Screenwriting 🧵: THE CUBAN MISSILE’S GUIDE TO BEING A GREAT TV STAFF WRITER. In an attempt not to do the work I am actually paid to do, here are my thoughts on what makes a great staff writer. Subjective as always but hopefully filled with something approximating wisdom. The most anxious I’ve ever been was in the days leading up to our first room starting. It is one thing to think you can do something, but it is quite another to actually be in a position where you have to prove it. There is so much mystery around how a staff writer should behave.

LOTR 🧵: As an expert on Professor Tolkien’s work, I will now tell you definitively which character each of these posters for Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings show represent. First up, human diplomat Glumber Fussbottom, well known for his ornate CVS receipts. #LOTR This is obviously the sword of Brucieum Wane, First Lord of Gothamdor. Look at the golden bat on the pommel of the sword. Too easy.

It’s 2022 which means many are turning their minds toward getting a job. So here’s another TV STAFFING THREAD! Some find these writing threads tedious, but as my friends can tell you, I have no problem being tedious. Today’s 🧵 : THE CUBAN MISSILE’S GUIDE TO SHOWRUNNER MEETINGS So you get that big showrunner meeting for all the reasons we’ve previously discussed. It’s important to remember that even getting this meeting is a huge accomplishment. It means you are knocking on the door! But there’s still one step: the interview. How should you approach?

Many months ago, I somewhat flippantly bribed the twitter-verse for followers by saying I would reveal my worst celebrity encounter, which happened to be with a beloved childhood hero, at 10,000 followers. That goal seemed years away at the time. But here we are. It happened. After much soul-searching, I have decided that telling any version of the bad encounter will inevitably make me a petulant, thin-skinned baby. Looking back, what happened wasn’t THAT bad, especially compared to actually bad things that have happened to people in Hollywood.

THE CUBAN MISSILE’S PRACTICAL GUIDE TO TV STAFFING: Recently I’ve been fortunate enough to have two shows picked up to series. As a result, I’ve been reading tons of scripts to staff said shows. There is an aura of mystery around this topic, and I would like to be candid + open. I will preface my statement by saying this is a subjective thread shaped by my experience, which is nowhere near as extensive as many of super pros on Twitter. Also, I have no experience in staffing a drama, so only some of my information might be relevant to you serious types.

Writing Thread! As writers, I don't think we spend enough time on the philosophy of story and character. It's hard, but it can be the light in the darkness when you're trying to figure out how your characters react to the problems that confront them. #amwriting #screenwriting 1/ Here is Raymond Chandler talking about the quintessential detective. "Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero; he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man." 2/