578 episodes
The Writers Panel Ben Blacker
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- TV & Film
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4.6 • 742 Ratings
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The definitive insider's guide to our current golden age of television, Ben Blacker's The Writers Panel is an ever expanding anthology of live convention panels and intimate in-studio interviews with the writers, producers, and show runners responsible for all the shows you can't stop watching. Over the course of nearly 500 episodes and counting, The Writers Panel has sat across from guests such as Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele (Key and Peele), Liz Meriwether (New Girl), and Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) to talk about the art and business of creating great television.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Don McKellar (co-creator, The Sympathizer)
Writer/director/actor Don McKellar (co-creator, The Sympathizer' 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould; Childstar) discusses throwing yourself into the deep end, the terrors of expectation, tradlation, and representation, collaborating with Park Chan-wook, how to know when to fight, his role on Slings and Arrows, and more.
Come see Retrospecs on Sunday, May 19, 2-4pm PT at the Elysian Theater in LA! In Retrospecs, we dig those old scripts by established writers out of their drawers and expose them to the warm light of the stage. Starring actors you know and love from TV, film, comedy, and the stage. From Girls to Gilmore Girls, from the Big Bang Theory to Buffy, get NEW EPISODES of your favorite shows, written by writers who never wrote for those shows!
The May 19 show is a benefit for the Green Envelope Fund and features a Seinfeld by David Iserson (The Spy Who Dunped Me; New Girl) and a Succession written by "Fake Carol Lombardini" that takes place during the WGA/SAG strike and co-stars real Carol Lombardini!
Live or streaming/VOD tickets here: https://www.elysiantheater.com/shows/retrospecs0519
THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
SOCIALS:
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Michael Jamin (Tacoma FD; Maron)
Michael Jamin (Tacoma FD; Maron) discusses his new collection of personal essays, A Paper Orchestra, sharing versus oversharing, what he learned about art from David Bowie and Pharrel, and more.
Buy A Paper Orchestra and see Jamin on his live reading tour! Info here: https://michaeljamin.com/product/a-paper-orchestra/
Come see Retrospecs on Sunday, April 21, 2-4pm PT at the Elysian Theater in LA! In Retrospecs, we dig those old scripts by established writers out of their drawers and expose them to the warm light of the stage. Starring actors you know and love from TV, film, comedy, and the stage. From Girls to Gilmore Girls, from the Big Bang Theory to Buffy, get NEW EPISODES of your favorite shows, written by writers who never wrote for those shows!
The April 21 show features a West Wing from by Marc Guggenheim (co-creator, Arrow) and a Big Bang Theory written by Helen Shang (Hawaii 5-0).
Starring Sherry Cola (Joy Ride), Katie Cassidy (Arrow), Olivia Scott Welch (Fear Street), John Ross Bowie (Big Bang Theory), Hrishikesh Hirway (West Wing Weekly; Song Exploder), Ricardo Hurtado (School of Rock), Kiran Deol (Destroy All Neighbors), and more
Live or streaming/VOD tickets here: https://tinyurl.com/Retro421
THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
SOCIALS:
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Evan Waite (Family Guy; Kimmy Schmidt)
Evan Waite (Family Guy; The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) discusses the kinds of comedy he enjoys, breaking in by taking chances, his new book Life Wants You Dead: A Calm, Rational and Totally Legit Guide to Scaring Yourself Safe, and more.
Come see Retrospecs on Sunday, April 21, 2-4pm PT at the Elysian Theater in LA! In Retrospecs, we dig those old scripts by established writers out of their drawers and expose them to the warm light of the stage. Starring actors you know and love from TV, film, comedy, and the stage. From Girls to Gilmore Girls, from the Big Bang Theory to Buffy, get NEW EPISODES of your favorite shows, written by writers who never wrote for those shows!
The April 21 show features a West Wing from by Marc Guggenheim (co-creator, Arrow) and a Big Bang Theory written by Helen Shang (Hawaii 5-0).
Starring Sherry Cola (Joy Ride), Katie Cassidy (Arrow), Olivia Scott Welch (Fear Street), John Ross Bowie (Big Bang Theory), Hrishikesh Hirway (West Wing Weekly; Song Exploder), Ricardo Hurtado (School of Rock), Kiran Deol (Destroy All Neighbors), and more
Live or streaming/VOD tickets here: https://tinyurl.com/Retro421
THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
SOCIALS:
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Melanie Marnich (showrunner, Apples Never Fall)
Melanie Marnich (creator, Apples Never Fall; The OA; Big Love) discusses pursuing projects that explore personal questions, casting her room for their strengths, pitching her perspective on Lianne Moriarty's novel, the Apples cast's secret text chain, and more.
THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
SOCIALS:
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Abe Sylvia (Palm Royale; George and Tammy)
Abe Sylvia (creator, Palm Royale, George and Tammy; Dead to Me; Nurse Jackie) discusses making discoveries on set, healthy debate vs story breaking, working with frequent collaborators, how not outlining "reintroduces writerly delight," and more.
Come see Retrospecs on Sunday, April 21, 2-4pm PT at the Elysian Theater in LA! In Retrospecs, we dig those old scripts by established writers out of their drawers and expose them to the warm light of the stage. Starring actors you know and love from TV, film, comedy, and the stage. From Girls to Gilmore Girls, from the Big Bang Theory to Buffy, get NEW EPISODES of your favorite shows, written by writers who never wrote for those shows!
The April 21 show features a West Wing from by Marc Guggenheim (co-creator, Arrow) and a Big Bang Theory written by Helen Shang (Hawaii 5-0).
Live or streaming/VOD tickets here: https://www.elysiantheater.com/shows/retrospecs0421
THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
SOCIALS:
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
John Orloff (Masters of the Air)
John Orloff (creator, Masters of the Air) discusses scripts as selling tools vs scripts as production tools, integrating research into scenes, writing a nine-hour movie, Band of Brothers, and more.
Come see Retrospecs this Sunday, March 17, 2-4pm PT at the Elysian Theater in LA! In Retrospecs, we dig those old scripts by established writers out of their drawers and expose them to the warm light of the stage. Starring actors you know and love from TV, film, comedy, and the stage. From Girls to Gilmore Girls, from the Big Bang Theory to Buffy, get NEW EPISODES of your favorite shows, written by writers who never wrote for those shows!
The March 17 show features a Mad About You from 1997 by Ben Blacker and a Girls written by Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz (Brooklyn 99).
Live or streaming/VOD tickets here: https://www.elysiantheater.com/shows/retrospecs
THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
SOCIALS:
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Customer Reviews
A treasure trove of writing lessons
This show has been around for over a decade and has insights on every aspect of television writing. If you are looking to get ahead in the industry do yourself a favor and dig through the episodes, filled with insights from working writers.
Great show
Ben Blacker is a great interviewer. He knows what to ask and how to ask it. He makes his guests open up gets the most out of each interview. This podcast is engaging and enriching. Such a worthwhile way to spend your time if you’re an extremely focused writer. Thank you for the wealth of knowledge in each episode!
I’ve basically binged all episodes
I love this podcast! It’s a real peak inside the curtain of what writers lives are really like in Hollywood. Ive been slowly binging all episodes for the past year taking notes and building some scripts. This has been a great support and fun listen!!