TV Writer Podcast - Video

015 – TV/Feature Writer Wil Zmak (VIDEO)

He moved permanently to Los Angeles! And then the phone started ringing for Canadian jobs… Award-winning Canadian TV & feature writer-producer Wil Zmak is sure to win records for the longest commute!

Wil Zmak grew up in Toronto, and studied film at Toronto’s York University (around the same time Gray was there), as well as the Canadian Film Centre. Then, his wife’s career demanded a move to the US, and it was off to Los Angeles!

Now permanently planted in L.A., Wil was offered the first of many Canadian jobs, that would see him travel to Canada for several months at a time, flying home on weekends to be with his family. Since then, Wil has worked as a writer, producer, and story editor on several Canadian television series, including The Listener (CTV, FOX International), The Aladdin Project (CTV), Stone Undercover (Tom Stone – CBC / US syndication), Jinnah on Crime (CBC), and Being Erica (CBC).

Hear the fascinating story of how a conversation with director Paul Fox on the state of film storytelling resulted in Wil writing the script for the 2005 thriller The Dark Hours, which has won fifteen awards at international festivals, including seven for Best Feature.

Wil has also worked in development for both TV and features, and offers many helpful tips, including the best way to adapt novels to the screen; what adaptations can teach you about your original material; targeted networking; and why you shouldn’t limit yourself to the hero’s journey and commonly taught story structures.

Follow Wil Zmak on Twitter: @wilzmak

Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published March 27, 2011.

014 – TV/Feature Writer Matt MacLennan (VIDEO)

Whether you live in Los Angeles, Toronto, or anywhere else, you’re going to love this interview with Canadian TV & feature writer Matt McLennan. Not only is it full to the brim with tips on breaking in and getting ahead, but you’ll be inspired by Matt’s tenacious “never give up” attitude, his resourcefulness, and his desire to mentor.

Once Matt set his eyes on the goal, nothing would stop him from achieving it. He read books, worked as a script reader, sent out hundreds of unsolicited emails, worked as personal assistant and production assistant, and met with anyone who could give him advice on the industry.

When one door would close, Matt would open another. When he did get a job, he would milk it for all it was worth, volunteering his time for duties outside his job description, so he could learn as many aspects as possible of what it takes to put a show together.

Learn the amazing story of how he proposed an innovative solution to a modestly budgeted teen show, to use indie local bands for fresh but inexpensive music. Matt ended up helping to promote many bands that would use the TV show to springboard to greater success, and at the same time he was credited not only for his writing, but for his music supervision as well!

To top it all off, Matt graciously offers his email address to any writers who would like to seek his advice or help. if you’ve learned anything from Matt, take him up on the offer!

Matt’s latest show, HBO’s “Call Me Fitz,” starring Jason Priestley, begins airing in April.

Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattmaclennan

Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published March 19, 2011.

013 – TV/Feature Writer Tim Stubinski (VIDEO)

The prevailing wisdom says that “you must move to L.A.” if you want to make it as a TV or feature writer. This week we meet Tim Stubinski, a Canadian writer who has not only had several features optioned, but got an award winning television pilot produced and on the air… all while living in a small town five hours away from Toronto.

Are you frustrated, trying to work at a day job, while writing in your spare time? Tim Stubinski continues to work as a salesman in his small town, yet is constantly networking, pitching, and writing. He offers great tips on how to write the best query letters, how to pitch over the phone, and how social media tools like Facebook and Twitter are invaluable to anyone trying to break into writing, but especially the “remote writer.”

Hear how he and his writing partner Michael Markus managed to get several feature scripts optioned, and how they made the decision to turn one of their features into a TV pilot, called Wolf Canyon. This pilot got produced by Really Real Films out of Vancouver, starring Kevin Sorbo, Lorne Cardinal and comedienne Nikki Payne… it aired nationwide in Canada, and won five LEO awards!

As a salesman and successful writer, Tim offers much encouragement to other remote writers. He shares openly about the statistics he has observed in how many rejections he must get through before he finds someone who will read and respond to his script, and reminds us all that when selling a script, it’s the “yes” that matters!

Follow Tim on Twitter: @timstubinski

Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published March 13, 2011.

012 – TV/Feature Writer Karen Walton (VIDEO)

Best known as the writer of the original cult horror film, Ginger Snaps, award-winning writer-producer Karen Walton has developed original and adapted film projects in almost every genre with top producers in Canada, the UK and the American studio system for almost twenty years.

The episode starts with… homework! For the first time, Gray assigns a book to read – The TV Writer’s Workbook, by Emmy-nominated writer Ellen Sandler – as he’ll be talking to Ellen on April 1st, and wants to solicit informed questions about her book.

Then on to the interview with Karen Walton…

After graduating from the Canadian Film Centre, Karen wrote a critically acclaimed independent horror film, Ginger Snaps, that has become a cult hit, and is listed by many critics on their all-time top 10 lists of high school horror films.

This film led to many years of assignment writing, and Karen shares the differences between writing an independent feature versus feature development in the studio system.

Karen has also written critically acclaimed TV movies, including the Gemini-winning The Many Trials of One Jane Doe, and she talks about the challenges of adapting true events, writing socially and morally conscious material, and writing a movie within the confines of the television format.

Karen has also been busy in series television, including freelance episodes of CBC’s Straight Up and CTV’s The Eleventh Hour, being a executive story editor on Showtime’s Queer as Folk, and just recently, she has started as a writer-supervising producer on season 4 of CTV’s Flashpoint, which airs on CBS in the US.

But wait, there’s more… Karen is the executive producer of the successful web series for tweens, Ruby Skye P.I.; has an original paranormal series currently optioned; is an active member of the Writer’s Guild of America – West, Canada, and Quebec’s SARTEC; and if that’s not enough… is the founder and current editor of the online writer’s community Ink Canada.

Follow Karen Walton on Twitter: @inkcanada

Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published March 4, 2011.

011 – TV/Feature Writer Daegan Fryklind (VIDEO)

This episode serves as the end of our Women TV Writers series and the beginning of our Canadian TV Market series, which will run through the month of March.

Today we meet Daegan Fryklind: a well-established Canadian writer who lives in Vancouver, but often comes to Toronto for writing jobs. In addition to working on well-known series Being Erica, The Listener, and Cold Squad, she has won a Leo Award for Best Dramatic Series Screenwriting (JPod), has been nominated for a Canadian Screenwriter Award (Robson Arms), and co-wrote the animated feature Edison & Leo, which won “Best Animated Feature” at the Bangkok International Animation Film Festival.

In our longest interview yet, she touches on many aspects of the Canadian writing market, from why animated shows are an excellent way to develop dialogue writing skills, to how Canadian TV writing fellowships differ from US fellowships, to rewriting scripts to meet Canadian funding guidelines, to the changing landscape for writers in Vancouver vs Toronto.

Because the Canadian writing market is in many ways tougher than the US market, writers like Daegan can offer great tips to US writers who are trying to break in… plus, find out what part of the Canadian industry might actually entice US writers to move north!

Follow Daegan Fryklind on Twitter: @daeganf

Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published February 25, 2011.

010 – The Cape Writer Keto Shimizu (VIDEO)

Next up in our Women TV Writers series, we meet Keto Shimizu, an alumnus of the NBC Writers on the Verge program, who landed a staff writing gig on NBC’s The Cape in her mid-twenties, just three years after arriving in L.A. Want to find out how?

Though young, Keto has a lot of very practical advice for getting started in the business. Find out how she used her connections from Boston’s Emerson College to land several jobs in L.A., including post-production assistant on the recent TRON: Legacy.

Then, learn all about the NBC Writers on the Verge program, and how continuing to network with its participants helped her to draft a new TV pilot that was instrumental in her securing representation.

Finally, find out about The Cape — how advice to “geek out” paid off in landing the gig as a full staff writer, and also a great behind the scenes look at the writers room and how the first season has gone from script to screen!

Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published January 24, 2011.

009 – No Ordinary Family Writers Elisabeth R. Finch & Kate Barnow (VIDEO)

As we continue our Women TV Writers series, we are excited to present our first writing team, Elisabeth R. Finch and Kate Barnow, who wrote for HBO’s True Blood, and now are staffed on ABC’s No Ordinary Family.

They had very different paths into the industry… Elisabeth was a playwright from Jersey and Kate a former history major writing an unproducible period piece. Which women’s career website connected them with True Blood? And how did their jobs as assistant and script coordinator equip them to write the True Blood comic book?

Find out how they managed to write three freelance True Blood scripts while still performing their other job duties, and then how they made the jump to full staff writers at No Ordinary Family. They also share many of the ways that the writing process varies between cable shows and network shows.

Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published January 18, 2011.

008 – Chuck & No Ordinary Family Co-EP Ali Adler (VIDEO)

As we begin our Women TV Writers series, we are excited to have two interviews with Ali Adler, Co-Executive Producer and writer of ABC’s exciting new show, No Ordinary Family.

Gray kicks off the episode with a discussion on the current employment statistics for women and minorities in TV writing.

Then, we feature an interview Gray had with Ali in February 2009, when she talked about how she got started writing, her career path, her work with the Young Storytellers Foundation, and also much about the process of writing Chuck.

In Gray’s latest interview with Ali, they discuss her experiences on various staffs, her opinion on how to motivate women to break in, and much about her experiences on her new show, No Ordinary Family. She answers many fan questions, and teases about what’s to come in what she promises are some very strong upcoming episodes.

[ed. note: Ali Adler moved on to be the show runner for Supergirl on CBS.]

Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published January 8, 2011.

007 – V Showrunner Scott Rosenbaum (VIDEO)

What if you were called in to run a show that had just aired its first four episodes, and was put on hold? That happened to former Chuckwriter/co-executive producer Scott Rosenbaum, and it he accepted the challenge!

It wasn’t easy, but Scott steered the show V into new waters, and it has gotten stronger and stronger ever since.

You’ll be fascinated to hear how Scott lost his writing staff due to production delays, and had to deliver the last two episodes and the pitch for season 2 by himself, with just the studio as a sounding board!

Hear also how he selected the season 2 writing staff, his advice for writing spec scripts, how to properly prepare for a staffing interview, and how a chance meeting ended up securing an actor for one of the most important new characters in season 2.

We also include an interview Gray had with Scott back in March 2010, just before his first V episodes started to air. In this interview he shares his career path, from how he got started as a writer to his work on Chuck, including insight on why “bottle episodes” often end up being the strongest.

Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.comor on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published January 2, 2011.

006 – TV & Feature Writer Dan McDermott (VIDEO)

Are you wondering whether to write features or television? To try to get a pilot produced, or to work on a staff? Or are you concerned you don’t have enough time to write because of your busy family life?

This week we meet someone who does it all… Dan McDermott, co-executive producer and writer on Fox’s Human Target, which began its second season this Wednesday.

You’ll love hearing how Dan manages to write both features and television at the same time, with great success! While writing the action-packed blockbuster “Eagle Eye,” he also successfully sold the pilot for and executive produced the TV series “Angela’s Eyes.”

He shares many cool stories, including how he came up with the idea for Eagle Eye, his work on the Romancing the Stone remake, and why the iconic ending of the original Soylent Green is only the midpoint of his adaptation of the story.

Oh, yeah… and he does this all with a wife and son! He shares practical advice on how to balance family life, features, and television at the same time.

Make sure you watch Dan’s work on Human Target, airing on Fox on Wednesdays at 8/7c. Also, check out our interview with Human Targetshowrunner Matt Miller if you haven’t already!

Buy Gray’s book for only $4.99! Look for it on Amazon – How To Break In To TV Writing: Insider Interviews.

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter (@GrayJones) so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for over 1,000 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published November 16, 2010.