On Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 9:30, the I-3 Center of the Newhouse School was graced with the presence of Jon Greene, one of the writers on the Law and Order spinoff, Law and Order: SVU. Greene discussed how he broke into the business and how a lot of talent, hard work, and a considerable amount of luck got him a great gig in TV.
The most useful piece of advice Greene offered to aspiring screenwriters like myself was not to make the same mistake he did, and to GO to LA to pursue your career right after graduating. Greene, recalling his own past, said that working in a broadcast setting in small towns all over the nation prevented him from doing what he really wanted, and moving out to LA was the best thing he’d done career-wise. He also talked a bit about how important it is to write and rewrite, and how revising and changing your work can often make it much better than it originally was.
Greene also discussed a few technical tidbits I never knew about that I’ll hopefully learn in higher-level TRF classes, such as the differences between serial and procedural shows and the difference in crediting writers as “Jon and Bob” or “Jon & Bob.” “You need to do what youre doing until you get bored. Once you get bored doing something, then you need to do something else. If you want to write, then you can do it,” said Greene and his partner. “This is a craft. This is something you have to know how to do.”
Greene inspired me to continue working towards my goal as a writer and helped me realize its definitely what I want to do.
