Inspiration vs. Stealing in TV Writing (PT58)

Alex and Nick discuss the differences between inspiration and stealing in screenwriting and television. What constitutes an original idea? Where is the line between inspiration and stealing? Where can you get inspiration from? What is considered an homage? How many different stories are there to tell? Plus, an answer to how many episodes of a TV show you should watch before speccing it. The Paper Team pays homage... SHOWNOTES Content Paper Scraps: Episodes to watch before writing a TV spec (00:52) 1 - What is an original idea? (03:34) 2 - Why everybody "steals" (06:36) 3 - Paying homage and the different stories being told (09:23) 4 - Inspiration in TV and spec scripts (22:58) Takeaways and Next Week On (34:13) Links Armageddon Deep Impact "Protecting and Over-Protecting Your TV Script: Copyright, Ownership and Idea Theft" (PT23) Parallel thinking Rough Night Girls Trip Akira Kurosawa Stranger Things Aesop's Fables Jean de La Fontaine Hero's Journey Christopher Vogler "The Art of Fiction" - John Gardner "Save the Cat" - Blake Snyder "The Seven Basic Plots" - Christopher Booker "The Six Main Arcs in Storytelling, as Identified by an A.I." - The Atlantic The Shield The Simpsons movie references This episode brought to you by Tracking Board's Launch Pad Writing Competitions Use code PAPERTEAM to get $15 OFF when you enter a Launch Pad Competition Special thanks to Evan Schmitt for helping us edit this episode. If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :) You can find Paper Team on Twitter: Alex - @TVCalling Nick - @_njwatson If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]