If you would like to participate in my two-day writing seminar, THE SITCOM ROOM, registration is now open to the public. There's a maximum of twenty participants. Here's where you go for info and to sign up.
As you know, we had encouraged people who are interested in attending the first SITCOM ROOM in two years to sign up for our Early Alert List, which would give them the chance to register before the rest of the world.
We opened Early Registration Saturday morning at 10:00. Katie Kosinski of
Chicago became the first 2011 registrant -- at 10:00 Saturday morning. Which
means she must've ignored my fascinating video and all the fine print on the
registration page and gone right to the registration form.
After one hour, we were 50% sold out.
As I write this, we have only 3 spaces left.
We have people coming from Canada, Australia (2), England, and even Calabasas! Again, here's where you go.
And now back to today's post, which is right below.
17 comments :
Congratulations Ken! That's fabulous and to have people coming from so far away. Great!
Hope you all have fun.
I would love to do your sitcom room, but my finances and health are tenuous at the moment. I'll start buying lottery tickets so I can do the next one.
I wish I could make this one, and in fact I SHOULD be there: a psychic told me years ago (among other things) that I'd work in television - true, she only took cash and kept glancing furtively at the exit, but how can you argue with fate?
In any case - what a great opportunity - write up a storm, everybody!
Ken, you must be doing something right if people are so eager to sign on. I wish I could attend myself. Maybe next time around...
Hey, no surprise. Sitcoms are finally making a comeback. Now all the networks need are SMART sitcoms, and we'll be full circle. No one better than Ken to help launch the next wave.
I'm in the line behind Miciall buying my lucky lottery ticket!
I can't make the teleseminar due to time zone differences, but if some kind soul could ask my question, I'd be eternally grateful (our perhaps someone could just answer it? :) ... Why is it considered a sin to write a script for a show you'd like to get a job on? (You'd think it would be the best thing to show you could do the job...!)
Thanks to anyone who can ask/provide an answer.
Also, I'm fortunate enough to have found myself in a position to be able to attend the Sitcom Room. It looks like I'm the sole representative of England, and I feel very, very lucky indeed to be able to go.
Perhaps, if I'm allowed, I'll post my experiences from the weekend. I can't guarantee they'll be riveting, but they may be an enjoyable/interesting read for those who were unable to attend.
If any of my fellow attendees read the comments section (and I presume they must), then I want to say that I look forward to meeting you in November. I'm sure it's going to be a great weekend!
PS - I hope this doesn't read as boastful. As a regular commenter I just had to share my excitement at having the luck of being able to attend!
Thanks for the very informative teleconference. You're a real mentsch.
Hey Ken, I just listened in on your seminar. Very nice and information (and funny, of course!). I'm enrolled in the sitcom room - looking forward to it.
I have a dog named Dodger and went to summer camp with Mike Scully - so it's only right that we finally meet!
See you in November.
Amy
I thought I had signed up for some alert list awhile back, but apparently not. No matter, I'm unemployed now and can't spend the money anyway. Otherwise I would have loved to give it a go. But if you can guarantee a writing position upon completion of the class, I'd be willing to steal the money...
P.S. What is your address...? : )
I see that Sitcom Room attendee Johnny Walker is a Grim Fandango fan. That has to be the best ever script in a video game, and is one of the few real grown up games (watch some clips on You Tube if you can't face actually pressing all those buttons in the right time and order; there may even be an Adolphe Menjou joke or two buried in there somewhere). As a friday question I suppose, was Ken ever approached to write scripts for video games?
Thanks for the teleseminar! I was the one person from the 209 area code who you couldn't connect to. Apparently, my cheekbones are so angular that they inadvertently pushed the mute button on my iphone and I couldn't figure it out until you had already moved on to the next caller.
My question, which maybe you can use for Friday questions was as follows:
I've been getting good feedback on my spec scripts and doing okay in script contests. If I am lucky enough to get a meeting for an assignment with a showrunner, what does that meeting look like? What should I prepare. Obviously be ready to talk about story ideas for the show, but what else should I consider.
Also, I was raised to wear a suit to any job interview, even at McDonald's but somehow I think a suit would be inappropriate for this sort of meeting. Am I off base about this?
Thanks again! I learned a lot in the seminar.
Jim, yes it's true. It's a great game with a great script. If you've not checked out Tim Schafer's subsequent game, Psychonauts, you should!
Al, that's a great question. I'd love to know the answer.
I've been meaning to ask/hoping that Johnny has been to L.A. before and will not be spending his inaugural visit at the LAX Hilton (lovely as it is) - Johnny?
Ha, xjill! Fear not, I have been to LA before. In fact I used to live there about 10 years ago. I'll be spending at least two weeks there during my trip, too.
That said, if you think there's things that someone new to LA should see, please let me know. You may be aware of things that my LA friends haven't thought to introduce me to!
Not sure if the person who asked the last question was prompted by my request or not, but I'm very glad you asked it, either way! (The answer, for those who want to know, is that writers of the show of your spec script will know the show a million times better than you, and will see problems you couldn't even be aware of. It's not looked down upon, as such, it just puts you at a massive disadvantage.)
Also, to the Australian girl who was asking about her "Bill Hicks" character, I think I saw a conflicting point of view. Ken's teleseminar was specifically about sitcom writing, while your question felt more like a feature.
As Joss Whedon once put it: Films are all about answering a question, TV is about never answering it. Your script specifically felt like it had an ending, whereas in TV is about situations perpetuating something... which is where Ken took your idea.
In other words: If you character ever got over her "issues", then it would be the end of the show and she'd live happily ever after.
Of course that doesn't mean characters can't grow and learn in TV shows (Whedon has shown they can, for example) but it does mean you always have to have another question waiting... "But what if this?", "Ah, but then if this..." etc.
I'm very tired, but I wanted to write this before I forgot... I hope it makes some sense! :)
Post a Comment