WHY HAVE A TV WRITER ON SET?

Since they already wrote the script (and rewrote it 8 times, and tweaked it after the table read)?

Glad you asked, here's a thread. First: sets exist in 3rd-dimensional reality. Crew may determine that this cool haunted-lookin' house has previously-undisclosed safety issues that change plans. Or the director just had an idea that, if the scene can be adjusted, will save 3 hours.

TEN THINGS ABOUT HOW TO FORMAT A SCRIPT. Based on questions I get after screenwriter twitter has a debate about em-dashes or whatever. (Which is charming. That’s not a criticism.)

Here is what works for me and works for scripts I read when I am hiring. This 🧵 is about formatting and style, k? Not content. Just what you can control with the presentation. I’m not a screenwriting professor, I’m not talking “rules” - just what works with showrunners and execs in my observation.

A tip for writers taking TV staffing meetings.

I get asked a LOT whether we look for writers who are super adept at the genre of the show we're staffing. "Does my spec need to be hard fantasy/ horror/ procedural/ about murderer?"

"If no, will I bomb the meeting?"

Thread 🥳 Staffs are put together like... puzzles? Recipes? Casts? Tetris? Insert metaphor about mixing components of different types here.

Press has started for #YouNetflix Season 3 (OUT OCTOBER 15th) and every time I get asked about making it, I think about our crew.
Talking about how they pulled this show off during COVID is worth a thread or five. So I'm gonna dive in and do a serious one. For the interested: So, the crew: in masks all day while doing strenuous physical labor, social distancing, memorizing changing zone rules and getting poked with q tips. Just stopping to have a sip of water is a whole deal when you're in PPE.

Hi, newish writers who love horror and are trying to figure out how to write great horror. I have a rec for you this morning. #Chernobyl is one of the greatest, most terrifying horror stories I’ve ever seen. The reason why is simple so I thought I’d share in case it helps! A good portion of you will know this already but I’m sharing as someone who got hired on a horror show and then had to have this explained to me. I figure I can’t be the only one out there. :)

I'm about to subtweet certain segments of #TheMagicians fandom so hard, ready? Sometimes, I see self-professed fans of the show having a chat here on the twitter. Now, this is not my first fandom rodeo. I'm a born n raised fangirl myself, from the olden days before the advent of worldwideonlinecommunities, and also I write stuff for the Comic Con crowd. So.

TV Writer Twitter talks a bunch about how to make your way into a writers' room-- becoming an assistant, writers' programs at studios, contests, etc. Did you know that there are similar tactics by which you can become a director? Just putting it out there. Especially in the last several years as studios, networks, and individual producers have woken up to how very entrenched inherent bias is when selecting directors. (When I started, it wasn't weird for a producer to look me in the eye and say "We tried a woman. Didn't work out.")