About the Book:

Elephant Bucks is a useful and easy-to-understand book used in UCLA Extension's world-famous Writers' Program.

Sheldon Bull and Blake Snyder were close friends, with Snyder – author of Save the Cat! – challenging writer-producer Bull to create a similar, structured guide for TV sitcom writing. This encouraged Bull to write Elephant Bucks: An Insider's Guide to Writing for TV Sitcoms, which Snyder praised as a top, step-by-step guide to breaking into comedy writing.

What are Elephant Bucks? Simply stated, Elephant Bucks is the really big money – and the enormous satisfaction – you can earn by writing successfully for a television sitcom.

Elephant Bucks by Sheldon Bull is a comprehensive guide to writing that killer spec sitcom script and launching a career as a TV sitcom writer. Includes detailed inside information on how to choose the right series to spec, how to pick the right story and detailed, step-by-step instruction on how to write the scripts that will get you work. Also, how to use those scripts to get your big break in Hollywood.

Elephant Bucks also includes unique first-hand experience on how to handle TV pitch meetings, freelance writing assignments, staff work, agents, executives and stars. Recommended by the Writers Guild Initiative!

What people say:

"Sheldon Bull is not only the funniest man on two feet, but one of the most brilliant when it comes to explaining how to be funny and how to organize your creative ideas into the sitcom form. It is the clearest, best and, to my knowledge, only how-to that tells writers step-by-step how to write for and break into the fabulous world of TV sitcom." — Blake Snyder, Author: Save the Cat

"I was fortunate enough to have directed many scripts that I knew were wonderful but I didn't always know why they were wonderful. After reading Sheldon's book, I now realize so much more about the techniques involved in telling a good story. This book taught me a lot about the art of comedy script writing." — Jay Sandrich, Emmy Award winning Sit-Com Director

"A comprehensive, well-thought-out guide for beginning writers. It would be a pleasure to read any spec script that used these guidelines. I only wish this had been around when I started!" — Susan Beavers, Co-Executive Producer: Two and a Half Men, The Office

About the Author:

Sheldon Bull has been earning Elephant Bucks as a professional television sitcom writer, producer, and director for over thirty years. His career has included writing for MASH, developing, writing and producing the hit CBS sitcom Newhart starring Bob Newhart, writing and producing the ABC hit sitcom Coach and producing, writing and directing the ABC hit series Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. He has held positions from story editor to executive producer on over a dozen different prime-time network television situation comedies. He has personally written or rewritten over 300 sitcom episodes.