular show.

What is the process of getting staffed on a TV series? What is the experience of working in a writers’ room for the first time? How do you approach the “room etiquette”? From pitch to draft, and season to episode, what is the writing process like on Riverdale? How do you adapt your voice to that of a showrunner? How should you build on studio and network notes? What is a writer’s job on set and in post-production? How is writing a novel different than TV writing?

The Paper Team gets a script…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Getting staffed on Riverdale, expectations vs. reality of a TV writers’ room, adapting your voice, breaking the season and episodes, dealing with notes, writers’ room etiquette, being on set and in post, engaging with fandom, converting a screenplay into a novel and differences between the two forms (00:56)
Resources and Next Week On (57:57)

Links

Britta Lundin on Twitter
Riverdale on The CW (Wednesdays 8/7c)
Pre-order “Ship It” by Britta Lundin
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
“Chapter Ten: The Lost Weekend” (1×10 – Riverdale)
Jughead’s “I’m Weird” Speech Meme
“How To Practice “Safe” Shipping w/ The Riverdale Cast” (Video)

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]