All the Things: Everything Writers are Reading/Watching/Listening to in the Time of COVID-19

I think everyone agrees: These are strange, strange days that we are living in. While many writers are loving the opportunity to stay in and write, sooner or later everyone finds themselves feeling the bizarre, changing nature of all of our lives born of the onset of COVID-19.

Here is what I am hearing from my clients daily on our zoom and Skype calls: we need all of the resources, inspiration and support to get us through these strange days and keep all of us productive, not to mention inspired. Therefore, with the help of the Twitterverse, my always thoughtful clients and so many friends on Facebook, I set out to find out what writers out there are watching, reading, listening to and even buying to keep them on track during these unusual times. 

So… What are some of those resources that are helping screenwriters and TV writers along their shelter-in-place/safer-at-home paths?  Let’s break it down:

Stuff to Buy:

• Final Draft is now offering 20% off its software. They’ve also extended the Early Bird deadline for the Final Draft Big Break Contest, allowing writers to submit at the lowest price point for a longer period. 
• Roadmap Writers is offering a whole bunch of free things throughout the month of April to celebrate their 4 year anniversary, as well 10% off site wide with coupon code STAYCREATIVE.
• ISA is offering 20% off membership for ISAConnect, bringing it to $80 (vs $10/month). The code is APRCN1.
• Lastly, there’s my Monthly Online Career Coaching, which I just launched! Less than $35 for monthly goal setting, insights and accountability.

Productivity Tools

• Writer’s Wright Journal; While the journal is currently sold out and being re-stocked, Greta, its creator, is offering a low-cost download as a stop-gap.  
• Miro has a great online whiteboard for individuals and teams.
• And finally, there is the more expensive collaboration solution, Writers Room Pro. 

Free Online Panels, Courses, Talks, Masterclasses, Events and More:

• UCLA Extension is offering its one-day online courses as free online seminars.
• Sundance Co//ab has made many of their online masterclasses and webinars free to attend or download.
• ISA Networks is offering free online classes and talks with screenwriters. 
• WGFoundation (Writers Guild Foundation) is doing live weekly online events. If you’d like to register for their free Zoom panels, subscribe to their weekly Friday newsletter.
• There is a ton of insightful and instructive video content on Film Courage.
• I hear writers are loving Lessons from the Screenplay on YouTube.
• PendemicTV just launched, featuring daily intimate conversations with top writers in TV & film, and they are bringing in some BIG names. You can read Scott Myers’s write up HERE. 
• I hear good things about this free online Class from Udemy: How to Hook a Hollywood Reader.
• You can also check out my weekly video series with Final Draft, What Writers CAN Do Now.
• Michael Arndt has a couple videos out there that are super inspiring:
  Endings: The Good, the Bad and the Insanely Great
  Beginnings: Setting the Story in Motion
• And writers are loving John August’s Screencasts. 
• If you’re looking to catch up on some quality shorts, the Tribecca Film Festival has made its short film selections available to view online. 
• K.M. Weiland is offering up content to help out novelists on her website. 
• And… (saving the best for last?) It is happening! HBO is offering up free content.

Stuff to Read: From COVID-19 Writerly Survival Tips to Fellowship Spec Formatting and Screenplay/TV Pilot Repositories

• The Writers Guild Foundation’s Guide to Formatting Your Spec Script While Social Distancing (including some great sample pages from some of your favorite shows!):
  Part 1
  Part 2 
  Part 3
• Corona Virus: 7 Ways to Cope During the Crisis as a Writer
• My COVID-19 blogposts:
  Screenwriting in the Time of COVID-19
  Screenwriting, the Industry & COVID-19: Where Are We Now?
• The Script Lab has some great blogpost, and SL360 does offer a free trial period for its master classes!
• Library of standard industry contracts/documents 
• Lauri Donahue’s list of Screenwriting Contests, Fellowships and Labs 
• Screenplayed 
• Script Repositories: 
  TV calling script library 
  Google’s TV Pilot Library 
  Script Slug 

Things to Do (Virtually, of course):

• Mo Moshaty’s #lockdownhappyhour every Saturday on zoom 
• Virtual meetups with Filmshop Los Angeles http://www.thefilmshop.org/
• Some writers are participating in #campnanowrimo2020 

Other Websites to Check Out:

• Coverfly
• Go Into the Story
• No Film School
• Stage 32’s Writers Room

Stuff to Join- Facebook Groups Worth Checking Out:

• Zero Draft Thirty
• Chicks with Scripts
• LA TV Writers
• The Inside Pitch
• Screenwriters Who Can Actually Write
• The Writer’s Arc – Writing Community

Stuff to Listen To – Podcasts Writers are Loving Right Now:

• 3rd & Fairfax (WGAW podcast) 
• Draft Zero 
• Jacob Kruger Studio Podcast 
• KCRW’s The Business
• On The Page
• Paper Team
• Screenwriters Rant Room 
• Scripts & Scribes
• ScriptNotes
• The Screenwriting Life with Meg Lafauve and Lorien McKenna 
• Write Along with David and Cargill 

Are there any other podcasts, events, websites, blogs, free classes, or other resources you’re loving right now and want to see added to this list? Include them in the comment section, or, using my Contact Form, send them over to me and I will update this blog post to include them!