Episode 198: Roslyn Muir on how to write a TV movie

If there’s one thing we know how to do in Vancouver, it’s make TV movies. Whether we’re talking festive rom-coms, thrillers, or pulled-from-the-headlines dramas, Vancouver’s film and television industry makes dozens of these films each year for companies like Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix. This holiday seasons, tens of millions of viewers all over the world will carve out time in their hectic lives for these TV movies. Maybe you’re one of them. Maybe you’ve watched so many of these TV movies that you have an idea for one of your own. Maybe this idea could actually fly.  A new book gives you tools to turn that maybe into a marketable screenplay. The book is Writing A TV Movie: An Insider’s Guide to Launching a Screenwriting Career. It’s the fascinating and highly readable tome from Vancouver-based screenwriter and author Roslyn Muir. In it, we learn about the needs and interests of Netflix, Lifetime, and Hallmark, and how these broadcasters work with production companies. We learn about the different genres, the nine-act structures of TV movies, the difference between a logline and a pitch document, and how and when to contact a production company or an entertainment lawyer.Writing A TV Movie: An Insider’s Guide to Launching a Screenwriting Career is a comprehensive how-to book for an array of readers, from people who want to sell their scripts, to people who want to understand how the MOW side of the industry works, to fans who are curious about how their beloved TV movies coming together. In this engrossing conversation, Roslyn Muir speaks with Sabrina about the inner workings of the busy world of television movies. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment