I’m not sure how many writers out there actually know what it takes to even make those first steps toward starting a career as a TV writer. Sure you can sit there as much as you like and think that because your ideas are new and radical that networks and studios will fall all over themselves to work with you… you can do that but it’ll get you nowhere and you’ll waste your time. What any aspiring TV writer needs is a guidebook through the forest, a helping hand for those of you unlucky enough not to be born with an uncle in the business. SMALL SCREEN, BIG PICTURE by Chad Gervich is exactly that. Learn how to navigate the TV industry, get inside the writers room, design shows that can sell and arm yourself with the tools to storm Hollywood and succeed. Among the many topics the book covers are how today’s TV business model works and how it’s changing and which jobs will kickstart your TV writing career–and how to find and get those jobs–some of the most important information of all.

Now a bit of disclosure. Chad’s a good buddy of mine and I was interviewed for the book but I had no idea how extensive Small Screen, Big Picture was going to be. Chad’s pedigree is pretty impressive. He’s worked as a TV writer, producer and exec and has developed and produced shows for the Littlefield Company, Fox Television Studios, Paramount Television, NBC, Warner Bros. ABC, Fox Reality Channel, E! Entertainment Television and 20th Century Fox so the guy really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to breaking in and staying in (as some would say an even harder task) the entertainment biz.

So, if you do have dreams of someday becoming a TV writer, you need to make this book your new bible. There are things in here that took me years to learn and I only wish I’d had something like this 10 years ago. Small Screen, Big Picture is a goldmine of information for every aspiring TV writer, everywhere. 
Mediabistro.com Presents Small Screen, Big Picture: A Writer’s Guide to the TV Business

Cheney is accused of responsibility in prisoner abuse because of financial ties (to the tune of $85 million of Cheyney’s own dollars) to the Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies. A pretty large financial stake that Texas D.A. Juan Angel Guerra says motivated the vice president to step in halt a 2006 investigation into a prisoner’s death. I say if they have to take Cheney in to bring a SWAT team in case he tries to shoot his way out.