The Writers Panel with Ben Blacker

The Writers Panel series is an informal chat moderated by Ben Blacker (co-creator of the Thrilling Adventure Hour; writer for Supah Ninjas, Supernatural, among others) with professional writers about the process and business of writing. Covering TV, film, comic books, music, novels, and any other kind of writing about which you'd care to hear. Proceeds from the live panels benefit 826LA, the national non-profit tutoring program.

“Too Close To Home” from ATX 04/17/2018

“Too Close To Home” from ATX Javier Grillo-Marxuach (creator, The Middleman), Robia Rashid (creator, Atypical), Liz Tigelaar (creator, Life Unexpected), and David Hudgins (Parenthood) discuss storylines they’ve created or by happenstance been assigned to that have mirrored parts of their own lives, how they walked the line between truth and fiction, and how they personally tackled subjects that might be a little too close to home. Moderated by Natalie Abrams (Entertainment Weekly). Recorded at ATX Television Festival on June 9, 2017. Get your badge now for ATX's seventh season, June 7-10, 2018, at http://atxfestival.com/ /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6491783

Nell Scovell with Conan O'Brien and Greg Daniels 04/10/2018

Nell Scovell with Conan O'Brien and Greg Daniels Recorded March 22, 2018, at the Skirball Cultural Center as part of the “Writers Bloc Presents” series. For more terrific live writers events visits /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6462723

Chappaquiddick 04/03/2018

Chappaquiddick Andrew Logan and Taylor Allen, writers of Chappaquiddick, discuss their motivation for writing about Ted Kennedy's 1969 scandal, finding characters in well knows personalities, and more. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6436095

Adam Rifkin 03/27/2018

Adam Rifkin The writer/director of The Last Movie Star discusses his lifelong quest to work with Burt Reynolds, his past credits including Mousehunt and Knucklehead, his process, and more. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6411887

The Terror 03/20/2018

The Terror Developer/showrunner David Kajganich (A Bigger Splash; True Story) and showrunner Soo Hugh (creator, The Whispers; The Killing) chat about their new AMC show, a cold thriller called The Terror. They discuss balancing various tones, a character-first storytelling technique, and lots more. The Terror premieres on AMC on March 26. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6384099

Gerry Duggan + “Family Drama” from ATX 03/13/2018

Gerry Duggan + “Family Drama” from ATX Catching up with comics writer Gerry Duggan (Deadpool), whose new Image title Analog comes out April 4. Check it out! From ATX: Michael Rauch (creator, Royal Pains), Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green (creators, Blue Bloods), David Hudgins (Friday Night Lights), Paul Garnes (Queen Sugar), and Anna Fricke (Everwood) discuss the process of shaping familial relationships on TV, how they are inherently complicated, and why they believe week after week (or all at once) audiences invest in the struggles, successes, and tragedies of these fictional families. Moderated by Sarah Rodman (LA Times). Recorded at ATX Television Festival on June 9, 2017. Get your badge now for ATX's seventh season, June 7-10, 2018, at /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6358601

Kayla Alpert, Leila Cohan-Miccio, and Dwayne Johnson-Cochran 03/06/2018

Kayla Alpert, Leila Cohan-Miccio, and Dwayne Johnson-Cochran Kayla Alpert (Code Black; Sweet Valley High); Leila Cohan-Miccio (Santa Clarita Diet; Awkward); Dwayne Johnson-Cochran (Heist 88). /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6332198

“Network's Identity” from ATX 02/27/2018

“Network's Identity” from ATX As the TV landscape changes, each network grapples to find its own place on the spectrum. Kathleen McCaffrey (HBO), Grant Gish (Marvel), and Karey Burke (Freeform) discuss their respective programming ethos’ and how their competition’s successes and failures inform the direction they lead their networks. Recorded at ATX Television Festival on June 10, 2017. Get your badge now for ATX's seventh season, June 7-10, 2018, at /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6304628

Kenny Smith, Rebecca Perry Cutter, and Andrew Reich 02/20/2018

Kenny Smith, Rebecca Perry Cutter, and Andrew Reich Andrew Reich (Friends; Netflix's Rev Run show) Kenny Smith (black-ish; The Game); Rebecca Cutter (Gotham; The Mentalist). /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6279824

Scott Neustadter & Michael Weber 02/13/2018

Scott Neustadter & Michael Weber Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award nominees for The Disaster Artist, Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, dig deep on their process, offer valuable advice about choosing what to write, discuss their past projects including their breakthrough script for (500) Days of Summer and their John Green adaptations The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6253681

“TV Under Trump” from ATX 02/06/2018

“TV Under Trump” from ATX Javier Grillo-Marxuach (creator, The Middleman), Michael Rauch (creator, Royal Pains), Julie Plec (creator, The Vampire Diaries), Beau Willimon (creator, House of Cards), Liz Tigelaar (Casual), and Paul Garnes (Queen Sugar) discuss approaching their art as both an outlet and a tool, how (or if) they plan to write for fans that might not agree with them, and where the responsibility of an artist lies in a divided world. Moderated by Michael Schneider (IndieWire). Recorded at ATX Television Festival on June 9, 2017. Get your badge now for ATX's seventh season, June 7-10, 2018, at /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6229183

Liz Hara Part 2 01/30/2018

Liz Hara Part 2 New writer Liz Hara returns! When last we left Liz, she'd moved to LA from New York to work on Life In Pieces. She's still on staff on the CBS sit-com and shares stories about growing more comfortable in the writers' room, discovering how the show works and ticks, and more. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6203178

Holly Sorensen, Nick Antosca, and Stacy Rukeyser 01/23/2018

Holly Sorensen, Nick Antosca, and Stacy Rukeyser Holly Sorensen (Step Up: High Water; creator, Make It Or Break It); Nick Antosca (creator, Channel Zero); Stacy Rukeyser (Unreal; One Tree Hill) /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6179110

Better Call Saul season 3 in review 01/16/2018

Better Call Saul season 3 in review Co-creator/showrunner Peter Gould and writers Thomas Schnauz, Gennifer Hutchison, Gordon Smith, Ann Cherkis, and Heather Marion discuss the third season of the AMC series, bringing back (introducing?) Gus Fring, their process and the show's depictions of process, turning Jimmy into Saul, and what comes next. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6153717

General Hospital 01/09/2018

General Hospital Head writer Shelly Altman and co-head writer Chris Van Etten of the long-running (55 years and counting!) daytime soap opera are joined by GH super-fan Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (The Carmichael Show; LA>Vegas) to discuss the nuts and bolts of writing a daily hour-long drama. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6129478

John Shiban, CeCe Pleasants, and Liz Hannah 12/19/2017

John Shiban, CeCe Pleasants, and Liz Hannah John Shiban (Shut Eye; The X-Files; Breaking Bad); CeCe Pleasants (Bill Nye Saves the World; Jimmy Kimmel Live!); Liz Hannah (The Post) /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6060548

The Exorcist 12/12/2017

The Exorcist Show creator Jeremy Slater (The Umbrella Academy) and co-showrunner Sean Crouch (Numb3rs) discuss the Fox series' second season, horror on network TV, capturing the feel of both the original film and William Peter Blatty's book, and more. The season finale of The Exorcist is December 15 on Fox. You can catch up on the show on Hulu! It's worth it! /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6035112

Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage 12/05/2017

Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage Writer Josh Schwartz is the creator of The OC, Chuck, Gossip Girl, and more. Fake Empire, his production company with partner Stephanie Savage, is behind Hulu's Runaways, CW's Dynasty and Hart of Dixie, and many other TV shows and films. Josh and Stephanie discuss their successes and failures, how writing is like producing and how it isn't, bringing Runaways to the screen, and lots more. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/6010588

Patrick Brammall and Trent O’Donnell, Cynthia Mort, Sanjay Shah 11/28/2017

Patrick Brammall and Trent O’Donnell, Cynthia Mort, Sanjay Shah Patrick Brammall and Trent O’Donnell (creators, No Activity); Cynthia Mort (creator, Tell Me You Love Me; Roseanne); Sanjay Shah (Fresh Off the Boat; Cougar Town). /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5985630

Frankie Shaw & Sarah-Violet Bliss 11/21/2017

Frankie Shaw & Sarah-Violet Bliss Frankie Shaw (creator, SMILF); Sarah-Violet Bliss (co-creator, Search Party). /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5964135

Future Man 11/14/2017

Future Man Creators Kyle Hunter & Ariel Shaffir (Sausage Party) and showrunner Ben Karlin (Modern Family; The Daily Show) discuss their new Hulu series, a sci-fi comedy. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5942107

Stephen Chbosky 11/07/2017

Stephen Chbosky The writer/director of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the forthcoming Wonder chats about the line between honesty and sentimentality, the similarities between novel writing and film directing, why and how he writes, and gives a valuable four-point piece of advice to writers. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5917330

Stan Against Evil 10/31/2017

Stan Against Evil Live from Id10tfest, creator Dana Gould (The Simpsons) and stars John C. McGinley (Scrubs) and Janet Varney (Legend of Korra) look back on the show's first season and look forward to the second which premieres November 1 on IFC! Moderated by Nerdist's Jessica Chobot. Stan Against Evil theme is by Eban Schletter. /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5894192

Glenn Gordon Caron, Hillary Benefiel, and Rob Wright 10/17/2017

Glenn Gordon Caron, Hillary Benefiel, and Rob Wright Glenn Gordon Caron (creator of Moonlighting, Now & Again, and Medium); Hillary Benefiel (Beyond; Person of Interest); Rob Wright (Lethal Weapon [TV]; Ash Vs the Evil Dead; Walker Texas Ranger). /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5847536

Sera Gamble, Sallie Patrick, and Lindsey Shockley 10/10/2017

Sera Gamble, Sallie Patrick, and Lindsey Shockley Sera Gamble (showrunner, The Magicians; Supernatural; upcoming; You), Sallie Patrick (showrunner, Dynasty; Revenge), Lindsey Shockley (creator, Unit Zero; Black-ish; Trophy Wife) /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5824802

Billy Ray, Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters, and Alison Schapker 10/03/2017

Billy Ray, Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters, and Alison Schapker Billy Ray (creator, The Last Tycoon; Captain Phillips; The Hunger Games); Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters (creators, Kevin [Probably] Saves the World; showrunners, Agent Carter); Alison Schapker (Scandal; The Flash; Fringe, Alias) /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5801207

Mark Feuerstein, Dana Klein, and Davita Scarlett 09/26/2017

Mark Feuerstein, Dana Klein, and Davita Scarlett Mark Feuerstein (co-creator, 9JKL; actor, Royal Pains); Dana Klein (co-creator, 9JKL; Friends; Becker); Davita Scarlett (Queen Sugar; Constantine) /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5774675

“Watercooler Meets Murderboard” from ATX 09/19/2017

“Watercooler Meets Murderboard” from ATX From Reddit threads and think pieces to live-tweeting and podcasts, the TV Theory business is booming. Yet, for a series with an ongoing mystery and unanswered questions, it can feel like the fandom is more interested solving a show than experiencing it. Michael Rauch (creator, Royal Pains), Monica Owusu-Breen (Alias), Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost), Noreen O'Toole (associate producer, Westworld), and Eric Goldman (Marvel, IGN) discuss how hyper-analysis does (and doesn’t) affect the creative process, balancing the art of misdirection vs. deception, and what it means to cede your story to an audience in 2017. Moderated by Natalie Abrams (Entertainment Weekly). Recorded at ATX Television Festival on June 9, 2017. Get your badge now for ATX's seventh season, June 7-10, 2018, at /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5748675

“Prepackaged” from ATX 09/12/2017

“Prepackaged” from ATX TV executives Kathleen McCaffrey (HBO), Grant Gish (Marvel), Carolyn Newman (eOne), Alex Maggioni (Amblin), Ali Krug (Annapurna Television), Peter Gal (Dreamworks Animation Television), and Simran Sethi (Freeform) discuss the pros & cons of finding and purchasing pre-existing properties across all formats, employing appropriate talent to adapt, packaging with cast and directors, selling to networks, and more. Moderated by Dan Fienberg (The Hollywood Reporter). Recorded at ATX Television Festival on June 9, 2017. Get your badge now for ATX's seventh season, June 7-10, 2018, at /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5730417

Tim McKeon/Stacey Sher 09/05/2017

Tim McKeon/Stacey Sher Producer Stacey Sher's films include Adventures in Babysitting, Reality Bites, The Fisher King, Get Shorty, Pulp Fiction, Erin Brokovitch, Django Unchained, and many, many more. She discusses her successes and her role in making so many landmark films, her stint at Danny DeVito's Jersey Films, working with writers and directors, and her current job as the co-president of Activision Blizzard Studios. Plus: a short chat with returning guest Tim McKeon (creator of Odd Squad) about his new Amazon pilot, Will vs the Future, a YA sci-fi comedy about the boy who may destroy the future and the girl sent from the future to prevent that from happening. Will vs the Future is available to watch now on Amazon, and you should! And if you like it, please leave a review! /episode/index/show/nerdistwriters/id/5707466

The Writers Panel with Ben Blacker

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