Episodes

Alex and Nick celebrate the end of 2019 by taking a look back at the last year of the decade, both for Paper Team and TV writing news, plus answering more of your questions, celebrating our fans, and announcing our 2020 plans for the podcast. When and how can you include holidays in your scripts? What were the most popular and discussed episodes of Paper Team in 2019? What were our favorite shows, movies, music, books of the year? What are our favorite series of the past decade? What are our 20...

Alex and Nick are joined by Jordan VanDina, writer on the new Animaniacs TV show, the upcoming movie The Binge with Vince Vaughn, and creator/writer of Weekend Scripts, to discuss generating scripts that will go viral, leveraging online success to get work, plus the importance of having a pasta pass in your arsenal. How do you go about promoting stunt scripts? What are ways of writing scripts quickly? How can you leverage online success to get representation and work? How was Weekend Scripts bo...

Alex and Nick host alongside Scriptd a live table read of JB June's WyldCats, the pilot script from one of their listeners. A great cast of talented actors joins us to bring to life this animated episode, followed by a live Q&A and a feedback session with the writer. WyldCats is a satirical animation in a world where a retired ThunderCats-like team of feline warriors reunite in an attempt to battle evil in a modern, technological society. Content WyldCats live table read (00:00:39) Live Q&A ...

Alex and Nick are joined by Rochée Jeffrey (writer on SMILF and 90210) and April Shih (writer on You're the Worst, Undone and Mrs. America), to discuss the importance of self-care, growth mindset, knowing when to say no, and handling conflict in the writers' room. Why is it important to set intentions and goals for yourself? How do you manage impostor syndrome? What are growth and positive mindsets? How do you find community and support? How do you handle conflicts in a writers' room? When is i...

Alex and Nick answer your TV writing questions about contests, script readiness, and career detours. Plus, we look at some of the latest TV writing news about the WGA negotiating committee, speed-binging, and moving up the ladder. Content Post-Austin and Shout-outs (01:04) Audience Questions: TV writing contests, script readiness, Los Angeles, and career detours (03:52) TV Writing News: WGA negotiating committee, speed-binging, moving up, and Game of Thrones news (27:35) Links "Breaking I...

Alex and Nick invite Aron Eli Coleite, showrunner and co-creator of Netflix's Daybreak, to learn all about how he runs the post-apocalyptic dramedy. From staffing a writers' room to breaking stories, we take a look at what goes into creating the show.

Alex and Nick have their last Paper Tease session of 2019 by giving feedback on five more of your TV pilot teasers. Plus, we reveal the winner of our November 20 live table read, and share all the ticket information for this event. Announcement Tickets for our next live event are now available! The live table read will be on November 20 in DTLA. This event will be followed by a Q&A/feedback session, so we'd love to have you in the audience. All proceeds go to Art Share LA, the last community ...

Alex and Nick answer your TV writing questions about political tweets, topic suggestions, and predicting fellowship specs. Plus, we catch up on some TV writing news from the past few weeks, including the WGA election results, the announcement of a new OTT service, and a TV crossover event. Reminder Our next live event will be on Wednesday, November 20. We'll be doing a table read of a pilot script from one lucky Paper Tease winner! Join our Patreon to get early tickets. Content Announcement...

Alex and Nick delve into the nuances of editorializing on the page, and take a look at unconventional ways of breaking rules in your TV writing. What is the goal of breaking rules with prose? What are unique tools to convey information in scene descriptions? How do you direct on the page in an emotional way? When can you editorialize your writing? What is meta-prose and how should you use it? When is formatting worth playing with? The Paper Team comments... Content 1 - Preface (01:01) 2 - E...

Alex and Nick have another Paper Tease session and give feedback on five of your TV pilot teasers. Plus, we share some big Austin Film Festival news and we reveal the date of our next live event! Announcements 1 - Paper Team will be at the Austin Film Festival! It all happens Saturday, October 26. Nick's panel "Breaking into TV" will be at 10:45AM at the Driskill's Citadel Room. Alex's panel "Structuring a Series" will be at 3PM at the Driskill's Maximilian Room. We'll also be having a Paper ...

Alex and Nick invite Dan O’Keefe, writer on Silicon Valley, Veep, and Final Space, to talk about his experience writing on classic multicams, late-night comedy, and half-hour cable darlings. What are the differences working on single-cam and multi-cam? How do you keep a consistent career in comedy writing? What is it like working on a serialized half-hour? How do you tackle the politics of late-night and comedy rooms? What is some advice for pitching and selling shows? The Paper Team grins... ...

Alex and Nick answer your TV writing questions about short-form content, musical scripts and the importance of mindfulness. Plus, we tackle some of the TV writing news of the past month, including thoughts on writers' rooms development hell, pay disparities, and a potential spec renaissance. Content Shout-outs and Austin Film Festival (00:35) Audience Questions: Short-form content, TV musicals, and mindfulness (02:08) TV Writing News: Pay disparity, WGA emails, specs, and development hell (...

Alex and Nick invite Sue Chung, writer on Agent Carter, The Brave, and The Red Line, to discuss her experiences working on TV dramas, including comic-book adaptations, limited series, and action-driven content. What are ways of handling that first week in the writers' room? What was the writing process for Agent Carter and The Brave? How did The Red Line approach representation and social issues? What are differences writing on a limited series over an ongoing show? How was the experience of pi...

Alex and Nick renew their popular Paper Tease session and give feedback on five of your TV pilot teasers. Paper Tease Entries "Princi-pal" by Michael Hager "Black Market Freelancer" by David Crosman "The Psychics" by Varta Torossian "F.M.A.C." by Ahmed Aki Aslan "Leopold: The Lost Elephant" by Jordan Sandfer Want to get feedback on the teaser of your TV pilot in an upcoming Paper Tease session? Find all the information you need at http://paperteam.co/teaser If you enjoyed this episode and ot...

Alex and Nick mark 150 episodes of Paper Team with an incredible celebration all about your favorite moments from the podcast and new advice from guests. Which iconic episodes have you loved most? How are writers staying at the top of their craft?

Alex and Nick discuss the latest TV writing news on staffing submissions, and answer your TV writing questions about career obstacles, spec scripts, and how valuable ideas actually are. Plus, we announce an upcoming Paper Team travel. Reminder Paper Tease is back! If you'd like a chance to get feedback on the teaser of your TV pilot, you can now submit it at http://paperteam.co/teaser NOTE: We'll actually be off next week for Labor Day, but we'll return on Monday, September 9 for our jam-pac...

Alex and Nick discuss the many common mistakes to avoid in your TV scripts. From structure and character to dialogue and formatting, we go over the frequent problems we've encountered, and our advice on fixing them. Content 1 - Before the draft (01:41) 2 - Macro mistakes: structure, acts, stories (13:54) 3 - Micro mistakes: scenes, dialogue, prose (28:37) 4 - On the page (42:07) If you enjoyed this episode and others, please consider supporting us on Patreon at paperteam.co/patreon! :) Sp...

Alex and Nick catch up with their first mentee Paul Chang, recently staffed on a Disney animated series, to hear about what he's been up to and get his perspective on being a new staff writer in television. How do you prepare yourself for staffing opportunities? How do gauge which representation is right for you? Why is it important to celebrate all the wins? How do you deal with imposter's syndrome? How do you stay present and useful in the writers' room? Links Paul Chang on Twitter Paper Te...

Alex and Nick share the many TV business resources they use for networking, meetings, contact management, writing news, and everything to navigate the television industry. We go over our personal recommendations we've used over the years, and why they matter to us. Content 1 - Books (00:42) 2 - Apps/Software (11:34) 3 - Hardware/Tools (28:57) 4 - Websites (35:39) 5 - Podcasts (55:23) Links "Small Screen, Big Picture" - Chad Gervich "How to Manage Your Agent" - Gervich Chad "Hollywood Ga...

Alex and Nick look at the latest TV writing news and answer your questions about classes, branding yourself as a nascent writer, and advice about managers. Plus, we announce the return of a fan-favorite segment and we need your help for a very special episode. Announcements 1 - Paper Tease is back! If you'd like a chance to get feedback on the teaser of your TV pilot, you can now submit it at http://paperteam.co/teaser 2 - We need your help for our 150th episode! Do you have a favorite Paper...

Alex and Nick invite Tamara Becher-Wilkinson, writer and co-executive producer on Doom Patrol and Daredevil, to discuss her writing process, breaking stories across different genres, and her experiences in the writers' room. What are ways of overcoming procrastination and imposter's syndrome? How can you stay creatively fulfilled while working across multiple genres? What has the experience been working on both DC and Marvel properties? What was the writers' room of Doom Patrol like? Why does r...

Alex and Nick revisit the topic of one of their seminal episode: Comedy versus Drama. Should you still declare a major in the age of dramedies and blurred formats? How should you approach staffing and your writing samples in today's era?

Alex and Nick discuss how to take feedback in your TV writing. Whether you're on staff or working on your own projects, why and how should you take notes, and when should you say no? Why is it important to be malleable with your TV scripts? What are the differences in approaching notes as a staff writer and with your own material? How do you deconstruct feedback and understand what needs to be fixed? How should you take a note? When is it worth saying no? How do you reject a note? Content 1 -...

Alex and Nick welcome Charla Lauriston, writer on Hoops, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and People of Earth, to discuss pitching in the writers' room and working as a stand-up comedian. How can you be effective in a writers' room? Should you gauge your own pitches? How does stand-up translates to TV writing? What is the process of writing a comedy routine? How do you sustain a TV writing career beyond that first job? The Paper Team is a laugh riot... Content Performing In and Out of the Comedy Wr...