Insider's Guide to Writing for Television


Book Description

Do you want to write for TV? Want advice from TV industry experts on how to sell a script? Whether you understand beats and through lines or are still trying to figure out your A story from your B story, The Insider's Guide to Writing for TV supports you through the whole process of writing a television script - from working out a premise to getting your script on screen. Co-authored by a successful scriptwriter and script editor, and the co-founder of one of the UK's most prestigious scriptwriting agencies, you can be confident of definitive guidance on how to write a television script as well as the best professional advice on how to make money from scriptwriting. The television industry continues to expand and producers are always on the lookout for new writing talent. If you're an aspiring scriptwriter, you can make sure you write a winning screenplay - and get it made - with the help of The Insider's Guide to Writing for TV. Inside The Insider's Guide to Writing for TV, you'll find out: What sort of scripts producers are looking for - and which they aren't What practical things - such as production costs - need to be considered What you can - and can't - do on television. Beginning with the basics of scriptwriting and how to develop your script premise and generate story ideas, The Insider's Guide to Writing for TV gives tips from television industry experts on understanding the structure of a television script, creating believable characters and ensuring your script has a compelling storyline. Once you're happy with your television screenplay, there's essential advice on pitching your script and approaching agencies or production companies. Whether you want to write soaps, a TV drama or a sitcom, The Insider's Guide to Writing for TV is your toolkit to making sure your dream of writing for TV becomes a reality. Insider's Guides are comprehensive handbooks written by industry experts with many years of practical experience - so you can be sure you're getting unrivalled advice on how to break into the profession. Also available in the series: The Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published




Getting It Write


Book Description

A comprehensive guide with practical advice to help writers prepare themselves and their work for the screen industry, indentify available paths, and make the leap from aspirant to working professional.




Writing a TV Movie: An Insider's Guide to Launching a Screenwriting Career


Book Description

Award-winning screenwriter Roslyn Muir offers clear and simple advice for beginners and experts alike on how to master the popular TV movie thriller and rom-com genres. Writing a TV Movie is an exceptional resource for screenwriters.




Writing a TV Movie


Book Description

Award-winning screenwriter and author Roslyn Muir offers clear and simple advice for beginners and experts alike on how to master the popular TV movie genre with a focus on the thriller and rom-com. Writing a TV Movie is an exceptional resource for screenwriters, instructors, and industry professionals. Learn the unique 9-act structure of the TV movie used by Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix, and others. Understand how to write the script, get it to producers, and start your screenwriting career. Bonus content includes interviews and writing tips from produced TV movie screenwriters: Melissa Cassera, Carley Smale, Kraig Wenman, Keith Shaw, Kelly Peters, and Amy Taylor.




Behind the Screen


Book Description

When it comes to Hollywood, Christians too quickly wash their hands of popular culture and leave this immensely influential media to unbelievers. In truth, the industry is listening. There is a church in Hollywood, but too often their work is unrecognized. Behind the Screen offers a glimpse of Hollywood insiders who, through their jobs on movie sets, behind TV shows, and in radio broadcasts, work together to give glory to God. With contributions from the writers and producers of such productions as Joan of Arcadia, Mission Impossible, Batman Forever, That '70s Show, and others, believers everywhere are encouraged to join with the church in Hollywood and do their part in closing the gap between Christianity and culture.




Character is Structure


Book Description

This book seeks to reshape the way that writers think about constructing their story, looking at the subject from the inside out. Often practitioners and theorists examine work through the separate lenses of character and/or structure and then bring them together. Within this book, authors Hughes and Wilkes argue that character is structure and one without the other makes for a dissatisfying narrative. Through detailed case studies on films that span all genres, from mainstream franchises like The Hunger Games (2012-2015) and Shrek (2001-2010) to art house films such as Toto Le Heros (1991) and Eraserhead (1977), the authors reveal the dramatic imperative behind the central choices or dilemmas faced by every protagonist in every classic feature length narrative. They argue there is only one of five choices that any writer must make in inventing that key transition from the protagonist's ordinary world into the adventure that will form the heart of their story. Using the universal language of folk and fairy stories, this book gives writers and students a clear framework through which they can reference and improve their own storytelling. In doing so, it enables both the novice and experienced screenwriter to tell their story in the most authentic and impactful way, while keeping their protagonist at the heart of the narrative.




Vale's Technique of Screen and Television Writing


Book Description

Vale's Technique of Screen and Television Writing is an updated and expanded edition of a valuable guide to writing for film and television. Mr. Vale takes the aspiring writer through every phase of a film's development, from the original concept to the final shooting script. Teachers of the craft as well as writers and directors have acclaimed it as one of the best books ever written on how to write a screenplay. This book combines practical advice for the aspiring or established writer with a lucid overview of the unique features of this most contemporary art form, distinguishing film and video from other media and other kinds of storytelling. It teaches the reader to think in terms of the camera and gives practical advice on the realities of filmmaking. At the same time, Vale, who began his own career as a scriptwriter for the great French director Jean Renoir, provides a solid grounding in the history of drama from the Classical Greek theater through the great cinematic works of the twentieth century. Both philosophical and pragmatic, this is a very readable book for students and active professionals who want to improve their writing skills, and for film enthusiasts interested in knowing more about what they see on the screen. Mr. Vale is that rare combination, a practitioner of great experience who can offer a lucid explanation of his craft. Eugene Vale was born in Switzerland and began his career in France in the 1930s. He was an award-winning novelist, film and TV scriptwriter and teacher, whose works include the bestselling novel The Thirteenth Apostle and the scripts for Francis of Assisi, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and The Second Face. He also worked in many other areas of the motion picture industry, including directing, producing, cutting, distribution and finance. His archives are held by Boston University and University of Southern California. Mr. Vale died in 1997, shortly after he completed the updated version of this handbook.




Inside the Room


Book Description

What does it take to go from being a TV fan to a professional TV writer? Television writers--whose many produced credits include The Simpsons; Mad Men; Frasier; X-Files; Battlestar Gallactica; CSI: Miami; Law and Order; and House, M.D.--take aspiring writers through the process of writing their first spec script for an on-air series, creating one-hour drama and sitcom pilots that break out from the pack, and revising their scripts to meet pro standards. They also learn how to launch and sustain a writing career and get a rare look inside the process of creating, selling, and getting a TV show made. Edited by Linda Venis, Director of the UCLA Extension Writers' Program, Inside the Room is an unmatched resource for everything readers need to know to write their way into the Writers Guild of America.




Crafty TV Writing


Book Description

A professional TV writer's real-world guide to getting paid to write great television "No need for me to ever write a book on TV writing. Alex Epstein has covered it all . . . along with a few things I wouldn't have thought of. Save yourself five years of rookie mistakes. Crafty TV Writing and talent are pretty much all you'll need to make it." —Ken Levine, writer/producer, MASH, Cheers, Frasier, The Simpsons, Wings, Becker Everyone watches television, and everyone has an opinion on what makes good TV. But, as Alex Epstein shows in this invaluable guide, writing for television is a highly specific craft that requires knowledge, skill, and more than a few insider's tricks. Epstein, a veteran TV writer and show creator himself, provides essential knowledge about the entire process of television writing, both for beginners and for professionals who want to go to the next level. Crafty TV Writing explains how to decode the hidden structure of a TV series. It describes the best ways to generate a hook, write an episode, create characters the audience will never tire of, construct entertaining dialogue, and use humor. It shows how to navigate the tough but rewarding television industry, from writing your first "spec" script, to getting hired to work on a show, to surviving—even thriving—if you get fired. And it illuminates how television writers think about the shows they're writing, whether they're working in comedy, drama, or "reality." Fresh, funny, and informed, Crafty TV Writing is the essential guide to writing for and flourishing in the world of television.