Nate Federman

Made a go-to dinner last night: chicken, mashed potatoes, and roasted broccoli. My 11 year old came back from soccer practice and complained that we have it too often. Then she saw I also made gravy and got very excited. The moral of the story is gravy makes everything better (even ungrateful kids).

I’m so sorry, Pete. We had to make this decision with one of our cats recently. It was brutal, but as much as we wanted more time with him, ending his pain was the right call. Doesn’t make the process any easier, but it’s the final way you show your love to your pet.

Big City Greens got an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children’s or Young Teen Animated series. The least disturbing news involving children and young teens you’re likely to read these days.

deadline.com/2025/11/chil...

From the television community on Reddit: Not Sure That This is Well Known, but Landman is Literally Oil Industry Propaganda Paid For by an Organization Created by a Partnership Amongst Nearly Every Oi... Explore this post and more from the television community

Landman is, among other things, pro-oil propaganda paid for by the oil industry. And sadly, it’s working. I heard a very prominent podcaster discussing how - until he watched - he had no idea that solar energy had as big of a carbon footprint as oil.

www.reddit.com/r/television...

I’ve learned to not engage and block, but… then I spend an hour imagining me responding with a variety of cutting responses. Having various hypothetical conversations with them in my head.

BTW, I like relish AND goo. I feel like I’m just generally pro-cranberry.

Flow chart of whether or not you should reply to a comment on the Internet.

Sometimes when people are rude to me, I leave them this flow chart I made. It… doesn’t help. <SIGHS>

Thanks man! I think the principles of storytelling (clarity, logic, emotion, structure, character, etc) probably still overlap for TV writers and lawyers.

“Sure, she was 12, but she easily could’ve passed for 13.5. And I’ve let 13.5 year olds babysit for me. So if she looks old enough to be trusted to care for a baby, then she’s old enough to consent to being trafficked to Pedophile Island, which is a misnomer anyway as it’s more of a peninsula.”

Have questions? Drop a comment. I always do my best to answer them (and hopefully not in a patronizing way). And if you enjoy these threads, please give ‘em a boost.
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So ask yourself these questions as you develop an idea. If you can’t answer them, that’s a 🚩. If someone reads your story and they can’t answer them, there’s a good a chance they’re not connecting to the work. Because often what’s in your head isn’t translating to what’s on the page.
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What about an ensemble (Modern Family)? Or a show with a few key relationships (Eleanor & Chidi and Eleanor & Michael in the Good Place). It’s okay to have more than one key relationship, but you can’t have so many that the story loses focus. WHO is the show about? The answer can’t be EVERYONE.
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Whenever I read or watch something without a key relationship, it only feels like the focus is on plot - not character. And no matter how interesting your plot may be, if I don’t care about the characters, I struggle to invest in the story. A relationship means plot stems from character.
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Question 3: “What’s the key character relationship?”

If it’s a TV show, the conflict from this relationship is the fuel for the series. Think Walt and Jesse on Breaking Bad or Michael Scott trying to get his employees to be his family. Having a relationship at the center grounds it in character.
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By the end of Act 1, I wanna know what’s the big problem. I want to know what happens if that problem isn’t resolved. And I want to have a sense of what action the protagonist is taking. And it has to be at least somewhat specific. No, “They want happiness so they’re gonna try to have fun.”
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I’m not here to litigate proactive vs reactive antagonists. But if your protagonist is facing a big problem and they don’t seem to care enough to take action to *try* to resolve that problem, how can you possibly expect an audience to care about the problem?! Or to invest in your protagonist?!
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Question 2: “Who wants what, how are they pursuing it, and what happens if they don’t get it?”

Protagonist. Specific goal. Action. Stakes.

In the script I read, it was entirely unclear what the protagonist’s goal was and what they were doing to achieve it… until pg. 46 of 48. Not good!
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Oftentimes, I’ll read something and the tone is uneven. A farcical scene will be followed by maudlin drama which will be followed by something dark. That’s not to say dramas can’t be funny and comedies can’t be dramatic. But an audience gets emotional whiplash if the tone is all over the place.
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Question 1: “What are the tonal comps?”

No matter how original your idea is, you should be able to say, “If you like (X) show/movie, you’ll like this.” When I was giving notes, the writer’s tonal comps didn’t match his script at all. And it helped shine a light on what he was going for.
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I recently read someone’s spec pilot and it left me a little confused. So when I was giving notes, I asked some clarifying questions. So here’s a thread on 3 QUESTIONS YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER with your script/pitch.
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#Scriptsky #Screenwriting #WritingCommunity

You can opt out of it, but I haven’t used Miro since the tools were introduced. Again, it’s largely the principle of it for me. But also, for the purposes of breaking story on my current show, I still use pen and paper or a dry erase white board 95% of the time.

I know Miro recently introduced AI tools (which I find annoying on principle and won’t use), but I’ve found it’s an otherwise intuitive and helpful piece of software.

YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live Jimmy Kimmel Remembers His Best Friend and Bandleader Cleto Escobedo III

My first TV job was a production assistant on Jimmy Kimmel Live. I only talked to Cleto a handful of times, but he could not have been nicer. This is a very sad loss. Cherish the time you have with friends and make stuff with them if you have the chance.
#Scriptsky

youtu.be/0xlVAr6JZ9A

Feels like a good time to take a few days off of social media. Maybe a few years, we’ll see.

You get staffed on a show. It’s a dream come true. The 1st week is so fun. And then deadlines and notes hit, and people get nasty. Every day is full of stress and difficult situations to navigate.

It’s happened to me a few times. SO HOW DO YOU SURVIVE A TOXIC ROOM?
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#Scriptsky #Screenwriting

Make other’s lives easier means stepping up and finding helpful ways to shoulder the burden. The best advice I’ve ever received was, “Don’t look at problems as problems; consider them opportunities.” If you make your boss’s life easier, you’ll work as long as they work. Seriously.
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Be fun means making the best of a bad situation. You might be stuck in the trenches together, but if you can make folks laugh and enjoy themselves, it’s so much easier to endure. A killer room bit or a funny story is the fuel of happy room. Writing is supposed to be fun-don’t forget that.
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Be positive means being an encouraging, optimistic, kind voice. You don’t have to be over the top positive; just don’t give into cynicism or pessimism. When everyone has a defeatist attitude, you’re all but guaranteed to fail. Helping to instill belief makes a huge difference!
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If you find yourself in a struggling room, you will endear yourself to everyone if you do these three things:
1. Be positive.
2. Be fun.
3. Make others live’s easier.

I’ll step them out one at a time…
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I have far more experience with struggling rooms. First season shows usually struggle, especially if your boss is a first time showrunner. It’s usually not about meanness. It’s about the person in charge being overwhelmed with stress (and rightfully so). And oftentimes, the shit rolls downhill.
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If you find yourself the target in a mean room, another thing you can do is talk to an upper-level writer (who seems to be in everyone’s good graces) and ask them what you can do to fit in with the room better. They may give you strategies or make you aware of something you’re doing wrong.
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