Yesterday we saw television panels for three series and a scholarly approach. Today, our television panels included three for series, two for behind-the-scenes writing, and one on the translation of television to comics. Nope, this isn't exactly what we planned initially... we didn't make it to iZombie due to a time-ticketed exhibit, but learned that they weren't able to show the pilot in its entirety anyway (due to re-casting), so no major loss. We purposely chose to skip The Unexplained Files due to the additional information that was released describing the panel. But, we thew in another series and two different sessions discussing how pilots come to be, and what it takes to write one, so that's different. Included below are some highlights from these events - look for more in-depth articles in the future. And, be sure to follow us on SmugMug, on Twitter or on Facebook for the latest throughout Comic-Con!
Writing for TV: From First Draft to Getting Staffed, with Spiro Skentzos, Karen Horne, Keto Shimizu, David Schulner, and David Slack.
- The more television you watch, the better you will be at identifying event triggers, character goals, and the stakes of a dilemma, which will improve a writer's ability to create those things.
- It's helpful to write a character description in both the first and third persons so you can get into their head and think of how they'll say things.
- You need more than just a spec script for a currently airing show and your pilot. Create content to showcase your abilities. With that, write what you know.
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| photo: Amy K. Bredemeyer |
The Chair: One Script, Two Visions, One Winner, with Zachary Quinto, Dan Schoffer, Josh Shader, Shane Dawson, and Anna Martemucci.
- Martemucci was paranoid about being filmed as she directed, knowing that similar things have wreaked havoc on families.
- Dawson really learned to be patient through this project. He's accustomed to just putting an ad on Craigslist, getting an actor, and paying them. Now, he had a month to cast, a budget to work with, etc.
- Dawson won't be leaving YouTube behind after eight years of videos, but he thinks he'll need to change it, even if that's just slowing down to one video each week.
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| photo: Amy K. Bredemeyer |
The 100 Special Video Presentation and Q&A, with Jason Rothenberg, Eliza Taylor, Isaiah Washington, Ricky Whittle, Lindsay Morgan, Devon Bostick, and Marie Avgeropoulos.
- The second season has fewer than 68 people alive. BUT, the title of the series doesn't refer to the number of people, but rather the name of the project.
- More information about the languages of the Grounders will come out - we even heard Avgreropoulos speak a bit in the tongue!
- Getting dirty happens much quicker than getting clean, so the actors don't mind wearing rags, because they're not spending hours in the makeup chair!
- If they had to spend a week with a castmate, Taylor would pick Bostick because he's funny, Whittle would pick Morgan because she can cook, and Avgreropoulos would pick Bostick because Canadians know how to survive!
- Most of the characters are now on the ground, so there will be some strange pairings in the near future.
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| photo: Amy K. Bredemeyer |
Falling Skies Season 4 Panel, with Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, Drew Roy, Sarah Carter, Maxim Knight, Doug Jones, Scarlett Byrne, and David Eich.
- Sarah calls the second half of the season "gnarly"!!
- Yet another variation on the species we've seen will come about.
- Bloodgood liked working with different actors this season, because although it was unfamiliar, it was also refreshing.
- Wyle thinks that the structure of this season allowed for a lot of the characters to develop their leadership skills.
- Anne will have a flashback to her life with a son.
- Patton noted that "Weaver feels a certain amount of things in his heart as Lexi makes him think about Jeanne." The character becomes one of Lexi's biggest proponents because of that. Also, he wants his character to have one more shot at love before the end of the series.
- Wyle hopes that Tom will get to be a founding father in the next society.
- Jones would like Cochise to understand what peace is and have a heart-to-heart with his father, then remain behind with his human friends. (and maybe move to Atlanta and become the head of programming at TNT, haha!)
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| photo: Amy K. Bredemeyer |
- In the Punky Brewster comic, Henry becomes the title character's mother's cousin. I had never thought about society no longer accepting a young girl living with an elderly unmarried man!
- Henry's job has also been upgraded to him being a successful traveling photographer, so the storylines will take them out of Chicago.
- Original characters like Alan, Margeaux, Cherie, and Betty are still there.
- The Saved by the Bell comic maintains the Zack-Kelly-Slater love triangle.
- They will be starting a Care Bears comic book in 2015! Also, be on the lookout for Madballs and Packages from Planet X.
How to Write a Pilot, with Gray Jones, Jen Grisanti, William Rabkin, Bill Taub, and Carole Kirschner.
- Although it's tough to sell a pilot without being established, Extant was written by a nobody. Mad Men also didn't sell until the creator had done other things.
- Writing your own show demonstrates an original voice, which can be great... but some showrunners want to see people who write in their tone, so specs are sometimes better.
- With that, you should really have a dossier of 2-3 original pilots and a few spec scripts so if anyone wants to read more of your work, you have it available!
- The series Bible has gone from the 40 pages of the 90s to just 6-15 pages now, but you should still know everything about your characters.
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| photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer |
