May 2013
2 posts
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“My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes,...”
– EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY
April 2013
2 posts
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Kabillion meets its Maker - TBI Vision →
In the today’s edition of Shea Yaps About Stuff, I yap about stuff…
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Lights, Camera, Action!
Big news! Crowning Jules, my original, live-action, TV movie screenplay has been optioned by a Canadian production company.
Fingers crossed that it will be coming to a TV near you soon!
March 2013
1 post
2 tags
I said stuff! →
I said stuff that was quoted in a respectable online receptacle of animation stuff.
February 2013
1 post
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Nutcracked!
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been writing The Nutcracker Sweet, a new animated version of the classic Nutcracker tale. The movie is being produced by Televix and Aronnax Animation Studios and is set for DVD release this winter. With super-sized adventure, a little mystery, and a dash of sweetness, the script is a new twist to Alexander Dumas’ traditional story. Putting my...
January 2013
3 posts
If thousands of years from now, archaeologists discovered all my writing journals and yellow legal pads, they’d probably think I was really obsessed with pie.
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Whatcha Reading?
I have been reading the Song of Ice and Fire series (aka GAME OF THRONES). I’m on book two, A Clash of Kings. From a writing perspective, it BLOWS MY MIND. How does a writer keep track of all these characters, locations, plots, etc.? Really, if you’ve heard how George R.R. Martin does it, I’d love to know. Spreadsheets? Maps? Maniacal Carrie from Homeland style corkboards? And...
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Top Ten
I recently saw a writing tip that suggested screenwriters come up with a list of their top ten favorite movies for reference whenever they get stuck. These are not necessarily the best scripts or movies, just the ones that personally make me happy. So, here are my top ten favorite movies (subject to change):
-The Princess Bride -Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory -My Neighbor Totoro -Mean...
December 2012
5 posts
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Today's Script Read...
…is Silver Linings Playbook. There are a lot of things from a Screenwriting 101 perspective that would count against this script. It’s 152 pages long. There are big chunks of dialogue and very little action. There’s some inconsistency in the formatting. In essence, there are a lot of things that David O. Russell can get away with because he’s also directing. But in the end,...
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Moonrise Kingdom
“These are my books. I like stories with magic powers in them. Either in kingdoms on earth or on foreign planets. Also, time-travel, if they make it realistic. Usually, I prefer a girl hero, but not always.”
It’s award season and the studios are making some of the best scripts of the year available. Read one of my favorites, Moonrise Kingdom, here. Moonrise Kingdom is the rare...
November 2012
1 post
October 2012
3 posts
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Today's Script Read...
Today’s script read is The Black Swan.
What I Love About This Script: Every single moment is connected to the theme. There’s no extra fluff or unneeded dialogue. From the first scene, the tension builds and builds and never lets up. It’s the horror movie for the Type A personality. It’s a myth about the madness of the fight for perfection. It’s a metaphor of the...
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Tools of a Screenwriter...
No, I didn’t just color code the scenes of the script I’m working on because I have OCD. I did it more because coloring is a lot easier than writing.
September 2012
4 posts
Check Out This Epic New Trailer For The Bob's... →
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Agentified!
I’m pleased to announce that I am now represented by the Metropolis Talent Agency. So, please contact them if you’d like to pay me big bucks and/or major moola to write things for you. (I am new to this agent thing…that’s how it works, right?)
Production!
The Bella Sara Movie has entered production with Opus Visual Effects and Buffalo Gal Pictures. As a writer, this means the start of the time when something that you’re used to mentally referring to as “yours” is now “theirs”. Writing for animation is one of the most collaborative forms of writing and when you have the chance to work with great producers, artists and...
August 2012
2 posts
GeoFreakZ is launching on Kabillion!
Multiplatform property GeoFreakZ is launching on Kabillion on International Geocaching Day! http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cci-entertainment-launches-geofreakz-in-the-us-with-kabillion-and-yoursphere-media-partnership-166393946.html
Bella Sara Set for Production
Official press release on the Bella Sara movie heading into production. It was such fun to write and I’m excited to see it moving forward.
June 2012
3 posts
Rob Delaney: Funny Women →
robdelaney:
The New York Post published an interview with Adam Carolla on Sunday in which he said, among other things, “dudes are funnier than chicks,” and, regarding writing for television, “they make you hire a certain number of chicks, and they’re always the least funny on the writing staff.”
I disagree,…
Double Shea Day
Two projects that I have worked on were mentioned in Cynopsis today! The first is the new Bella Sara movie, which Adam and I wrote an early draft of the script. I really loved all the strong female characters in this property and can’t wait to see the movie!
The second is the new Cabbage Patch Kids, which I’ll be working on with Kabillion. Having been a big Cabbage Patch fan growing...
Friends, children, Soccer players...
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Soccer fans of all ages: Check out the new sites that I have been working on! www.kabillion.com, www.kabilliongirlsrule.com and www.soccer.org
May 2012
1 post
April 2012
2 posts
Creating a Television Series - Part 1: The Pitch
Brandon James Scott has some insightful posts about his journey with Justin Time. Check it out!
brandonjamesscott:
Creating a television series is an ongoing column about the creation, development, and production of Justin Time, through Brandon’s experience as creator and art director of the show. For past articles and more info about Justin Time, click here.
Genesis
So it starts. Maybe as a...
March 2012
1 post
Consumers Believe Facebook Users Should be Older... →
Although it is required by law for Facebook users to be at least 13 to join the network, many believe the age limit should be higher, a new study says. According to a poll conducted among 2,000 consumers on the opinion-based community SodaHead.com, about 34% of respondents said Facebook users …
January 2012
6 posts
Art and Bart
A fascinating gallery of the famous paintings parodied on The Simpsons.
WatchGreatest interview ever.
Today: Finished first draft of my first live action feature script
Tonight: This
Tomorrow: Despair of rewrite
Today's Script Read: Drive
You know how the big thing in the upscale culinary world for the past few years has been deconstructing dishes? You go to some fancy restaurant and order a BLT, but instead of getting a BLT, you get toast foam, a sliver of sous-vide pork belly, and a wafer thin tomato chip topped with a teeny tiny lettuce sprout. And you roll your eyes at the pretentiousness, thinking “Puh-lease,” but...
A True Tea Story
These are the types of tea currently in my cupboard:
Chai African Red Bush Vanilla Chai “Calm” Ruby Red Chai Peppermint English Breakfast Scottish Breakfast (like English, but more kilt-y) Sweet Wild Orange Blueberry Peach Ginger Pear Chai Spice (because when previously mentioned Chai, Vanilla Chai and Ruby Red Chai don’t satisfy…) Winter Dream Citrus Chamomile Pau...
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Watch“The Strange Case of Dad’s Missing Head” teaser. There’s some really interesting animation coming out of Spain these days…
December 2011
3 posts
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Happy Holidays!
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Analyzing Lilo & Stitch
Sometimes, I like to watch movies and qualify it as work by rebranding the experience as an “analysis.” I analyzed Lilo & Stitch today, which is a movie that has the unusual ability to make me cry every time I watch it. Some thoughts:
—One reason the film is so successful is because the stakes are so high. If Lilo and Nani don’t get their act together in three days...
“I don’t know why these things are always framed as a big dumb cage match:...”
– Don Hertzfeldt (via mikekarnell)
November 2011
5 posts
3 tags
Outside the Box
Since Thanksgiving weekend is officially over, I can admit that I already put my Christmas tree and decorations. Christmas decorations are a wonderful thing as you get to open boxes of stuff that you forgot you owned for the past 11 months and they’re full of things that perfectly fit your tastes. It’s like pre-Christmas Christmas.
As we put up the Christmas tree, it became...
Don't give up the day job - how artists make a... →
austinkleon:
…for artists without a lucky early break, rich parents or benefactors, a day job is often the only way to survive. It needn’t mean that fame and fortune aren’t just around the corner: Joy Division’s Ian Curtis worked in an unemployment office until 1979, well after the band had released their debut EP. Van Morrison immortalised his old job as a window cleaner in the 1982 song...
Jonathan Lethem on the "fetish of perfect... →
austinkleon:
There’s an consistent argument here that the pristine and heroic originality that many people expect from artists is an illusion…a fetish of perfect originality.
[It’s] a great fetish except when it causes us to feel unnecessarily betrayed if we see the little man behind the curtain. It’s a mistake to ask our cultural creations to be immaculate, perfect and greater than our human...
More Screenwriting Structure
In addition to Dan Harmon’s Story Circle mentioned in yesterday’s post, I also like to reference Paul Joseph Gulino’s book SCREENWRITING: THE SEQUENCE APPROACH. Like the story circle, this book breaks down screenplays into eight sequences (which fairly closely correspond to the eight slices of the story circle). Whenever I get stuck, I find it useful to think about the...
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Storytime!
Today I started throwing out some ideas on the basics of a screenplay that Adam and I will be writing (due to be completed by the end of the year—Network Execs, get your bids in early!). Whenever I start writing a new project, I like to refresh my brain with some Story Structure 101 and one of my favorites is Dan Harmon’s story circle. Harmon distills the Hero’s Journey into an...
October 2011
6 posts
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Good News, Everyone!
After six years with PorchLight Entertainment, I’m leaving the company to focus more on writing as well as doing some consulting. I am incredibly thankful for all the opportunities I’ve had at PorchLight and am excited to enter this new phase of life.
If you ever need a freelance writer or a kid’s programming consultant, you can reach me at sheafontana@gmail.com.
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Behind the Times...
Okay, I know I’m a few (or fourteen) years late on this, but over the past few months, I’ve been working my way through the Harry Potter books and have finally arrived at the final book. I must have been going through a hipster phase when the series was first released and been avoiding anything popular.
One thing that’s great about the books from a children’s...
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Colo(u)rs!
You know I love colors, right? And you know how much I hate that every movie and tv series is aesethically boring because they all use the same three filters and the same color correction pallettes? Well, then you know how excited I was to find John K’s color theory curriculum! He has some great insights and features lots of examples from some of my favorites like Samurai Jack and Bambi.
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D'oh!
The Simpsons is in the midst of salary negotiations with the cast which threaten to end the long running series.
Like so many in my generation, I grew up on The Simpsons, revering it as the funniest show on TV, planning my evenings around the reruns, and quoting lines with my brothers. Watching The Simpsons was the closest thing to a universal viewing experience since the moon landing.
In...
