Martini Shot

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Leaving Early Aug 04, 2010

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A veteran television writer once said to me, "My career goal is to go home." Meaning, let's get this rewrite done and get into our cars as fast as possible. Real professionals in this business don't really want to have late-night writing sessions, or production shoots that go past eleven....

Truth? Jul 28, 2010

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There’s an old story about a terrible production of the play, The Diary of Anne Frank. It was so awful, apparently, that in the scene early on, when the Gestapo comes to search the house, someone from the audience called out, “She’s in the attic! She’s in the attic!” You know, because they wanted it over and stuff...

On the Books Jul 21, 2010

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A few years ago, I got a call from a studio executive I was working with. It was about this time of year – pitching season – and the executive wanted to know what, if anything, I was thinking about pitching...

Idea Theft Jul 14, 2010

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A nice friend of mine wrote a great feature film script, and he gave it to me to read, he said. But he didn't really care if I read it. What he wanted me to do was send it along, to agents or producers or directors I know. Which was fine – it really is a great piece of work – but he's new to the business, so he asked me to wait a week. Until, he said, he had time to register it with the Writers Guild...

Pitch Face Jul 07, 2010

Show notes

People often think that pitching a television series is unpleasant. It's not. It's not easy, of course – you sort of have to work out a lot beforehand, and then there's awkward small-talk to negotiate – but the process itself can be sort of fun. I mean, look, it's the easiest kind of sales call to make: the buyer is in the market to buy. They have a budget all worked out. It's sort of like selling cars – it's not easy work, of course, but anyone who walks onto a car lot and looks around for five minutes is going to buy a car from someone...

Hot in Cleveland Jun 30, 2010

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Last week, almost five million people refused to obey orders. They watched a show called Hot in Cleveland, which has older female stars who are well-known to television audience in a multiple camera sit-com shot in front of a live audience...

Future Hollywood Jun 23, 2010

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Hollywood is what they call an OPM business. Other People's Money. That's really the key to success around here – the ability to take someone else's money and gamble it on an entertainment product, after taking a small fee, of course...

Spec or Pitch Jun 16, 2010

Show notes

You can get all artsy about it, I guess, but the truth is, the way most writers approach a writing project is, first, they ask themselves this question: what's the least amount of writing I can do before someone will write me a check?

Time Change Jun 09, 2010

Show notes

This is Rob Long with Martini Shot on KCRW and it's not 6:44 anymore, it's 4:44 now, which is called, in the television business, a time slot change...

Still Waiting Jun 02, 2010

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Once, not too long ago, I went to a local coffee shop and ordered a tall coffee with room at the top for milk. Those are pretty much the words I used: tall coffee, room at the top, but what I got was a tall coffee with no room at the top. Filled to the rim...

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