Billion-Dollar Kiss by Jeffrey Stepakoff

A few weeks ago I met TV writer Jeffrey Stepakoff, and I just finished reading his new book Billion-Dollar Kiss: The Kiss That Saved Dawson’s Creek and Other Adventures in TV Writing. The book is a quick, fun read, and I learned a ton about the TV writing business. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who’s thinking about working in TV. I really had no idea how much the rise of “reality TV” was tied to disputes between writers and executives in Hollywood. For example, most “reality” shows are so fake that they require almost as much writing as scripted shows — inventing characters (who are then “cast”), staging dramatic events, and constructing character arcs in post-production. But people who work on reality shows aren’t called “writers,” aren’t members of the Guild, and are paid very poorly — and executives like it that way. Anyway, really interesting stuff.