575 episodes

The definitive insider's guide to our current golden age of television, Ben Blacker's The Writers Panel is an ever expanding anthology of live convention panels and intimate in-studio interviews with the writers, producers, and show runners responsible for all the shows you can't stop watching. Over the course of nearly 500 episodes and counting, The Writers Panel has sat across from guests such as Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele (Key and Peele), Liz Meriwether (New Girl), and Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) to talk about the art and business of creating great television.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Writers Panel Ben Blacker

    • TV & Film
    • 4.6 • 742 Ratings

The definitive insider's guide to our current golden age of television, Ben Blacker's The Writers Panel is an ever expanding anthology of live convention panels and intimate in-studio interviews with the writers, producers, and show runners responsible for all the shows you can't stop watching. Over the course of nearly 500 episodes and counting, The Writers Panel has sat across from guests such as Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele (Key and Peele), Liz Meriwether (New Girl), and Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) to talk about the art and business of creating great television.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Melanie Marnich (showrunner, Apples Never Fall)

    Melanie Marnich (showrunner, Apples Never Fall)

    Melanie Marnich (creator, Apples Never Fall; The OA; Big Love) discusses pursuing projects that explore personal questions, casting her room for their strengths, pitching her perspective on Lianne Moriarty's novel, the Apples cast's secret text chain, and more.
    THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
    Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
    SOCIALS:
    Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
    Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 44 min
    Abe Sylvia (Palm Royale; George and Tammy)

    Abe Sylvia (Palm Royale; George and Tammy)

    Abe Sylvia (creator, Palm Royale, George and Tammy; Dead to Me; Nurse Jackie) discusses making discoveries on set, healthy debate vs story breaking, working with frequent collaborators, how not outlining "reintroduces writerly delight," and more.
    Come see Retrospecs on Sunday, April 21, 2-4pm PT at the Elysian Theater in LA! In Retrospecs, we dig those old scripts by established writers out of their drawers and expose them to the warm light of the stage. Starring actors you know and love from TV, film, comedy, and the stage. From Girls to Gilmore Girls, from the Big Bang Theory to Buffy, get NEW EPISODES of your favorite shows, written by writers who never wrote for those shows!
    The April 21 show features a West Wing from by Marc Guggenheim (co-creator, Arrow) and a Big Bang Theory written by Helen Shang (Hawaii 5-0).
    Live or streaming/VOD tickets here: https://www.elysiantheater.com/shows/retrospecs0421

    THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
    Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
    SOCIALS:
    Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
    Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 42 min
    John Orloff (Masters of the Air)

    John Orloff (Masters of the Air)

    John Orloff (creator, Masters of the Air) discusses scripts as selling tools vs scripts as production tools, integrating research into scenes, writing a nine-hour movie, Band of Brothers, and more.
    Come see Retrospecs this Sunday, March 17, 2-4pm PT at the Elysian Theater in LA! In Retrospecs, we dig those old scripts by established writers out of their drawers and expose them to the warm light of the stage. Starring actors you know and love from TV, film, comedy, and the stage. From Girls to Gilmore Girls, from the Big Bang Theory to Buffy, get NEW EPISODES of your favorite shows, written by writers who never wrote for those shows!
    The March 17 show features a Mad About You from 1997 by Ben Blacker and a Girls written by Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz (Brooklyn 99).
    Live or streaming/VOD tickets here: https://www.elysiantheater.com/shows/retrospecs

    THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
    Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
    SOCIALS:
    Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
    Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 45 min
    J Blakeson (I Care A Lot; Culprits)

    J Blakeson (I Care A Lot; Culprits)

    J Blakeson (showrunner/director, Culprits; writer/director I Care a Lot) discusses creating his inadvertent signature film with The Disappearance of Alice Creed, why a law abiding citizen writes crime stories, finding the "what if" in a pitch, why he dislikes Final Draft, and more.
    THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
    Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
    SOCIALS:
    Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
    Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 40 min
    Zoe Lister-Jones (How It Ends; The Craft: Legacy)

    Zoe Lister-Jones (How It Ends; The Craft: Legacy)

    Zoe Lister Jones (creator, Slip; writer/director, How It Ends, The Craft: Legacy) discusses writing, directing, and acting, putting herself into every project, when to be precious, remaining true to her voice, and more.
    THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
    Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
    SOCIALS:
    Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
    Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 40 min
    Ed Solomon returns

    Ed Solomon returns

    Ed Solomon (Full Circle; Bill & Ted; Men in Black) discusses objective and subjective storytelling, choosing a career path and switching gears from comedy to crime, rewriting, listening to the voice of your inner GPS, and more.
    THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.
    Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
    SOCIALS:
    Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/benblacker.bsky.social
    Twitter: twitter.com/benBlacker

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 44 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
742 Ratings

742 Ratings

Jimmy_Crow ,

A treasure trove of writing lessons

This show has been around for over a decade and has insights on every aspect of television writing. If you are looking to get ahead in the industry do yourself a favor and dig through the episodes, filled with insights from working writers.

KaylaDonDada ,

Great show

Ben Blacker is a great interviewer. He knows what to ask and how to ask it. He makes his guests open up gets the most out of each interview. This podcast is engaging and enriching. Such a worthwhile way to spend your time if you’re an extremely focused writer. Thank you for the wealth of knowledge in each episode!

allnicknamesaretakenmarinel ,

I’ve basically binged all episodes

I love this podcast! It’s a real peak inside the curtain of what writers lives are really like in Hollywood. Ive been slowly binging all episodes for the past year taking notes and building some scripts. This has been a great support and fun listen!!

Top Podcasts In TV & Film

3 Body Podcast
Netflix
Watch What Crappens
Ben Mandelker & Ronnie Karam | Wondery
Pop Apologists
Big IP
Give Them Lala
Lala Kent | Cumulus Podcast Network
FX’s Shōgun: The Official Podcast
FX
The Rewatchables
The Ringer

You Might Also Like

Scriptnotes Podcast
John August and Craig Mazin
The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna
Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna
Script Apart
Script Apart
The Business
KCRW
IndieWire's Filmmaker Toolkit
Chris O'Falt
The No Film School Podcast
No Film School

More by Forever Dog

Race Chaser with Alaska & Willam
Moguls of Media
Sloppy Seconds with Big Dipper & Meatball
Moguls of Media
Podcast: The Ride
Forever Dog
VERY DELTA with Delta Work
Moguls of Media
Double Threat with Julie Klausner & Tom Scharpling
Forever Dog
Black Men Can't Jump [In Hollywood]
Black Men Can't Jump [In Hollywood]