With Twilight coming to an end and with Harry Potter already over, the world of young adult fiction franchises is looking pretty thin. The next series to take a stab at filling the void left by sexy vampires and teen wizards is The Hunger Games. The books are widely popular and the upcoming films are headlined by hot and talented young actors who could carry a series for a few years, so it behooves the studio to hedge their bets and begin working on the sequel as soon as possible.

TheWrap.com recently revealed that the studio has brought on writer Simon Beaufoy, whose credits include The Full Monty and Slumdog Millionaire, to begin work on adapting the second novel in the series. This isn’t exactly a huge surprise as a November 2013 release date has already been penciled in for the second film.

Director Gary Ross is supervising the script writing process as he plans on jumping into the sequel as soon as he is done with his work on the first film. Beaufoy is a very interesting choice who has had great success with recent adaptations winning an Oscar for his adaptation of Slumdog Millionaire and receiving another nomination for his work on 127 Hours. You can say what you want about a film that is aiming for the Twilight audience, but you have to give them props for using quality, talented people.

Even though this website could technically be called a “Blog” and those of us who contribute to it are known as “Bloggers,” we like to think of ourselves as writers. So, when other writers get recognized, as they have by the Writer’s Guild of America’s nominations for it’s awards today, we take notice.

We also take notice when movies that seem an odd choice for awards get nominated anyway. We will leave it to you, good readers, to decide which of the following nominees for Writers Guild awards seems a bit out of place.

Winners will be announced at the 2012 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 19, 2012, during simultaneous ceremonies in Hollywood and New York. Check out all the nominees (and more) from the official press release:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

50/50, Written by Will Reiser; Summit Entertainment

Bridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig; Universal Studios

Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics

Win Win, Screenplay by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni; Fox Searchlight

Young Adult, Written by Diablo Cody; Paramount Pictures

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Even though this is technically a blog, we like to think of ourselves primarily as writers here at The Flickcast. Many of us have even been paid to write over the years and you can bet that pretty much everyone here has one or two screenplays, comic books or other literary works they are currently working on. It’s just the nature of things.

So, when the Writer’s Guild of America announces the nominations for outstanding writing for Television, we take notice and bring you all the details. That’s especially true when the top nominees are shows we really like.

One such show is Showtime’s freshman drama Homeland, which received 3 nominations including best drama series, best new series and best episodic drama. Homeland tied with perennial favorites Modern Family, Breaking Bad and Boardwalk Empire for the most nominations.

In addition to Homeland, Game Of Thrones, The Killing, New Girl and the Matt LeBlanc comedy Episodes all received nominations with Showtime getting a first time record of six for its shows. You may be wondering where Mad Men is in all of this?

Sadly, as the fifth season of the show was delayed, it didn’t make the cut for eligibility for this year’s awards. That’s probably okay as it gives a few other shows, like Homeland and Game of Thrones, a chance to shine. Can’t have Mad Men taking up all the awards, now can we?

The winners will be announced at the 2012 Writers Guild Awards on Feb. 19, 2012, at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. Click through for the full list of nominee.

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One of the most useful applications I use every day on the Mac has now arrived for Windows. That’s right Windows-using writers Scrivener is now available to you.

No matter if you’re writing the next great American novel (something for National Novel Writing Month perhaps?), research paper, script or any long-form text document that involves more than hammering away at the keys until you’re done, Scrivener, made by the fine folks at Literature & Latte, can help you get your work done. The multi-featured program excels at helping you collect research, bring order to fragmented ideas and avoid shuffling index cards in search of that elusive structure.

Scrivener can help you from the moment an idea comes into your imagination until the final finished pages are output. In short, it pretty much does everything for you except the actual writing.

Unfortunately, that will still be up to you. The rest you can leave to Scrivener.

As someone who uses this app daily (the Mac version) I can safely say it really helps me get my work done. Without it, I would be back to posting index cards to cork boards and trying to make things work that way. I like the 21st Century’s technological advancements and I like Scrivener.

Scrivener requires Windows XP, Vista, or 7 (32 or 64 bit). 1GB RAM; 1ghz Processor; 100mb disk space; 1064 x 786 screen.

According to Deadline, a biopic of writer and  Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling is in development by Andrew Meieran and his Bureau of Moving Pictures company. About time, I say.

“Rod Serling was one of the true visionaries in television history,” Meieran said. “He single-handedly broke the mold and established television as a powerful artistic medium capable of changing the world when used wisely.”

To be honest, I’m surprised it took this long to get a movie about Rod Serling off the ground. The man is a genius and true visionary with a story that’s sure to be highly interesting and entertaining.

To prove that point, here’s but a sample of that life (as summarized by the Deadline article):

Serling spent his youth as an Army paratrooper and member of a demolition squad during WWII. He was stationed in the Philippines and his experiences would help shape much of what he wrote about in later life.

He worked his way into radio and then became a TV writer who found his niche with the CBS series Twilight Zone, a series that elevated scripted television with thought-provoking science fiction tales, each with a great and unexpected plot twist. The segments have influenced a legion of TV and feature writers to this day.

Influential to say the least. Now that this is going, the real question is who should play Serling? Any votes for your favorite actor?

In a somewhat surprising move, it seems AMC’s breakout hit series The Walking Dead has decided to let go of its writing staff. In addition, it is still debatable if the series will hire a new staff for the second season. Instead, series Exec. Producer Frank Darabont may decide to proceed without a writing staff and work with freelancers and/or write the second season’s thirteen episodes himself.

While this may seem like an odd decision given the fact that the show has been so successful, it’s not that hard to believe. After all Darabont wrote two of the first six episodes himself and comic book creator Robert Kirkman wrote one as well. The others were written by freelancers and then reportedly rewritten by Darabont. So it would seem the writing staff wasn’t doing that much work anyway.

No final decision on this has reportedly been made but it would appear Darabont and AMC have some time to figure it out given that the network may wait to bring the show back until next year during Halloween. So that means we may end up having to wait almost a year for the show to return. Plenty of time for Darabont, Kirkman and some freelance writers to crank out thirteen episodes.

I don’t know what bothers me more that the show let go of its writing staff or that it won’t be back, potentially, until next October. Both seem like questionable decisions with the waiting almost a year seemingly the worse one. Still, this may open up opportunities for writers to get their stuff read so I’m all for that. Guess I’ll polish up that Walking Dead spec script and send it on over.

Do these sound like bad ideas to anyone else? Sound off in the comments.

Do you love movies, TV, new media, comics, games, and all thing geek? Do you spend lots of time on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites sharing info and opinions with friends? Are you a good writer with a passion for sharing your insight and opinions in a comprehensive and cohesive manner? If so, we might just have a job for you.

Due to increased demand we are looking for writers to contrite to the site and to pending others. It doesn’t matter where you live (although candidates in LA or New York are encouraged to apply) or what you do for a living, if you love movies, TV, new media, comics, games and all things geek and want to write about them, we want to hear from you.

Drop us a line at the following email for consideration: jobs [at] the flickcast dot com and please include two sample posts in The Flickcast style or a link to your own previous work for consideration. We’ll get in touch with you if we think you’ve got what it takes.

Thanks.

In this case you can’t accuse Hollywood of not planning ahead. With Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern film still over a year from release, Warner Bros. is already getting ready for a sequel.

The studio has reportedly hired writers Greg Berlanti (Everwood), Michael Green (Kings) and Marc Guggenheim (Eli Stone) to put together a treatment for the next installment of Green Lantern. These are the same writers who penned the first film so obviously the studio must be pretty happy with their work to bring them back again.

Reinforcing that is the news that the trio, in addition to working on a new Green Lantern, will also be working on a treatment for another comic book adaptation: The Flash. According to the report, the writers would work on both treatments and would eventually be selected to write the screenplay for one of the two projects, although which one is still to be determined.

It’s encouraging that Warner Bros. seems to feel so confidant in Green Lantern. It’s a rare move by a major studio to work on a sequel to a film this far in advance, especially one that hasn’t even been finished or released yet. Let’s hope this means Green Lantern will be the awesome film we all hope it will be.

Green Lantern is currently filming in new Orleans with an expected release next year.

Just weeks before his latest show Treme debuts on HBO, TV writer and producer David Mills has died of a reported brain aneurysm in New Orleans at the age of 49. Mills was head writer and producer on the show, which is about how a group of people of New Orleans rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina.

In additon to Treme, Mills was an accomplished and award winning writer for such shows as the HBO miniseries The Corner, ER, Homicide: Life on the Street, Kingpin, NYPD Blue and was a story editor on the CBS drama Picket Fences.

Mills also worked closely for years with David Simon, creator of one of the best shows ever to grace television screens The Wire and who is also the creator of Treme. He also wrote for several newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

Mills was a talented man who provided a destinctive voice for characters and stories through his writing. His work will be sorely missed.

Treme premieres April 11 on HBO. I’ll be watching and so should you.

Good news for comics and Sci-Fi fans: Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, who’s no stranger to the world of comics having penned several titles for Marvel, will be taking over DC Comics’ Superman and Wonder Woman titles on an ongoing basis, starting in July.

According to the DC Comics Blog:

Starting in July with SUPERMAN #701 and WONDER WOMAN #601, superstar writer J. Michael Straczynski—a man who’s created layered and compelling characters and worlds on the big screen, on television and across the comic book spectrum—dives head-first into the DC Universe by taking the ongoing writing reins for two-thirds of the fabled DCU trinity.

Straczynski himself is very excited to take on these two iconic characters. According to the writer:

“For as long as I’ve been doing conventions (starting in the early Cretaceous period, when it was just me and a handful of pterosaurs on a panel debating whether or not mammals with opposable thumbs were really necessary to the writing of quality comics, a point still hotly debated today), there has always been the same question from folks in the audience: “Is there any one character who is your dream character to write for?” The answer has always been the same: Superman.

When I first came over to DC, that dream was realized in part by Dan DiDio’s gracious invitation to write the first of potentially many Superman original graphic novels. Now the dream has come fully true with the opportunity to write for the mainstream title, in a story that returns Superman to his roots in a way that will have the whole country talking about him in ways that we haven’t seen in a long time.

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Former The Shield writer/producer and current Sons of Anarchy creator/exec. producer/writer Kurt Sutter has a blog and on it he tells it like it is about working in Hollywood, making the show, the motorcycle culture and pretty much anything else he damn well pleases. He’s also recently posted a list of frequently asked questions about his show, Sons of Anarchy, that he obviously gets asked, well, frequently.

The questions are some of the typical ones a successful person in Hollywood who is producing a well-known and respected show gets asked. In fact, he’s probably heard these questions so may times he’s lost count. Hence, the FAQ. Really, if you think about it, Sutter is not only providing a great show for us to watch but also a valuable public service as well. Gotta hand it to the guy.

Some of the highlights of the FAQ include:

I have a great idea for the show, can I send it you?

No. I cannot accept any ideas, pitches, stories, scripts, notions or dreams from anyone. It’s a legal issue. It protects me and you. If you send it, post it or email it — it will be shredded, removed and deleted. Sorry.

I want to be an actor on your show, how do I audition?

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Do you love movies, TV, comics, games, gadgets and all thing geek? Do you spend tons of time on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites sharing info and opinions with friends? Are you a good writer and have a passion for sharing your insight and opinions in a comprehensive and cohesive manner? If so, we might just have a job for you.

Due to increased demand and for upcoming site changes and launches of new content, we are looking for writers to contrite to the site. It doesn’t matter where you live (although candidates in LA or New York would be greatly appreciated) or what you do for a living, if you love movies, TV, comics, games and all things geek and want to write about them, we want to talk to you.

Drop us a line at the following email for consideration: jobs [at] the flickcast dot com and please include two sample posts in The Flickcast style or a link to your own previous work for consideration. We’ll get in touch with you if we think you’ve got what it takes. Thanks.