Inside the Room: Writing Television with the Pros at UCLA Extension Writers' Program

Inside the Room: Writing Television with the Pros at UCLA Extension Writers' Program

by Linda Venis
Inside the Room: Writing Television with the Pros at UCLA Extension Writers' Program

Inside the Room: Writing Television with the Pros at UCLA Extension Writers' Program

by Linda Venis

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Overview

What does it take to go from being a fan to professional television writer? For the first time outside of the UCLA Extension Writers' Programme classrooms, TV writers whose many produced credits include The Simpsons, House M.D., and Pretty Little Liars 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 scripts to meet pro standards. Learn how to launch and sustain a writing career and get a rare, intimate look inside the yearlong process of creating, selling, and getting a TV show made. Edited by writers' program director Linda Venis, Inside the Room is the ultimate guide to writing one's way into the Writers Guild of America. "Venis corrals an accessible and useful guide for anyone with the dream and the drive who needs to know, practically, what to do. An engaging and helpful how-to for hopeful TV writers or anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of this ephemeral art." - Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780698138377
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 08/06/2013
Sold by: Penguin Group
Format: eBook
Pages: 272
File size: 539 KB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Over the past two decades, Linda Venis has guided the growth of the UCLA Extension Writers' Programme into the nation's largest creative writing and screenwriting program. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and their daughter.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction Linda Venis xi

Section I Writing Your One-Hour Television Drama Specs and Pilots

1 Writing the On-Air One-Hour Drama Spec: The Story and Outline Joel Anderson Thompson 3

2 Writing the On-Air One-Hour Drama Spec: The Script Charlie Craig 30

3 Writing the One-Hour Drama Pilot Richard Manning 50

4 Revising One-Hour Drama Specs and Pilots Matt Witten 74

Section II Writing Your Half-Hour Television Comedy Specs and Pilots

5 Writing the On-Air Half-Hour Comedy Spec: The Story and Outline Julie Chambers David Chambers 97

6 Writing the On-Air Half-Hour Comedy Spec: The Script Julie Chambers David Chambers 123

7 Writing the Half-Hour Comedy Pilot Phil Kellard 151

8 Sitcom Master Class: Creating Comedy Through Character David Isaacs 174

Section III Being a Professional in the Television Business

9 Launching and Sustaining a Television Writing Career Alison Lea Bingeman 195

10 The TV Year Richard Hatem 217

About the Editor and Contributors 244

Index 247

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Even though my television writing students live far away from any of the writers’ rooms in Los Angeles, the wisdom and experiences shared by the brilliant cast of series writer/producers in this book make those writing rooms seem just around the corner."
—Diane Walsh, Writing for Film and Television Program Director, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

"A treasure trove of invaluable writing and career advice for aspiring television writer-producers, I recommend Inside the Room to my MFA students as a must-read."
—Stephen V. Duncan, Professor of Screenwriting, Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television and author and writer-producer of Emmy nominated television drama and film

"I recommend Inside the Room to my students.  The final chapter on the development of a pilot over a year's time is one of the best overviews I've read about the process."
—Georgia Jeffries, Associate Professor, USC School of Cinematic Art; award-winning writer/producer

"Venis corrals an accessible and useful guide for anyone with the dream and the drive who needs to know, practically, what to do. An engaging and helpful how-to for hopeful TV writers or anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of this ephemeral art."
Kirkus Reviews

Inside the Room should be required reading for anyone embarking on or dreaming of a career in television. Like the classes I took at UCLA Extension when I was starting out, it demystifies the process of becoming a working television writer and tells you how to go about it. Most of all, it lets you know it’s possible”
—Carol Barbee, writer/producer, Touch, Hawaii Five-O, Jericho, and Judging Amy

“Aspiring television writers have found their bible in Inside the Room.  It is an honest, insightful and incredibly accurate depiction of how the modern television system works. No book can guarantee success, but this one will get you as close as any can!”
—Lee Hollin, Director, Drama Development, CBS Television Studios

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