Preparing for a Television Writing Career
What Writers Must Know Before Sending Out Their Sample Scripts
Since moving to Los Angeles in 1995, Adam Beechen has held many writing jobs with Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. He’s written scripts for the animated series Teen Titans, The Wild Thornberrys, The Batman, Ben 10: Alien Force, and Rugrats.
Recently, Beechen has also supervised freelance writers as the story editor for shows such as Hi-Hi Puffy Amiyumi and the upcoming TV series The Pink Panther.
Suite 101 attended a January 22, 2009 seminar with Beechen at the 2009 Phoenix Comicon where he offered tips to aspiring writers on how to prepare for a career in television writing.
Plan on Moving to Los Angeles and Become Familiar with LA Life
Beechen advises television writers to move to Los Angeles – stating it’s hard to break into the entertainment industry if you aren’t available for a meeting with a studio at a moment’s notice. Living in Los Angeles also allows writers to know important people in TV or film production companies and lets producers and story editors know a writer by face.
However, Beechen stresses, writers must know as much as possible about living in Los Angeles before moving there.
“Visit Los Angeles a few times first,” he states. “Get a sense of the geography and where you want to live. Talk to people who live there, and make sure you have a support system in place. Read Variety Magazine and the Hollywood Reporter. Know as much as you can before you go out there!”
Write Sample Scripts for Shows People Know and Watch
For producers to know what a writer can do, a writer must show them sample scripts (also called spec scripts) for existing shows. Writers must become as familiar with these shows as possible and write scripts for well-known television series.
“Producers and story editors like to see samples of existing shows so they know you can adapt yourself to someone else’s characters and another show’s style,” he says. “It’s great if you have your own material, but they also want to know you can do what they need you to do. And don’t write for an obscure show, even if it’s your favorite, because chances are producers in Los Angeles aren’t paying attention to it.”
Get Final Draft Software and Television Scripts
As a former script reader, Beechen knows poorly formatted scripts will not be read. To ensure scripts are well-formatted, he suggests investing in good film script software like Final Draft Software. Writers should also buy television scripts of the shows they want to write for.
“If you can get your hands on a sample script of the show you want to write for that’s great – because then you can match the format,” he states. “And some shows are sticky about that – they want to make sure you know their proper format.”
Adam Beechen has many other tips writers must know before moving to Los Angeles. Continue to the second half of this article, How to Launch a Television Writing Career and read on!
And learn from Adam Beechen how to avoid common screenwriting mistakes by reading The Top 4 Mistakes Screenwriters Make.
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