What is Speeding Bullet Ranch
(SBR)?
It’s a 1-week intensive that will generate 6 new, totally original,
half-hour
pilots with 12 writers.
How does it work?
We use a collaborative, reverse creative process outside
of the usual unoriginal
development maze.
TV
is always collaborative. How’s this
different?
We put 2 writers who’ve never worked together on each team.
Having a new partner forces people out of old habits. Everyone works
simultaneously
and daily
full-group meetings create an amazing energy and a constructive competition that
sets the bar higher for everyone. Pilots are usually a solitary endeavor, but
having guidance from us and feedback from all the other writers makes the process
dynamic and fast.
What’s
this Reverse Process?
Actors are assigned to a show before writers begin. The writers tailor
a script to those actors. Having great actors to hang a character on
makes writing infinitely
easier and generates ideas for relationships.
How can you cast the show first?
By choosing talented actors without telling the writers how to use them,
their creativity is engaged figuring out how the characters they have
will play against
each other. In a way, half their work is already done.
Why
will ‘original’ work come out
of this?
The week will feel like an intense summer camp, bringing play back
to writing and opening people up to new possibilities. In addition,
by pre-selecting
cast
it necessitates writers be more creative inside the box we give them. With the
cast set, they can’t bring in old ideas that weren’t working before.
How can they write something great that fast?
The most brain-freezing situation a writer faces is staring at a blank
page,
feeling you have to write something great and you’re totally on your own.
SBR creates the initiative, freedom and support needed for writers to jumpstart
the entire process and go with their first “Blink” impulse.
Readings
A week after we first meet, we have a reading with the actors for whom
the show
was developed.
This gives everyone a clearer idea of whether a show will fly. And it’s
already perfectly cast.
Will all the pilots be great?
2 will be fantastic. 2 will be OK. And 2 will be forgotten. But 1 great
show makes it worth it.
How do you know this will work?
David Rodwin who leads the process created Raw Impressions, Inc.
through which he guided over 250 collaborations in film and
theatre - working
with writers
including: Bob Kushell (3rd Rock…), DJ Javerbaum (Head Writer-The Daily
Show), and Matt Prager (South Park). The writers were amazed that what normally
took months now took days and how on their own, they never would have come up
with what they did. The idea is so effective CBS News said Rodwin’s process
is “Redefining the magic of movie-making”.
Why do it?
We’re tapped into the best up-and-coming writers out there. And for writers
it’s a chance to jump to the top of the food chain by devoting just one
week of their time. For your production company, you get the best undiscovered
talent, the cost is minimal and the benefits are potentially enormous. Why not
do it?