May 5, 2022

The Telly Awards Podcast

Episode 5: Writing for Television vs Writing for Video Games

Arguably, the most elusive career in video and television is that of the writer. By far the most varied career in both craft and technique, the process for writing television differs depending on the medium. For example, the process for writing film differs greatly from that of writing for television and vice versa. The industry, however, grows each day and in an age where film festivals have evolved to include more alternative forms of content such as immersive experiences and games, the writers behind these works are often forgotten. While hit shows dominate universal headlines and social media, lesser known titles in the gaming industry with complex narrative elements, award-winning narrative elements at that, tend to only hit the news within the industries they dominate. Take for example, Annapurna’s Interactive Thriller game ‘Twelve Minutes.” The decision driven game features notable voice actors James McAvoy and Daisy Ridley as well as a gut-wrenching storyline by Luis Antonio and Steve Lerner. After multiple successful runs in the film circuit, including nominations from Tribeca Film Festival for Best Game in 2021 and a Webby Award win in 2022 Best Puzzle and Trivia Game, the game continues to thrive in the gaming industry, but some non-gaming audiences have yet to hear its name.

The Telly Awards recognizes excellence in video and television across all screens. Likewise, we also recognize the difficulty in the craft of writing for all mediums. Writing for television and writing for video games are inherently two different beasts, but could it also be true that these mediums share commonality beyond simply developing storylines? How do these mediums tackle form and structure? Do writer’s room exist beyond television’s studio offices? We decided to find out.

We invited Felicia Pride,TV writer / producer on Shondaland hit, “Grey’s Anatomy” and Navid Khonsari, video game writer, director and producer, from the mega Rockstar Grand Theft Auto series to discuss how different these mediums actually are. Through engaging conversation we analyze the differences between these formats’ structure, the creative process behind development, their journey to the head of the table, and ultimately how these two creators are using these platforms to shine a light on current events and spotlight unique and often underrepresented human stories.

Listen to Episode 5 of The Telly Awards podcast below:

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Felicia Pride: Felicia Pride is a TV writer / producer and an award-winning filmmaker. She wrote on Ava DuVernay’s “Queen Sugar” and is currently a producer on “Grey’s Anatomy.” She’s developing shows with FX and Netflix and has previously sold a show to BRAVO. In film, Pride is the writer and executive producer of Really Love, produced by MACRO, which debuted on Netflix and became a Top Ten Movie on the platform. And she’s sold two features, Deeper and Like It’s The Last, both romantic dramas, to Universal Pictures. Felicia made her directorial debut with tender, a short film she also wrote, which won a Lionsgate award at the BlackStar Film Festival and aired on STARZ. She founded and runs HONEY CHILE, a production company catering to Black women 40+ and is the co-host of their podcast “Chile,Please.”

Navid Khonsari –  Navid is an Iranian – Canadian video game, virtual/mixed reality, film and graphic creator, writer, director and producer, known for his work on household Rockstar games such as the Grand Theft Auto series and Max Payne. Over the course of his career, Navid has won multiple awards including industry’s top honors including BAFTA, Facebook Game of the Year, DICE, Indiecade, NY Game Critics, Tribeca FF Storyscape. Navid co-founded iNK Stories, an independent entertainment company that is recognized for its bold, original voice in titles such as their 2016 launched 1979 Revolution: Black Friday

The Telly Awards Podcast – the podcast that brings together two leaders from the video and television community, with similar expertise in different disciplines to share their craft, debate their differences, and find common ground in their forms of storytelling. Hosted by Executive Director of The Telly Awards, Sabrina Dridje, the series explores: What is different? What is common ground? What can we as an audience – and the speakers – discover from this analysis? These are some of the questions we aim to find answers to monthly, on The Telly Awards Podcast. Now available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music and ACast. 
Do you have someone you think should be featured? Do you have an industry area you’d like us to compare and contrast? Get in touch with our Senior Producer, Dina Graham at dina@tellyawards.com for the chance to be featured!
February 8, 2022

The Telly Awards Podcast

Episode 4: Talent Representation – Above-The-Line vs Below-The-Line

Since the dawn of Hollywood, up and coming creatives of the film and television industry have been after one elusive variable of success: exposure. Whether it be working for free on independent projects or agreeing to less than standard rates for opportunity, gaining exposure and experience, time and time again, has been proven to be one of the most beneficial methods of achieving rising success. However, in an industry where competition is fierce, project budgets are dwindling, and a financial market is less than favorable working for free or for low rates proves to be a financial burden for those not able to do so.

By far the most advantageous step a creative could make in their career is to achieve representation. Representation by a reputable talent agent opens a multitude of doors for creatives. Previously reserved for above-the-line talent, those involved with the creative elements of a project (Directors, Producers and Cinematographers), in recent years Below-The-Line talent, those tasked with the execution of the creative (Assistant Directors, Production Designers, Stylists) have been rising in represented groups.

While the goal is clear, the journey to achieve representation can often be vague and confusing. Who should creatives choose to represent them? Does it differ between roles? How does one go about finding an agent to represent them? Finally, what can a talent agent ultimately do for creatives, that they can’t do for themselves? With these questions in mind, what better way than to ask the rising professionals themselves?

We invited Roxanne Artesona, Telly Award Silver Council Member and owner of independent talent agency ROXANNEandco, and Pattie Sueoka, Production Talent Agent for The Gersh Agency to compare and contrast their careers as talent agents for Above-The-Line and Below-The-Line talent. Through engaging conversation we analyze the differences between representing various talent above and below the line, the kinds of relationships agents should strive to build with clients, and ultimately how agents find talent to represent. For those interested in the world of talent representation, or those creatives looking to help their careers reach the next level, this episode is for you. 

Listen to Episode 4 of The Telly Awards podcast below:

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A lifelong New Yorker, Roxanne Artesona grew up in the Bronx attending The High School of Performing Arts and was a scholarship recipient at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. After graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and Gallatin School of Individualized Study, she translated her passion for the arts into an aptitude for recognizing and championing creative talent. She sincerely believes in everyone she represents with a personal investment in their success. Roxanne is proud to be a MAIP Coach for the 2017, 2018 summer program. She sits on the Advisory Board for the CDDP Program.

ROXANNEandco represents creative talent. They believe in the power of storytelling to affect change; and helping clients produce thought provoking, socially relevant work that can generate or join conversations that matter. Her team follows these guiding tenets: stay tenacious, integrity rules, be open minded, and always believe in your talent.

Pattie Sueoka is a Below the Line / Production Talent Agent at Gersh, one of this country’s leading talent and literary agencies with offices in Beverly Hills and New York. She mainly represents cinematographers, production designers, and costumes designers. Clients she collaborates with include incredible talents such as cinematographers Cristina Dunlap (CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH – 2022 Sundance Audience Award Winner, AM I OK), Xiaolong “X” Liu (The Weeknd “Save Your Tears”, The Weeknd “Take My Breath”, Ivy Park x Adidas “Rodeo”) and Logan Triplett (Nike “You Can’t Stop Sports”), production designers Michael T. Perry (PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, IT FOLLOWS), Carlos Laszlo (The Weeknd “Take My Breath”, The Weeknd “Sacrifice”, Beyonce “Black is King” – collective of production designers) and Costume Designers Cris Araujo (Nike “We Can’t Stop Sports”, GOOD NEWS), Michelle Thompson (CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH) in addition to many other talented creatives.

Prior to her work at Gersh, she worked at Paradigm and The Skouras Agency, representing cinematographers, production designers and a few stylists and established and branded Paradigm in the commercial/music video production community. Pattie lives in LA with her partner and daughter, taking time to indulge in good food, good music and nurturing her lifelong passion for wellness and fitness. 

 

The Telly Awards Podcast – the podcast that brings together two leaders from the video and television community, with similar expertise in different disciplines to share their craft, debate their differences, and find common ground in their forms of storytelling. Hosted by Executive Director of The Telly Awards, Sabrina Dridje, the series explores: What is different? What is common ground? What can we as an audience – and the speakers – discover from this analysis? These are some of the questions we aim to find answers to monthly, on The Telly Awards Podcast. Now available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music and ACast. 
Do you have someone you think should be featured? Do you have an industry area you’d like us to compare and contrast? Get in touch with our Senior Producer, Dina Graham at dina@tellyawards.com for the chance to be featured!
December 14, 2021

The Telly Awards Podcast

Episode 3: Directing – Commercial Directors vs Feature Film Directors

In the film and video industry, one of the most coveted roles, and arguably the hardest role to land, would be the role of Director. For years, this position was reserved for the Hollywood elite, well-connected, well-off, and male but in 2020, women represented 16% of directors working on the 100 highest grossing films of the year, and the number is shown to be rising in both film and commercial statistics. As low a number this may be, these numbers can be considered historical by statistical standards, having quadrupled since 2018. Since Alice Guy-Blanche made her mark  with La Fée aux choux (“The Cabbage Fairy”), in 1896, women have been slowly but steadily inching their way into film and video success. Names such as Hannah Lux Davis and Nina Meredith have been a sight for sore eyes used to the John, Martin, Steven, and Rogers that have dominated the end credit rolls for years. For women in film, the rise of female directors in both the commercial world and feature film world sparked our interest in the differences between short form and long form directing. Is one more popular than the other? Are the creative processes different? More so, is one easier to penetrate than the other, especially for women? With these questions in mind, what better way than to ask the rising professionals themselves?

We invited Mexican born, multidisciplinary writer and a 2019 Commercial Director’s Diversity Program Fellow, Sofia Garza-Barba, 2019 and Award-Winning Documentary Director of ‘Circus of Books’, Rachel Mason to compare and contrast their careers as successful short form and long form directors. What is different about their creative process? What experiences do they share as female directors in a male dominated industry? And importantly, are the tides truly shifting in favor of women and more diverse creators in these areas? 

Listen to Episode 3 of The Telly Awards podcast below:

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The Telly Awards Podcast – the podcast that brings together two leaders from the video and television community, with similar expertise in different disciplines to share their craft, debate their differences, and find common ground in their forms of storytelling. Hosted by Executive Director of The Telly Awards, Sabrina Dridje, the series explores: What is different? What is common ground? What can we as an audience – and the speakers – discover from this analysis? These are some of the questions we aim to find answers to monthly, on The Telly Awards Podcast. Now available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music and ACast. 
Do you have someone you think should be featured? Do you have an industry area you’d like us to compare and contrast? Get in touch with our Senior Producer, Dina Graham at dina@tellyawards.com for the chance to be featured!
November 8, 2021

The Telly Awards Podcast

Episode 2: Branded Content – Internal Creative Teams vs. Client Hired

When it comes to brand marketing, there is not one, single method that guarantees success. However, the same question does happen upon every marketer’s mind when developing strategy for branded content:  How much do you manage in-house versus outsourcing to a content agency or media publisher? The art in creating branded content lies in the delicate balancing act of building brand credibility, awareness, and integrity, while telling a clear, unique story without overtly pitching product. The questions we seek to answer is does that creative process become more or less difficult when working with a team outside of your organization? Are the goals the same? Or does the act of curation take on new meaning when suddenly the work is commissioned?

We invited two executive level heads of content, David Lennon, Executive Creative Director or Commercial at Fortune Media and Holly Fraser, Editor-In-Chief/Senior Director of Content at WeTransfer and WePresent to examine the differences and similarities behind creating work for clients as a brand publisher (Fortune) versus creating content for your own brand internally as part of an in-house creative team (WePresent.) 

Listen to Episode 2 of The Telly Awards podcast below:

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The Telly Awards Podcast – the podcast that brings together two leaders from the video and television community, with similar expertise in different disciplines to share their craft, debate their differences, and find common ground in their forms of storytelling. Hosted by Executive Director of The Telly Awards, Sabrina Dridje, the series explores: What is different? What is common ground? What can we as an audience – and the speakers – discover from this analysis? These are some of the questions we aim to find answers to monthly, on The Telly Awards Podcast. Now available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music and ACast. 
Do you have someone you think should be featured? Do you have an industry area you’d like us to compare and contrast? Get in touch with our Senior Producer, Dina Graham at dina@tellyawards.com for the chance to be featured!