This panel discussion was recorded on September 9, 2008 at the Writers Guild of America, West in Los Angeles, California.
Host, Bill Taub, brings together a collection of WGA members to discuss their involvement in New Media and what it might mean for the future of the entertainment business.
Listen: Breaking in Again – A WGA Panel Discussion
(Note: Due to technical difficulties, the last speaker of the evening, Marc Scott Zicree, was not recorded. You can find out more about Marc at http://www.zicree.com/ .)
Speakers included:
DOUGLAS E. WELCH’s premier podcast, Career Opportunities, is nearing its 5th fifth year of weekly production. He is a pioneer Podcaster and computer consultant. Douglas consults on a variety of technology subjects in the Los Angeles area, teaches Podcasting and New Media for Writers at UCLA Extension, and was on the staff of the 2006 Stephens College Summer Film Workshop in Columbia, Missouri, teaching new filmmakers how to promote and distribute their work using new media.
ROSANNE WELCH is a television writer/producer with credits including FOX’s popular “Beverly Hills 90210” and CBS’s Emmy winning “Picket Fences” and a five year stint as a writer/producer on CBS’s top rated “Touched by an Angel”. In 1998 she researched, wrote and co-produced a two-part special documentary for ABC NEWS/Nightline “Bill Clinton and the Boys Nation Class of 1963”. She is also the author of two books (“Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids” from Seal Press, 2004 and “The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space” from ABC-CLIO, 1998). Before that Welch was a high school English teacher and freelance writer with editorials for the Los Angeles Times and The Cleveland Plain Dealer and she was one of the founding columnists for The Microsoft Network’s online literary magazine, Matter.
As a writer-producer MARC SCOTT ZICREE has hundreds of hours of network TV to his name, including STAR TREK – TNG, DEEP SPACE NINE (“Far Beyond the Stars”), BABYLON 5, SLIDERS, FRIDAY THE 13TH – THE SERIES, FOREVER KNIGHT and even SMURFS. He has had bestsellers in fiction and non-fiction, notably the MAGIC TIME trilogy of novels and his classic TWILIGHT ZONE COMPANION (recently named by the NEW YORK TIMES one ten science fiction books “for the ages”). He has just completed co-writing, directing and executive producing STAR TREK NEW VOYAGES “WORLD ENOUGH AND TIME,” starring George Takei, which won the TV Guide Award and has been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula.
KEN LAZEBNIK — A veteran playwright-tv and screenwriter, Ken LaZebnik’s most recent screenplay is for the Lionsgate film “Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Cottage.” It stars Peter O’Toole and Marcia Gay Harden and will open across America in November, 2009. Together with Garrison Keillor, LaZebnik co-wrote director Robert Altman’s last film: “A Prairie Home Companion” and has a long history of writing for “Prairie Home Companion”. And has several films in the pipeline. His other screenplays include “Hot Air,” which he wrote with Norman Steinberg for Michael Keaton and MGM. His plays have been produced in New York, Minneapolis and Los Angeles. Los Angeles was the site of the premiere of his comedy “Sink Eating,” which opened at the Matrix Theater. His most recent play, “Vestibular Sense,” premiered in Minneapolis in 2007, and was honored with an award from the American Theater Critic’s Association at the Humana Festival in Louisville. For television, he has written on series as varied as “Touched By An Angel,” “Providence” and “Star Trek: Enterprise.” Crossing genres he wrote three PBS specials for their series “In Concert at the White House”. In addition, he founded the literary baseball magazine The Elysian Fields Quarterly, now over twenty years in publication. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Kate Fuglei, and their two sons.
MARY FEUER is Consulting Producer on the TV series “Dante’s Cove,” which has been described as “Dark Shadows” meets “Queer As Folk” meets “Lost,” if you can imagine that. Her pilot, “God and Mann,” is in development with producer Michael Rosenberg (“The Riches”) at Blueprint Entertainment, and her original web series, “With the Angels,” premieres in August on http://www.Strike.TV. Mary’s other work on the web includes about 60 episodes as Head Writer/Supervising Producer of the seminal series “Lonelygirl15.” She was also Story Editor for “Buried Alive,” a series on Sony’s FEARnet.com. Mary’s short story “House on Fire” beat out over 19,000 entries to win the Grand Prize in the 2006 Writer’s Digest Competition, and another story, “Valentine’s Day at the Psych Hospital,” will be published in an anthology from St. Martin’
BILL TAUB – veteran television writer-producer with over 25 years experience and hundreds of episodic credits. Has broken in again several times. And has just finished his first web series. “Psycho Babble”, which will have its first exclusive showing on STRIKE TV. And is developing several projects through the LAUGH FACTORY. He also teaches an online course at UCLA Extension Writers Program: “Writing A Spec Pilot”. And is also a member of the WGA Education Committee.
New Media Interchange 