Amy Suto 5/17/15 Amy Suto 5/17/15

INTJ: One of The Rarest, Loneliest Personality Types [Introverts and Writing]

I hadn't put much stock in personality types up until now, but when I started reading more about INTJs, I began to realize that the kind of isolation I sometimes felt (and felt unable to express) even when surrounded by people I cared about had roots in my personality type.

Amy Suto 5/12/15 Amy Suto 5/12/15

Playing Pretend: On Set of CON and the Television Experience

Every week we have a quote of the day on our call sheet. My favorite was written by Irina, our Russian supervising producer: “We wrap by 5pm or else I’m sending you all to Siberia.”

Amy Suto 4/2/15 Amy Suto 4/2/15

Antidote 15: Web Festivals, TV Interviews, & More

The past seven days have been a whirlwind of press and exciting events to celebrate Antidote 15's season two and all the amazing people who are the lifeblood of the show. On Friday, Antidote 15 screened in the Charlie Chaplin theater at Raleigh Studios, and I was able to talk on a panel about the inspiration for the show, and why ex-boyfriends, deadlines, and drinking things you're not supposed to be are common college struggles.

Amy Suto 3/13/15 Amy Suto 3/13/15

CON: Writing Con Artists

So ever since the TV miniseries my writing partner Jen Enfield-Kane and I created went into production, I've been living that executive producer life again. Which sounds glamorous, but in reality it's more paperwork, scheduling, emailing, and budgeting than I ever thought I'd do in a lifetime.

Amy Suto 2/24/15 Amy Suto 2/24/15

Antidote 15 is Going to the Hollyweb Web Festival!

Antidote 15 started in January 2014 as a fun experiment to see whether or not I could do something waaaay outside my comfort zone, which was to independently produce a web series I had written. Up until that point, I had mostly just been studying the craft of screenwriting, with a small number of short films done for classes and for fun.

Amy Suto 10/20/14 Amy Suto 10/20/14

Creating Detailed Character Backstory

I'm working on some new characters for a feature I'm writing this fall, and am reminded that character backstory is like trying to get to know a person and they keep ignoring you, so you have to make up things about them until they tell you the truth.

Amy Suto 10/4/14 Amy Suto 10/4/14

Writing The Vision

I've been writing short films, short stories, and summaries inside and outside of the classroom of this idea since December of 2013, and I'm excited to finally use the power of deadlines and inordinate amounts of coffee to bring it to fruition. So partially in order to procrastinate from the writing I'm doing today and to hold myself accountable, here's an update on The Vision.

Amy Suto 9/11/14 Amy Suto 9/11/14

On the Importance of Adventures for Writers

In the past seven days, I've shot a balloon with an arrow at the Pasadena archery range, practiced cha-cha one night and learned break on two salsa another, put on boxing gloves and sparred with my self-defense partner as we learned headlocks and groundwork, learned the basics of Python and how to hack a computer to redirect to Bing everytime you type in "Google" (nefarious, I know), and am going to a concert on Friday in Hollywood and the Getty on Saturday for live music.

Amy Suto 7/14/14 Amy Suto 7/14/14

Web Series as Practice for the Real World

Today after the 10am staff meeting for Orientation I hibernated in my apartment and attempted to catch up on sleep, but then quickly realized that wasn't going to happen and I was better off catching up on work.For the past few months I've been in pre-production for season two of my web series, Antidote 15, which has (happily) been my life since December 2013.

Amy Suto 6/1/14 Amy Suto 6/1/14

How to Create a Web Series [Part Five: Marketing]

Here are some major points you need to think about when marketing your web series that I learned from marketing my thriller web series, Antidote 15.

Amy Suto 5/10/14 Amy Suto 5/10/14

How to Create a Web Series [Part Four: Post-Production]

Editing is the final rewrite, and you can change so much about your web series in this part of the process. If you don't know how to edit, find someone who does, because a polished final product requires time and skill. Here are some tips on how to edit your web series!

Amy Suto 5/8/14 Amy Suto 5/8/14

How to Create a Web Series: [Part Three: Production]

I am not saying I know everything there is about film production. As a screenwriter, my focus is on story and character, but I do have a handle on some of the basics like three point lighting, green screening, and wrangling erstwhile sound equipment.

Amy Suto 3/14/14 Amy Suto 3/14/14

How to Create A Web Series [Part Two: Casting]

Finding quality actors is so important, especially for a web series with recurring roles. With Antidote 15, we were incredibly lucky to find the cast we did. This article will teach you everything you need to know about casting for your web series!

Amy Suto 2/24/14 Amy Suto 2/24/14

Adventures in 24 Hour Filmmaking

Every year, USC hosts a 24 hour film contest called the Ed Wood Film Festival. It sets out to prove that students can make a better film in 24 hours than Ed Wood could in his career. Quality aside, 24 hour filmmaking competitions are a great chance to test run ideas, experiment with special effects, and learn how much coffee it takes to pull a productive all-nighter. (Answer: four cups MINIMUM.)

Amy Suto 2/8/14 Amy Suto 2/8/14

How to Create A Web Series [Part One: Pre-Production]

This year is my year of doing big, scary things I've never done before. In December, I remember walking home from class and thinking, "what challenges scare me?" I came up with two: skydiving and helming a web series.Since skydiving is a perfectly rational fear I don't want to tackle anytime soon, I decided to create my own web series. It's a good challenge since I want to be a showrunner one day, and this experience will help me hone important skills, like serving some of the best crafty you've ever had in your life. (People who have had my chocolate chip cookies know what's up.) My web series is called Antidote 15, and you can read more about it here.

Amy Suto 1/9/14 Amy Suto 1/9/14

6 Tips for Setting Writing Resolutions

Which brings me to the importance of setting writing resolutions. It's far too easy to lose your shining writerly aspirations in the whirlwind inferno of daily life if you don't have "WRITE A HOMELAND SPEC IN 2014!" sticky-noted all over your desk/room/forehead.