Guest blog: Paula Finn

So today and for the next several posts I'm going to shake things up. Yes, I'm crazy like that. So...I'm going to have...drum roll please...a guest blogger! Tada! Her name is Paula Finn, she's the daughter of the writer of Honeymooners, Herb Finn. I know, wow, right? And she's written a book called Sitcom Writers Talk Shop: Behind the Scenes with Carl Reiner, Norman Lear, and Other Geniuses of TV Comedy. Awesome, right? 

So I'm completely honored to share some of her tips that she's learned from interviewing and sitting down with these comedy greats. And they're in her book if you're interested in reading even more after reading these tips in my blog. The book is published by Rowman & Littlefield, and available on Amazon and through Rowman.com. So without further ado, the first tip: 

1) Get real.

Carl Reiner believes the truth of the material and of the actors is critical to any show’s success. In his words, “Once in a while you get a fanciful idea for a show and sometimes that carries it for a time…but really, there’s nothing better than the truth.”

Phil Rosenthal makes the same point: “…As long as you stay in the real world, in the world that’s believable and relatable — then you really can’t go wrong.”

Janet Leahy suggests that writers do research to get to what’s real: “If you’re stuck for a story or if you’re stuck in the middle of a story and you don’t know how to get yourself out of it — ask yourself what would really happen in this situation. A lot of times writers will make things up, and that’s why they feel a little awkward because they haven’t done enough research. Even in comedy you can do research. And the more truth you find, the more creative your storytelling becomes…go out and do research, meet people, read books, whatever you need to do — but the truth always helps you.”

2) Know your characters.

Hal Kanter illustrates the importance of knowing your characters with one of his favorite anecdotes. The story is from the Amos ‘n’ Andy radio show, but it applies equally to screenwriting: “All of the writers were sitting in the room with the actors putting together the final script. And we were trying to get a line for the Kingfish; nobody was happy with the line that we had. Everybody was throwing lines back and forth, back and forth. It was a large group of writers, all of whom were excellent, and nobody came up with a line. I finally turned to Freeman Gosden who was the headman and also played the part of the Kingfish. I said, “If the Kingfish himself were to come into this room right now, and you were to explain to him what the problem was, what do you think he would say?” And Freeman immediately shifted into the character and he said, “Well, boy” — whatever the line was — and we all fell down laughing. That was the perfect line! Even Freeman himself was startled by the fact that that character had come out of nowhere. That was a lesson we all learned; you have to know your characters before you sit down and write. And he knew his so well that the Kingfish actually came alive.”

These sound like two really great tips to me! Have you used these tips to help you get out of a writing jam? If so, I'd love to hear how it helped. 

Sample scripts - always a good time to write more

I heard from a female actress/producer this weekend who needs a writer to help her and some friends who look like they'll be getting funding for a sitcom they're writing. From what I can tell they're more like comicedians and need a sitcom writer who gets the ins and outs of writing an entire sitcom, along with a series. They wanted to see samples that represented their idea to find the right writer.

As I was gathering samples to show I could write what would fit their show, I realized, I actually had a lot of samples with female comedy leads. Who knew! It's funny when you write piece after piece that eventually you actually have a lot of things that fit in the same category. I think because I wrote so many guy pieces at times, I didn't realize how many female pieces I really had.

So I sent them along to her and her partners and now I wait. But it just goes to show, keep writing. Because you never know when those things you're writing can actually turn into a gig!

Whenever I see a contest that asks for a certain sample piece, if I don't have it, I try to write it, especially if it's for a short film. It doesn't take much time to write something that if it doesn't win you the contest, could at least be a sample piece later on. So, compile those samples! You never know when you'll use them next.

And maybe, just maybe, you'll get hired from them. Fingers crossed!

Well that was a good meeting

So I've been creating a show with another writer I've been recently working with. I met him through my neighbor who was a director on a family sitcom. My friend said hey, you need to partner up with this guy who works as hard as you to become a full-time writer, see if you guys want to work together! So we met, we clicked, and thought, okay let's try to write together! We wrote, liked each others' style of writing, had fun working together - this team was working! We had different styles of approaching the writing, but like any good partnership, you allow the other writer to do what they need to, if in the end, you wind up with something good. And, we thought we just might have that!

So today, the director and writer met with their executive producer friend to get notes back from him. (I couldn't make it as I was on another gig). We had already heard that the exec prod. really liked it too! So we knew it would be at least a fun lunch, not painful with, "This sucks!" kind of lunch. So they got notes and they were all very positive and helpful. And now looks like he might be interested in partnering with us! So, he's going to let us know for sure in a week! We're all overjoyed. This is someone with lots of connections and really could make this happen. We're going to tackle his notes in this week and plan to have it rewritten to him before he makes his decision. We're thinking maybe it will help him say yes to us! We sure hope so!

On a side note, the reason this is even happening is the director is my neighbor I've known for years, just as a nice neighbor. He hasn't always been a director but I knew he produced different shows, not sitcoms but more event shows. We've always chatted about what we were working on, but really never thought I'd be pitching a show with him! Till one day he suggested I team up with him and the other writer. And here we are! So it just goes to show, you never know where a friendship will lead to. So make friends in LA! It can't hurt.

Writing a show pilot bible

So the managers I'm working with submitted my sitcoms to a few producers and now they're looking to send it out to more people. So they've asked us to write a bible. If you don't know what that is, it's basically what the producers will read to get an idea of what your show is. Now, I've pitched sitcoms in person and I knew a bible was pretty much the same thing. But I'd never sent a bible to anyone. So I knew I had to do it the right way. Luckily for the internet! I quickly came across a website that I found very helpful so thought I'd post that for anyone else that might need some guidance. Written by Lucy V Hay, I felt she really knew what she was saying and in an easy to follow way. So here ya go! Hope it's helpful to you too!

http://www.bang2write.com/2009/07/how-to-write-tv-series-bibles.html