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  THE PROFESSIONAL PEN: Script Consultant

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Tired of hearing about diversity in casting?

11/25/2015

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Yeah, me, too. But in reality, it's 2015 and there are still many groups of people who cannot turn on mainstream television or go see mainstream movies with people who look like them or have similar backgrounds as they do in it. It's just a fact. However, we often shoot the messenger when it comes to casting. Yes, the Casting Department and producers make final decisions about who you see on the screen. But, writers give them the canvas to begin with and often, it's blank. Well, when you're given a blank campus, you paint it in your color of choice...or leave it blank.

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Network, Production Company, Studio... What does it all mean?

11/18/2015

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 Good question. It can be quite confusing. Here's my attempt at making it "not" confusing. lol

Network: The buyers in the TV world. People come to a network with an idea. The network purchases the idea, then guides it along to what will eventually air on the network. Networks develop relationships with studios and production companies to bring them in on deals where they see fit. The network oversees the entire production each of their shows but they bring in studios and prod. co's to work in specific areas. Networks: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and so on; Cable (Networks): ABC Family, BET, BRAVO, FX, VH1, and so forth. 

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Do I have to go to grad school or even college to work in the entertainment industry?

11/11/2015

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The short answer is no. If you had asked this question 10 years ago it would truly be no. But in 2015 more people are getting degrees in film, plain and simple. Millennials are the education generation. Our parents encouraged/enforced education down our throats from the moment we could blink. So unlike the days of old, when high school graduates or hard-working immigrants applied for lower-level jobs in Hollywood that would become networking heaven and eventually turn them into directors, executives,  producers, and writers... these days, film school graduates have their own living network. 

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The screenplay is not the movie!

11/5/2015

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Wait. Huh? What do you mean? I mean exactly what I said. The screenplay is not the movie. Have you ever read the screenplay of one of your favorite movies? If you're a writer, this is a must. If you're simply a fan, don't do it. It may negatively change your viewpoint of your fave film. Either way, if you choose to read the screenplay, you will be let in on the biggest secret of Hollywood.

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    Shannan E. Johnson, CEO
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