Children of Tendu

In this inaugural edition of the Children of Tendu Podcast, veteran television writer/producers Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost, The Middleman, Helix, Medium) and Jose Molina (Sleepy Hollow, Firefly, Haven, Castle, Dark Angel) begin at the beginning: explaining how they started their careers in television, and how someone at the ground floor might navigate the early stages of the urban jungle that is the business of writing for the tube!

they also explain the strange name of the podcast, briefly discuss "mangut" and engage in a lively discussion of how a chance meeting in a Puerto Rican Supermarket sparked a lifelong friendship.

javier Grillo-Marxuach and Jose Molina have over forty combined years of experience as writer/producers in television - the Children of Tendu Podcast is their attempt to give away their experience in the entertainment business for free in the hopes that others will not make the same mistakes they did!

Questions for the Children of Tendu Podcast? Find us on Twitter at @childrenoftendu.

There is one question. The ETERNAL question. The question that all who want to write in Hollywood ask themselves over and over again.

How do I get an agent?

In this very special episode, Jose's first agent, Matt Bedrosian not only answers the eternal question of "how do you get an agent?" but also gives a no-holds-barred look behind the scenes at a talent agency and answers some of the most pressing questions asked by writers, both repped and non-repped...

What do agents do?

Why don't they answer my calls?

What are they doing when they are not answering my calls? Why do you even need an agent?

But mostly, we talk about "how do you get an agent?"

Really. There's an answer.

In this brand new, supersized episode, the Children of Tendu look at the business of television from the tippity-top, leveraging their combined forty years of experience into a discussion of showrunning. In our Golden Age of television, what does it mean to lead the creation of a television, how does it work, and what are some of the sins committed by both experienced and inexperienced managers in the pursuit of getting the show on the air by any means necessary.

This episode is an in-depth discussion of Javi's essay "The Eleven Laws of Showrunning" which can be found on his personal webpage both for reading online and as a downloadable PDF.

Once a year, every writer - and aspiring writer - in television takes part in what amounts to nothing less than a (metaphorical) all-city job fair... the period after the networks have picked up their new pilots, renewed their returning shows, and every one in town with a spec and a dream tries to get a job on a writing staff... but what really is staffing season? How do you get in it? How do you survive it?n In this episode, Jose (Firefly, Sleepy Hollow) Molina and Javier (Lost, The Middleman) Grillo-Marxuach break down this mystifying Hollywood ritual, and share their successes and failures in the hopes that you will not make the mistakes they made!

In this extra special episode of the podcast, Jose and Javi take a deep, show-by-show dive into Jose's career, dissecting his experiences and distilling the lessons he has learned over the course of his decades-spanning career!