New Year, same Phil. Check out the newest episode of Romantically Hopeless, "Aminal Attraction"

​Kevin gives his friends cute animals to attract women. Except for Phil who gets a rat. 
#Rom Hopeless
Directed by David Wingert
 Starring David Pinion, Ray Carsillo, Shane Vargas, Mark Hill, Desiree Staples, Elizabeth Alton, Amanda James, Melanie Martin, and Marisa Dzinaters.
Music by Andrew Wingert. 
Director of Photography - Kyle Kull. Sound Engineer - Shawn Feehly
Special Thanks - Karina Oswald.
Producers - Jordan Imiola and David Wingert.
Edited by David Wingert
​Written by Jordan Imiola
Produced by ​@FunnyBuffalo Films and Better Management.

 by Jordan Imiola

With the new Fall TV Season upon us, it's time to get excited for our favorite shows to come back. Most shows have good seasons and not-so-good seasons, but every now and again, I will watch a TV episode that is so good and so funny that it stays in my memory even years after seeing it. This is not only a list of shows that I love (and I've wirtten specs for 6 of them), but these are my absolute favorite episodes. 

#29 Married - "Pilot"  S. 1 Ep. 1 (2014) Written by Andrew Gurland
The pilot is so relatable to couples (at least at some point of their relationship.) The show stayed solid for most of the first season, but then derailed from the Bowman family. It became more L.A. centric and when characters start talking about "the valley," I just want to scream at the TV "Only 2% of your viewers know what you're talking about!" The show became less relatable and more L.A. That's my theory on why it only lasted 2 seasons. Fantastic Pilot ​nonetheless.

#27 Friends - "The One with Phoebe's Wedding" S. 10 Ep. 12 (2004) By Robert Carlock & Dana Klein Borkow
Lisa Kudrow marrying Paul Rudd is my favorite Friends episode. Deal with it. After Phoebe fires Monica as her wedding planner, all chaos ensues and a blizzard makes everything go wrong for Phoebe's wedding. In the end, everyone works together and Mike and Phoebe get married in the snow outside Central Perk in a romantic Friends fashion. With only six episodes left in the series, they still got it right.

#22 The Drew Carey Show  - "The High Road to China" S. 4 Ep. 9 (1998) Written by Katherine Green
Mimi pulls her biggest prank ever by having Drew kidnapped and he's keft abandoned on the Great Wall of China. ​He wakes up with nothing and must find his way back to America.  It's all Drew and it's all comedy gold. Classic DCS. I wish Drew Carey became a late-night talk host when this show ended. Think he'd kill at that job like he did in this episode.

#20 WKRP in Cincinnati "Pilot Part 1" S. 1 Ep. 1 (1978) Written by Hugh Wilson
1 name, "Dr. Johnny Fever!" This series was groundbreaking and the pilot set it up exceptionally. This episode follows the rule of comic opposites at it's best. The pilot is the day WKRP changed from "elevator music' to ROCK N' ROLL. The show only lasted 4 seasons and it took chances for a network comedy.

#19 Seinfeld - "The Yada Yada"  S. 8 Eo. 19 (1997) Written by Peter Mehlman & Jill Franklyn
When I was in 4th grade, everybody watched Senifeld. NBC MUST SEE TV was MUST SEE TV back then. I specifically remember watching this on a Thursday night. The next day, Friday, all my teachers were saying yada yada yada this and yada yada yada that to everything they taught us.

#17 Becker - "Barter Sauce" S. 4 Ep. 13 (2002) Written by ​Michael Markowitz
Growing up, CBS had a killer Monday night of comedy. Before the days of DVR, hits like "King of Queens" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" ruled Monday nights. But my absolute favorite was the last show of their 2 hour block, "Becker." It was Ted Danson being super unlikable and you loved him. Becker agrees to give free medical care to his friends in exchange for free food, magazines, and home maintenance. And It backfires on Becker and all his friends.

#16 The Honeymooners - "The Man from Space"  S. 1 Ep. 14 (1955) Written by A.J. Russel & Herbert Finn
Classic comedy and an essential Honeymooners episode that premired on New Year's Eve 1955. Ralph and Norton get into a fight after Ralph wants to win a costume contest. It feels joyous to watch the comedy back then. If you want to study how TV comedy all started, this is a wonderful example.

​#15 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - “Josh and I Go to Los Angeles” S. 1 Ep 13 (2015) Written by Aline Brosh McKenna
Rebecca Bunch finally gets what she wants from Josh Chan and it’s a moment that would change the course of the show forever. The fake boyfriend story-line was genius! Apparently nobody in West Covina has ever heard of the movie "Chinatown." Also, Rebecca faces her rival in the amazing Jewish American Princess Rap Battle.​

#14 Roseanne - "Brain-Dead Poet's Society"  S. 2 Ep. 10 (1989) Written by Joss Whedon. 
An amazing mother-and-daughter story written by Joss Whedon. Yes, that Joss Whedon! The entire story revolves around a poem that Darlene doesn't want to write, but Roseanne makes her to write it anyway. Then Darlene gets picked to read the poem at a school recital, but she refuses. They spend so much time talking about the poem and when they finally have Darlene read it, it's so worth the wait.

#13 Parks and Recreation - "April and Andy's Fancy Party" S. 3 Ep. 9 (2011) Written by Katie Dippold
April and Andy invite all their friends and relatives to their fancy party which is really a potluck. Then they tell everyone at the party that this is a surprise wedding. Leslie freaks out in Leslie fashion, but in the end, the couple gets married and it's one of the happiest marriages on television.

#12 The Office - “Diversity Day” S. 1. Ep 2 (2005) Written by B.J. Novak
Let's face it, some TV shows just don't have good pilots. The American version of The Office is one of them. The 2nd episode is sooooo much funnier than the pilot. This episode has Michael fully developed and the jokes hit hard. Michael tries to teach racial tolerance and diversity. It's inappropriate, hilarious, and  feels like the first true epiosde of the of The Office.

#11 Aytypical - "A Nice Neutral Smell" S. 1 Ep. 4 (2017) Written by Annabel Oakes
I loved this show from the first episode! But this episode is the best so far. Paige shows some major romantic interest in Sam and when he finds out, he makes a list of pros and cons to see if she makes good girlfriend material. Paige discovers the list at a family dinner and confronts him in front of everyone.

#10 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "Pilot"  S. 1 E. 1 (2017) Written by Amy Sherman-Palladino
​The best thing about Amazon Prime before this show was fast shipping. Now, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the best thing about Amazon Prime. Period. This pilot has everything. Drama, jokes, tragedy, humor, Lenny Bruce. I've watched it twice, went to the WGA library to read the script, and then watched it twice again. I can't stop loving this pilot. My favorite pilot ever.

#9 Sanford and Son - “Superflyer”  S. 3. Ep 8 (1973) Written by Charles T. Williams and Ilunga Adell
The running gags, timing, and writing of Sanford and Son are impeccable. In Superflyer, Fred's uncle dies and Fred doesn't care or even remember his uncle until he finds out that his uncle left him $5,000. Only one problem, Fred and Lamont have to go to St. Louis to get the money and Fred has never taken a plane before. The Fear of Fred's Flying leads to comedy perfection. The "Are You Jackie?" running gag slays me every time.

#7 Shameless - "Home Sweet Homeless Shelter"  S. 7 Ep. 3 (2016) Written by Krista Vernoff
Every storyline for every character in this episode is major and true to their character core. Carl gets an STD scare when his girlfriend's father barges in the house wanting to kill him for giving his daughter chlamydia. Frank tries to replace his family with homeless people even renaming them. Kevin, Veronica and Svetlana start a topless maid service. My favorite moment is the end when Fiona turns a new leaf. She calls Lip "a little shit" and gives her family ultimatums if they want to live in the house, A badass moment from Fiona that changes the character forever.

Honorable mentions:
Boy Meets Wolrd - "The Fugitives"
Broad City - "Florida"
​GLOW - "Every Potato Has a Receipt"
The Office - "The Dundees"/"Casino Night"
Roseanne - "A Better Pill to Swallow"/"Inherit The Wind"
The Simpsons - "Lisa's First Word"

by David Wingert

Have you ever known the plot of a movie before you even saw it? Has there ever been a pop-out scare that you saw coming from a mile away? Filmmaking is an eternal struggle to always stay one step ahead of the audience—Get too far ahead and they’re confused, fall behind and you’ve got a boring, predictable movie. Here are seven practices that can help you stay ahead of your audience.

1. Be A Skeptic
If you have even the slightest doubt about a scene, a page or a line of dialogue, chances are high the audience will notice. Everything you put on the page will be magnified on the screen, and it’s better to ask questions now so your viewer won’t be asking them in the theater.

2. Give Everything a purpose
This includes people, places and things. If Indiana Jones is afraid of snakes, give him a snake pit to explore. If a paleontologist hates kids, throw a couple little brats at him. If you have an exploding pen, use it! We tend to see “purpose” in the broader sense of a hero’s journey, but even Batman’s gadgets are setup to have some kind of conclusion in their own right.   

3. Red Herringz
Take advantage of stereotypes to trick the audience. Don’t use this too often, though, otherwise everything becomes a trick and nothing will seem genuine.

4. No Evil Deed Goes Unpunished
Give evil its comeuppance. Viewers demand justice, this is why Disney villains have a tendency to always fall off of cliffs. It even happens on smaller scales. Justice doesn’t always have to mean death, and it’s not always waiting just for the villain. The entire second half of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is built on this principle. Getting what you deserve can be as small as an inconvenience or a humiliation.

5. Give Action Consequences
It seems like this should be obvious, but people seem to overlook it all the time. Run through your script, and every time a character does something ask yourself: “Would it change anything if this never happened?” Or maybe the repercussions aren’t proportional to what the character does. Don’t be afraid to punish your protagonists for the decisions they make.

6. Know Your Genre
Keep your tone consistent. Different genres will warrant different expectations. If someone plants a bomb in a comedy, that will create expectations that are different from a drama. Genre can also dictate what the audience will allow you to get away with. Remember in “Airplane!” when the frantic passenger is slapped over and over again by a line of people waiting to slap her? Can you imagine any other genre that would allow that to happen?

7. Watch Movies
This can basically sum up all you’ll ever need to know. We’ve all grown up with the same movies and the same tropes. Some have aged better than others, but the only way to know is by seeing them for yourself. Watch older movies too: What still holds up? What’s become cliché? Just like movies change, audiences change as well, and it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse.   

by Jordan Imiola

Shonda Rhimes is a creative genius and a huge inspiration to many of us writers growing in the industry. My ultimate goal in ten years is be the Shonda Rhimes of TV Comedy. Showrunning and being the creator of several hit TV shows including many cult classics. That's the dream. So I took her Master Class to learn from the best and it's so worth the money. I recommend it to anyone who can afford it. but if you want to glance, here's some of the best advice I learned from her. 

- Write shows you want to watch
- When pitching, make sure to paint a picture, but not too specific a picture.
- Make your pitch is market-friendly.
- Get a group together to pitch together.
- Try to step into drama knowing what your ending is going to be. 
- For brainstorming 5 acts, divide the paper into 5 sections.
- Use themes to shape your episodes
- Treat the creative process like a muscle (Muscles have muscle memory). Work that muscle every day.
- Find the ritual that helps you write.
- Write to a schedule and Deadline.
- Don't allow for your own excuses
- Say all your dialogue out loud.
- In a pilot, create a character who guides the audience into this new world.
- Think what the Worst Case Scenario is for your character and do that.
- Pilots - The Opening and Ending Scenes are Key.
- Don't write cliches. If you've seen it before then it's cliche.
- Make things as interesting as possible.
- If you think in Act Breaks, it allows you to think something BIG.
- Build it in character.
- Make sure your characters talk like they know each other.
- Characters hold onto secrets.
- Don't fill your scripts with too much stage direction. Let the actors do more.
- Trust your gut.
- Your last moment should be surprising, but organic.
- Keep the dialogue sparse as possible. 
- Make sure each scene resonates.
- Say the script out loud and feel it. 
- Cut things that don't forward plot.
- It's important not to tell anyone about the script. You will then get true feedback.
- A note often means whatever you did isn't clear. Make sure they understand it.
- Know everyone is trying to make your writing better.
- Know when your script is cooked.
- Any staff writers that seem entitled, get rid of them.
- You want to have a great attitude. 
- Build a network of your peers.
- Walk a very professional line.
- Your pitches should center around your characters.
- TV writing is a race against time.
- Choose actors that spark something in your imagination. 
- Delegate and empower the people you work with.
- Stop reading emails except for once a day at the same time.
- Give time to yourself. (the work will always be there)
- You can't call yourself a writer unless you write every day. 
- A Work/Life Balance does not exist.
- Enjoy your accomplishments.  Celebrate your accomplishments. 
- Own your swagger. It's not bragging if you can back it up. 

1. Lesser characters affected by the “a” story
​Let’s start with a fun example. One of the best moments in Back to the Future is all the unexpected changes Marty made to his own future: His siblings are now successful, he has a sweet new car and Biff Tannen himself has become a household maid. These are all side effects of Marty’s “a” plot, but established as “b” stories from the beginning. It’s not unusual for the “a” plot to effect side stories, Lord of the Rings ends with at least five of them. The stronger the “a” plot, the greater it’s affect will be on the rest of the story.  ​

3. ​Setup for a sequel  (The “Marvel” b story)
​Sometimes the “b” story we end on isn’t even the conclusion, sometimes it’s only there to carry us into the next movie.  At the end of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Gollum vows to kill Frodo and Sam…and then the movie ends. Revenge is a common motivation for these “b” plots: A minor character emerges from the rubble where the antagonist was destroyed, vowing to fulfill what the villain began. However, revenge isn’t always the motivator. A lot of the early Marvel movies ended on the same “b” plot: Nick Fury assembling a team of Earth’s mightiest heroes.

7. Echoes the themes of the “a” story
​This can be a very powerful way of ending your story. At the end of The Princess Bride, we don’t close on Westley and Princess Buttercup riding into the sunset. Instead we watch as the grandfather, book in hand, closes the door to his grandson’s bedroom. When his grandson asks him if he’ll read the story again, he replies “As you wish.” This not only resolves their jaded relationship—which was a “b” story from the very beginning—but it helps to strengthen the theme of true love by reiterating the very phrase Westley would say to Buttercup. “B” stories should often reflect the struggles of the “a” plot to some extent. In Home Alone, Old Man Marley shared family issues just as Kevin did. That’s why we don’t end the movie on Kevin’s resolution, but rather the old man’s. We get to see the same themes from Kevin’s life play out to a deeper extent. ​

by David Wingert
 
Are you having trouble deciding how to end your script? Have you considered killing your protagonist? There are more ways to make this work than you might think. Some of the greatest movies ever made end with the main character’s death. Here are just a few examples of how those movies work.

1. Die For a Greater Cause 
​
What’s more noble than dying for what you believe in? We see this often in sweeping epics, where the protagonist is just a small cog in a movement or revolution bigger than themselves. Freedom, life, justice, these are all ideas that people die for. We’ve seen it in Braveheart, Spartacus, Children of Men, V for Vendetta and Gran Torino just to name a few. ​

6. Killed in the Beginning 
​
This one’s almost cheating, but there are times when a protagonist is killed off in the first five minutes, then the rest of the movie is a flashback of his/her life. This tactic can be common in biopics like Ghandi and Lawrence of Arabia. It’s attention-grabbing, but it also greatly emphasizes the significance of this character’s story. Whatever they did, it was significant enough to get them killed—and that’s only the start of the story!

by David Wingert

In Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 film Stalker, three companions journey towards a mysterious land known as “The Zone,” a place which is described as a complicated system of traps operating independently from man’s control. “Safe spots become impassable. Now your path is easy, now it’s hopelessly involved. That’s the Zone. It may even seem capricious.” Capricious, arbitrary, impulsive, it would almost sound like they were describing a person; but in the realm of storytelling, can’t a location be treated that way? Here are five ways you can reinvent settings to behave like a character would. 
 
1.Make it dangerous
 The protagonist needs obstacles, and there’s no simpler way than by throwing them into a “burning, fiery, furnace.” Or at least that’s the way Mr. Dryden put it when describing the desert to T.E. Lawrence. Lawrence of Arabia is a perfect example of the immediate dangers locations have to offer. It isn’t rocket science, think of any specific way a location might try to kill you—sand traps, heat, warring factions—and keep those present and consistent while your protagonist voyages the terrain of your unique setting.
 
2.Make it the extension of a character
 If a character spends an entire movie in one location, wouldn’t their behavior influence their surroundings and vice versa? Think of George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life. His relationship with his hometown of Bedford Falls is an endless give-and-take. When we see George happy, so is Bedford Falls; and when George is in crisis, we learn just how different his town would be if he wasn’t there.
On the flip side, you can also make it an extension of the antagonist. Think back to Bedford Falls: When George is out of the picture, the town very blatantly names itself after the antagonist Mr. Potter—reflecting all his twisted morals and virtues on the landscape to a horrifying effect.
 
3.Make it the antagonist
 In other words: Man vs. Nature. Make your location the literal object your hero has to defeat (the meteorite in Armageddon), or to escape from (Castaway) or to even control (Jurassic Park).
 
4.Give it change/growth
 If human beings, animals and even inanimate objects like a brave little toaster can develop and evolve, why not locations too? Jumanji offers a somewhat unique approach to this idea, the place itself is just an entity trapped inside of a game. But once it’s disturbed it starts to grow, becoming more and more infectious while it’s tampered with.
 
5.Give a backstory, give an agenda
 Why are Indian Burial grounds always cursed? How come every haunted house tries to kill the people living inside, because in storytelling people love locations with a vendetta. Something terrible happened at this place— maybe it was sacred grounds that man defiled, perhaps a group of friends buried a secret there that they shouldn’t have. The concept often lends itself to supernatural causes, because it’s very implausible otherwise, but it’s undoubtedly alluring all the same.

by David Wingert 

Every cliché used to be original, every trope use to be something unique and fresh. “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” We scoff when we hear this now, but when was the time where lines like these captivated audiences? I took a look into cinema’s history to uncover some answers, and I quickly discovered two universal truths:

1. Almost every memorable movie line first came from a book. And
2. The rest came from Shakespeare. Seriously, the man has the market cornered.

 
But what about that small margin of other cases? To limit this search, I traced back sayings that were either invented purely through cinema, or first found their traction through the medium despite being phrases used before the 20th century. Let’s start with one that’s tried and true:

​Save Yourself
This phrase could have easily been used in any number of real life circumstances, however it wasn’t until the 50’s that this line really came into it’s own in Hollywood cinema. War epics such as The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) helped to make this popular as well as foreign films like The Cranes are Flying (1957), Letter Never Sent (1959) and The Hidden Fortress (1958).

​Revenge is a dish best served cold
 
This quote dates back as early as 1846 in the French Novel Memoirs of Matilda: “And then revenge is very good eaten cold, as the vulgar say.” It first appeared in English-speaking films in 1949 with the film King Hearts and Coronets: “Revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold.”
Research Sources:
“Bugs Bunny - Rides Again.” VeeHD, veehd.com/video/3154744_Bugs-Bunny-Rides-Again.
img.movietimes.com/unsafe/http://assets.movietimes.com/v1/movie_images/132515/pnFOEnr0T1oqdvfvLMRF03gS95l.jpg.
Martin, Gary. “The Meanings and Origins of English Phrases, Sayings and Proverbs in Everyday Use.” Phrasefinder, 16 May 2018, www.phrases.org.uk/.
McEVOY, J. P. “Hollywood Girl by J. P. McEVOY on Yesterday's Gallery and Babylon Revisited Rare Books.” Yesterday's Gallery and Babylon Revisited Rare Books, Grosset and Dunlap., www.yesterdaysgallery.com/pages/books/12709/j-p-mcevoy/hollywood-girl.
​“Pagina Iniziale · Isola Di Rodi.” Isola Di Rodi, rodi.it/. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/Kind_Hearts_and_Coronets.jpg.

iby Jordan Imiola

​There’s a best kept secret in Los Angeles. A place where stories come to life two nights every week. A place where screenwriters test out new awesome material. And a place where actors amaze an audience and improve their cold reading skills and comedic timing at the same time.

This place is Deadline Junkies It's a select group of 30 screenwriters and about 2 dozen marvelous actors and actresses who are regulars. Every week, 6 new stories are developed at 2 theaters. 3 scripts for each theater. The drama group meets on Monday nights in North Hollywood. Their stories will shock you, haunt you, and thrill you. The comedy group meets on Tuesdays and  their stories will make you laugh your ass off! They've been meeting in Sherman Oaks for the past 8 Years. And now another group for both genres is in the works for Wednesdays. Today, Deadline Junkies is undeniably L.A.s Best Screenwriters Group and Actors Community.

Deadline Junkies Comedy has been an institution for kick-ass jokes. There are stories I've seen in here that I will never forget. To name a few of my favorites over the years, “Abe Lincoln 2020” by Shannon Mier, “My Boyfriend is an Alien" by Joey Hargrove, and "The Meat Cleaver Massacre" by Ashley Scott Meyers. 

Deadline Junkies Drama is more recent and was started last year by multi-talented Michael Stagliano. This guy can act, write, and on top it all, he’s super nice. If Michael was in the NFL he would win the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Michael has assembled incredibly gifted storytellers. Some of my favorite writers on Mondays include Dan Benamor, Rale Sidebottom, and Jorjeana Marie. The Drama in this room is what TNT wishes it could be all the time.

With 2 talented groups, Deadline Junkies is a powerhouse of remarkable storytelling and exceptional acting. TheTrue Deadline Junkies who constantly come up with new pages every 5 weeks and challenge themselves become most successful.  There were a couple rough seasons here and there over the years. When people repeated pages too much, it became way less fun. But those years and ex-writers are over! Today, Deadline Junkies is now the best it’s ever been!

For writers, the experience of a table read on stage by professional actors is priceless. The actors are truly incredible. Many times, when I'm not sure a joke will work, I'll test it out at DJs. Then I'll experience an actor such as Ray Carillo, Meagan Prahl, or David Pinion knock that joke out of the park! And they saved that joke's life. These actors make my writing stronger and my jokes funnier.

I’ve been part of the comedy group since 2010. I feel I keep learning every week from brainstorming notes and joke pitches and hearing from fellow writers. Some of the best jokes I’ve ever heard in my life have come from Comedy DJs. Some comedian all-stars include Phillip Mottaz, Cristy Murphy, Shannon Mier, Jeff Harms, Kelly Kurowski, and David Halle.

DJs has made me hone my craft. It has kept my creative mind sharp and made me constantly write. Writing is no longer a task, but a habit. The deadline of having 25 - 30 NEW pages every 5 weeks is thrilling. From that deadline, I've written over 10 feature screenplays, 5 TV pilots, countless web series episodes, and scripts I can't even remember.  Several of these scripts were then produced or sold. I also presented TV specs for "Broad City, "The Goldbergs" and ""Crazy Ex-Girlfriend."

Having a supportive group of screenwriters and actors is so amazing to have in this city. Anyone is welcome to audit. Deadline Junkies started with one man, Adam Strange in July 2009. Soon, Ashley Scott Meyers joined the group. Ashley is now in charge of the comedy group. You may recognize him from the Selling Your Screenplay podcast. ​Michael started the Drama branch in July 2017. And now it seems the success of Deadline Junkies screenwriters and actors is always ascending.

Deadline Junkies Drama
Mondays - 7 - 10
The Whitmore-Lindley Theater
11006 W Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601

Deadline Junkies Comedy
Tuesday 7 - 10
 Open Stage West
14336 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

New! Deadline Junkies The 3rd. (Comedy and Drama) Starting 4/4
Wednesdays 7 - 10
The Sherry Theater 
11052 W Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601

A spec of "The Goldbergs" read at Deadline Junkies in 2014