Breaking into TV Writing: How to Get Your First Job, Build Your Network, and Claw Your Way Into the Writers' Room

by Anton Schettini

Overview

The old screenwriting motto is, “Work on your script, and the jobs will come.” This is false.

A great script is only as good as the effort you put into your career, but there is little information for the aspiring screenwriter about how to break in. Even those who study TV or film in college are taught to simply “get a production assistant job.” But then what? And how do you get that job to begin with?

Breaking into TV Writing contains all the crucial information left out of most screenwriting books, like:

• How to get your first job in TV
• What TV writing samples you need
• How to break into the elusive TV writers’ room
• How a writers’ room creates an episode of TV
• Which assistant jobs are worth your time (and which you should avoid at all costs)

Anton Schettini provides a rare insider’s glimpse of the modern-day network and streaming TV writers’ room. Here, you will find practical advice, career-path strategies, and first-hand accounts for how to establish your network, grow within it, and acquire the necessary tools to become a TV writer.

The industry would love to tell you to put your head down, work hard, write a lot, and pay your dues; Schettini will show you why that hackneyed mantra is misleading, and how you can put yourself in the best position to break through the barriers and see your work on the TV screen.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684429875
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	09/03/2024
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	609,415
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Anton Schettini is a screenwriter, producer, and author. He has worked in 14 different TV writers’ rooms, which has included writing scripts for primetime TV comedies on CBS and writing/producing a series on AMC Networks. A native New Yorker, Anton betrayed his East Coast roots and moved to Los Angeles to pursue TV writing, slowly and steadily rising up in the industry. This provided him with a deep knowledge of the various paths, obstacles, drudgery, and opportunity that together make up a TV writing career. He hopes to share this knowledge with the next wave of TV writers.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD by Lawrence Konner

PART I: FLIP THE DOLPHIN

Chapter 1: WHY SHOULD WE LISTEN TO YOU?

Chapter 2: FIRST STEP—MOVE TO LA

Chapter 3: MY STORY

PART II: THE WRITERS’ ROOM

Chapter 4: THE WRITERS

Chapter 5: THE LIFE OF AN EPISODE

Chapter 6: PILOTS

Chapter 7: STREAMING AND MINI-ROOMS

Chapter 8: HOW TO BEHAVE IN A WRITERS’ ROOM

PART III: ASSISTANTING

Chapter 9: GETTING YOUR FIRST JOB

Chapter 10: JOB POSTING RED FLAGS

Chapter 11: MEET PEOPLE AND BOTHER THEM

Chapter 12: ASSISTANT JOBS

Chapter 13: THE FINANCIAL REALITIES OF BEING AN ASSISTANT

Chapter 14: NEGOTIATING YOUR ASSISTANT SALARY

Chapter 15: THE ASSISTANT ATTITUDE AND WHEN TO QUIT

Chapter 16: IF YOU CAN, SKIP IT: A FINAL WORD ON ASSISTANTING

PART IV: BREAKING IN: THE OTHER ROUTES

Chapter 17: SCREENWRITING COMPETITIONS

Chapter 18: WORKSHOPS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND LABS

Chapter 19: STAND-UP, IMPROV, AND SKETCH COMEDY

Chapter 20: BE CREATIVE, MAKE THINGS, AND USE WHAT YOU’VE GOT

Chapter 21: SOCIAL MEDIA & GETTING YOUR STUFF OUT THERE

PART V: THE SCRIPT

Chapter 22: FIRST OF ALL, JUST WRITE

Chapter 23: YOUR SCRIPT

Chapter 24: ECONOMICS OF A TV SCRIPT

PART VI: THE UNIONS

Chapter 25: IATSE LOCAL 871

Chapter 26: WGA

PART VII: A FREELANCE ECONOMY & THE FUTURE OF TV WRITING

Chapter 27: THE 2023 WGA WRITERS’ STRIKE

Chapter 28: CARVING OUT YOUR UNIQUE PATH

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

GLOSSARY

RESOURCES

INDEX

Editorial Reviews

This is the best thing I’ve read about how to become a television writer. Not ‘how to write a television script,’ but ‘how to become a television writer’! Anton has lucidly, comprehensively, and entertainingly described the real-world process of getting in the door and getting a job writing for TV. If this is your dream, I can’t think of a more valuable book to help you achieve it.” —David Kohan, Executive Producer/Showrunner, Will & Grace

“In the past, when people asked me for advice on breaking into TV writing, I’d say ‘Good luck, and please don’t ask me to read your spec script!’ Now I have a better answer: Read Anton Schettini’s book. It’s filled with specific, practical, up-to-date information—steps you can take that will work, because they worked for Anton (I know, because I hired him as a writers' assistant and watched him ascend through the ranks.) Buy it now—and don’t ask him to read your spec script.” —Bob Daily, Executive Producer, The Wonder Years, Superior Donuts, The Odd Couple, Desperate Housewives; Co-Executive Producer, Frasier

“Many are called to write for television, but few are chosen. Of the thousands of aspiring writers I’ve encountered in over forty years of teaching, Anton Schettini is among that happy few who actually managed to become one. Now he’s written a book that will help others who want to do the same. The advice he gives is specific, candid, and based on up-to-the-minute experience in the ever-mutating profession. It’s not only the most pragmatic guide of its kind for those who want to write TV, but it’s also an insightfully fun book for those who just like to watch it.” —Robert Thompson, Director, Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture, Syracuse University

"This entertaining, informative, and engaging book is a must if you're looking to break into TV writing, but it's also an incisive and funny look at how TV gets made even if you're not. Buy it for your friends, and keep it from your enemies at all costs!" —Nathaniel Stein, Writer, Angie Tribeca, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Author of The Threat

"This book—written from the perspective of someone who not only survived the climb up the TV ladder, but thrived—should be required reading in every screenwriting program on every campus in America. Anton Schettini has produced a book that is informative, funny, and full of valuable inside info. Most important, it is bracingly clear-eyed—pulling precisely zero punches about the struggles that await anyone hoping to launch a career in this business. Breaking Into TV Writing is the essential read for anyone with dreams of writing for television. How I wish it had existed when I was starting out!" —Michael Price, Creator/Showrunner, F Is for Family; Co-Executive Producer, The Simpsons

"So many hurdles! You might be the most talented of writers and have great scripts to peddle, but if you can’t even get producers and executives to read your work, your career will go nowhere. Anton Schettini discovered that first-hand when starting out, but then he developed a strategy for overcoming those hurdles and became a success. Many books focus on writing craft and technique—this book explains steps you should take to actually become a working TV writer." —Evan Smith, Author, Writing Television Sitcoms

From the Publisher