The Writers Panel
The definitive insider's guide to our current golden age of television, Ben Blacker's The Writers Panel is an ever expanding anthology of live convention panels and intimate in-studio interviews with the writers, producers, and show runners responsible for all the shows you can't stop watching. Over the course of nearly 500 episodes and counting, The Writers Panel has sat across from guests such as Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele (Key and Peele), Liz Meriwether (New Girl), and Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) to talk about the art and business of creating great television. Produced by the Forever Dog Podcast Network.
251
Breaking Story
Anna Fricke (developer, Being Human), Liz Tigelaar (creator, Life Unexpected), Hart Hanson (creator, Bones), John Wirth (Hell on Wheels), and Scott Rosenbaum (The Shield) discuss the process of planning and plotting a season.
62 min
252
Sam Esmail
The creator of Mr. Robot talks about how he is and isn't like his creation, writing and directing, working with his writing staff, and more.
58 min
253
Development Executives
Joanna Klein (The CW), Kathleen McCaffrey (HBO), Grant Gish (Fox Animation), Bryan Seabury (CBS), and Brendan Countee (Hulu) discuss their role in getting an episode from pilot script to production to ready for air. Hear their POV and goals, the factors viewers might never have considered, as they give us an inside look at creating shows from the business side of show business.
65 min
254
Jeff Baena
The writer/director of Joshy and Life After Beth talks about his new movie, his process, his script for I Heart Huckabees, and more.
51 min
255
Jessica Sharzer
The screenwriter of Nerve, Speak, and other features, as well as American Horror Story writer and producer, discusses writing and directing, presenting psychological states in scripts, her process, her beginnings, and more.
54 min
256
Pulp Page to TV Panel
Javier Grillo-Marxuach (creator, The Middleman), Brian Michael Bendis (creator of Jessica Jones and Powers), and Rosemary Rodriguez (director, Jessica Jones) discuss how a storyteller infuses his or her own voice into an often stylized and specific world while still satisfying a pre-existing (and passionate) fan base, adapting one highly visual format to another, and what makes TV such an appealing medium for exploring these fantastical series.
58 min
257
David Simon and Tom Fontana
After more than a decade of reporting crime from the streets of Baltimore, how did a career journalist like David Simon learn to navigate a TV writers room? The outcome was in no small part due to the indispensable guidance of veteran TV producer Tom Fontana. Together, they brought Simons realistic characterization to Homicide: Life on the Street. Separately, the two would go on to create series that defined HBO and stand out as part of the TV revolution: Oz and The Wire. Join Simon and Fontana as they reflect on their earlier and vastly different experiences in the realm of 90s broadcast TV.
55 min
258
Alan Ball
The creator of Six Feet Under and True Blood discusses the creation of his seminal HBO series, exploring death, working with actors, swinging 180 degrees for his vampire soap opera, writing American Beauty in reaction to his experiences on sit-coms like Grace Under Fire, and more.
71 min
259
Norman Lear
Norman Lear (creator of All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude, One Day at a Time, and more) is interviewed by Katey Sagal (actor, Married with Children, Sons of Anarchy) following a screening of the new documentary about Lear, Just Another Version of You. Then, Lear is joined by Nahnatchka Khan (creator, Fresh Off the Boat), David Windsor (executive producer, The Real ONeals), Phil Rosenthal (creator, Everybody Loves Raymond), and Hollis Rich (co-creator, State of Grace) for a conversation about The New American Family and its portrayal in TV comedies.
108 min
260
Brad Meltzer and Tod Goldberg
The best-selling authors of House of Secrets discuss what each of them brings to their co-writing, learning from each other, comic books, and more.
73 min
261
The Writers Guild of America
WGA vice-president David Goodman (Family Guy) and David Slack (Person of Interest; Teen Titans Go!) take a good look at the Writers Guild and discuss why writers need a union, what the union does, what was gained by the 2008 writers' strike, and how the union might improve.
58 min
262
David Mandel
The showrunner of Veep discusses taking over those duties in the just-aired season 5, early writing opportunities with Al Franken, his three years on Saturday Night Live, his time on Seinfeld, scripting Curb Your Enthusiasm, and lots more.
81 min
263
Conan Writers
Head writer Matt O'Brien, Mike Sweeney, Todd Levin, Dan Cronin, Jessie Gaskill, Jose Arroyo, Leah Krinsky, Levi MacDougall, and Andres Dubouchet.
85 min
264
Joe Pokaski, Mike O'Malley, Stephnie Weir, and ...
Joe Pokaski (creator, Underground), Mike O'Malley (Shameless; creator, Survivor's Remorse), Stephnie Weir (MadTV; The Millers), and Hugh Sterbakov (Robot Chicken).
90 min
265
Chris Black
The showrunner of Cinemax's Outcast (based on the Robert Kirkman comics) talks about his start in syndicated shows like Weird Science, Cleopatra 2525, and Xena, his work on Star Trek: Enterprise, moving out of genre with Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty, rooms he learned in, pitching, and more.
72 min
266
Claudia Lonow
The creator of Rude Awakening, Accidentally on Purpose, and How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) discusses starting out as a teen actor on Knots Landing, transitioning to stand-up comedy and then writing, heartbreaks and joys of the shows she's worked on, and lots more. Plus: hear Claudia cry when she recounts the plot of Star Trek 2.
69 min
267
Shane Black
The writer-director-Christmas enthusiast, whose new film The Nice Guys opens May 20, discusses his interests and process, being called a hack, success and failure, and all of his films, including Lethal Weapon, The Monster Squad, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man Three, and more.
91 min
268
“Behind Every TV Show” from Wondercon
Allison Baker (IDW Comics) hosts Emily Andras (creator, Wynonna Earp; Lost Girls), Amber Benson (actor, Buffy The Vampire Slayer; author, The Last Dreamkeeper), Deirdre Mangan (writer, iZombie), and Carolyn Omine (writer, The Simpsons; Full House)
52 min
269
Nicholas Stoller
The director/co-writer of Neighbors 2, director and/or co-writer of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Five Year Engagement, Get Him to the Greek, and The Muppets, among others, discusses his start in TV, collaboration, emotional comedy, co-creating The Carmichael Show, and more. Neighbors 2 opens this Friday!
64 min
270
“Writing for TV: From First Draft to Getting St...
Spiro Skentzos (Grimm) hosts Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead; creator, Damien), Richard Hatem (Dead of Summer; Damien; Witches of East End), Meredith Averill (Jane the Virgin; creator, Star-Crossed), Natalie Chaidez (12 Monkeys; Hunters; Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles).
57 min
271
FILTHY PREPPY TEEN$
Filthy Preppy Teen$ co-creator Paul Scheer and writersTim Neenan (Newsreaders) and Nicole Shabtai (KirbyBuckets) discuss the new series now available on FullScreen,working on a small budget, parody, and more.
66 min
272
“Inside the Writers' Room” from Wondercon
Mark Altman (creator, Femme Fatales) hosts Jose Molina(Agent Carter; Firefly), Steven Melching (Star Wars:Rebels), Sarah Watson (Parenthood), Ashley Miller(Thor; X-Men: First Class), Amy Berg (Counterpart;Eureka), and Gabrielle Stanton (Haven; TheFlash).
50 min
273
Joe Hill
The author of the new novel The Fireman, as well asHorns, NOS4A2, and Heart-Shaped Box, the shortstory collection 20th Century Ghosts, and the comic bookseries Locke & Key talks candidly about his process,his influences, horror and genre, his famous writer parents StephenKing and Tabitha King, failure, and more.
85 min
274
Scot Armstrong
The creator of Dice and the writer of Old School, School for Scoundrels, Semi-Pro, The Hangover II, and more, discusses working with Andrew Dice Clay on the new Showtime series, his cutting away process, gathering ideas and when it's time to write, and more.
56 min
275
Daniel Levy
Daniel Levy, the co-creator of Schitt's Creek with his father Eugene Levy (Waiting for Guffman; SCTV), discusses being a first-time showrunner, creating a happy work environment, learning from his father, and more. Schitt's Creek is now in its second season.
51 min