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Dead Things on Sticks: Denis McGrath is on fire in Toronto.
Jane Espenson wrote Buffy. She worked with Joss, baby. And she's all about screenplay craft.
Kung Fu Monkey: John Rogers is one of the top writers in LA.
Kay Reindl From the heart of Tee Vee.
Jill Golick blogs about pilots.
By Ken Levine: Top sitcom dude (M*A*S*H, Cheers, Simpsons, Frasier). He knows.
The Artful Writer: Thought-provoking posts for pro writers from a WGA honcho.
What It's Like by Lisa Klink. Credit list as long as your arm.
How to Buy Art. Lisa Hunter blogs intelligently and wittily about the art market. And you can ask her questions.
Victoria Lucas is one of the rare development people who understand how scripts really work, and can show you how
to make yours structurally better. I treasure her insights. You will too.
Social Security Administration: Most popular names by year.
Name Trends: Uniquely popular names by year.
Doris Egan's LiveJournal. House, Tru Calling, etc.
Creative Screenwriting. Podcasted interviews with fascinating screenwriters.
John August: Screenwriter of Charlie's Angels and Big Fish.
DISC/ontent: blogs about direct to DVD movies. Bracing.
Ni vu ni connu: Martine Page is a working Montreal screenwriter
Danny Stack, chipping away at his keyboard across the Pond.
The Thinking Writer: Jon Deer went through pretty much the same mill I did, and has a lot of helpful stuff to say.
Fun Joel: Joel's a professional script reader. In other words, he'll be reading your script. So listen to what he says.
Chad Gervich's Script Notes. Writer's Digest-sponsored site from a veteran development executive.
The Legion of Decency. A producer's blog!
Alligators in a Helicopter by Scott the Reader.
Shouting into the Wind. Showbiz news'n'gossip.
Screenplay Europe: Reports on festivals, grants, and other Euro bon-bons.
Scrivenor's Error: Legal issues involved in writing.
The Futon Critic: What's in development? What's on TV?
TV Tattle: Thought-provoking articles about TV gathered from all over.
TV.com: Episode guides and cast and crew lists.
TV, Eh?What's doing on Canadian TV.
EntertainmentCareers.Net: Looking for a job in the biz?
ShowBizJobs.Com: Ditto.
Amanda the Aspiring Writer. Amanda works at an Agency. Go Amanda!
101. My intrepid assistant's blog.
Bluestocking LA - The Life and Times of a Writer and New Mom in LA Andy Coughlan is writing screenplays and producing short films. Scriptland: series in the LA Times. The Onion AV Club and its archives.
Famous Films Re-Enacted by Bunnies in 30 Seconds Andy Diggle. A great entertainer, a great humanitarian, and a personal friend of Johanna Constantine.
Justin Gray. A great entertainer, a great humanitarian, and a personal friend of Jonah Hex. Er, if anyone is.
Kody Chamberlain. Nice, really gruesome art.
Glenn Hauman, assistant editor on Grimjack and others...
David Bishop, who is trying to make the leap to the screen...
Reverse Dictionary Search: "What's that word that means....?" Most Popular Baby Names by Year, courtesy the Social Security Administration Baby Name Voyager graphs baby name frequency by decade.
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Friday, April 11, 2008
A reader responds to my earlier post on how to ask your boss to read your script:I think on the whole, you are right. Asking questions to pique someone's interest into reading your stuff is a good way of going.I guess there's a difference between being a p.a. and being a writer's assistant. As a writers' assistant, you're entitled to ask someone to read a script of yours, so long as they're not too busy. Writers' assistants are supposed to be writers themselves. If you're a p.a., you're a step further away from the writing room, and it probably pays to be a little bit less in people's faces about getting them to read stuff.
But having worked on a TV network show and gotten a freelance script out of it, nothing beats being direct with the writers on staff that you have a good relationship with. The whole point of having a showrunner read your stuff isn't so he can give you notes - when he reads your stuff, you want him to have no notes, and you want him to like it so much that he will consider you for a freelance spot or staffing. There is no other point to a showrunner reading your stuff - because good notes can be had from other sources without the high stakes.
My advice to your reader would be to make sure the the script is in tip top shape, and then pass it along to whomever he gets along best with on staff (and if that's the showrunner, even better). Being direct and saying "I would like to be considered for the freelance spot" also helps people gauge where your interest lies. If the relationship is good and the boss is cool, they will not feel threatened and will want to give you an opportunity.
The key in all of this, however, is to be ready to show good material and ready to pitch.
Patrick is definitely right about getting having a great script ready to show. With most people, you get one read. One. It better be good.Labels: breaking in
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