SouthLAnd

I watch a lot of television.

No, really. Maybe you think I’m joking. The fact is, I want to write television so I watch a lot of it. A lot a lot. Like, imagine how much television you watch and probably double or triple that.

So when I tell you that TNT’s SouthLAnd is the best show on the air right now, you will understand that I, watching as much tv as I watch, must be making a statement that commands attention.

Yes, Justified is great. And Game of Thrones. And Mad Men. But none of them have what Southland has (gonna discontinue the weird capitalization for the purposes of readability) — but before I make my case for Southland over all of these great, great shows, a little backstory.

I am not a “Day One” Southland viewer.  When it first premiered on NBC, I expected, like most others did that it would just be another by the numbers cop show.  Of course, every few years one cop show comes along that blows out all of the others — Boomtown, The Shield, NYPD Blue… and the ratings on NBC reflected that the audience didn’t show up, but it wasn’t because it was a ‘by the numbers’ cop show.  It’s because it wasn’t.

TNT saw that.  John Wells is the executive producer (not showrunner though) and he knows a thing or two about delivering quality shows, and Southland was a quality show.  In a rare move, TNT picked up the dead show and revived it.  Already it was defying the odds by being good, but now it was even more rare that it was given a second chance to thrive.

I didn’t discover the show until its 3rd season, 2 years ago.  I was reviewing for Seat42F and I was asked if I’d like to interview Michael Cudlitz and Ben McKenzie for the site and review the season premiere.  Naturally I said yes, but that required binging on the first two seasons of the show to get up to speed.  Fortunately, because the NBC season was cut short and the first TNT season was also short, I only had to watch about 13 episodes.  I blew through them, one after another, compelled by this gripping drama, that dared to bleep out profanity, as if we were watching COPS on Fox rather than sugarcoat the dialog.  The stories were about the cops and the crimes were secondary, until it tied directly to character development.  It was engrossing, engaging, and I couldn’t get enough.

I interviewed Michael Cudlitz, who plays Officer John Cooper on the show, and was even more impressed.  This guy has bounced around a lot, but this was the first time I took notice.  His character, a veteran cop put in the position of training “boots,” new recruits who just happened to be gay AND have some lingering health issues was just a ball of complexity.  I found Cudlitz himself (It’s hard not to get in the habit of calling him that, since it is his twitter identity) to be smart, funny and really insightful about his character and the show.  Most of all, he was so grateful for the chance to play this character, to have the second life of this show on TNT, to be doing great work with great people.  If you’ve not followed him on Twitter or Facebook, where he is very present, he’s a one man cheering section for the show, and fans respond.  I tweeted him thanks after our interview and he responded in kind AND followed me.  It was the first time I was thrilled to have an actor acknowledge my existence.

Okay, I may have a bit of a crush.

So that was my introduction to Southland, binging on the first two seasons in preparation for the third, watching that screener of their third season premiere, and then promptly setting my DVR to record the show every week.  One of the best show decisions I’ve ever made.

A few shows have managed the trick of keeping a constant level of quality for the duration of their run.  Even fewer have actually managed to GET BETTER as they age.  As we learn about the people who populate the world of the show, it’s hard not to get invested.  When a major character died in a previous season, it was a huge shock, and not in a ‘Walking Dead’ kind of way — we’d grown with these characters, cared about them, and we don’t want to see them make mistakes or get hurt.

But the best characters are the ones who do make mistakes.  I don’t know how the LAPD feels about Southland. By a mile the show is more a testament to their hard work and dedication to the job than anything else, but there are those times when the reality of life as a police officer seeps through the cracks — that reality is what makes the show amazing.  The raw honesty.  The flaws.  In those moments we see beyond their uniforms and see them as human beings.  They aren’t eloquent or erudite.  They don’t always have the perfect resonant thing to say, and that’s okay.  We get the point without anything being said, most of the time.

So this is my plea.  I’m not sure the show will get another season.  Already actors from the show are signing up for pilots, because the ratings for Southland have been lackluster this year.  But next Wednesday night is what could be the series finale.  Watch it.  You don’t need to have watched all five seasons of the show to enjoy what I promise will be a riveting hour of television in your life.  This week was so intense I left fingernail imprints in my palm as I watched.  I rarely get engaged with a show to a degree that manifests in physical reaction from me!

I hope that in the next few years people will discover this gem of a show, just as they’ve discovered Arrested Development, Firefly and others which were gone too soon.  You might think 5 seasons of Southland should be enough, but their 5 seasons is only 46 episodes.  I want more.  I probably won’t get more, and I’ll have to cope with that.

In the meantime, I am going to savor this last moment with the cast and crew.  Ann Biderman, the creator and showrunner is a new idol of mine.  The writers are demi gods.  I bow to their ingenuity in turning stories you’ve seen a dozen times on their ear and then again on their other ear.  But for once, I will give even more credit to the actors — Cudlitz, McKenzie, Shawn Hatosy, Regina King, C. Thomas Howell and the rest — you’ve done great work and made a fan out of me.

Posted under analysis, reviews, tv news

This post was written by Shawna on April 11, 2013

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The Crunch

So, my sister and I have an agent.

We’ve been repped for about a month, but I’m only now getting around to saying something, because it seemed strange to just blurt out “Hey, there’s a guy who talks about us in meetings hoping to find us employment.” Actually, that’s still weird — but, the ‘agent thing’ is such a milestone to most people, it actually felt weirder not to acknowledge it. So, it’s weird either way, and that about sums up my life right there.

I know the first question you’re going to ask. Well, maybe not the first, but some of you will ask it at some point — “How did you get your agent?”

Here are the things I did not do:

I did not cold call anyone.
I did not query anyone.
I did not sleep with anyone (I feel like that’s worth mentioning).

My mantra for the many years I’ve been running this blog is that Relationships are Everything. Julie (my sister) and I got our agent because of who we knew, and who they knew who might be looking to rep someone like us. That person then reached out to us to submit material, which we did. He liked it, liked us and asked to represent us.

That sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, it took a hell of a lot of time and relationships to pull that off.

So, what does this mean for us? Primarily it means that the Benson Sisters are an official writing entity — we have been for awhile, but we are really marketing and branding ourselves (I shudder to say that) as sisters who write genre together. There are a couple of other sister teams out there, one of which I can think of that also does genre, so it’s a narrow field, but makes us appealing as a unit.

So, that’s it — piece of cake, right? Well, not really. The work is far from over and is, in fact, just beginning. We need to rewrite one of our pilot specs and write a new one entirely — it turns out we don’t quite have the material we need for staffing season, so right now we are focused on quickly getting stuff together. And when I say quickly, I mean by the first of the year.

Yeah.

Meanwhile, that webseries project I sold with Bernie Su earlier this year is still moving along. We’re about to do the second rewrite on the script. After that — hopefully they get a director and talent attached and start finding sponsors. A long way toward production yet.

But Julie and I are about to enter our first real staffing season. Pray for us.

Posted under Uncategorized, writing

This post was written by Shawna on December 1, 2012

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#Follow Character Bios, part 2

The last three featured characters in the pilot of #Follow:

Eric Dunphy –

Eric is more than just best friend and business partner to Connor. He’s an artist, a dreamer. Where Connor provides the business sense, Eric is the idea generator. Though he’s had no formal training or schooling, he is extremely intuitive and talented when it comes to creating new software, and channels the rest of his imagination into his painting and sculpture work. Eric has long pined for Bree, but she has always been unavailable and even a little distant at times. He’s never really liked Doug very much — he thought their group was better without him, but since everyone else seems to like having him around, he tolerates him.

Bree Sanders –

Bree fancies herself a party girl with limits. She’s put her ‘crazy’ days behind her, but she still loves to drink and have fun with her friends. Lately she’s been feeling like something is missing in her life, but she really can’t imagine what it is. After all, she has a great job – she’s written a couple of chick-lit books and spends a lot of time on the lecture circuit. A boyfriend would be a distraction, but that doesn’t keep her from going out and having a good time (or an occasional hookup).

Doug Litwiller –

Doug met this circle of friends more recently. He loved their adventurous spirit and enthusiasm for traveling together and having fun. He’s only been around for a couple of years, and if you were to ask him how he met the group, he’d probably tell you that he feels like he’s always known them. In truth, no one else really remembers when he started hanging out with them either…

Posted under writing

This post was written by Shawna on March 24, 2011

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#Follow Character Bios, part 1

While it is probable that my time constraints on writing the script were evident in the finished product, they were made tighter by the fact that I really didn’t feel I could write the 7 page script without first throwing down a lot of backstory and character bios. The actors did a lot to inform their characters, and so these bios are definitely missing some aspects which they brought to the finished product.

Still, I thought someone might be interested in knowing more about the 7 characters of #Follow…

Matt McGreevy — Also known in our script as, “The running man,” Matt is at the end of his rope. He’s been in hiding and on the run for the last year or two and is no stranger to drug use. It’s understandable why he’s such a mess; after all, he’s responsible for keeping his friends safe. The secrets he holds are worth a fortune, and put the lives of Connor, Josh, Abby, Bree and Eric at great risk. The pressure of always being on the move, staying one step ahead of his pursuers was taking a toll, and inevitably he found himself on the top of a tall building, contemplating hiding his friends secrets permanently. Trouble is, they are less safe with him dead, so when he saw the reminder on his phone for Connor’s birthday, it pulled him back from the brink and sent him running…he knew what they’d be up to at Connor’s party, and he had to at least try to stop them before they started asking too many questions…and one question in particular.

Connor — If there’s a center to the group, it is Connor. Lifelong friends with Eric, Connor has been the magnet which drew the rest of this group of friends together. Connor and Eric started a software company, which has been moderately successful, though neither of them have thus far been successful in their personal lives. For some time Connor has found that his close friendship with Abby has led him to feel something more for her, but he was never able to pull the trigger and ask her on a date. There’s something that gnaws at Connor — he doesn’t sleep well, and though he seems pretty easy going and friendly, he has a compulsive need to understand everything, which proves difficult when he pulls a question that no one can answer.

Josh Worthington — Josh met Connor and Eric at a conference, where they soon found they all shared a love of travel and adventure. He practices intellectual property law, so the fact he can work with his friends a huge plus. Josh is ambitious and goes after what he wants. When he decided he wanted Abby, he pursued her, where Connor held back. He takes his relationship with Abby very seriously, and feels a little threatened by the easy friendship she shares with Connor. His constant pursuit of excellence and having a ‘perfect’ life causes him some dramatic mood swings at times. Over the last few months, his moods have taken a decidedly darker turn, and he has had a more difficult time connecting with his friends and the woman he loves. Josh has been in touch with Matt a couple of times over the last few years, but does not know the truth about April 2nd or the secrets Matt is keeping to protect them all.

Abigail (Abby) Newman — Abby became friends with Connor and Eric after they first started their company, and she was hired as their head of marketing. They all bonded very quickly, and before long were taking trips together and sharing adventures. Abby has a particularly strong bond with Connor, and she has always had an easy friendship with him, much to Josh’s dismay. Abby at one time hoped that Connor would ask her out, but Josh’s pursuit of her affection made her fall in love with him. Still, it’s a challenge to deal with Josh at times — his mood swings cause a great deal of tension in their relationship, and he refuses to seek out a therapist or a psychiatrist to deal with the issue. Abby is incredibly intuitive and is far more intelligent than her marketing background would necessarily indicate.

Bios for Bree, Eric and Doug still to come!

Posted under writing

This post was written by Shawna on March 12, 2011

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#Follow Series Summary

One of the requirements for the Celebrate the Web 4 Festival was to submit a one-sheet explanation/overview of the overall series. So, just for fun, here is what I submitted — and I’ll be posting character bios (which were not required and not submitted) later today.
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#Follow is an episodic thriller/mystery series about a group of friends who discover that their memories of the past may not be accurate reflections of reality. Inspired by the quote from William Gibson, “Time moves in one direction, memory in another,” the series seeks to answer two interrelated questions: “As time passes, do our memories define us, or, can we escape the trappings of our past to become something else?” How much do our collective memories determine what we are and what happens to us when those memories are altered?

Eric, Josh, Abby, Bree and Doug have gathered to celebrate Connor’s birthday. While quizzing each other on events from their past, Connor puzzles over a strange question – “What happened on 4/2?” No one seems to know what significance the date holds or who even wrote the question. As they search for the meaning of this elusive date, they are interrupted by the unexpected arrival of their old friend Matt, who they haven’t seen in five years. Matt has pulled himself back from the edge (literally) to help his friends. He races to warn them that they aren’t safe; they all need to run.

Now the friends must try to understand the truth about their past, and why it puts their lives in jeopardy. They soon discover that their collective memories are suspect and may not represent their true history together. Further, someone else knows about their mysterious past and wants to erase all trace of it, even if it means killing them all to accomplish the task. Who are they running from? Why are they in danger? What important event happened on April 2nd and why don’t they remember it? Quickly the friends find themselves on the run, with an urgent need to find the answers to these and other questions as they try to stay alive.

Like popular epic television series such as “Lost” and “The Walking Dead,” “#Follow” is a thrilling story about a group of people who must band together to make peace with their past and work to build a future by staying alive.

Posted under writing

This post was written by Shawna on March 11, 2011

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Celebrate the Web 4: Mission accomplished!

Today I finished the marathon that was the Celebrate the Web 4 Webseries Pilot Competition.  The challenge was to write/shoot/finish a webseries pilot in 7 days.

I expect to blog a lot about my experiences, as there were a lot of ‘firsts’ for me this week.

For better or worse, I no longer rest on the laurels of my teen opus “Stegron” which I shot for Jules when she was in high school — she was doing a school report on B-movies of the fifties, so we made one to accompany her paper.

She got an A, which, for a schlocky B-movie made me quite proud.

But what I did this week… far beyond anything I’ve done before.  I don’t mean necessarily quality but just the amount of work, the decision making, the responsibility…it was a lot.  And it was hard.  And sometimes I thought I was insanely stupid for trying to do this.

But somehow, I made it through the week, completed a project, and actually wouldn’t mind doing it again (but, not in a race like this — I’d like to have more than 5 hours to write my script).

There are lots of people to thank, lots of stories to share.  For now, I’ll just leave you with this.  Ladies and gentlemen, my little baby… #FOLLOW.

You can watch the other 12 pilots here and if you feel like voting for us, that would be nifty.

Thanks.  Now I’m gonna go sleep.

Posted under writing

This post was written by Shawna on March 10, 2011

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Public acts of suicide

I’ve got two today! First, I wrote a review of the new “Criminal Minds” spinoff that will insure I never get hired by anyone involved with that show. It’s at Seat42F, of course.

My second act of public suicide is this: I have for some unknown (and likely non-existent) reason signed up to participate in the Celebrate the Web 4 Festival.

I must now assemble a team of questionable sanity to join me in this endeavor the week of March 3rd.  If you are feeling suicidal yourself and want to join me, drop me a line at the usual places (Twitter, Facebook, Email)

More to come on that nonsense next week.  This week, I’m writing like a demon. And about demons.  It’s a whole demon thing.

Posted under reviews, writing

This post was written by Shawna on February 16, 2011

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Current Project

Here’s a bit of the short story I’ve written, which I am adapting into a webseries.  I hope to shoot in 2 or 3 months.

Prepare to hear more about this in the near future.

A lot more.

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Love Sucks

By Shawna Benson

It’s so hard to meet people these days.  Everyone is so disconnected now, keeping touch over the modern equivalent to tin cans and string.  It gets even worse when you live in the city, like I do.  It’s nearly impossible to meet quality men in the city.  I know some people meet their future spouse at work, but I deal with lawyers enough all day; the last thing I want to do is be married to one.

Don’t get me wrong, I love being a lawyer.  Sometimes I even get to help people.  In those moments, you feel useful, and honestly, there isn’t a better feeling in the world than when you are contributing something, rather than taking.

People are always taking in our society.  I try to give back, but this is why I don’t believe in karma or the law of attraction or any of that new age nonsense.  It seems to me that if there really were a great big karmic ledger somewhere, I’d be more than overdue to have someone special in my life.  I hardly think Scooter counts.  Scooter is a great dog, but I need more than a furry companion to take for walks.

I need a man.

I know what you’re thinking.  That’s not very progressive of me.  Admitting to “needing a man” must set back feminism at least 30 years, right?  Well, Gloria Steinem, I’m not a fish and a man is not a bicycle.  I have needs, you know.

Look at this guy – he’s got to be kidding with his stinky-ass cologne and the obscene globs of gel in his hair.  I’m not saying I’m the best catch, but if this is as good as it gets in here tonight, I am definitely going home alone.

Definitely.  Okay, maybe not.  I’d like to think I can just go home, throw on my sloppiest pajamas and curl up on the couch with a book, but inevitably something takes hold of me as I sit and ponder the dearth of gentlemen in the world.  I start the evening looking for a life partner, a mate.  Gradually, once the terrain is surveyed, I’m happy to settle for someone to talk to, just for the evening.  By the end of the night, I’m eyeing the guy by the jukebox who reeks of Wild Turkey and Polo.

It’s not easy to acknowledge who you are and what you need to make yourself whole.  Let me tell you, I went to a therapist for months before I learned the truth.  I had been wrestling with this question of why I couldn’t keep a relationship going, why the man I was with always seemed to just…shrivel up and die.  My therapist suggested that my extreme use of language to describe my situation was a sign of job stress.  That was the last time I saw the therapist.

I did finally learn what the problem was, but it wasn’t a therapist who helped me understand.

It was a gypsy.

I was at the farmer’s market, trying to decide between the asparagus and the Brussels sprouts for dinner, when this woman sidled up next to me and started looking at the peppers.  She leaned across me to pick up some gorgeous habaneros when I heard her mutter, “You don’t have to be alone, you know.”

It was like she had reached into my brain and pulled out the thought I was having.  As I stood there, asparagus in one hand and sprouts in the other I was having one of the great revelatory thoughts of my life.  I wasn’t just weighing a produce decision in my mind, but I was contemplating a much bigger conundrum: why can’t I keep a man around?  And it was then the thought popped into my head: I am going to die alone.

But there she was.  I hadn’t even noticed her, so narcissistic was I, wrapped up in my own little drama.  And as soon as she said it, I knew she was right.

“Excuse me?” I asked her, because how could I say anything else.  This woman, a short, round innocent little thing – like she stepped out of some kid’s storybook of what a kindly older woman should be – she smiled at me.  Instead of answering, she paid the man for her peppers and handed me a card.  Naturally I had to read it: Svenja Kamengorski.  Gypsy.

Gypsy?  I may have even said it aloud, but she wasn’t around any longer to hear it – she was gone.

I went home that afternoon (having decided to cook kale instead of asparagus or sprouts) and sat at my kitchen table, staring at the card.  Why did she give me her card?  Why does a gypsy even have a business card?

So of course, I googled her.  I mean, she has a business card, she obviously is hip to the modern age!  Sure enough, I found her website, but it was for an at home floral business.  I almost gave up right there, until I noticed a little icon at the bottom of the page.  I looked again at the business card, and noticed it this time – the same design – an ornate lettering inside a circle.  To anyone on the site, it’d just look like a logo, but I had a hunch…I clicked on the icon, and sure enough, I got this page that just had her address.  I will say she was nice enough to link a google map on there, so I could get directions.  I’m not sure I’d have found her if not for that map, because she lived out in the middle of fucking nowhere.

I’d heard about this town where psychics, aura readers, and gypsies lived.  It was like a giant circus sideshow, but with a grocery store.  I had done a little research before I went there, trying to find out what kind of town this gypsy woman had chosen as her home.  I was almost tempted to try out some of the other “offerings” in the town; would the aura reader tell me why I was always so hungry to have a man, or should I go to the tarot card reader?  In the end, I chose to see the woman who had chosen me.  What I learned about Svenja was that she kept a low profile in that town – she had no storefront with voodoo witchcraft or mysterious trinkets.  She was supposedly a reincarnation of a more notable gypsy from one of those Eastern European countries you can’t really pronounce…the old world.  The one mention of her I did find indicated that she was a specialist in helping people find their true selves, who it is they are and what they need to fulfill their destinies.  That was exactly what I needed.

I drove up to the town on a Saturday.  I hadn’t told anyone where I was going, because I knew what people would say.  After all, I’m a lawyer, an intellectual, and the idea of someone like me going to see someone like Svenja… it wouldn’t make sense to them.  They’d think I’d gone round the bend and send me back to the idiot therapist who thought all of my problems were related to stress.

It was actually a really nice drive.  One of the things I realized was that I don’t get out of the city nearly enough.  I’ve never considered myself to be a “hippie,” but being out away from cities and traffic and noise was great.  I remember that one of the guys I dated last year was a total outdoorsy-type.  He’d go hiking and camping and fishing…he wanted me to come with him once, so I did.

That didn’t go so well.  Suffice to say, I never saw him again after that weekend.

I pulled into the tiny town with only a gas station and a Moose Lodge to its name and drove down the dirt roads to a little ramshackle house.  I swear this house was at the end of the world.  The road just kept going and going for miles and every time I thought I had gone too far and missed it, a little sign with her name on it would pop up, pointing further down the road.  She wasn’t kidding about the floral business.  After miles of dusty, rocky road, I pulled up to a house that appeared to reside in the Garden of Eden.  I have no idea how she got those trees, flowers and grass to not just live on the rocky outcropping, but actually thrive there.  That was proof enough that there was something otherworldly going on.

I knocked on her door.  From somewhere inside this cottage was some music from the 1920’s or 30’s.  I wasn’t surprised when I saw an actual Victrola playing the record.  The door opened and… well, first, let me just preface this by saying that Svenja is a really nice lady.  I didn’t know what to expect when I got there, and she couldn’t have been more cordial and accommodating.  But when she first opened that door, I thought, ‘my God, this woman is going to kill me and hide my body.’  I mean, honestly, the idea wasn’t that farfetched.  Svenja looked very normal, like someone I might find living down the street.  Granted her street and mine are very different, but you get the idea.  What made my blood run cold were her eyes.  They were black, like tiny onyx stones drilling into my skull, assessing me.  Her pupils were so dark and large I almost couldn’t see the whites of her corneas around them.  Of course, it was dark in that house, so that’s probably why her pupils were so dilated.

She nodded to me, as if I was exactly who she was expecting and ushered me inside her house.  Immediately I smelled exotic spices and herbs.  When I asked if she made potions, she noted it was her turn to make goulash for a potluck dinner.

I guess even paranormals have potlucks.

{To Be Continued…}

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Posted under randomness, writing

This post was written by Shawna on January 26, 2011

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Southland Review

My preview of the 3rd season premiere of SOUTHLAND is posted at Seat42F.

Posted under reviews

This post was written by Shawna on January 4, 2011

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2011 – New Year, Same Blog.

So this is the new year.  I don’t feel any different. — “The New Year,” Death Cab for Cutie

The beginning of  a new year means time to reintroduce myself to the masses…which hopefully will lead to more life on this blog (it was really depressing how little traffic I saw here last year — I’ll do my part (i.e. actually blog), if you do yours (i.e. read and COMMENT)).  So let’s get the introductions out of the way first, then move on to other business.

Hi.

My name is Shawna Benson.  You probably don’t know me.  If you do know me, save your pithy or sarcastic remarks for my Facebook page.  I’m trying to run a professional looking blog here, guys.

I have had an online/web presence since 1992.  I realize that may be before some of you were born.

I have been tilting at the Hollywood windmills for 8 years now (officially — unofficially, as in, before I moved to Los Angeles, add 2 years…I don’t because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing then).  2010 was the year I finally saw some progress.  I sold a webseries, which I am writing with my friend Bernie Su (more on this stuff over time, when I can reveal more information publicly).  Meanwhile, I’m writing my own webseries to produce this year, and I also write TV reviews and commentary for Seat42F.

I also write with my sister, Julie.  She and I have had a sci-fi drama pilot optioned in the past, and we continue to develop scripts under our “Irregardless Productions” banner.  While I’m busy trying to get a webseries launched, she’s busy being Josh Friedman’s assistant on the “Locke & Key” tv pilot he’s writing/producing for Fox.  She’s also one of the funniest writers I know.

Specs — I have a lot of them.  If you are wondering why anyone has ever bothered to come to this blog, it’s because I used to do a lot of analysis of which shows were “good to spec” — I still do this from time to time, but less as an entire post, and more as shows come up that deserve attention.  Also, at this point, you’d better be writing a spec pilot besides a show spec anyway, as it is more likely to get you read and staffed.

No, I have not been staffed on a TV show.  Yet.

I also get a lot of traffic for my Newbie’s Guide to San Diego Comic Con.

As you can probably tell, I’m on all the social networks, practically.  My moniker on Twitter is @TeelaJBrown.  There’s a story to the nickname that goes back 15 years there.  If you google “TeelaJBrown” most of the sites which appear point to me (Livejournal, Amazon Wish List, etc, etc).

I also have a secondary twitter account which will probably see more use this year — @shawnabenson.

Okay I think that’s the introductions out of the way…

Why should you visit this blog…more than once?

I don’t know that I have a good answer for that, but I’ll tell you what I use it for, and you can decide if it’s something you’d like to read from time to time.  I blog TV, what I like, what’s good, what works (or doesn’t).  I recently blogged about AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD.  I’ll link to my Seat42F articles and reviews.  I blog about writing in general, and about tv writing in specific when the mood strikes and I feel I have something to say that hasn’t already been beat to death on other screenwriting blogs (see the blogroll on the left).  I’m going to try to revive the “Movie of the Day” posts, but rather than commit to one every single day, I’ll commit to one every time I see a (new to me) film.  I wish that were every day, but I have a DVR backlogged with TV episodes of about 20 series that I currently watch and stay current on.

Sometimes I blog about events in my life, particularly if they are related to writing or my career.  I’ve also been known to relate a story or two from my past.  Your mileage for those types of posts may vary.

So that’s me.  That’s my world.  I’m a 36 year old chick living in Hollywood working to break into this messy business of show.

And now that I’ve updated the blog for 2011, I have 3 scripts to write and 3 articles to finish… see you around Solar de Cahuenga.

Posted under randomness, writing

This post was written by Shawna on January 2, 2011

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