

The Writers Panel
Ben Blacker
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 6, 2015 • 1h 20min
HART OF DIXIE's Leila Gerstein
The creator of Hart of Dixie, which begins its fourth season this Friday (January 9), talks about creating the show, being a first-time showrunner, working with the CW, creating the show as a response to her time on Gossip Girl, as well as how she broke in, her early jobs on The OC and Life As We Know It, and lots more.LISTEN TO THE WRITERS PANEL AD-FREE ON FOREVER DOG PLUS:https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plusCONNECT W/ BEN BLACKER & THE WRITER'S PANEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA https://twitter.com/BENBLACKERhttps://www.facebook.com/TVWritersPanelTHE WRITER'S PANEL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-writers-panel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dec 16, 2014 • 1h 17min
2014 Year in Review
Our old pals Josh Friedman (showrunner, The Sarah Connor Chronicles; Avatar sequel), Aaron Ginsburg (The 100; Intelligence; The Good Guys), and Emily Halpern (co-creator, Trophy Wife) discuss the difficulty in getting things made in 2014, the buying trend of established brands, comedies that work, Serial, the Dorothy Problem, the Doughnut Hole Problem, and lots more in this year-end wrap up. Also: Ben Blacker talks about changes to the podcast!LISTEN TO THE WRITERS PANEL AD-FREE ON FOREVER DOG PLUS:https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plusCONNECT W/ BEN BLACKER & THE WRITER'S PANEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA https://twitter.com/BENBLACKERhttps://www.facebook.com/TVWritersPanelTHE WRITER'S PANEL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-writers-panel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dec 9, 2014 • 51min
GIRLS' Jenni Konner
Since starting out as an assistant on Freaks and Geeks and her first staff writer job on Undeclared, Jenni Konner has gone on to write and produce shows for network television and cable. She's now the co-showrunner of HBO's Girls with show creator Lena Dunham. Jenni talks about how the Girls room works, what she's learned from Judd Apatow, the fun of punch-up sessions, and lots more.LISTEN TO THE WRITERS PANEL AD-FREE ON FOREVER DOG PLUS:https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plusCONNECT W/ BEN BLACKER & THE WRITER'S PANEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA https://twitter.com/BENBLACKERhttps://www.facebook.com/TVWritersPanelTHE WRITER'S PANEL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-writers-panel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dec 2, 2014 • 1h 6min
Ben Queen, Kim Shumway and Deirdre Mangan
Ben Queen (creator, A to Z), Kim Shumway (The 100; Dallas), Deirdre Mangan (I, Zombie). Getting back to our panel roots by throwing together three writers from different backgrounds and experiences to talk about the business and process of writing for TV!LISTEN TO THE WRITERS PANEL AD-FREE ON FOREVER DOG PLUS:https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plusCONNECT W/ BEN BLACKER & THE WRITER'S PANEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA https://twitter.com/BENBLACKERhttps://www.facebook.com/TVWritersPanelTHE WRITER'S PANEL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-writers-panel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 25, 2014 • 1h 20min
SCORPION's Nick Santora
The creator of CBS's hit Scorpion and the beloved Prison Break talks about his work habits, blending drama and comedy, transitioning from law to screenwriting, what he looks for in putting together a room, and more.LISTEN TO THE WRITERS PANEL AD-FREE ON FOREVER DOG PLUS:https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plusCONNECT W/ BEN BLACKER & THE WRITER'S PANEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA https://twitter.com/BENBLACKERhttps://www.facebook.com/TVWritersPanelTHE WRITER'S PANEL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-writers-panel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 18, 2014 • 1h 13min
Bojack Horseman
Creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg and designer Lisa Hanawalt discuss the conception of the animated comedy, Raphael's inspiration from Lisa's middle-school drawings, the freedom of working with Netflix, going dark and serialized, and lots more.Get the new digital-only comics from Ben Acker & Ben Blacker at: http://thrillingadventurehour.com/wordpress/comic-books/. Origin issues of The Thrilling Adventure Hour's Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars, and Beyond Belief!LISTEN TO THE WRITERS PANEL AD-FREE ON FOREVER DOG PLUS:https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plusCONNECT W/ BEN BLACKER & THE WRITER'S PANEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA https://twitter.com/BENBLACKERhttps://www.facebook.com/TVWritersPanelTHE WRITER'S PANEL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-writers-panel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 11, 2014 • 59min
Benched
The creators of the USA comedy, Michaela Watkins (Saturday Night Live; Trophy Wife) and Damon Jones (Halfway Home) discuss issue-driven comedy, long takes, complicated characters, selling their series twice, their writers' room, and lots more. Benched airs Tuesday nights on USA!LISTEN TO THE WRITERS PANEL AD-FREE ON FOREVER DOG PLUS:https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plusCONNECT W/ BEN BLACKER & THE WRITER'S PANEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA https://twitter.com/BENBLACKERhttps://www.facebook.com/TVWritersPanelTHE WRITER'S PANEL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-writers-panel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 4, 2014 • 1h 7min
CRIMINAL MINDS' Erica Messer
Erica Messer has been with Criminal Minds from its first day and has been promoted through the ranks to showrunner of the long-running CBS series. She talks about the big changes the show has made over the years, where the staff finds stories, balancing personal stories with crime procedural, and her beginnings on such shows as Party of Five, Alias, and The OC.LISTEN TO THE WRITERS PANEL AD-FREE ON FOREVER DOG PLUS:https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plusCONNECT W/ BEN BLACKER & THE WRITER'S PANEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA https://twitter.com/BENBLACKERhttps://www.facebook.com/TVWritersPanelTHE WRITER'S PANEL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-writers-panel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 28, 2014 • 57min
Showrunners Documentary
Producer Ryan Patrick McGuffey, director Des Doyle, and author Tara Bennett (who wrote the official companion to the film, Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show) discuss showrunning and showrunners, what sort of a person becomes one, what they discovered in making their documentary, their inspiration for the film, and lots more. Showrunners premiered at the Austin Film Fest last week and is in theaters starting October 31.LISTEN TO THE WRITERS PANEL AD-FREE ON FOREVER DOG PLUS:https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plusCONNECT W/ BEN BLACKER & THE WRITER'S PANEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA https://twitter.com/BENBLACKERhttps://www.facebook.com/TVWritersPanelTHE WRITER'S PANEL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-writers-panel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 21, 2014 • 60min
Rina Mimoun
The showrunner of Red Band Society and Mistresses talks about writing at the heyday of the WB, having worked on Jack & Jill, Dawson's Creek, and Everwood (eventually running the latter), developing the delightful Privileged only to find it didn't fit the new CW brand, and rising to the occasion of running other creators' shows.LISTEN TO THE WRITERS PANEL AD-FREE ON FOREVER DOG PLUS:https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plusCONNECT W/ BEN BLACKER & THE WRITER'S PANEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA https://twitter.com/BENBLACKERhttps://www.facebook.com/TVWritersPanelTHE WRITER'S PANEL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-writers-panel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


