I recently had a student ask me a pretty interesting question: "What do you do when you realize that even though you think you're writing all these different projects, you're really just writing the same script over and over again?"

And this made me think about a couple of different questions facing writers as they move into their professional careers. 

The first is an artistic question: What do you do when you're following the same cycle again and again and again? What do you do when all your scripts seem to be converging around the same idea or the same themes?

The second is a question about branding: How do you brand yourself as a writer? How do you figure out what box to put yourself in? How do you figure out whether you should write a script that's very different from the ones you've written before, or whether you should build a brand around scripts that are similar?

So I want to talk about what happens when you realize you are ripping yourself off. When you realize you are writing the same movie again, and again, and again.

There are a couple of possibilities as to why this happens. Some of them are good, and some of them are bad.

Sometimes, there are themes that we just have not finished dealing with, themes that we still have to get out of ourselves. And sometimes those themes actually occupy more than one screenplay worth of writing.

All writing is really just looking inside and wrestling with the stuff that we have going on inside. And, if we're doing it right, we're wrestling with the stuff we don't totally understand yet, or we wouldn't need to wrestle with it in the first place.

With technology today, we are able to connect with so many people so easily. This podcast in particular is an example of how easy it is for the ISA to get in touch with students, and offer support and guidance. Max Timm was asked by the University of Illinois to speak to the screenwriting and entertainment students there, and to give insights on the business, the world of screenwriting, and the entertainment industry as a whole. The students emailed a long list of questions, and we then teamed up with the U of I professor, Susan Muirhead, via Skype. It was a lot of fun! And while a lot of what’s discussed in this presentation is relatively basic, it’s informative and the students asked some excellent questions. It’s a different take on our podcast interviews since Max is usually the one doing the interviewing, but spending a little over an hour with up and coming writers is always time well-spent.

Listen in and have fun. The new year is upon us, and we hope these podcast interviews and presentations offer you the spark needed to shift your writing into high gear. Enjoy and thanks for listening.

Five of the top fifteen movies in 2015 were out-and-out comedies, and another four had combined strong comedy elements with another genre. Comedy is serious business, and in this live podcast we talk about the art and science of comedy with script consultant, author and truly a comedy expert, Steve Kaplan. We discuss what the difference is between what's comical and what's funny - believe it or not, there is a difference - and generally speaking, we hit upon so many gems in our conversation, from the Three Myths of Comedy, eight hidden tools of comedy (which are priceless tools to use if you're a comedy writer or otherwise, really), and Steve has us take what calls a Comedy Perception test to get the talk started.

The conversation is not only fun and funny, but the insights gained from this live podcast should be treasured - and we don't say that very often! Steve Kaplan has been the industry's most sought-after expert on comedy writing for decades. In addition to having taught at UCLA, NYU, Yale, and other top universities, Kaplan created the HBO Workspace, the HBO New Writers Program, and was co-founder and Artistic Director of Manhattan's Punch Line Theatre.

The ISA once again brings on one of the best consultants in the biz here guys, so we hope you get as much out of the interview as we did. Steve's famed Comedy Intensive workshop has been given around the world and he has upcoming workshops scheduled for Los Angeles, London, Ireland and Paris in 2016. You can find out more about Steve and his classes and services at KaplanComedy.com
As always, thanks for listening. The ISA truly appreciates how involved our members are. Without you, we wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be able to deliver content as valuable as this. Enjoy the interview and keep writing.

“This script will launch your career.”

Encouraging words from Corey Mandell’s writers group. Corey thought his script was ready to go.

“It’s one of the best scripts I have ever read after teaching twenty years at UCLA.”

Validating praise from a UCLA professor, to be sure. Corey was gliding and he KNEW his script was ready to go .

Corey let the manager he was interning for read his script, almost as an afterthought, as he was leaving to pick out his black 911 Carrera from the Porsche dealership down on Rodeo Drive. The manager read it and told him, “It’s not ready to go. It’s a dirty first draft at best.” 

The manager packaged deals all day long. He knew what was selling and he knew that Corey’s script wasn’t good enough.

The manager continued,“You certainly don’t want to show that to anyone in the industry. You’ve got some strengths and weaknesses, but you don’t know what they are. This script is going to take a lot of work. I’ll help you, but I have to know that you will really work hard on it because I don’t want to waste my time.”

It was at that moment that Corey’s pats on the head stopped and he got a kick in the ass instead. Up until that point he had won awards for his plays and impressed his peers and even some of his professors, but it wasn’t until he was brought back to reality by someone actually working in the movie business, that he knew the hard work was just beginning.  He told Corey to hire three working studio readers, pay them out of his own pocket, and get their coverage. They all came back with a pass. Not as in,“Hey, nice job, you passed the test!” But as in, “There is no way in hell I would stake my reputation on this script!”

Corey put in the hard work over the next year and more and finally got the script to the point where the studio readers all gave it their stamp of approval.

The story continues in the podcast, but (spoiler alert) it doesn’t get any easier. Meg Ryan is attached at one point and it looks like the project is ready to go, but then a change of direction. Corey sells a pitch to Ridley Scott. He works on the script with Ridley in London (on Ridley’s dime of course, or sixpence) and then a change of direction. But at this point Corey has been getting his REAL education. The type of education that teaches anyone who is paying attention and willing to learn, that life and careers are never as easy or perfect as we dream, but as challenging as they need to be until we succumb to truth.

It’s what it took for Corey Mandell to become a working screenwriter in Hollywood over the last decade and a half.

What Corey can teach you in his classroom about screenwriting is about an authentic writing process that utilizes specific professional tools to help you write material that will get noticed. What he can teach you about perseverance and the ability to embrace humility in the pursuit of excellence is his real lesson.

Show Notes and Links

• Spec scripts almost never get made, but they may help you get paid
• The discussion with Ridley Scott that made Corey feel like part of his team
• Variety launches Corey as the new “it” writer in Hollywood. Corey gets offered 49ers sideline tickets!
• If you can’t write a great scene, you are not ready to write a screenplay
• Many Hollywood gatekeepers admit to only liking a handful of screenplays out of the hundreds that come across their desk every year
• Why writing for a script reader is different that writing for a director
• Your writing needs to be so good that someone will be willing to stake their reputation on it
• How understanding where your blind spots are is the first step to writing a better scene
• How getting rejected after being told he had a great script helped take Corey to the next level
• How a producer “threatened” Corey about writing a story with an “inciting incident on page 17″
• The importance of “engines” for television series
• Corey breaks down the premise of the Breaking Bad pilot
• The lesson that Peter Guber  taught Corey in film school that saved his career
• Why the story in a script should launch at page 53, or page 9, or page 22

Select Links from this Episode

• Corey Mandell’s website – coreymandell.net
• Corey Mandell’s services as listed on the International Screenwriters’ Association website
• UCLA Writers Extension Program

Movies / Television Mentioned in this Episode

• Metropolis
• Community
• Bones
• True Blood
• Justified
• Prime Suspect
• Sopranos
• Orange is the New Black
• Breaking Bad

Episode 101

Screenwriters Alistair Legrand & Luke Harvis talk about their new film The Diabolical and how they got their careers started.

Episode 100

Screenwriter Ashley Scott Meyers answers listener submitted questions and ponders the best way to start and have a long lasting screenwriting career.

Episode 99

Screenwriter / Director Trey Nelson Talks About His New Film, Lost In The Sun, Starring Josh Duhamel, And How He Got It Made

Episode 98

Screenwriter Dan Kay Talks About His Career And His Latest Film, Pay The Ghost (Nicolas Cage)

Episode 97

Director / Screenwriter L. Gustavo Cooper Talks About His New Horror Film June Starring Casper Van Dien

On this episode of Curious About Screenwriting, we switch focus a bit in this interview and bring on Kimberly Chessler Itskowitch. Kim is the VP of Non-Fiction Programming at Lifetime and is responsible for developing and overseeing production of non-fiction projects for the network. To give a brief background of her extensive experience and career Chessler joined Lifetime in 2010 as Senior Director of Reality Programming and has been responsible for overseeing the development and production of the network's hit docusoap Dance Moms, starring Abby Lee Miller. Other projects under her purview include the all-new docuseries The Jacksons: Next Generation, and Atlanta Plastic, which reveals the changing face of plastic surgery by following three of Atlanta's top surgeons and their clients. Prior to Lifetime, Chessler was at Oxygen for ten years, during which she held numerous positions, ranging from Manager of Development to Director of Production.

We as writers and filmmakers are repeatedly reminded that in all of the work that we produce, we need to focus on what's authentic to the story. Kim's insights on how Lifetime has a mantra of "stick to the series promise" rings true in all forms of entertainment, really. While reality TV is an un-scripted process, there is still a creative hook that needs to be adhered to, and without it, your show won't grip your viewers as much as it needs to. Kim and I dive into the behind the scenes of the reality TV world, how a show is created from concept to screen. It's a side of the industry so many of us don't necessarily know or understand, and Kim helps enlighten us on just how a reality series is brought to life.

A very big thank you to Kim for jumping on the line with us in the midst of a holiday week, and of course thank you for being a major factor in the success of this podcast series. Without our listeners, we wouldn't be able to present such fascinating material. Remember to share these interviews with your friends, rate us on iTunes, and to stay tuned to all things ISA by visiting our website, networkISA.org. We're here to help you and your creative pursuits in whatever way possible. Enjoy the interview and thanks for listening.

Our new Page to Screen podcast series continues, and in our second interview, the ISA's Director of Community Outreach and podcast host, Max Timm, joins Jeff York to discuss the critically acclaimed new film from Tom McCarthy, Spotlight. As you may already know, in this series of interviews the ISA will jump on the line with some of our Development Program writers to review newly released films and TV shows with Jeff York. Jeff is a long time development program writer, as well as a film critic. With Page to Screen, we strip away all of the pretentiousness of typical film review sources and formats, and dive into the heart of the show by discussing the writing elements of each project.

Jeff and his guests will of course talk about what they enjoyed and didn’t enjoy about each viewing, but we’re taking a writing-centric approach to the review. In this particular conversation, Max joined Jeff not as a way to self-promote, but to help kick-off this fun review series of podcasts and bring a critical eye to this critical film. Spotlight is a difficult film to watch simply due its content. Not that it wasn’t enjoyable as a film in and of itself – the acting is fantastic, the writing and structure works well – but because of the extreme subtleties and its focus purely on the content and message, the story itself is delivered in a very non-character motivated way and doesn’t grip the viewer on a hero’s journey kind of level. I’m confident that the filmmakers were not trying to approach the story in this way, and because of such a conscious decision, the movie works. All in all, Spotlight is an important movie to watch and should get quite a bit of awards season press and notoriety.

Thanks for listening, everyone! Remember that this is an interactive kind of podcast series, so please feel free to share your own thoughts on each reviewed movie or show and leave your comments on the ISA Facebook page or Twitter account! The ISA loves offering you these free resources, and all we ask in return is to share the podcasts and rate us on iTunes. Now that the holiday season is upon us, we hope that you can get out to a theatre or flip through your home theatre set-up and watch some fine entertainment. As always, thanks for being a valued member of the ISA, and enjoy the discussion.

Our new Page to Screen podcast series is kicked off in James Bond style. In this series of interviews, the ISA will jump on the line with some of our Development Program writers to review newly released films and TV shows with Jeff York. Jeff is a long time development program writer, as well as film critic. With Page to Screen, we strip away all of the pretentiousness of typical film review sources and formats, and dive into the heart of the show by discussing the writing elements of each project.

Jeff and his guests will of course talk about what they enjoyed and didn't enjoy about each viewing, but we're taking a writing-centric approach to the review. In this particular conversation, we bring on Derek Asaff - a rising star within the ISA Development Program having recently optioned a feature comedy project with Original Film, and has a thriller TV series in line with Dark Horse Entertainment. 2016 should be an excellent year for Derek, and we're so excited to track his ongoing success. Here, Derek takes a little time away from working on his projects in order to break down the yes' and no's of the recent Bond film, Spectre. It's a fun conversation, and we will be releasing these every week with a new guest and a new release. Since awards season is right around the corner, be ready to here some great discussions about some excellent (or maybe not so excellent) new releases. 

Thanks for listening, everyone! This is an interactive kind of podcast series, so please feel free to share your own thoughts on each movie or show that we review and leave your comments on the ISA Facebook page or Twitter account! The ISA loves offering you these free resources, and all we ask in return is to share the podcasts and rate us on iTunes. The more we can spread the love, the more love we have to receive in return. So listen and enjoy.

When good ideas go bad, it’s usually because either the writer isn’t writing a story that is natural to them, or the writer has veered too far away from the natural blueprint of their concept. In this live podcast with host Max Timm, the ISA welcomes back one of our favorites – script consultant, Danny Manus. In this talk, we get back to the blueprint of your story and hook. A former development exec Danny Manus and his NoBullScript.net consulting brings an Executive’s Perspective to your projects. We discuss keeping your story on track and how to write what you know the right way.

We had a little fun with this interview – Max was broadcasting live on the app, Periscope. If you haven’t checked out Periscope yet, you can follow Max on Twitter @iMaxTimm and find out more. Max will be broadcasting various writing tips as well as live look-ins while he interviews his special guests. If you would like to know and learn more about Danny Manus, please check out his website, NoBullScript.net. He was ranked within Creative Screenwriting magazine’s “Cream of The Crop” where consultants go, and we’re so thankful he joined us on our call today. Thanks for listening guys, and please remember to share these podcasts with whomever you feel will get a lot from them. You can always find Curious About Screenwriting on iTunes if you haven’t already.

Today we welcome writer/producer, Ted Sullivan, to Curious About Screenwriting. Ted has created a successful TV writing and producing career, having worked on Law and Order, Revenge and now the CBS hit show, Supergirl. Are you watching Supergirl? It’s a perfect throwback to the Christopher Reeves Superman, and Ted is excited about how family friendly and hopeful the series is. Ted dives into so much in this interview – from developing three substantial and legendary mentors and discussing what he learned from them, to the specifics about how to pitch your original TV show and what could be included in your series bible.

With every TV producer that we have on our podcast, invariably comes a discussion about working in the TV writing world and how to navigate a writer’s room. TV is where the work is, folks, so if you have any intention to write for TV, these interviews are priceless. This is insider information at its best and coming from the best, so we here at the ISA hope you take advantage of these podcasts as much as possible. We offer these to you for free, and all we ask is that you head over to iTunes and rate us – even better if you give us a review! So thanks for listening, everyone, and if you would like to follow the podcast host on Twitter, you can find him @iMaxTimm, and if you’re not following the ISA there, you should be! We’re @networkISA. Feel free to say hi, and we look forward to hearing about your successes in the future. Thanks again.

In this live recorded podcast, we had consultant Bill Boyle on to talk about his method of using what he calls The Visual Mindscape. His insights into writing within a purely visual medium are empowering and frankly, exciting. It reminds us why we’re doing this screenwriting thing in the first place!

Bill is an award winning screenwriter, a former UCLA Extensions Instructor, and one of the most popular script consultants in the Industry. An interesting and quite impressive tidbit about Bill is that every screenplay he’s written has either been produced or optioned and he believes it’s his Visual and visceral approach to screenwriting that has made that possible. His book “The Visual Mindscape of the Screenplay” has been a best seller and has been used as a text at several Film Schools and Universities and it shows in this incredibly informative interview.

Listen in. Share it with your friends, and as always, please remember to rate us on iTunes. Your ratings help us continue these free podcasts, and offer inspirational and educational interviews with some of the best in the biz. Keep working hard. Keep writing, and as always, thanks for listening.

Episode 96

Producer / Screenwriter Scott Morgan

Producer / Screenwriter Scott Morgan Talks About Writing For The Chinese Film Market

Episode 95

Screenwriter and BlueCat Founder Gordy Hoffman

Gordy Hoffman Talks About Kickstarter And Having A Long Lasting Screenwriting Career

Episode 94

Matt Dy - Austin Film Festival Screenplay & Teleplay Competition Director

Austin Film Festival Screenplay & Teleplay Competition Director, Matt Dy, Talks About The Competition

Episode 93 - Director Michael Polish Of Amnesiac

Director Michael Polish talks about his latest thriller film, Amnesiac, Starring Kate Bosworth and Wes Bentley

Episode 91

Lee Jessup offers practical advice for both professional and emerging screenwriters.

In this live Curious About Screenwriting podcast, we offer a teleconference with Jen Gristanti – one of the top writing coaches and consultants in the business right now. Jen is also an instructor with NBC’s Writers on The Verge, and was previously a programs executive under Aaron Spelling. Jen, alongside the Director of Community Outreach with the ISA, Max Timm, offers her insights on the writing process with a focus on how character drives story and the importance of balancing character and plot. Very basically, character drives plot and plot drives character. She uses many examples of current and past shows, but the focus of this interview really is the Q&A portion and answering the callers’ questions. We answer multiple questions that focus on many different topics – from the business of writing in general, to the specific gem at the end about what should and should not be included in a TV series bible.

As always, get your pen and paper handy and take notes. What Jen offers here is invaluable on so many levels, but one of her core missions is to support a writer’s overall growth as a writer – in other words, it’s more than just giving story advice. She gives the kind of emotional and motivational support that all writers need. We hope you get a lot out of this Q&A, and please share these podcasts with anyone who you believe will learn from them. Don’t forget to find the Curious About Screenwriting podcasts on iTunes and to rate us there. We offer these interviews to you for free, and getting your rating on iTunes helps us push forward in our mission to provide top quality content through the International Screenwriters’ Association. Thanks and enjoy.

One of the most well-connected guests we’ve had on yet, Tony Krantz joined us to talk about a number of things – so many of them we could have discussed even further in depth – but after working as an agent with CAA for 15 years, Tony went on to help create Imagine Television. From Imagine he moved on to direct his own films, and now he’s writing and developing major TV projects. A fascinating career, really. From packaging shows at CAA such as Twin Peaks, The West Wing, ER, and then producing the Fox mega-hit, 24, and so many others, Tony’s career is something most industry people dream of. He has been able to work at all levels of the industry and continues to focus on his artistic side through his new TV projects in development.

Probably one of the more enlightening aspects of this interview is Tony’s breakdown of how the TV industry is working right now, and comparing it to the feature and movie world. It’s an extremely exciting time with so many opportunities, and with Tony’s breakdown, we can see why the opportunities are there, especially in television.

Enjoy this interview, everyone, and a huge thank you to Tony for joining us. We wish him all the best on his future projects. And don’t forget, subscribe to Curious About Screenwriting on iTunes! By subscribing, you can be sure that all future episodes will be automatically downloaded for you, and while you’re there, feel free to rate us. Your opinion matters. Thanks so much for listening and enjoy our interview with Tony Krantz.

Danny Rose joined us on another podcast today, and Danny has been producing some of the best episodic television for 20 years. After graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, he started working on the hit sitcom SPIN CITY. He then went on to produce 182 episodes of the show SCRUBS, which is nothing short of impressive, and then produced another hit over 100 episodes even of the Courtney Cox starring show, Cougar Town.

He’s currently producing the hit CBS drama SCORPION (Mondays at 9pm/8c) and the MTV show TODRICK, which recently premiered at the end of August. Danny is one of the busiest guys in town, as you can see, and the advice he gives to aspiring writers and filmmakers is inspiring to say the very least. From getting bad advice from a psychic, to discussing the future of TV, it was a pleasure to have Danny on and we can’t wait to see what he works on next. In the meantime, we’ll continue to enjoy Scorpion, and heed his advice at every writing corner possible.

Thanks as always for listening, and please subscribe to Curious About Screenwriting on iTunes. By subscribing and rating us, you help in the ongoing production of these fantastic interviews. Keep writing, and happy listening.