Writing teams are popular in Hollywood, as they can give shows more bang for their buck. But are they popular in Canada? Find out as we meet Jeremy Smith and Matt Venables, a Vancouver-based writing team currently staffed on Continuum. Click image to play video; more details are below: Born in Barrie, Ontario and living [...]
This week I had the honor of speaking at Upstate Independents, a wonderful group of filmmakers and artists who, for the past 18 years, have been meeting once a month to share their talent and to network. Whenever I address a new audience, it allows me the chance to see my journey into screenwriting through [...]
What are your excuses for not writing? This week we meet Vivi Anna / Tawny Stokes, a successful novelist and screenwriter, who writes and publishes mountains of material while being a single mom and homeschooling her teenage daughter! Click image to play video; more details are below. Vivi Anna is an award-winning Canadian multi-published author [...]
Whether you’re a feature or TV writer, actor, or novelist, The Emotion Thesaurus is an indispensable tool for your arsenal. Find out why, in this week’s insightful interview with co-author Angela Ackerman! Click image to play video; more details are below. Angela Ackerman lives in Calgary, Alberta with her husband and two teen boys. A [...]
Like most “overnight successes,” Ryan Belenzon and Jeffrey Gelber have been working their way up in Hollywood for over a decade now with the help of their manager, Jeff Belkin, and agent, Ida Ziniti. Having established careers in multi-media and casting respectively, Ryan and Jeff were rewarded for the years of pounding the pavement, networking, [...]
Rarely do I write a three-parter… in fact, this is a first for Balls of Steel… but Mike Wolfe’s journey from the American Pickers show idea to The History Channel and beyond can’t be summed up in one article. If you’d like to catch up on the first two parts, Part 1 covers how Mike [...]
On February 23rd at 2 PM, The Writers Store presents a seminar by David Misch (Mork and Mindy, Saturday Night Live, The Muppets Take Manhattan; comedy courses at USC and UCLA; Funny: The Book / Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Comedy) called Understanding Comedy: The Rules. We asked David to sit down for a [...]
Strange I haven’t written about this before. Especially considering how often I’m asked about breaking into the biz. It’s a constant question. How did you do it? What was your break? Who helped you or how did you help yourself? Not unlike my dubious career, the answer is mundane yet pretty informative. I called the [...]
In last week’s column, Balls of Steel: American Pickers Road to TV with Show Creator Mike Wolfe, Part 1, Mike graciously shared the long road from creating the show’s concept to selling it to The History Channel. Once a show has found a home, it’s all smooth sailing… or is it? In Part 2, Mike [...]
