Inspiration vs. Stealing in TV Writing (PT58)




Paper Team show

Summary: Alex and Nick discuss the differences between inspiration and stealing in screenwriting and television.<br> <br> 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?<br> <br> Plus, an answer to how many episodes of a TV show you should watch before speccing it.<br> <br> The Paper Team pays homage...<br> <br> SHOWNOTES<br> <br> Content<br> Paper Scraps: Episodes to watch before writing a TV spec (00:52)<br> 1 - What is an original idea? (03:34)<br> 2 - Why everybody "steals" (06:36)<br> 3 - Paying homage and the different stories being told (09:23)<br> 4 - Inspiration in TV and spec scripts (22:58)<br> Takeaways and Next Week On (34:13)<br> <br> Links<br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armageddon_(1998_film)">Armageddon</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Impact_(film)">Deep Impact</a><br> <a href="https://www.tv-calling.com/protecting-and-over-protecting-your-tv-script-copyright-ownership-and-idea-theft-pt23/">"Protecting and Over-Protecting Your TV Script: Copyright, Ownership and Idea Theft" (PT23)</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_thinking">Parallel thinking</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_Night">Rough Night</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls_Trip">Girls Trip</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Kurosawa">Akira Kurosawa</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_Things">Stranger Things</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop%27s_Fables">Aesop's Fables</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_de_La_Fontaine">Jean de La Fontaine</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey">Hero's Journey</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Vogler">Christopher Vogler</a><br> <a href="https://amzn.to/2F81ZuP">"The Art of Fiction" - John Gardner</a><br> <a href="https://amzn.to/2HTWTFA">"Save the Cat" - Blake Snyder</a><br> <a href="https://amzn.to/2HjWsHs">"The Seven Basic Plots" - Christopher Booker</a><br> <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/07/the-six-main-arcs-in-storytelling-identified-by-a-computer/490733/">"The Six Main Arcs in Storytelling, as Identified by an A.I." - The Atlantic</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shield">The Shield</a><br> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200214175822/https://vimeo.com/154727398">The Simpsons movie references</a><br> <br> This episode brought to you by Tracking Board's Launch Pad Writing Competitions<br> <a href="https://www.tblaunchpad.com/#competitions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a><br> Use code PAPERTEAM to get $15 OFF when you enter a <a href="https://www.tblaunchpad.com/#competitions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Launch Pad Competition</a><br> <br> Special thanks to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/girl_evan/">Evan Schmitt</a> for helping us edit this episode.<br> <br> If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at <a href="http://paperteam.co/itunes">paperteam.co/itunes</a>! :)<br> <br> You can find Paper Team on Twitter:<br> Alex - <a href="https://twitter.com/TVCalling">@TVCalling</a><br> Nick - <a href="https://twitter.com/_njwatson">@_njwatson</a><br> If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: ask@paperteam.co<br> <br>