They say film is a director’s medium, and television is a writer’s medium.

With quick turnaround times for episodes, high paying salaries, and creative control, I’d say that’s definitely true. And with more channels than ever thirsting for content of all types, there’s never been a better time to consider writing for T.V.

If you’re looking for a place to start, I’d like to recommend a great book:

Writing the TV Drama Series 3rd edition: How to Succeed as a Professional Writer in TV
by Pamela Douglas

The new third edition of her book, is a must-read for writers looking to break into (and excel at) television writing. It’s packed with incredibly valuable tips, tricks, insights and first-person accounts.

Not only does it explain fundamental concepts, like “How shows get on TV and the TV season,” it also goes in depth on such topics as:

• How a classic script is crafted
• Writing your own episode or pilot
• Working on staff
• How to break in
• The future of TV

There’s even a section on Unscripted or Reality Television shows and the writing jobs available therein.

Each key section is anchored by first-person insights and lessons from industry veterans.

If you’re planning, or even thinking, of writing for television, this book is the place to start.

Here’s a graphic, courtesy of The Chive, that appears to show part of his work schedule. It contains some great writing tips or “commandments” that can also apply to screenwriting:

While items 4 and 8 seem to be somewhat contradictory, there are some wonderful “commandments” here. Which ones do you find most helpful?

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – NOT a Thriller

Anyone else a feel little disappointed by this movie?

I’ve decided that you can’t call your movie a Thriller if A) no one runs in it, and B) the protagonist is never shown to be in any real danger.

An intense Espionage Drama? Sure. But a Thriller? That’s a bit of a stretch in my opinion. Damn you false advertising!

And what was the big fuss over Gary Oldman’s performance? Solid acting to be sure — but some of the reviews were making it sound like it was the role of his life.

Or maybe it was — what do you think? Was his performance understated, nuanced and bravura? Or was it just stoic, boring and unchallenging?

Did the trailer or the commercials have you feeling a little deceived when you finally saw the movie? Or was it just me? Let me know!

Tentpole

I received some good questions from Lauren the other day:

What is the difference between a ten-pole [sic] movie and a high concept movie? Or do they always work together? Is there a minimum budget or max budget?

A “tentpole” movie is one that a studio hopes will do extremely well at the box office. Just like a pole holds up a tent, such a movie will provide the necessary financial support to the studio.

The term: “high-concept” is a little trickier to define. Essentially it’s an innovative movie idea that immediately captures viewers’ imaginations in a few words and is believed to have mass-market appeal.

As Steve Kaire writes in this insightful article, a high-concept movie can be sold on its pitch. It’s not execution dependent.

Movies like Jurassic Park (cloned dinosaurs running amuck in a theme park) or The Sixth Sense (a pscyhiatrist trying to help a boy who sees dead people) are high concept.

Movies like Star Wars, or Black Swan are execution dependent, and therefore not high-concept. It’s hard to describe them in a few words in a way that does them justice and excites the viewer.

An original script may get made because it’s high-concept. If it does well, then its sequel may be set up as a tentpole for the studio.

In fact, most tentpole movies these days are sequels or based on franchises with built-in audiences. Usually that means they are big budget productions, where the studios put lots of money into them, expecting a lot more money to come back.

But there are no hard and fast rules on budgeting. It depends what type of movie it is. Twilight only had a $37 million dollar budget, but was expected to be a hit (though, it went on to shatter expectations worldwide).

Humor

Is it important to always add humor to high concept scripts, for the studios and agents sake?

High-Concept

No, not at all. It depends entirely on the genre of the script you’re writing. But most movies have at least a moment or two of humor — if only to provide a brief respite for the audience. That’s why they call it “comic relief.”

Regardless of the genre though, the goal is to make your script as enjoyable to read as possible. Humor might be a part of it, but ultimately it’s about writing an engaging script. Make the reader want to turn the page to see what happens next.

So if you’re writing a dark horror movie, don’t feel that you need to add humor to the scene descriptions just to make the read more enjoyable. It would probably have the opposite effect.

However, if you’re writing an action-adventure, where part of the goal is to make the audience laugh, then have at it. If you’re writing a pure comedy, it’s probably a necessity.

Spiderman Reboot

Would you say the movie “Spiderman-Reboot” is high concept?

I would say that whether the Spider-Man reboot is high-concept or not is irrelevant. It’s a franchise movie, and a tentpole. We know it’s going to be a hit.

“High-concept” is usually applied to stories that haven’t been seen before on the silver screen. Spider-Man has been around for a while now. Everyone’s going to go see it, not because of an innovative story concept, but rather because we already know what a Spider-Man movie entails.

The original Spider-Man story (young man gets bitten by radioactive spider and develops spider-like superpowers)? Yes, very high concept.

Do you have any questions you’d like me to answer? Send ‘em in!

John Ramsey  and his brother have created a hilarious commentary track for one of their crappy home movies. They critique the footage in that stilted self-congratulatory, pseudo-intellectual style that we’re so used to hearing.

“Not Where You Saw” tells the riveting tale of one brother’s courageous stand for justice.

Check it out:

(via geekosystem)