An engaging and helpful how-to for hopeful TV writers or anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of this ephemeral art.
A practical guide to how TV is made, from bright idea to syndication.
A raft of instructors from the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program (including director Venis) and a pool of professional TV writers whose credits include such series as Mad Men, Frasier and The Simpsons guide aspiring TV writers through the process of joining the ranks of small-screen scribes, from drafting a first script to thriving in a writers’ room to pitching an original series. The advice is clear and specific. The contributors break down precisely how scripts are developed and shaped, explicating the culture and protocols of the TV writing community and providing a detailed account of exactly how words on a page become sexy doctors and squabbling families on the tube. There is no small amount of repetition from chapter to chapter, as the various professionals employ a similarly encouraging and humorous tone as they point out the many pitfalls and frustrations (and occasional triumphs) of the business, and much of the terminology and pointers remain constant whether one is writing a spec script for a half-hour comedy or pitching an original idea for an hourlong dramatic pilot. Savvy readers may note a conspicuous absence of real-world perspective regarding the neophyte’s chances of “making it,” which is not surprising considering the book’s origins at a writers’ program, and the ambitious auteur may despair at the insistence on formulaic approaches, but Venis corrals an accessible and useful guide for anyone with the dream and the drive who needs to know, practically, what to do.
An engaging and helpful how-to for hopeful TV writers or anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of this ephemeral art.Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-592-40811-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Gotham Books
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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