[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: Why do you say that writing a sitcom isn’t really that hard?
John Vorhaus, Author/Speaker/Artist/Screenwriter: Because a lot of the pieces of the puzzle are handed to you.
In a typical sitcom, you’re going to occupy constrained physical space.
To take Friends as an example, two apartments and a coffee shop.
Basically, all the action takes place on those three sets.
So, you never need to think about Where am I going to stage this?
You have to stage it within the confines of the production reality of the sitcom you’ve created.
You know that the stories will have a constrained beginning, middle, and end. And that the journey will be an emotional journey rather than a physical journey.
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Again, because you’re constrained by space and time.
You’ve got to tell a story that only lasts 20 minutes told by people who can’t move around in space.
That means that your story choices are quite, I don’t say the word limited, I say constrained.
They occupy a narrow space.
As Elvis Presley once told me in a dream some 40 years ago,
“The rules don’t confine, they define. True genius works within form.“
Sitcom constrains your space, constrains your decision making.
It makes it much easier to operate.
Plus, it’s just short.
It’s maybe 30 pages versus a screenplay that’s 120 pages.
That’s why…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
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BIO:
John Vorhaus is best known for his comedy-writing classic, The Comic Toolbox: How to be Funny Even if You’re Not. He has taught and trained writers in 37 countries on five continents at last count, and created TV shows of his own in Nicaragua, Romania and elsewhere. His writing credits include dozens of teleplays and screenplays, plus seven novels and some two dozen works of non-fiction. His latest book is the little book of STANDUP. Vorhaus is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and a member of the Writers Guild of America. He lives in Southern California and secretly controls the world from JohnVorhaus.com.
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New book from Film Courage! – See it on Payhip here
