Blog
Blog
Thank you to everyone who attended our sold out event with Jem Garrard!
Wow, were we ever thrilled to see so many writers and directors come out to hear from Jem. Hey DGC, let’s do more of these together!
Jem Garrard is a British Canadian writer, director and producer.
She is the creator and showrunner of the space opera series Vagrant Queen for SYFY.
An Emmy nominated director, and five time Leo award winner,
her past projects include the comedy sci-fi series Android Employed,
Disney’s Mech-X4, SYFY’s creature feature Killer High
and the Audience Network series You Me Her.
Jem splits her time between Vancouver, LA and London.
Check out her reel at www.jemgarrard.com and follow her on Twitter @jemga
A Wonderful Q&A With Amy and Tassie Cameron
Thank you to everyone who attended our sold out Q&A with Amy and Tassie Cameron! For those of you who weren’t able to attend, here are a few of the questions they answered.
How do you decide what shows you want to bring on?
We decided everyone had to love the project we were going to bring on… We had to know we would be an undeniable team if we took it on. -Amy Cameron
How do you compose a writers room?
I’m in the middle of staffing a room right now, and we’ve been doing weeks of interviews with writers, from the most junior to the most senior. You’re trying to put together a magical cocktail of people. -Tassie Cameron
On reading scripts:
It is evident when someone is trying meet markers in a script, and it’s evident when someone really loved their project and had a fun time writing it. -Amy Cameron
On using vision, and listening to the writers in your room:
Be open to accepting and taking feedback for your vision. Let the thing become an organic, breathing piece of art. – Tassie Cameron
Pearls of Wisdom from LA TV Exec and Pitching Coach, Carole Kirschner
“Your work has to be blazingly good, not just really good or great. How do you know if your work is blazing? Your phone should be ringing off the hook.”
“You need a compelling thirty-second logline for yourself, both so others remember you and so agents can know they can sell you. When you have a great meeting with a decision-maker you want to make sure they have the right things to say about you.”
“The way to master your personal A Story is with practice. Practice writing it out word for word. Then practice writing it in bullet points.”
VIFF Meet the Showrunners Talk
We’re still buzzing from the excitement of our VIFF Meet the Showrunners Talk. Sera Gamble (You), Alexandra Cunningham (Dirty John), Gloria Calderon Kellet (One Day at a Time), Jami O’Brien (NOS4A2) and Jennica Harper (Jann) all arrived with plenty of humor and wisdom to share. We are so grateful for their generosity and for the incredible engagement of the audience. Thanks also to Tim Goodman from the Hollywood Reporter for facilitating the discussion. What a night!
A Packed House for Visiting Showrunner, Martin Gero
Our PSP Director, Raila Gutman, introducing Showrunner Martin Gero and Interviewer, local writer and VFS prof, Kat Montagu.
“There’s no right way to [get into a room]. There’s a wrong way: ‘here’s a cool short play I’ve written.’ Various programs want one spec and one pilot. They want to see both.” -Martin Gero
“Make stuff compulsively…I shot a scene on my phone, and that scene aired. There is no excuse for anyone in this room to not be making stuff.” -Martin Gero
Scripted Series 2020 Info Night
Thank you to everyone who attended last night’s Scripted Series Lab 2020 info session! We are excited to see so much interest. We’d like to send a special shout out to last year’s participants who generously answered questions and entertained us with their anecdotes.
We hope you will email us with your questions if you weren’t able to attend last night’s event! Also, be sure to sign up to our mailing list if you haven’t already. We plan to hold an online info session later in the summer. (Details still to come.) The application window for our 15 week 2020 Scripted Series Lab closes September 1, 2019. Please have a look through our SSL FAQ and send in your original TV pilot scripts!
Thank you Rob
Thank You to Showrunner and Executive Producer, Robert C Cooper.
We would like to send a big thank you to Rob for his Q&A event. It was a sold-out show! Rob’s generous discussion on the nuts and bolts of creating a show based on historical events was informative to all the writers in the room.
Rob recently completed writing and producing Unspeakable, a limited series based on the Canadian Tainted Blood Tragedy, now airing on CBC. Previously, he served as showrunner on Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency for BBC America, Netflix, and AMC Studio. Rob is well known for his work as showrunner for the Stargate television franchise.
When one audience member asked Rob how his first-ever pitch went, Rob admitted that he wasn’t sure he remembered his very first pitch. He did recall his initial pitch to Stargate, early in his career. It mostly fell flat. It was only when he had exhausted his prepared material and he tossed out a few scraps of story ideas on a last desperate whim, that the show’s creator finally picked up his notepad and took an interest. The rest is history, so always give it everything you’ve got!
Thank you, Rob.