what i learned from improv

i finished my level 1 improv class at IO West. here are some things i learned:

• i need to listen more. and better. on day 1 we were taught the idea of “yes, and” where you agree with your partner and incorporate everything into the scene. in order to do that, you need to really listen. most of the things i learned apply to writing, but this one applies to just life in general.
• in scenes, we tended to get caught up in the logistics of the situation, or the plot. sometimes people would try to make the situation wackier or more complicated. instead, we needed to focus on the characters, and what their relationship was.
• it helps to start off the scene with a strong character choice, or point of view, or emotion. when i was performing a scene and my scene partner and i had made clear choices from the beginning, the scene just flowed and it was easy and natural. when i didn’t fully commit to an idea, it gave less for my partner to work with, and those scenes didn’t work.
• the way IO West does improv, they aren’t focused on telling jokes. the comedy comes from the characters. there’s no need to try to think up the next joke, because you’re just reacting as a character.
• the teacher always stressed specifics. it made things funnier.
• one week we focused on starting a scene with a strong emotion, and having that emotion change during the course of a scene. when it worked, it was really great to watch.
• scenes work better when the people are focused on what’s going on between them right there in the moment, not planning, or reminiscing.

so much of what i learned applies directly to writing. i wasn’t sure if i would continue on to level 2, because i had no intention of ever being a performer, but i decided to sign up for the level 2 class. i just had a lot of fun doing it and i feel like i’m learning so much, and learning in a different way than from a writing class or book.

i would definitely recommend an improv class for any writer, especially if you write comedy. and if you go to IO West, dave hill is an awesome teacher.

my 30 rock spec and comcast

i wanted to have a first draft of my 30 rock spec done by this time, since i had the outline finished last month, but i only got to the end of act 1. i blame the holiday season for my slow progress. as i’ve writing act 1,  i feel really good moving forward though because i’ve been further refining my outline as i write and i think it’s pretty solid. i have plenty of time to finish the script and polish it up for the fellowship deadlines in 2010.

something that’s been in the news recently is that ge plans to sell nbc universal to comcast. this seriously affects the storyline of my spec because i have elements that are tied to the other aspects of ge, but i’m going to go ahead and write it anyway. i wonder how the actual show will handle the change of ownership from ge to comcast. jack’s job title is half defined by microwave technology, and losing ge as their owner will really limit the story options. it’ll be interesting to see how tina fey and crew move forward.

disney fellowship notifications

i’ve seen on 2 writing forums that people have already received notifications if they made it into the 2nd round. if you applied and haven’t heard yet, then i think it’s safe to say you didn’t make it this year. i didn’t get a call either. i’m just writing my 30 spec to apply for next year’s batch of fellowships.

cold query responses

i’ve been emailing cold queries to some agents and managers, and so far, i’ve gotten 3 responses.

one manager said my script sounded interesting, but he couldn’t take on any new clients. still, it was nice to get some sort of response back.

then 2 agents replied and requested my script. i pitched my office spec that i wrote for the nickelodeon fellowship, and also mentioned that i had also written a short script “brobot” that placed 4th in slamdance several years ago. both agents requested i send the “brobot” script along with the office spec. i’ve heard that agents want to read original material these days, so i’m glad that script is coming in handy for something.

i’m not sure if anything will happen from the script requests, but it’s good to know that it’s possible for an unknown writer with no connections to get read.

after i sent off all my queries pitching my office script, i wondered if i should instead be pitching my spec of how i met your mother. i’ll have to ask some people which script is stronger.

querying agents and managers

after finishing as a finalist in the nickelodeon writing fellowship, i feel like my skill level is at a point where i can now focus on the business end of things, and that starts with trying to find an agent and/or a manager. unfortunately, i have almost no contacts, which is the main downside of not having a job in the industry.

since i don’t have contacts, i have to resort to emailing cold queries to agents and managers. you can find the emails of people with resources like hcdonline.com. i’m trying to just target agents and managers who focus on tv writing. i know the chances of getting someone to actually request a script off a cold query are pretty slim, but until i have a better option, that’s what i’m doing. i’ll post if anything comes from it.

30 rock outline finished

i finally finished the outline for my 30 rock spec. the logline is based on a  tracy storyline so that was set, but i was having trouble getting the liz storyline nailed down. i felt like there were just a bunch of events happening to move the plot forward, but that it wasn’t resonating emotionally.

the show is pretty zany but i still wanted at least her storyline to have some emotion, like the season 2 finale where liz thinks she’s pregnant, then is disappointed she’s not and decides to adopt.

i also didn’t want to start writing pages until i had the ending really nailed down. with the last 2 specs i wrote (the office, himym), i started writing with only a vague notion of the ending and it ended up costing me a lot of time later on, especially with the how i met your mother script.

so my outline is done and ready to go. i’m going to try to get a first draft done within a month, and then polish it up by the deadline for next year’s batch of fellowships, the first of which is nickelodeon in jan/feb.

i started an improv class

when i was going through my nickelodeon fellowship interviews, the director told us she was going to have the fellows take an improv class as part of the fellowship. i thought that was a great idea, so even though i didn’t get in, i decided to sign up for one on my own.

the main reason is i think it’ll help in interviewing and presentation, and since that’s what cost me the fellowship, i need to fix that weakness. i think it’ll also help with my understanding of comedy in general. it’ll also help in terms of knowing what it’s like to perform for when i direct, and maybe i’ll meet some people i can work with on my short films and stuff.

these were the schools i was looking into:

• Second City
• IO West
• Upright Citizens Brigade
• Groundlings

based on my research, i heard that Second City, IO West, and UCB are all somewhat similar in principal, and Groundlings is very different. i decided to sign up at IO West because they also had a lot of writing classes available.

i had my first class last night, and it was fun. i’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the class goes.

prep work for my 30 rock spec

i’ve been reading some 30 rock scripts and breaking them down to figure out their structure. the scripts are all from season 1, but i don’t think that’ll be a big issue. i did the same thing i did for the office spec and the himym spec, which is to make a spreadsheet and write down each scene and how long it was, and what characters are in each scene. it’s time consuming but it’s worth it.

i have a basic logline for the episode and i have rough stories figured out for jack, jenna, and tracy, but i need a better liz story.

my plan is to have a rough draft for my writers group meeting next month.

dealing with failure – fall down, get back up

september has been a crazy month. i started off the month thinking i didn’t even get into the semifinals of the nickelodeon writing fellowship, only to have them call me a few days later saying i did make it in, and that they were just running behind. then i had a phone interview and an in person interview, and found out i made it to the last round as a finalist. then after 3 crazy days of speed interviews, i found out yesterday that i didn’t make it in.

today, i feel pretty good. of course i’m sad that i was sooooo close and yet didn’t make it in, but i’m not as depressed as i thought i’d be. it’s not the inverse of how happy i would have been if i had made it in. so even though i was upset yesterday, i immediately went into planning mode to figure out what i needed to do to get in next year.

nickelodeon writing fellowship: not this year :(

i got the call from nickelodeon, and unfortunately, i didn’t make it in this year. i did ok in the 1 on 1 interviews, but not as well in the group interviews, and there are obviously more people in the groups so those scores cost me the fellowship.

the good thing is that my writing was good enough to get that far, and those are the first 2 tv scripts i’ve ever written.

even though i didn’t get in, getting all the way to the last round was a very helpful experience. i’m going to need to be able to deal with interviews and sell myself if i want to make it in the industry. competence and skill aren’t enough.

i’m definitely going to apply again next year, but i’m not going to just sit around and wait, because like homer said, the waiting game sucks. maybe i’ll get the disney fellowship first. or maybe i can try to become a staff writer on a nick show and bypass the fellowship. or maybe i can try to get meetings at cartoon network.

good luck to those finalists that became fellows!