If you’ve ever dreamed of being in charge of your own network, cable, or web series, then this is the book for you.
The TV Showrunner’s Roadmap provides you with the tools for creating, writing, and managing your own hit show...
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Neil Landau, Professor & Lecturer, MFA Screenwriting & Producing Programs at UCLA School of Theater, Film, Television & Digital Media.
Key Features:
- provides you with the tools required to become an effective showrunner, with in-depth advice about a range of issues, from structuring and developing a TV drama and creating iconic, multi-layered characters to dealing with network and studio script notes, budgeting, and managing writer room crises
- including in-the-trenches perspective with contributions from A-list showrunners such as Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad; X-Files), Alex Gansa (Homeland; Dexter; 24), Jason Katims (Parenthood; Friday Night Lights) and others
- a companion website bonus interviews
If you’ve ever dreamed of being in charge of your own network, cable, or web series, then this is the book for you.
The TV Showrunner’s Roadmap provides you with the tools for creating, writing, and managing your own hit show. Combining his 20+ years as a working screenwriter and UCLA professor, Neil Landau expertly guides you through 21 essential insights to the creation of a successful show, and takes you behind the scenes with exclusive and enlightening interviews with showrunners from some of TV’s most lauded series, including:
- Breaking Bad
- Homeland
- Scandal
- Modern Family
- The Walking Dead
- Once Upon a Time
- Lost
- House, M.D.
- Friday Night Lights
- The Good Wife
From conception to final rewrite,
The TV Showrunner’s Roadmap is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to create a series that won’t run out of steam after the first few episodes. This groundbreaking guide features a companion website with additional interviews and bonus materials. www.focalpress.com/cw/landau
So grab your laptop, dig out that stalled spec script, and buckle up. Welcome to the fast lane.
Contents:
Chapter 1: Prepare the Perfect Pitch
Interview: Ian Sander and Kim Moses –
Ghost Whisperer
Chapter 2: Explore a New Arena
Interview: Steven S. DeKnight* –
Spartacus
Chapter 3: Service Your Franchise
Interview: Michael Rauch –
Royal Pains
Chapter 4: Deliver the Verdict
Interview: Michelle and Robert King –
The Good Wife
Chapter 5: Make Us Care
Interview: Vince Gilligan –
Breaking Bad
Chapter 6: Value Family Dynamics
Interview: Shonda Rhimes –
Scandal
Chapter 7: Fuel Your Story Engine
Interview: Pam Veasey* –
CSI: New York
Chapter 8: Identify Characters’ Weaknesses
Interview: David Shore –
House, M.D.
Chapter 9: Determine the POV
Interview: Alex Gansa –
Homeland
Chapter 10: Get to the Heart of Your Story
Interview: Jason Katims –
Parenthood
Chapter 11: Know Who and What They’re Up Against
Interview: Tim Kring –
Touch
Chapter 12: Mine the Mystery
Interview: Damon Lindelof –
Lost
Chapter 13: Blueprint Your Structure
Interview: Glen Mazzara –
Walking Dead
Chapter 14: Unify Storylines (via Theme)
Interview: Chip Johannessen –
Dexter
Chapter 15: Pique Our Interest with a Potent Teaser
Interview: Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin* –
The Riches
Chapter 16: Hit the Sweet Spot
Interview: Hart Hanson –
Bones
Chapter 17: Pay Off the Setups
Interview: Veena Sud –
The Killing
Chapter 18: Establish the Mythology
Interview: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis –
Once Upon a Time
Chapter 19: Push Them Off a Cliff
Interview: Michael Kelley –
Revenge
Chapter 20: Designate an Expertise
Interview: Janet Tamaro –
Rizzoli & Isles
Chapter 21: Make Us Laugh
Interview: Christopher Lloyd –
Modern Family
Interview: Craig Thomas & Carter Bays –
How I Met Your Mother
Interview: Don Roos and Dan Bucatinsky* –
Web Therapy