Mike Roe
- Anonymous said: How do I become a writer for Marvel Comics or Animation? I'm 22 and I want to write for Marvel by 30.
Short, honest answer: Stop asking how to break in online and start creating your own projects.
You live in the future. Opportunity is at your...
Things I like about this decal on a restaurant window: -the insane orange waiter -that he’s carrying his plates in the air like a strongman -the...
- HOW DO I BREAK IN? BY JIM ZUBKAVICH!
GS here!
One of the absolute BEST resources for the new comics creator is a series of articles by the wonderful...
- To the writers...
I’ve got some bad news, writers. In comics, the artist works harder than we do. On a simple one to one basis, they...
velocirabbit Asks:
mikeroe Said:
Dreaming way too much? No way!
It is fantastic that you already know what you want to do. When I was in High School, I thought I was going to be an actor. Sadly, my last role was in a World War II movie as a character known as “Parched Soldier.” My only line was “Can I… have some… water……”
My advice right now is two-fold.
First, you should read as much as you can. Books, comics, screenplays, everything. You can learn so much from art. To be a TV writer, you should also focus on TV writing (makes sense, right?). People don’t do this as much, but you should take TV shows you love and STUDY their scripts. You can usually find scripts online these days. Study them, study how they are written, how characters are introduced, how the camera is moved around, how dialogue matches the finished product. I used to watch BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and literally take notes about how many scenes in each act, how did the act breaks work, how did the transition works, how many scenes are in each episode, how many storylines and how are those storylines spaced out over the course of the episode. There is so much to learn on this front, and the best part about learning it is it means you get to watch awesome television!
Secondly, you should write. Every day. Writers write. If you’re not writing, you’re not a writer. It is a skill and you do get better at it with practice.
Thirdly (bonus step), you should begin positioning yourself to achieve your goal. Go to a college where you can focus on TV production and writing, or move to a city where you could get a job on a TV show (Los Angeles is your best bet, but there are other cities full of production … like Vancouver, Atlanta, New York, et al). Become a PA, or an assistant to a writer. Get your foot in the door. And pay attention. It isn’t an easy road (if it were, everybody would be doing this), but with persistence, patience, dedication and hard work, you can make that dream of yours a reality.
Good luck!
I’m a writer. I’m always looking for ways to write more, to write better, to write material I care about, and this is good advice about motivating yourself and moving ahead. You can do it.
You know what’s funny? If I call myself a cute, chubby girl, the natural kind woman’s response is, ‘You’re not chubby! You’re beautiful! And thin!’ And I always want to hug the person and say, ‘It’s OK, I identify as someone who is cute and chubby – that doesn’t mean I’m not worthy of love and attention and intimacy.’ And also, my priorities are not such that I’m mortally offended by someone thinking that.
Hi! I’m Will Hines and I am not that good at improv. At least not naturally. I’m very naturally good at computer programming, memorizing lists and being fussy about things like fonts. But in the very basic improv skills of being comfortable on stage and staying present and being charismatic and doing fun characters: I am very much not natural at those things.
Yet, here I am, one of the best goddamn improvisers in the world. How the fuck did I do it? This is how:
- be brave
- never be freaked out/preoccupied by any base reality
- always do the scary thing (accents, dancing, stepping out, or NOT stepping out, being emotional, being honest)
- be authentic
- react, a bit more, in a fun way
- let things in the scene change you
- play with difficult people
- bad people
- people who are funny but do it wrong
- (the trick: you assume they mean well)
- be funny
- keep patterns going, until they’re used up
- be unnecessarily specific
- make the surprising choice, then explain yourself
- pick the wrong side of every argument
That is my current guess.
John Roderick (via merlin)
A reminder of how you should face ideas that weren’t yours to begin with. Be open even if your gut knee-jerks the other way.
(via merlin)
My 2-year-old niece was so excited when she watched #Supergirl trailer and of course that goes for me too!
So I was the last person on the internet to find out about this little op-ed by Jill Lepore. When Harvard professors are throwing shade on you from the rarified heights of the New Yorker, you have officially arrived in life, or at least in comics. So I was rather chuffed by this piece, though I do want to respond to some of the points raised, because they tie into some of the broader conversations we’ve been having lately in the comics community. I’d like to give a shout-out to Valkyrie Leia Calderon for drawing my attention to this piece–you can read her thoughtful and candid open letter to Dr. Lepore here.
If you are an avid comic book reader and/or follower of industry trends, none of what I’m about to say will be news to you. However, for those of you who are new to the medium, returning to the medium, or just interested in the continuing debate on the role of gender in pop culture, I hope what follows will be useful and help flesh out the conversation.
First off, a funny tidbit: Dr. Lepore and I have met, though she probably doesn’t remember, as I was a scrappy teenager with a fauxhawk at the time. Way back when I was an undergraduate, she gave a guest lecture on the French and Indian Wars in an American History colloquium I was taking at Boston University. She struck me as very intelligent and thoughtful, a passionate historian.
So I was a bit surprised that someone who obviously values rigorous scholarship would analyze the first issue of a crossover event without any apparent knowledge of what a crossover event is, or what the heavily tongue-in-cheek “feminist paradise,” Arcadia, represents in the context of the Secret Wars and the wider Marvel Universe. (Does she know about the zombies? Somebody please tell her about the zombies.) Thus decontextualized, what Dr. Lepore is left with is a cover depicting a bunch of characters about whom she admits to knowing nothing, and one fifth of a story, which is perhaps why her analysis reads as so perplexingly shallow, even snarky.
Short version: Maybe don’t try to offer deep critique of a medium you don’t understand/haven’t paid much attention to.
Anonymous Asks:
mikeroe Said:
Yes. Unequivocally yes.
Anonymous Asks:
mikeroe Said:
FULL DISCLOSURE RIGHT AT THE TOP: I is a white dude from New England whose family had enough cash to send him to college. Got it? Okay.
EDITED TO ADD: The most interesting answer would come from getting all female performers from the UCB in a room —- no men allowed — and ask them. That would be interesting. I would want to hear the answer.
Okay, onto this long ramble.
WORTH TALKING ABOUT
“Women vs. men” stuff is always interesting, and always fraught with personal bias, anecdotal evidence and kneejerk reactions. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be talked about. It should be discussed without apology. But if you want to have a productive discussion that will change things, it is best approached in a calm, non-scolding manner. I like the tone of your question, for example. It feels curious and honest without being accusatory — which is the most helpful posture.
Never thought I’d hear the phrase “All hail the dark lord of the twin moons!” in a couch gag, so thank you Don Hertzfeldt.
The Simpsons have gotten SO dark with their couch gags lately, and also, more genius. Love this.
![davidcandow:
“ “[This photo] brought tears to my eyes…could have been a conversation between me and Dad.”
- Vickie Candow
”](https://64.media.tumblr.com/5a2490b8e65f3cbe7ad50b047f7fc251/tumblr_ncbkdeEKe71tmwf0ao1_500.jpg)
“[This photo] brought tears to my eyes…could have been a conversation between me and Dad.”
- Vickie Candow
The sass between @BuzzFeed and @BuzzFeedUK on Twitter is my favorite thing.
Happy to know that BuzzFeed and BuzzFeed UK are besties.
Being good to each other is so important, guys.
A reminder: Hug someone.
I took my little brother (who falls on the autism spectrum) to see Guardians of the Galaxy and after this scene he lit up like a Christmas tree and screamed “He’s like me! He can’t do metaphors!” And for the rest of the film my brother stared at Drax in a state of rapture.
So for the last 6 days I have heard my brother repeatedly quote all of the Drax lines from the movie verbatim (one of his talents), begin studying vocabulary test words, and tell everyone he knows that people with autism can also be superheroes.
Now I am not saying that Drax the Destroyer is, or was ever, intended to be autistic. All I am saying is that it warmed my heart to see my brother have an opportunity to identify himself with a character known for his strength, badassness, and honor. And that is pretty damn awesome.
So while I adored Guardians of the Galaxy as a great fun loving film with cool characters I can do nothing but thank Marvel Studios and Dave Bautista for finally bringing a superhero to the screen that my little brother can relate to.
Nice to know that superheroes can change real world lives.