The Writers Panel with Ben Blacker

Whether it's a beloved relationship (Jason Katims' About a Boy), a specific tone (Noah Hawley's Fargo), a foreign format (Andy Daly's Review), or a tale with a pre-determined ending (Carlton Cuse's Bates Motel), a reimagined story looks to balance the previously told one with an innovative new viewpoint that makes it worth revisiting. Moderated by Hitfix's Alan Sepinwall at the ATX Television Festival on June 7 2014.

Direct download: nwp152_reboot.mp3
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Thomas Lennon (co-creator, Reno 911; Night at the Museum; @midnight) and Neal Baer (showrunner, Under the Dome; ER; Law & Order: SVU). Recorded live at the Nerdist space at Petco Park during San Diego ComicCon, on July 24, 2014.

Direct download: nwp151_lennon_baer.mp3
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The creator of Boardwalk Empire and Oscar nominee for his adaptation of the Wolf of Wall Street talks about his start in sit-coms, short-lived, and syndicated shows, lessons from great rooms (including The Sopranos), his interests in crime and cons (and some that he's pulled), and wrapping up his Empire.

 

Direct download: nwp150_winter.mp3
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Mike Royce and Ray Romano (creators, Men of a Certain Age); Emily Halpern (co-creator, Trophy Wife), Andy Daly (co-creator, Review), and Kerry Ehrin (co-creator, Bates Motel) discuss working with another creative person, how pilots are created together, how the room works, and more.

PLUS: A panel with Men of a Certain Age creators Royce, Romano, and writer Lew Schneider, following a screening of episode 106, “Go with the Flow.”

Direct download: nwp149_age.mp3
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From this year's ATX Television Festival, an intimate discussion of his influences and TV inspirations, his mentors, tales on how he got his start, and his personal and professional highs and lows. Joined by Hitfix's Alan Sepinwall, Cuse talks about creating series like The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., and Nash Bridges, to his time as a showrunner and executive producer of the controversial cultural phenomenon Lost alongside Damon Lindelof, to now balancing two different endeavors as co-creator, showrunner, writer and Executive Producer of A&E's Bates Motel and FX's The Strain.

Direct download: nwp148_cuse.mp3
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We last spoke with Wired editor Adam Rogers way back in episode 24 and discussed the book he had just begun. Now that book is here! Proof: The Science of Booze is a fascinating and immensely enjoyable survey of how your favorite spirit gets into your glass and what happens once you drink it. Rogers talks about the challenges and joys of writing the book. Get it now on Amazon

Direct download: nwp147_proof.mp3
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Graeme Manson and John Fawcett, creators of Orphan Black, talk about the long gestation period of their clone saga, how the show works, what each of them brings to the project, what happens in the room, and lots more. PLUS: a not-so-great recording (sorry!) of the Q&A that followed the screening of season 2's eighth episode, “Variable and Full of Perturbation.” Moderated by Variety's Laura Prudom at ATX Television Festival in Austin on June 7, 2014.

 

Direct download: nwp146_orphan.mp3
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Noah Hawley (creator of My Generation and The Unusuals) talks about adapting the Coen Brothers' movie for the ten-episode FX series, the atypical writing and production process for the show, and what may come next. PLUS: Hawley, producer Warren Littlefield, and Fargo stars Allison Tolman and Keith Carradine in a panel moderated by Hitfix's Alan Sepinwall following a screening of episode 9 at ATX Television Festival in Austin on June 7, 2014.

 

Direct download: nwp145_fargo.mp3
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Will Eubank has worked as a cinematographer for years in the film industry, and now his second feature as writer/director, The Signal, is being released by Focus Features. Will talks about how he got where he is, bringing visual style to scripts, and more. The Signal is in select theaters on June 13th.

 

Direct download: nwp144_signal.mp3
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This is not the name of a terrible TV procedural, but rather the topic of discussion with lawyer Larry Zerner and lawer-turned-TV-writer David Hudgins (Friday Night Lights). What do writers, especially beginning writers, need to know about their rights? About copyright? About contracts? These questions and more are addressed.

Direct download: nwp143_law.mp3
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