Children of Tendu
Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Jose Molina are television writer/producers with over forty years of combined experience on shows including "Lost," "Firefly," "Sleepy Hollow" and "Helix"... and they are giving away all their knowledge for free! Find us on Twitter @childrenoftendu!

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Syndication

In this - the final episode of the first season of the Children of Tendu Podcast - Jose and Javi sit down with a small group of avid listeners - all of them aspiring writers, producers, directors and executives - and answer their questions in real time! Topics include race and gender in the entertainment industry, adapting other people's original material, what should you ask for when you are a new writer and your project gets optioned, great moments in Spanish profanity, one person's completely irrational hatred of Eddie Money, and why EVERY writer should have a good psychotherapist. For a grand finale, Javi and Jose subject one another to the famed questionnaire used by Bernard Pivot AND James Lipton to probe the depths of their guest's psyches... and then, in a thrilling act of shocking destiny, Jose makes Javi cry!

Direct download: 13._Our_season_finale.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 11:13am PDT

The holy grail of television writing is creating, selling and running your own show... but what happens when you sell a pilot and are not yet a showrunner, or when you are a showrunner but do not have a pilot? In this - the second to last episode of season one of the Children of Tendu Podcast, Jose and Javi tackle the rocky road from idea to script to pilot to series - a journey whose many possible outcomes will shock, amaze, and perhaps even terrify you.

Direct download: 12._So_you_wanna_write_a_television_pilot....m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm PDT

Ask any writer what they hate most and you will very soon arrive at the answer "notes." As the Children of Tendu podcast races to the scintillating climax of its inaugural season, Jose and Javi take on the creative and business relationship between writers and their studios and networks, debunking the notion that this is by nature an adversarial process between creativity and commerce, and discussing how and why notes are not only unavoidable but also a crucial and useful part of creating television. Also, what are "scroutlines," "scriptments" and "sproses"? Why Javi can't remember "timey-wimey-wibbly-wobbly" when he's on the spot? And why "taking a time out" is not just for toddlers anymore.

Direct download: 11._Theres_a_lot_of_good_stuff_here..._but_we_do_have_some_notes..m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm PDT

Part 1 of a special Nerdist Writers Panel/Children of Tendu event!

If you listen to Children of Tendu, you have heard the names "Rene Echevarria" and "Naren Shankar." Both are fantastic writers, both are veterans of the Star Trek: The Next Generation writers room, and both are important mentor figures to Jose and Javi.

In this first part of our interview with our mentors, we are aided by the indomitable Ben Blacker as Rene and Naren discuss the early days of their own career with a special focus on their relationship with Star Trek, it's showrunner Michael Piller, and how that series's culture helped them become both successful writers as well as successful mentors to otger writers.

And if you like part one, part two - featuring tons of useful advice from Rene, Naren, Jose and Javi on process and creativity - goes live Tuesday, may 6th, 2014 on the Nerdist industries website, under the aegis of the Nerdist Writers Panel - http://www.nerdist.com/podcast/nerdist-writers-panel/

Direct download: 10._Meet_our_mentors_-_part_one.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm PDT

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