2009 NB Films Writer Internships

by NB Films, Inc.


We are accepting submissions from dedicated writers who are looking for opportunities to practice their craft and push themselves creatively in a positive and collaborative fashion. Selected writers will join our current team and work on the creation of episodic television and web-series episodes. Participating in our internships will provide selected writers with resume-building experience as they earn valuable writing credits. They will experience the benefit of working with other writers in a fun and collaborative environment.

We will provide writers with a letter of recommendation upon completion of their internship. We will also work with university faculty to facilitate school credit, if desired. Currently, writing internships are non-paid. As development of our projects progress, participation may qualify writers for paid staff positions. Internship status, however, does not guarantee a paid position. Interns may also secure additional writing opportunities as future television seasons and web series are developed.

INTERNSHIP REQUIREMENTS
Our projects have gained significant interest from several, major, motion-picture and television studios. As a result, we are looking for writers whose interest and dedication allow them to fill the following requirements:

- Writers must be able to commit 20 hours per week to the writing internship.
- Writers will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement & internship contract.
- Writers must be able to attend a writer’s meeting once every week (approx. 2 hours) in Salt Lake City.
- Writers will be asked to post ideas and critique team member writing assignments on our online forum during the week.
- Writers must be able to handle constructive criticism from peers and work closely with other team members.

We are focused on high-quality, meaningful, character-centric storytelling. Providing depth and insight into the project’s world and characters is paramount. Writers should have a firm grasp of their craft, understand scene value-charge, beat/sequence/act construction, be able to create meaningful story conflict and produce up to five pages of work per week. Familiarity with motion picture screenplay formatting a plus, but not necessary. We are primarily interested in a strong work ethic, original ideas and meaningful collaboration within the writing team.

If you feel you meet these qualifications, please submit your information and include writing samples: writers@nbfilms.com

The Countdown....#14

by Bijan J. Hosseini

19 by Adele

19 year old Adele – another young British soul singer. Like Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, Imogen Heap and Kate Nash, she too graduated from the performing arts Brit School in Croydon. Like Joss Stone, Winehouse and Duffy – she is a rich and vibrant singer, coming from now a not so unlikely place and age. Adele wrote her first album Hometown Glory at 16, and gained a record deal from it via myspace to go on to become the international superstar who you can't seem to escape.

The album boasts production from Eg White (Duffy), Mark Ronson (Winehouse) and, Jim Abbiss (Editors, Arctic Monkeys). All 3 producers leave a different stamp and feeling. Ronson was unfortunately limited to just “Cold Shoulders”, which is as good as anything he did on Winehouses' Back to Black. Whites' tracks have a larger threshold, fuller strings sections and more movement. And my favorites generally are from rock producer Abbiss, who is the most minimal. Between the 3, every track is well produced, every song is at least good, and several are ridiculously great.

My CD sampler 3 tracks are:

Daydreams

Best For Last

and Hometown Glory 

The Countdown....#15

by Bijan J. Hosseini

The Bootleg Series Vol 8: Tell Tale Signs – Rare and Unreleased 1989 – 2006 by Bob Dylan

I have had a love/hate relationship with Dylan for quite some time now. I love Bob Dylan for all the obvious reasons, and some more personal and not so obvious. I hate Bob Dylan for the same reasons most in my position do – I have seen him live, twice. He didn't so much as touch a guitar once either time, although he did sing – allegedly. Songs that are little short of sacrosanct to me, were completely destroyed and rebuilt in ways that made them barely recognizable (particularly due to the nature of the “singing”). The second time I saw him was as one of the headliners at Austin City Limits a few years back. Google the official review of that show and the phrases “bad joke” and “sounded like a dying goat” will appear more than once. The majority of people, who couldn't see the stage, laughed through the first and second song, thinking it was a joke – then it kept on going...

Remember I, and most of them too, LOVE Dylan. But we also HATE him.

This latest album came about 2 + years since my last live encounter, and I, wearily, was ready to try to love again. The material, as indicated by the title, comes on the tail end of his creative supernova that occurred at the end of the 80s through the end of 2006. There are multiple versions of multiple tracks, several of which are superior to those actually released on their respective albums. And those tracks particularly brought me a sense of transcendent peace.

It was like walking a mile in his shoes - a small piece of insight into this man, who seems not only unwilling but unable to do the same thing twice, even if it makes us hate him. He remains true to himself, and his vision of what the music should be according to his mood at that very moment. A moment that we can relive a hundred, a thousand times, but has already come and gone for him. 

My CD sampler 3 tracks are:

Born in Time

Everything is Broken

and Series of Dreams

The Countdown....#16

by Bijan J. Hosseini

Gospel Bombs by Vincent Vincent and the Villains

And another one bites the dust. Vincent Vincent & the Villains has become another one of far too many amazing British bands that put out 1 amazing album then break up before I get the chance to see them live. I hate that more than you can imagine. I also hold that had they been named Vincent Vincent and the Vincents, this might not have happened. But they weren't and it did.

Luckily for us, they also put out one brilliant album. Gospel Bombs is an insanely fun, creative, high energy return to 50s rockabilly, but is also much more than a revivalist act. They also foray into surf, swing, and doo-wap with barbershop melodies and all – combined with a hoard of lyrics that never come across as insincere, and never inappropriately cheesy (which it very rarely is even then). As a matter of fact, there is an abundance of depth that almost feels inappropriate for an album as short (36 minutes) and fun and wonderfully cinematic (even dark in places) as this. 

Pick it up while you still can, even in this increasingly digital age, bands quickly broken up are more easily forgotten, and hard to find. But even harder to find still, are albums of this quality. A shame, we won't see more from Vincent Vincent and the Vincents, I mean Villains.

My CD sampler 3 tracks for this are:

On My Own

Blue Boy

and Beast

The Countdown....#17

by Bijan J. Hosseini

Rockferry by Duffy

Ok, let's get the hype out of the way right now. Yes, she's only now 23. Yes, she was a contestant on what amounts to a Welsh talent show (their version of X factor) called Wawffactor (no, she didn't win). Yes, this album took almost 4 years to make. Yes, it includes a lot of help from such legends as Bernard Butler, Jimmy Hogarth, Eg White, and Steve Booker. Yes, it alludes, borrows, references, and perhaps even occasionally steals from the past. Yes, she may sound a little like Dusty on this track, channel Aretha on that, etc... But last and most importantly - yes, hype and all, it really is one of the best albums of 2008. 

From start to finish there is a reason why every track on here, “Serious” aside, is great and is one critic or anothers' favorite on the album. The production is fantastic throughout. The songwriting, particularly Butlers' very underplayed flourishes, are wonderful. But the most wonderful thing on here is Miss Aimme Duffy herself. No matter the style of the song, or the arrangements behind her, she croons beautifully with a sort of raw polish and honesty that hints at something deeper than this debut would quite allow. At the end of the day she is no one but herself, whatever her influences, track for track – and for that I'm thankful.

My CD sampler 3 tracks are:

Syrup & Honey

Mercy

and Distant Dreamer

The Countdown....#18

by Bijan J. Hosseini

Immortal by Pyramaze 

“Up from the ashes, back from the depths, and the voices have risen, fire becomes flesh.”

So begins the 1:03 intro “Arise” -set to a dark and foreboding landscape of slow resonant drums and a haunting etherial build up before the opening lines of the second track “Year of the Phoenix” explodes in fury that culminates with (former Iced Earth frontman) Matt Barlow howling in a key octaves higher than the spoken word we heard moments before.

This marks the return of one of my favorite vocalists ever! And, it could not have been more exciting, better or apt; the verse and bridge follow shortly after another 4 lines of spoken word:

"The time has come, the stars aligned

It's meant to be, I see the signs.

Out of the ashes of beauty and power,

A new beginning, this is the hour.

Thirsty souls bound by the silence

Shall be reborn by their own story

And when the voices have risen

We will seal this pact of resurrecting glory"

I was in love with this album. All it had to do now, was not let me down. And it didn't.

This, Pyramaze's third album will unfortunately (most likely) be Barlow's only contribution to the band (as he's rejoined Iced Earth – thank god, no more Tim Owens). This progressive metal album roars and swoons with Barlow all over the map - guitars blazing, bass and drums thundering, and keys maneuvering in the cracks between with all the prowess of the dragon they sing of in Caramon's Poem (based on the Dragonlance Chronicles).

Barlow is a key figure; adding something a little darker, and fuller to Michael Kammeyer's (primarily) songs than we've heard in the past - pushing them a little more into the American Power Prog/Metal realm than the European. The production, particularly the vocals, is spectacular. Epic and wonderful this album travels nearly the entire gamut of rock, prog, and metal without ever sounding lost, weak, or the slightest bit out of place. Very creative songwriting, both unique and catchy, by Kammeyer coupled with Barlow, who proves yet again why he's one of the absolute best in the business – showcasing a nearly unparalleled range – makes this a must have for any and all who have some rock in them, or want to.

My CD sampler 3 tracks* for this album are:

Arise/Year of the Phoenix*

A Beautiful Death

and Caramon's Poem

*(first two tracks on the album as Arise is a 1:03 intro)

The Countdown....#19

by Bijan J. Hosseini

Third by Portishead

They say that good things come to those who wait... Over a decade since their last release, the aptly titled “Third” by Portishead drives the point home. The majority of the tracks are far quicker paced than anything they've previously done. The instrumentations resonate a familiarity without playing the same notes as it were. Gibbons' voice is the one true carry over, and still brilliant as ever. Despite the variations, the theme is the same – and, thankfully, they maintain the ability to sound like no one but themselves.

A unique and strange trip into a trip-hop, trance, ethereal world that is the musical equivalent of Blade Runner (if I had liked Blade Runner), City of Lost Children, Dark City, or even the Matrix (parts anyway). A strange re-imagining of the most influential bands of the genre, concocted by none other than the band itself. As if they decided to take the already odd image, and place it in front of the “funny mirrors”. A wonderful, albeit not as relevant, (re)introduction to a new generation of listeners, who've already heard Portishead in its spawned influences like Massive Attack, and others more familiar.

Albums like this are the reason why you MUST own a great pair of headphones. The production alone could have been the reason it took 11 years to release – it's a musical maze of the most wonderful sort. Slants of light revealing; however briefly, things lurking in the shadows, that slip away before the light shines again. Guaranteed to allow multiple listens that will uncover new things every time – pick it up.

My CD sampler 3 tracks for this album are:

Silence

The Rip

and Small