Writers Group Therapy

For some us, our biggest addictions are caffeine and endlessly scrolling TikTok videos, so, how do we write characters with more serious addictions? We talk to Ted Perkins, a former Warner Brothers and Universal studio executive, producer, screenwriter and now author who tackles the topic in his new book Addicted In Film, for which Ted watched 100 movies in 100 days about addiction.

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Ted Perkin’s Bio

Ted Perkins is a former film executive at Warner Bros., and his most recent post as Head of International Co-Productions and Acquisitions at Universal Pictures where he pioneered co-production between U.S. Major studios, Spain, Latin America, China and India.  He turned to screenwriting and has sold over a dozen scripts to various companies including Fox Searchlight and Lionsgate. He recently sold a TV series spec for low six figures, and has another one in development with a large production conglomerate in Europe.

This session, we talk with writer/director Matthew Gentile about “American Murderer,” his new true crime thriller about FBI fugitive Jason Derek Brown.

"American Murderer" is based on the true story of Jason Derek Brown - a charismatic con man turned party king who bankrolls his luxurious lifestyle through a series of scams. When his funds run low and his past catches up with him, he plots his most elaborate scheme yet and, in the process, becomes the FBI's most unlikely - and elusive - top ten fugitive.

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Trailer: https://youtu.be/rX3logJovfQ

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MatthewLGentile

Website: https://www.matthewgentiledirector.com

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4244841/

American Murderer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13603778

We get the scoop on Get It Made X, a script-to-screen program for writers to not only improve their writing, but also learn about marketing and production through group activities, meetings with industry professionals, and peer review opportunities. Co-founders Matt Boda and Sylvie Dang Boda talk about why they created the program and how it helps writers get their work made.

SPECIAL PROMO CODE for Writers Group Therapy podcast listeners!

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Nicholas Bruckman has produced and directed award-winning features, commercials and web-content for groups such as Greenpeace, Black Lives Matter and TED. His films have screened at Tribeca, Sundance, and SXSW where it won the Audience Award. His latest film “Not Going Quietly” is now streaming on Hulu. We talk storytelling in documentary formats, journalistic objectivity and more.

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As writers, we struggle to get our work written, sold, and produced our whole careers. What we don’t hardly ever think about is, what happens after we’re gone? Our writing doesn’t stop being valuable, but who is going to take over managing it and, hopefully, continue to reap the benefits of our creativity for the length of our copyright? We discuss this with Best-selling novelists Matt Buchman, writer of “Estate Planning for Writers” based on his own experiences.

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The doctors (not real doctors) are in, again. We’re back from our Summer break and kicking off our 6th year with a look at all the recent stories in the news that impact Hollywood and writers including Roe v. Wade, inflation and supply chain woes, YouTube TV, CA Tax incentives, and more.

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In this session, we talk with novelist and screenwriter/showrunner Dennis Lehane. His award-winning novels and the film adaptations spawned major feature films such as “Shutter Island,” “Mystic River” and “Gone Baby Gone.” The show’s he’s written for, “The Wire” and “Boardwalk Empire,” are always at the top of everyone’s “best written show” lists. We discuss his journey and his latest project, the true crime limited series on AppleTV+ “Black Bird” starring Taron Egerton.

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Maggie Cohn, one of the show runners and writers of The Staircase, the new HBOMax true crime series is our guest for this session. Maggie won a Golden Globe for writing and producing American Crime Story: Versace and previously co-executive produced Narcos.

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• Official Trailer

Are the broadcast networks just going through the motions this pilot season? With each having its own streamer, are we seeing the last days of the traditional pilot season? What does this mean for writers? And Tom remembers the day so of Saturday morning cartoon pilot season.

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Tom was wrong, “The X-Files” was not a mid-season replacement show. The first season was a full 24 episodes running from September 1993-May 1994. It was a Friday night show, which were shows that weren’t expected to do that well, hence the slot was often called the “Friday night death slot.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_night_death_slot)

• Deadline Pilot Panic: https://deadline.com/category/primetime-pilot-panic/

Getting in, staying in and consuming entertainment all take a certain amount of resources. We discuss how to prioritize where you put your time, money and heart into the entertainment industry, both as an artist and as a consumer.

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