Look, I’ve tried for my whole career to champion writers, but post-season baseball, Survivor, Taskmaster, and GBBO are all running at once, and I dunno y’all…

before and after hegseth's directive

treat every creative you meet like they are successful, fulfilled, and making a living at what they say they do. talk to everyone like they're a pro. don't assume they're struggling just because you don't know their work. this will change the tenor of your conversations.

SHANE BLACK is back on the Writers Panel today to talk about his new movie, PLAY DIRTY, adapting Donald Westlake, how he pushes through imposter syndrome, respectful but playful actors, how production is just “shopping for ingredients” +lots more. benblacker.substack.com/p/shane-blac...

I need a procrastination project, so you’re getting a #TVwriting resources thread! Podcast episodes, articles, blog posts (mostly podcast episodes), organized by subject, for as long as I can maintain it. Off we go... 1/?

I always thought when it was time for a mid career change of profession there would be professions left.

Nothing lives rent free in my head. I am a gray matter slumlord.

Yes sir we're chanting "Release the Earhart Files"

Love this for him.

Been using a new first word in Wordle all week and it feels like I’m having an affair.

the final weekend of the MLB season really matters. read up on what's at stake in today's *free* issue of The Bandwagon with @zcrizer.bsky.social bandwagon.substack.com/p/76-still-m...

Working on a new draft of a script and realized I can excise an entire character to make the story better. But doing so made me... sad? Like, I miss her? Writing is weird.

DHS is barely 20 years old. It was thrown together by a bunch of unsupervised interns in the chaotic wake of 9/11 (that's barely an exaggeration if you read about how inexperienced so many of its creators were). It can easily be disassembled as well. We don't have to live like this.

the cultural crisis is straightforward: there are no longer any formal consequences for blatantly anti-social behavior, and the rest of us are constantly just getting lectured that we have to put up with these assholes making our lives worse

Archive is probably my favorite Riverdell character

Small gig: I'm looking for someone to help me locally archive my mom's Typepad blogs before they're taken down. She is moving the content to Wordpress but I want to save the current HTML structure / images / etc. I tried wget but it's beyond me. Can pay for time spent. DM me if you're interested!

oh look it’s a helpful list of all the Nexstar and Sinclair ABC stations that I guess one could call if they wanted to complain about them not airing Jimmy Kimmel tonight

I give up. deadline.com/2025/09/bigf...

On today's Writers Panel, actor/writer/director/former NFL player NNAMDI ASOMUGHA discusses becoming an actor and now writer and producer, embracing new skills, imposter syndrome, teamwork + just how hard it really is to get a movie out into the world. benblacker.substack.com/p/nnamdi-aso...

Not the biggest issue, but still important: regardless of whether he's doing it on purpose or his brain is mush, there should be a steep political price, with the media questioning his fitness every day, for the President showing he doesn't know the meaning of "asylum." (Same goes for "tariff.")

The Pentagon is implementing new guidelines that will require journalists to sign a pledge and agree to report only approved and officially released information.

Well then this is between them, isn't it?

We didn’t have to live like this. Fuck everyone who voted for this administration

The last @thrillingadv.bsky.social shows of our 20th anniversary tour in NY + London! w @pftompkins.bsky.social @hallublin.com @joshuamalina.bsky.social @busyphilipps.bsky.social @autumnreeser.bsky.social @marcevanjackson.bsky.social + more! Shows nearly sold out so act now: thrillingadventure.live

I'm going to lose my goddamn mind. What the fuck are anti-trust laws for if not shit like this. deadline.com/2025/09/para...

One reason for the overrepresentation of private detectives in 20th century mystery fiction is that municipal police forces were seen as ineffective or corrupt. Same reason Batman and the Shadow had frenemy relationships with police commissioners. The Keystone Kops are the comedy version of this.

BOOM! Studios is HIRING!!! We're looking for a talented, organized, and detail-oriented Assistant Editor with 1-2 years in editorial or a similar field! You will most likely be working directly with me on a variety of comic titles. Please visit the link to apply! bit.ly/42ooXLq #comicjobs

If we’re going to talk about political violence, let’s talk about where it started.

Give the eyeball a spin-off!

you can preorder the B&N paperback edition of PAYAL MEHTA'S ROMANCE REVENGE PLOT and get 25% off right now!!! but if you don't believe me, check out this guy saying the same thing, something he definitely really said out loud www.barnesandnoble.com/w/payal-meht...

I took this picture 20 years ago and every so often I have to check on it to make sure that creepy ass shit didn’t escape the film and is like standing behind me or whatever

Actually, Frankenstein is a doctor success at the Venice film festival

Manic episode ass country

The warning signs of fascism started long before trump ever put his name on a ballot. And one was this: we were prepared to sacrifice the lives of children for the violent obsessions of (primarily) adult men.

A fun Writers Panel today with @maconblair.bsky.social. We talk about managing a bigger production for his second feature, The Toxic Avenger, "handmade" films, balancing tones, writing a movie that's not "accidentally stupid" + lots more. Give it a listen: benblacker.substack.com/p/macon-blai...

True Detective season blegggghh remember memes and Twitter and when things were fun?

The 99% estimate may be a touch low. The problem is that creative execs -- and many are great -- have been trained to review scripts like creative execs and not as the audience does. As a result, they care about things that the audience doesn't generally care about (IF they're emotionally engaged.)

A double-header Writers Panel today w the creators of 2 of TV's best shows. @jenstatsky.bsky.social (Hacks) on maintaining the show's high quality, being raised by television + more. Then @hamburgerwaiter.bsky.social (Severance) on "Bad Pitch Mondays" + more. benblacker.substack.com/p/jen-statsk...

hi this is my favorite writing advice, it's from former simpsons writer john swartzwelder (i think about the crappy little elf all the time) www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

But that’s not the ONLY reason. #naughtyskeets

From the World of Minor Threats: The Brood is new today in a paperback collection! Grab your copy: bit.ly/4cLLTZ6 Collects issues #1-4 of the series from @pattonoswalt.bsky.social, @blumjordan.bsky.social and more. With cover by Scott Hepburn. With @minorthreats.bsky.social

In today's Writers Panel, THE RAINMAKER showrunner Michael Seitzman (Intelligence; Quantico) discusses selling his John Grisham adaptation 3x, shooting Dublin for Charleston (for Memphis), hiring a writers room of Finders, Minders, and Grinders + more. benblacker.substack.com/p/michael-se...

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered…Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” - 1984, George Orwell

I *cannot* fucking stress this enough: The threat of AI is *NOT* making movies for us, but the hundreds of jobs it will be able to easily eliminate from crew positions. VFX. Drone pilots. Color timing. Sound mixing. Clerical staff. If we don't move to protect jobs NOW, they WILL go away forever.

Hello WGAW writers! I’m running for board and would be honored to have your endorsement. I'm running because simply put, it’s a tough time for writers, and I want to help. Would you enjoy more details? Check out my candidate website here! elections.wga.org/2025/mike-ro...

To trump administration personnel who are afraid to step outside in dc, I agree that it must suck to be targeted randomly in the street by a violent gang of out of control thugs who want to take things from you and your family for no good reason, and don’t respect the basics of the rule of law