
The Founder of Firefox Wrote His Own Screenplay for HBO’s Silicon Valley - bobajeff
http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/04/the-founder-of-firefox-wrote-his-own-screenplay-for-hbos-silicon-valley-and-its-hilarious/?ncid=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=techglance
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blakeross
Thanks guys. This is my first stab at writing a tv script, and I'm open to
feedback or ideas for future 'episodes'.

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mentos
I've been waiting for a show to embrace the crowd sourcing of writing. I
imagine a reddit thread with hundreds of ideas/plot lines/debate drawn out for
an official writer to "pull" into the show.

What are your thoughts on that?

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blakeross
Oh, I misread your comment, I think. You're talking about the showrunners
themselves incorporating ideas from the community, right?

That would be great, although unfortunately Hollywood is so concerned about
lawsuits that show staffs aren't even allowed to read scripts for their own
shows. For example, the Silicon Valley staff isn't allowed to read this
script; if I wanted to apply for a job there, I'd have to write a script for a
_different_ show and send that in.

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mentos
Yea, are there any examples of a show like SV crowd sourcing content for it? I
know that MythBusters has crowd sourced episode ideas:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/mythbusters/comments/3cfn7r/suggest...](https://www.reddit.com/r/mythbusters/comments/3cfn7r/suggest_a_myth_or_item_to_blow_up_for_the/)
Top comment from Adam Savage: "You guys are submitting great ideas. We should
have done this a long time ago! Keep your ideas of things to blow up coming
too!" But I don't know of any shows with a narrative doing this?

Would love to see SV do the same for 1 episode (they could get really meta
with it)

Sad to hear there are legal barriers preventing this. I imagine that a simple
"sign this release before submitting your work" still leaves room for
lawsuits?

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jedberg
Star Trek TNG accepted unsolicited scripts. Not exactly crowd sourced, but at
least they took outside scripts.

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empressplay
Direct link:
[http://blakeross.com/SiliconValleyS03E01.pdf](http://blakeross.com/SiliconValleyS03E01.pdf)

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imrehg
Well, that was fun! (now just have to start watching the show from the
beginning because I haven't seen it yet)

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mikecb
They're going to have to work hard to top this.

I'm an inside counsel guy, but I'd love a clock that counts in dollars.

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jamiefriedrech
Surprisingly consistent and hilarious for a first ever screen play!

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hurricaneSlider
Only part I felt was inconsistent was his treatment of Lauren. She seems a
hyper-rational, albeit overly-prudent character, and doesn't strike me as
wanting to be involved with the whole boys club nonsense.

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jrockway
Suspension of disbelief fail at "His name's on the door and they shat all over
him anyway, just to hire some suit."

When would Erlich care about someone other than himself?

Also, one sentence in and he hasn't mentioned Aviato yet?

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blakeross
I think there's plenty of support for Erlich caring about Richard. For
example, when he spots Richard crying and then immediately goes and beats up
the kids who scammed him out of Adderall :)

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jacobolus
Previous discussion, which unfortunately didn’t get much traction:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10168930](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10168930)

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Apocryphon
Two quick thoughts:

1\. Monica's completely absent from this episode- she should appear in future
ones. Would be nice to get Carla back, as well.

2\. Can Charles be British and played by Paterson Joseph, who played Alan
Johnson on BBC comedy Peep Show?

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cyphunk
I'm really confused... when they say Captain Crunch are they talking about the
cereal character or the "hacker" John Draper? Based on the content it could,
ironically, be either

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jndsn402
Did John Draper pioneer the field of maritime breakfast?

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StavrosK
Did captain crunch?

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iriche
So awesome - please film this one ;P

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gozo
While I'm a fan of exposing the absurdity of SV, I also think we have reached
the point where any such attempt will, similar to war and business movies,
also have the opposite effect.

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insertnickname
Why did Richard live in Erlich's "incubator" anyway? I thought he had a job at
Hooli. He couldn't afford an apartment?

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larrykubin
I have a tech job too and don't feel like the rent in SF or Palo Alto fits in
my budget.

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insertnickname
Still, he gave up 10 % of his company just for a place to stay.

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lugus35
I thought HBO called jwz to the rescue...

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Flimm
If he didn't get permission, that would be copyright infringement, right?

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gdulli
Writing unsolicited spec scripts is a standard way to break into television
writing. It's a pretty low rung on the ladder because it doesn't take much
creativity. The tone and the characters are already established; you're
actually doing it wrong if you have them speak or behave in a manner other
than what the audience is used to. It sounds like it would be fun but if you
want to get hired you have to suppress the urge to be clever.

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DonHopkins
Well he was certainly true to the established characters' personalities and
ways of speaking:

DINESH

Isn't it weird how fun it sounds to get laid off? Like, everyone wants to get
laid. And everyone wants to get off. But nobody wants to get laid off.

GILFOYLE

I wouldn't mind your mom's pink slip.

