The conversations I’m having these days about TV writing are different from the conversations I was having before the pandemic. People outside the industry are asking me how will things move ahead. People inside the industry are asking specifically about what it’s like working on TV shows […]
One of the cornerstones of professional TV writing is meetings. It’s ironic, in a way, because part of what makes us solid writers is our ability to invent things alone. Most of us spend hours upon hours with our laptops or notebooks, channeling / downloading our impulses and […]
Often when I’m around a group of writers it doesn’t take long before one of them starts to complain.
“My agent won’t call me.”
“The producer didn’t like my script.”
“Everyone I know is doing so much better than I am.”
“I’m not getting anywhere in this business.”
“There’s nothing going on […]
It’s a New Year and time to make some choices.
At this point in my TV writing career I feel fortunate to have an attorney on my “team”. He deals with contracts for me. Most recently those contracts are for my work the new drama for TNT. I’ve also had my lawyer create collaboration agreements for projects […]
You’re in the writers room, working on a TV series. Every weekday you arrive, ready to collaborate with other smart writers. The showrunner, your boss, has created characters you’re excited to write for and a series you’re thrilled to help on. You have a desk and an office and the show buys you lunch every day. Before […]
I got my first agent (as an actor) when I was a senior in high school. I was riding the bus to school with a girl who studied at a performing arts center near my house on Long Island, and one day, she asked me if I wanted to come […]
Before I was brave enough to call myself a writer, I was writing. It came in spurts. I’d get an idea and I’d start putting words on the page. At the time, I was writing short stories. I wanted to write novels. Inevitably, I’d hit a wall. I didn’t have […]
The holidays are whipping by as they usually do. They might be leaving you breathless with parties and shopping and other celebrations. Or perhaps you’re relaxing in front of the TV with your feet up or making trips to the movie theatre or obsessed with your favorite […]
I was at a networking event (a holiday party – ‘tis the season) and I ran into a friend of mine. He’d just sold a script and was really excited. But he also said he was feeling scared because now he had to write it. (This is […]