Do television writers make good playwrights? The results of Bottle Tree Productions One Act Play Competition for Writers 2012 would seem to suggest so. Seth Freeman took second place in Bottle Tree's play writing competition. James Harmon Brown finished third.
From reading their plays, two things become apparent. One is that nothing hones a writer's skill like continual practice. The right words fall into place when you learn to write under tight schedules and under strict guidelines. There's nothing like a deadline. Two; is that television writing with its obvious differences from theatre writing, has to contend with very different visual rules. You can't shoot a closeup in theatre. You have to manufacture the effect of a closeup in other ways. You can't switch locations quickly in theatre. The world of theatre is more dependent on words though than television is. Television is more of a visual medium. However, the rules of good writing for the theatre, namely good dialogue, apply equally to television. We look at these characters from the outside, revelation only elicited through words, actions and the skill of the vast team that supports either medium. Good television is hard work and the artists that work in that medium have often worked in theatre as well. Both theatre and television require great amounts of skill and a great degree of sacrifice and hard work.
Eighty-Two; The first prize winner is a tender look at an ex-ball player in his eighties living by himself in New York. Guilford Blake is a master craftsman in the dramatic medium. Evan has won 39 play writing competitions.
Imperfectly Frank is Seth Freeman's Bollywood trip through Toronto. A very funny look at arranged marriages in modern Canada. Seth has won three Prime Time Emmy awards and a Writer's Guild award. He is also a prolific playwright.
The third place winner Close Your Eyes by James Harmon Brown is a very funny, very insightful, very touching look at mortality. James won a Daytime Emmy for Guiding Light.
The thing that unites these three American writers is their skill with words and they have won numerous awards over the years because of that skill.
To find out more information please go to Bottle Tree Productions One Act Competition for Writers
To find out more information please go to Bottle Tree Productions One Act Competition for Writers
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