Children of Tendu

Latest Episodes:

Episode 9 - Your showrunner and you Apr 28, 2014

Show notes

Showrunners. Some are great. Some are lousy. Some are geniuses. Some are legends in their own mind. What do showrunners actually do? What is their day like? How do you relate with someone who has the weight of the world - and a myriad of strange managerial, creative, and executive problems - on his or her shoulders, and who - most importantly - is responsible for every facet of your existence while you work on a show? Bluntly: the showrunner is the alpha and the omega, and you serve at their pleasure, so how do you go along, get along, and avoid making the rookie mistakes made by Javi and Jose as they made their way through the trenches of television?

Episode 8 - Mo' Producers, Mo' Problems Apr 21, 2014

Show notes

Picking up from last week's topic - "What Do All Those Producer Credits Mean" Jose and Javi move from defining the role of the writer/producer on TV to giving practical examples of the work of the upper level producer with a focus on post-production. From dealing with actor notes, to editing, sound, giving and receiving notes - and carrying "Ned Stark's sigil" - Jose and Javi only leave a few facets of the work of the writer producer unexplored. Also, they tell poop jokes, discuss "spotting" and sing the song from "Pinky and the Brain."

Episode 7 - What Do All Those Producer Credits Mean? Apr 14, 2014

Show notes

The career path for a television writer is a long and winding road that leads to a producer credit - but what does it mean to be a writer who becomes a producer? Do writers who rise to producers still write? What do all the different producer credits mean? What are the responsibilities of writers when they become producers? In this scintillating episode, Jose (of Firefly and Castle) and Javi (Lost, The Middleman) talk about what it means to rise up the food chain as a television writer, how writers become managers of a TV show's crew... and what is it that all of your collaborators on and off the set actually do - and why knowng is crucial!

Episode 6 - Special Guest Stars Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters! Apr 07, 2014

Show notes

In this very special episode of the Children of Tendu podcast, Jose and Javi welcome Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters: creators and shorunners of the beloved "Reaper," showrunners of "Resurrection" and executive producers of Marvel's forthcoming "Agent Carter" to answer some questions about the life and creative process of a writing team, the specific challenges faced by women writer/producers in the entertainment industry, how to run and staff a successful show, the role of mentorship in their careers, how to get yourself staffed... all that, and to learn the meaning of the the mysterious filmmaking trick known only as "the cowboy handoff."

Episode 5- Your First Script On Staff: Surrender Your Ego Mar 31, 2014

Show notes

What is it like to face the dread of the empty page... when you are doing it for pay and as part of the writing staff of a television series for the first time? In this thrill-packed episode, Jose and javi share the stories of their first episodic assignments on staff (on Dark Angel and seaQuest, respectively), and give you a blow-by-blow of the process so that you do NOT make the same mistakes they did!

Episode 4 - The Writers' Room: How Do I Work This? Mar 24, 2014

Show notes

The great unspoken truth of television writing is that - by and large - writers spend most of their time not at the keyboard, but in a conference room collaborating on stories with other writers. In this super-sized episode, Jose and Javi use case studies from their work on "Lost" and "The Vampire Diaries" to discuss how the writers room works, how stories are created in most television shows, but also the procedures and etiquette of this most misunderstood part of the TV writing process.

Episode 3 - Staffing Season Mar 17, 2014

Show notes

Once a year, every writer - and aspiring writer - in television takes part in what amounts to nothing less than a (metaphorical) all-city job fair... the period after the networks have picked up their new pilots, renewed their returning shows, and every one in town with a spec and a dream tries to get a job on a writing staff... but what really is staffing season? How do you get in it? How do you survive it?n In this episode, Jose (Firefly, Sleepy Hollow) Molina and Javier (Lost, The Middleman) Grillo-Marxuach break down this mystifying Hollywood ritual, and share their successes and failures in the hopes that you will not make the mistakes they made!

Episode 2 - Agents - Who? Why? And How? Mar 10, 2014

Show notes

Javi and Jose demistify one of the most misunderstood components of the entertainment business: agents. what they do and why they are crucial for a successful career in television is a little undertstood face of our work as television writer/producer... not anymore!

Episode 1 - Your first step into a much larger world Mar 03, 2014

Show notes

In this inaugural edition of the Children of Tendu Podcast, veteran television writer/producers Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost, The Middleman, Helix, Medium) and Jose Molina (Sleepy Hollow, Firefly, Haven, Castle, Dark Angel) begin at the beginning: explaining how they started their careers in television, and how someone at the ground floor might navigate the early stages of the urban jungle that is the business of writing for the tube!

they also explain the strange name of the podcast, briefly discuss "mangut" and engage in a lively discussion of how a chance meeting in a Puerto Rican Supermarket sparked a lifelong friendship.

javier Grillo-Marxuach and Jose Molina have over forty combined years of experience as writer/producers in television - the Children of Tendu Podcast is their attempt to give away their experience in the entertainment business for free in the hopes that others will not make the same mistakes they did!

Questions for the Children of Tendu Podcast? Find us on Twitter at @childrenoftendu.

Welcome to the Children of Tendu Podcast! Mar 02, 2014

Show notes

Welcome to the Children of Tendu podcast, featuring Jose Molina - writer and producer on shows including Firefly, Sleepy Hollow, Castle, Dark Angel, Terra Nova, Without a Trace, and Law & Order SVU - and Javier Grillo-Marxuach - writer and producer on Lost, Helix, Medium, Boomtown, Charmed, The Pretender, and creator of The Middleman

Children of Tendu is - without a doubt - the best podcast on television writing, the business of television, and getting started in television, ever to be named after a misheard song lyric from the 1990's!

If you are considering a career as a television writer, or are already on your way, Jose and Javi will share their war stories and give straight-shooting practical advice on how to make your way through the jungle that is television... all while giving an uncensored, unexpurgated look at their own award-winning careers!

And if you ever wanted to ask questions to not one but TWO working television writer producers, follow us on Twitter at @childrenoftendu - the next question we answer may be yours!

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