MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SEMINAR SERIES, THE: WRITING FOR TELEVISION: THE COLLABORATIVE EFFORT: DAYTIME: "ALL MY CHILDREN" {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in this series of seminars conducted by The Museum of Television & Radio. It is the second of four seminars about writing for television, co-sponsored by the Writers Guild of America, East. Hosted by the Museum's television curator, Ron Simon, this panel discussion examines the art and concept of writing for daytime television, with particular reference to the program "All My Children." Simon welcomes moderator Milee Taggart, a writer for "Santa Barbara," and Taggart introduces the panelists: "All My Children" head writer Megan McTavish; writer Richard Culliton; writer Caroline Culliton; script editor Karen Lewis; writer Hal Corley; associate writer Jeffrey Beldner; and executive writer Agnes Nixon. Nixon begins by explaining the job the writers do and their motivation for working in this field. A series of clips from "All My Children" is then introduced, featuring a hate-crime storyline and an interracial romantic relationship. Following the screening the panel discusses the following topics, among others: bringing important social issues into people's living rooms; the origins of storylines; the relationship between the head-writing and script-writing teams; the features of a good writing team; and the differences between writing for soap operas and working on other television genres. After the seminar is opened to audience questions, subjects addressed include the following: the influence of actors on the scripts; other serials that copied "All My Children" storylines; the writers' plans for a storyline when it starts; breaking into writing for daytime television; the ethnic characters on "All My Children"; the Writer Development Program; the level of humor on "All My Children"; and the writers' daily schedule of writing and meetings.
Details
- NETWORK: Paley
- DATE: November 11, 1992 6:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:26:01
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:27591
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Agnes Nixon); She Made It Collection (Patricia Fili-Krushel)
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ron Simon … Host
- Milee Taggart … Moderator
- Jeffrey Beldner … Panelist
- Hal Corley … Panelist
- Caroline Culliton … Panelist
- Richard Culliton … Panelist
- Karen Lewis … Panelist
- Megan McTavish … Panelist
- Agnes Nixon … Panelist