The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

Navid Mcllhargey has been a studio executive and producer for over 20 years, and over the course of his impressive career, he has seen the business change dramatically. Today, we get an inside look into the life of a studio-exec-turned-producer, and more importantly, what it looks like for a producer to puzzle together a movie in today's dramatically different Hollywood.

JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife

Carole Kirschner, the director of the CBS Diversity Writers Program & WGA Showrunner Training Program, is passionate about helping creative professionals build thriving Hollywood careers. Whether you're an emerging writer of a pro, Carole will offer you PRACTICAL advice as to how to approach this ever-changing business.
FOR CAROLE'S BOOK: https://www.carolekirschner.com/book
FOR CAROLE'S BOOTCAMP: http://ckbootcamp.com/
TO JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife

Octavio Solis is among the most celebrated playwrights discussing the Latin American experience, but he wasn't always a writer. Octavio began his artistic journey as an actor-turned-writing-teacher. But when his students started succeeding, he felt an emerging feeling; a need to take his own advice and get to the page.
Since then, Solis has written dozens of celebrated plays, in addition to culturally consulting on Pixar's COCO, which we discuss today.
JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife

Even though Debby Wolfe began her career writing "edgy, brooding feminist shorts" (her words), but really found her lane as a writer when she wrote a Modern Family spec that launched her career. Since then, she's written on a number of multi-cams, eventually arriving on Lopez vs. Lopez, which she's currently showrunning. Today, Debby discusses how she manages to produce at the pace Network TV requires, how she staffs, and the importance of character-driven comedy.
Watch Season 2 of Lopez vs Lopez starting on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 with back-to-back episodes at 8/7c and 8:30/7:30c on NBC. New episodes air next day on Peacock. It will continue in those time slots going forward — which means, yes, you'll be getting two new episodes of the show per week! 
JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife

Jeff Melvoin is - for lack of a better word - a legend in TV. He's an award-winning television writer, producer, showrunner, and educator who has written dozens and produced hundreds of one-hour episodes on over a dozen television series. He's also the founder and chair of the Writers Guild of America's Showrunner Training Program, now entering its 19th year.
Jeff's incredible book RUNNING THE SHOW, the focus of our convo today, is part memoir, part playbook, and part cheat sheet all about TV writing, from staff writer all the way to showrunner. It's a must read.
BUY JEFF'S BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Running-Show-Television-Jeff-Melvoin/dp/1493075292
JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife

Cole Haddon is many things: a feature writer, a showrunner, a novelist, but he's grown an incredibly loyal community for his STORY brain, which mostly congregates on his very popular substack.
Today we discuss tone, genre, and plot through a case study in which we compare two very popular TV shows: The Bear and Ted Lasso. In this discussion, we'll trace how, despite them sharing a lot narratively (plot), they exist in totally unique WORLDS when it comes to tone and genre (and why this matters.)
For a deep dive into Cole's brilliant story brain, check out his substack: https://substack.com/@colehaddon