TV Writer Podcast - Video

055 – Dark Oracle, Being Erica Creator/Showrunner Jana Sinyor (VIDEO)

She won an International Emmy Award for her series Dark Oracle, and received 16 Gemini Awards for her series Being Erica. This week, we meet Canadian series creator and showrunner Jana Sinyor!

After attending McGill for religious studies, it was an epiphany after a tough shift at a call center that led Jana Sinyor to pursue writing for the screen.

In her interview, Jana shares how her time at the Canadian Film Centre and attending screenwriting functions and parties led to her first freelance script for ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation,’ to writing for a children’s series, and then to create her own original series, ‘Dark Oracle,’ which won an International Emmy Award for Best Youth Drama.

Next Jana created the CBC critically-acclaimed one hour drama ‘Being Erica,’ on which she served as Executive Producer and Showrunner. Temple Street Productions produced the series, which subsequently sold to ABC Soapnet and many territories around the world. Being Erica has been nominated for 16 Gemini Awards – winning three. Jana is in active development on a new one hour series for ABC, as well as a new show for CBC with collaborator Aaron Martin.

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 1,200 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published May 15, 2012.

054 – Hollywood Game Plan Author, Showrunner Training Program Director Carole Kirschner (VIDEO)

From executive at Amblin Entertainment to director of the Showrunner Training Program, Carole Kirschner has the goods on how to break in to Hollywood… so much so, she wrote a book about it!

Carole Kirschner has worked as a senior level television executive for sixteen years. Her posts at CBS and as Vice President of Television at Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment have given her an insider’s angle on how to get in, move up and sell projects. She helped develop award-winning shows like Murphy Brown, Designing Women and Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures. She is also a respected presenter and educator through USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and UCLA Extension, among others.

Carole is the creator of the CBS Diversity Institute Writers Mentoring Program. She also collaborated with writer/producer Jeffrey Melvoin to develop the curriculum for the Writers Guild of America Showrunner Training Program, and as the Director, oversees it.

A regular entertainment industry speaker, Ms. Kirschner leads seminars on how to succeed in Hollywood, including strategic networking, pitching and self-promotion for creative professionals who shy away from promoting themselves. Through her career coaching practice, Park on the Lot, she consults with both Hollywood beginners who need a roadmap on breaking in as well as seasoned writers, executives and other professionals who wish to move up and go bigger. Her book, Hollywood Game Plan: How to Land a Job in Film, TV and Digital Entertainment hit stores March 2012.

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 1,200 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published April 20, 2012.

053 – Beyond Screenwriting Author, The Unit Writer Sterling Anderson (VIDEO)

Sterling Anderson is an award-winning screenwriter, TV writer, and author. His newest book, Beyond Screenwriting, goes where no other industry book goes… into the trenches of today’s writer in Hollywood.

Sterling Anderson has written for some of the most popular network television shows, such as The Unit on CBS, as well as NBC’s Mediumand Heist. His TV movie The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn, written for CBS and starring Sidney Poitier, received an Emmy nomination and won an Image Award. Sterling’s extensive resume also includes screenplays written for Lions Gate, Disney, HBO, TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures.

A graduate in English from St. Mary’s College, the accomplished writer also spent five years teaching screenwriting courses as an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Sterling’s first book, ‘Does He Cheat?,’ is a hair-raising, controversial expose on infidelity. He has written three books on writing, ‘Writing Without Fear’ (2010), Beyond Screenwriting (on Kindle and in paperback), and Writing Without Fear: 15 Steps Toward Becoming a Successful (Artist) Writer (on Kindle only). The author often guest lectures and panels on screenwriting at film schools and festivals across the country.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sterling spent his early childhood in Tuskegee, Alabama, before moving to Davis, California. He writes from Los Angeles today. His talents span far outside the world of writing. Sterling has a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and was an award-winning winemaker in Napa Valley.

Follow Sterling on Twitter: @byondscrnwrting

Visit Sterling’s website: sterlingandersonwriter.com

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 1,200 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published April 4, 2012.

052 – Carnivale, Bxx: Haunted Creator Daniel Knauf (VIDEO)

For Daniel Knauf, his first TV staff gig wasn’t until his forties, when he sold Carnivàle to HBO… and he’s still breaking barriers today, as he launches the new cutting-edge online experience Bxx: Haunted.

March 23rd, 2012 was the launch of Bxx: Haunted! Register for your invitation at http://www.bxxweb.com.

To celebrate this innovative new storytelling concept, Gray has an interview with its creator, Daniel Knauf. Daniel is best known for TV show he created, HBO’S Carnivàle. Daniel has also worked on My Own Worst Enemy and Spartacus: War of the Damned

[Ed. note – since this interview, Daniel was an executive producer on Dracula and co-executive producer on The Blacklist.]

You’ll love his amazing story!

Follow Daniel Knauf on Twitter: @Daniel_Knauf

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 1,200 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published March 23, 2012.

051 – Dancing With the Stars Producer, Reality TV Author Troy Devolld (VIDEO)

Reality TV now represents 57% of American television… and yes, they need writers! This might just be the easiest way to break into the entertainment industry. Want to know more? Find out all the goods on reality TV, with author, writer, and producer Troy Devolld.

Troy DeVolld is a writer and producer in the reality television genre.

He began his career with Mtv’s Fear and The Osbournes and has gone on to write and/or produce major reality hits Dancing With the Stars, The Surreal Life, Flipping Out, Black Gold and more, including his current show, VH1’s Basketball Wives.  In 2009, he was jointly nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his work on Style Network’s Split Ends.

Troy is a graduate of Full Sail University and a member of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, The Caucus for Producers Writers and Directors, and the WGA West’s Nonfiction Writers Caucus.

Follow Troy Devolld on Twitter: @RealityTVTroy

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 1,200 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published March 12, 2012.

050 – Awake, Lone Star Creator Kyle Killen (VIDEO)

Four years ago, Kyle Killen faced an ultimatum from his pregnant wife: sell something, or call it quits on this “hobby.” Fast forward to the present: Kyle has sold two features that have gone into production and sold two pilots that have gone to series. One of those pilots is NBC’s Awake, which has wowed critics and audiences alike.

Kyle Killen was raised in a small Texas town but grew up loving movies. He moved to Los Angeles to attend USC film school, but after a series of odd jobs and internships didn’t pan out, he packed his bags and moved back to Texas.

Despite following one of his USC professors’ seemingly counterproductive advice to “quit writing if he could,” Kyle found he couldn’t shake the writing bug. Whenever he tried a new job, he ended up writing about it, and so decided to give Hollywood one more shot.

The only complication: Kyle’s wife was pregnant with twins, and gave him an ultimatum, to sell a script within the next nine months, or change careers to something more stable. Around nine months later, Kyla sold the critically acclaimed feature The Beaver, which ended up going into production with Jodie Foster as director, and starring Foster and Mel Gibson!

Kyle was on the map, and followed it up by selling the pilot Lone Star to Fox, who took it to series, but pulled the plug when the ratings didn’t pan out. They believed in his storytelling, however, and asked him to sign a 2-year overall deal and come up with a new series.

That series was Awake, which just launched Thursday nights on NBC. Critics are calling it the best pilot of this season! If you haven’t had a chance, watch the pilot online, and tune in on Thursday night for the exciting second episode.

Kyle also sold another feature, Scenic Route, which is currently in production.

Follow Kyle on Twitter: @killen8

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 1,200 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published March 6, 2012.

049 – Writing the Pilot Author William Rabkin (VIDEO)

Five years ago, a good spec TV script could land you a job on staff. Now, everyone wants spec pilots. So where are the resources on how to write one? Enter William Rabkin: not only has he written and/or produced hundreds of hours of dramatic television, but he literally wrote the book on pilot writing.

William Rabkin served as showrunner on the long-running Dick Van Dyke mystery series Diagnosis Murder and on the action-adventure spectacle Martial Law. His many writing and producing credits include The Glades, Monk, Psych, Nero Wolfe, Missing, Spenser: For Hire, seaQuest 2032, Hunter and The Cosby Mysteries.

He has also written a dozen network TV pilots. His work has been nominated twice for the Edgar Award for best television episode by the Mystery Writers of America.

Writing the Pilot is not Bill’s first book on TV writing… he also co-wrote Successful Television Writing (2003), with Lee Goldberg. Bill is also the author of the novels A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read, Mind Over Magic, The Call of the Mild, A Fatal Frame of Mind, and Mind-Altering Murder.

Bill is the co-creator and co-editor of The Dead Man, a monthly series of supernatural action thrillers published by Amazon’s 47North imprint, and has written three instalments.

Rabkin is part of the core faculty of UCR-Palm Desert’s M.F.A. in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts.

Follow William Rabkin on Twitter: @writingthepilot

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 1,200 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published November 5, 2011.

048 – Manager Brandy Rivers of Gersh Agency (VIDEO)

Brandy Rivers is currently a literary manager/producer at Gersh Agency and working in both film and television. She is responsible for representing authors, screenwriters, and directors as well as developing underlying material including novels, articles, blogs, video games and life rights for production.

In this interview Brandy goes into great depth about what a manager offers a writer, how they can get you work, what you need to do on your end, and what they’re looking for in taking you on as a client.

Prior to becoming a manager, Brandy worked in development, most recently at Underground Films, a production/management company whose credits include Remember Me, a film she helped oversee from development through post production.

Previously, she worked at Summit Entertainment where she helped develop such projects as the Twilight franchise, Sex Drive, and Knowing.

She began her career at Jerry Bruckheimer Television where she worked on over 430 hours of primetime network television including the CSI franchise, Without a Trace, Cold Case, E Ring, and Close to Home among many others.

Brandy is a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina where she received a BA in Psychology and played Division 1 Soccer.

Follow Brandy on Twitter: @brandyrivers8

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 1,200 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published April 12, 2012.

047 – The Cosby Show Writer, Byte-Sized Television Author Ross Brown (VIDEO)

From family TV to teaching web series writing… Ross Brown wrote for some of the biggest family sitcoms of the eighties and nineties, including creating a show that would be the launching pad for Halle Berry‘s career.

Few of us have more humble beginnings… Ross Brown literally started out on his hands and knees, as a stand-in for a dog in a dog commercial. Clearly there was nowhere to go but up! And up he went, as a 2nd assistant director and then 1st assistant director on such hits as films Private Benjamin and National Lampoon’s Vacation, as well as TV series Knots Landing.

But Ross wanted to write… and write he did. A spec Webster episode led a staff gig on The Cosby Show, followed by The Facts of Life, Who’s The Boss, Step by Step, and many other popular sitcoms. He also created prime time series for ABC, CBS and the WB, such as Living Dolls, in which he helped cast young model Halle Berry in her first acting role.

Ross then began teaching and expanding his writing horizons. His play Hindsight received two staged readings at the Pasadena Playhouse (Pasadena, California) in July of 2007. His short play Field of Vision was performed in Chicago at the Appetite Theater’s Bruschetta 2008 festival.

Currently Ross is an Assistant Professor of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University in Orange, CA, where he developed a series of cutting-edge courses on creating TV series for the Internet. This series led to his popular book, Byte-Sized Television: Create Your Own TV Series for the Internet.

Discover more about Ross at his website: http://bytesized.tv

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 1,200 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published January 16, 2012.

046 – Comic Toolbox Author, Married… with Children Writer John Vorhaus (VIDEO)

John Vorhaus is best known as the author of The Comic Toolbox: How to be Funny Even if You’re Not. This seminal book on writing comedy for television and film is now available in four languages, and continues to be a definitive source of information and inspiration for writers from Santa Monica to Scandinavia.

An international consultant in television and film script development, Vorhaus has worked for television networks, film schools, and production companies in 30 countries on four continents.

Vorhaus’ own screenwriting credits include Married… with Children, Head of the Class, The Sentinel, The Flash and many overseas television shows and films, including the sitcoms House Arrest and Pretty, Sick and Twisted, and the movie Save Angel Hope.

John is also the author of the six-volume Killer Poker series, plus miscellaneous other books on the subject, including the novel Under the Gun, a “how-to whodunit” set in the world of high stakes tournament poker. His other novels include The California Roll and its upcoming sequel, The Albuquerque Turkey.

Vorhaus is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University and a member of the Writers Guild of America. He has taught writing at Northwestern University and the American Film Institute, and lectured for such disparate groups as Mensa and the New Jersey Romance Writers Association.

Discover more about John at his website: http://johnvorhaus.com

Follow John on Twitter: @TrueFactBarFact

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 1,200 TV writers. Find our previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com or on Gray’s YouTube channel.

First published December 23, 2011.