A Friend in the Business: Honest Advice for Anyone Trying to Break into Television Writing

By Robert Masello

Professional TV writer tells all: Insider secrets for getting in the door and coming out a success!Everyone who wants to write for television could use a friend in the business. Robert Masello can be that friend. He's an award--winning journalist, author, and successful TV writer. Now he's sharing the insider secrets he learned the hard way... Finding someone to read your spec script Protecting your ideas Bagging a good agent Landing a staff job--and keeping it Keeping full credit for your work--in the office and on the screen Choosing the right collaborator Collecting residuals and script fees Joining the Writers Guild of America and more.Funny, smart, empathetic, anecdotal, and most of all, helpful. This is an essential book for anyone who wants to write for the small screen. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399526021
• ISBN13: 9780399526022
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Perigee Books
• Length: 257 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Great Read

I work in a college career services office & bought this book for our resource center. It arrived last week and has not yet made it onto the shelf--because I can't put it down! Many career books are dry "how to" manuals which may have valuable information, but lose the readers' interest before it can be imparted. Not this book. Mr. Masello's engaging, witty writing keeps the reader riveted. And while being entertained,...

The best book ever written on breaking into TV as a writer.

I teach television writing and screenwriting classes at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the Film & Television Department and Department of Dramatic Writing. I have never in 12 years made a book on TV writing required reading for my students because there was nothing good enough out there. That has all changed with A Friend In The Business. Masello chronicles his upstream journey in the strange, funny...

A VERY Good Friend

Even if you're one of the five people who have no desire to write for TV, or movies, you will love Robert Masello's hilarious tales of "the business." If you're one of the millions of aspiring writers than you absolutely have to pick up this book. Unlike the usual how-to tome, with its silly rules (only people who indent 1.5 inches on a page are permitted to write for TV) Masello takes us on a journey through the real world,...

The straight skinny

Boy, am I learning a lot from this book! Everything from the nitty gritty about preparing and pitching a script to the politics and personalities that open (or shut) the doors to a television career. I'd call it "must reading" for anyone who wants to be a television writer--or for anyone who wonders why contemporary television is the way it is.

It's Worth Having A Friend In The Business

Robert Masello's book about writing for television is worth buying for anyone interested in the TV business. Instead of focusing on how to write a spec TV script Masello gives the reader useful information via his own TV experience on how to survive the shark infested waters of Hollywood. He tells the reader what to expect in a pitch meeting, as a freelance writer, and as a writer on staff for a weekly TV series. His...