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ProSeries Alumni — A Thriving Community of Professional Screenwriters

Entries from August 2010

ProSeries Writer shorts

October 31st, 2009 · No Comments

Check out ProSeries writer Charles Card’s short, “The Challenge, Part 1 and Part 2,” at YouTube.
Go to runner0874’s YouTube Channel …

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Tags: PSA Success Stories

Jukes on why Britain can’t make a show like The Wire

October 30th, 2009 · No Comments

Peter Jukes wrote about difficulties faced by British television writers in the recent issue of Prospect magazine.
“… Although America dominated postwar television drama from Bonanza to Dallas and Dynasty, Britain had a healthy export trade. Till Death us Do Part was transformed into All in the Family, and Monty Python changed US comedy. But our […]

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Tags: Business & Craft

Sokoloff on the third act

October 28th, 2009 · No Comments

“… The essence of a third act is the final showdown between protagonist and antagonist.
“Sometimes that’s all there is to it – one final battle between the protagonist and antagonist. In which case some good revelatory twists are probably required to break up all that fighting….”
Go to Alexandra Sokoloff’s place …

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Tags: Business & Craft

BSR on sex and Barbarella

October 27th, 2009 · No Comments

“… A while back I cautioned against using some skeevy language in your screenplays when describing things like your lead female character’s cleavage and revealing outfits. The thrust of that last post was that it’ll seem gratuitous and creepy. There was another reason in there that I didn’t really address …”
Go to The Bitter Script […]

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Tags: Business & Craft

Epstein on rewriting

October 25th, 2009 · No Comments

“… Sometimes the best way to do a rewrite is to take the script back down to index cards, and then rebuild it.
“Read through the script and write down each beat as succinctly as you can. Actually, it’s even better if you don’t go through the script, just write down each beat on an index […]

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Tags: Business & Craft

McKee on art and commerce

October 24th, 2009 · No Comments

Silicon Valley strategy consultant Sramana Mitra interviewed Robert McKee for her Web site recently.
“… I have done research in that area. I have some sense of it. In the old tradition which goes back thousands of years, you have troops of entertainers who travel around Indonesia to this day. They put up a stage and […]

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Tags: Business & Craft

Scoggins on specs

October 23rd, 2009 · No Comments

“… Producers are the new black when it comes to setting up a script. All but one or two of the specs that sold in 2009 were bought by or for a significant if not major producer (and just a handful of this year’s sales had big actors or directors attached). This underscores the efficacy […]

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Tags: Business & Craft

Levine on naming characters

October 22nd, 2009 · No Comments

“… In a pilot with lots of characters to introduce we give them first names starting with different letters to avoid any confusion. If you have a Bob, Bill, Ben, and Brett the reader is going to get hopelessly lost. I also avoid giving girls guy’s names. No Sam, no Alex, no Max. As a […]

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Tags: Business & Craft

ProSeries Writers semifinalists in Writers on the Storm 2009 competition

October 21st, 2009 · No Comments

Congratulations to Barbara Senatore (The Last Bigheart) and Lee Tidball (Atlanta from Olympus) for being among fifty semifinalists named this week in the Writers on the Storm 2009 competition.
Congratulations as well to Scott Fickas (Sorority Kings, with Brian Jones), who placed in the quarterfinals, but was overlooked in our last report.
Go to site …

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Tags: PSA Success Stories

Portrait of James Cameron

October 20th, 2009 · No Comments

“… The pressures on Cameron are extreme, never mind that he has brought them on himself. His movies are among the most expensive ever made. ‘Terminator 2′ was the first film to cost a hundred million dollars, ‘Titanic’ the first to exceed two hundred million. But victory is sweeter after a close brush with defeat. […]

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Tags: Business & Craft

Horberg on a good place to eat in old downtown Los Angeles

October 19th, 2009 · No Comments

“… Twenty-three years after I moved to Los Angeles, 49 years after the fabled Pacific Seas closed its doors, 113 years since the family of Clifford Clinton got into the cafeteria business in California, and 78 years since CLIF-ford Clin-TON took the first syllable of his first name and the last syllable of his last […]

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Tags: Business & Craft

Goyer and Guggenheim on running a complex show

October 18th, 2009 · No Comments

Dylan Callaghan interviewed David S. Goyer (Blade, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and Marc Guggenheim (Eli Stone, Law & Order, CSI: Miami) at the WGA West site about their new show, FlashForward.
“… The show is really simple, actually. Everyone in the world blacks out. Everyone in the world sees a glimpse of their future. Some […]

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Tags: Business & Craft

Hughes on story meetings

October 17th, 2009 · No Comments

“… I’m not saying agree with everything; I’m saying listen intently and respectfully.  The people you’re working with need to feel like they are being heard, that you are considering their opinion….  If their ideas are the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard, don’t let on that’s what you think.  Take best part of what they […]

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Tags: Business & Craft

Finalists announced in Biz of Screenwriting 2 competition

October 16th, 2009 · No Comments

After four rounds of class, scene assignments, and feedback, ten finalists have been named in the Biz of Screenwriting 2 competition. Congratulations, everyone!
More details at BizOfScreenwriting.com …

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Tags: Business & Craft

Evelyn Roberts Brooks is a Best Selling Author!

October 15th, 2009 · No Comments

Congratulations to PS Alum Evelyn, whose book “Forget Your Troubles” shot to the #2 spot on Amazon for Hot New Releases in the categories of stress and stress management.
It is always exciting to see this kind of success happen.  Way to go, Evelyn.

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Tags: PSA Success Stories