Dreams...
Writer’s Quote of the Day
“The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress” — Philip Roth
Free Agents Draft Watch: David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, are treating the production world as if it WERE a real life version of Game of Thrones while they sit in their ivory tower and watch every big production studio vie for their hearts (talent). Each and every big boy in the game today wants to take home the hottest girl at the party. David & D.B. have been courted by (and had meetings with) HBO/WarnerMedia, Disney, Comcast, as well as the streaming companies Netflix, Amazon and Apple.
These are the trappings of creating the biggest series not just on premium television, but on television period. With this kind of success on the screen, you’re bound to get suitors who want to enter into a partnership with creators who have a proven track record.
Benioff and Weiss currently have a relationship with Disney, securing the bag last week with an announced Star Wars Trilogy. Even with that, we’re still left without a hint as to where their new production company will land. All of these companies are vying to be the place where the dynamic duo creates, writes, directs and produces film and television projects going forward. If you ask me, stay at HBO where you’ve done some of the best work tv land has ever seen …. but if the check is more important …go there, or if full autonomy is important … well you get the picture.
Wow, not saying that I’m jealous…but what a decision to have to make. Wherever you land, David and D.B., we’ll be waiting with baited breath for some original, creative and imaginative television content that you two are best know for.
Career Tips: What Showrunners Are Looking for When Staffing a Writers Room
Four show runners, Nahnatchka Khan (Fresh Off the Boat), Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch (GLOW), and Mike Schur (The Good Place) sat down with Vulture Mag to discuss what they look for when staffing the room.
You can take these boiled down tips and run with them!
On the question of television pilots or spec drafts?
All four show runners leaned towards the idea of original pilot drafts, as they show the writer’s voice more than a regurgitated spec of “Family Guy” might…(Let’s hope you don’t have a Family Guy spec, that was just an example)
What are they looking for, you might ask?
When asked, all four of the show runners agreed that they look for various forms of storytelling talents: story structure, pacing, character development, and *humor* was the one that stood above talent.
They added, no one was good at everything, as some writers can crack great with cold openers or jokes, but are absolutely TRASH at handling plot.
When meeting a new writer, what do you look for? How to get a job.
A common theme among their answers were enthusiasm, hunger, writing stamina. Do you have something to add to the series? What do you bring in terms of developing, cracking and breaking down storylines?
You have to think, once a writer is hired you’re going to be spending months on end LOCKED in a room with them, and they have to know you’re someone pleasant to be and work around.
AKA: Don’t be a CRAZY, EMOTIONAL MESS MAN!
Writer/Director James Gunn speaks on being fired…hired at DC…and RE-hired at Marvel.
James Gunn did an expose’ delving deep into the emotional state he found himself in when he was fired last year from the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 production for previous tweets that made fun of pedophilia and rape victims. He was fired without the slightest chance of ever being re-instated, when lo and behold, Gunn was rehired this past March.
One thing that was a breath of fresh air when reading his apology and reasoning behind it all was that James emphatically states that he was a 100% at fault. No one made him tell those trash jokes, and he was paying the consequences of saying/ tweeting terrible things … and even if it was more than 8 years ago, ugly is still ugly.
HURT PEOPLE … HURT!
The truth is I had a lot of anger at myself and I really had to try to put that aside. Because in the same way I know what I’ve done wrong, I know that I’ve done a lot of wrong things in my life, things that led to this moment. I had to realize what I needed to do differently in my life.
In a sense of things, James Gunn was able to FAIL UP, landing Suicide Squad almost immediately.
He was able to turn it into his solace stating:
With The Suicide Squad, it just instantly started flowing. I don’t think I’ve had as much fun writing a script since maybe Dawn of the Dead. That’s what this whole movie has been like.
I love to see people learn from their mistakes, and progress and grow. Welcome back, James!
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