The Future...

"...24p and Final Cut are the car bombs of television."

Strike!

Sorry for the lack of updates...chalk it up to doing lots of other writerly things...

I'm sure everyone knows that the WGA's out on strike at the moment. I'm not going to rehash it other than to say that they're fighting the good fight. If you're curious or want to know why they're striking (or are just hungry for news) I've added some great links on the sidebar...

This one's for the whole shebang kids...

Sophomore Slump

So things aren't going all that well in TeeVee land this season. There haven't been any break out hits. Gossip Girl's been picked up despite mediocre numbers, but a lot of the supposedly flagship new shows (Bionic Woman, Private Practice, I'm looking at you) have failed to impress.

Even more disturbing is the fact that a few of the returning series are also struggling. Heroes may never have been a great show, but at least it was entertaining. This year? Not so much.

Even worse than Heroes has been the disastrous opening to the new season of Friday Night Lights. Now, the first season of FNL came as close to perfection as a season of television can. The characters, storylines and the feel of Dillon, Texas were all so real that you'd swear you could hop in your car and drive there. It felt more like Hoop Dreams than a scripted series.

But boy have things ever gone off the rails.

Now I don't think it's as bad as some people (take Alex for instance), but it's pretty bad. Of course I'm talking about the Landry / Tyra murder plot.

Now I'm not completely opposed to the murder (unlike Alan), but getting rid of the body? Oy vey! Killing someone in the heat of the moment (even if he did it while the guy was walking away) I can understand. But Landry and Tyra are smart kids, after whacking a guy in the head with a pipe they'd call the damn ambulance or at least drop him off at the hospital.

This plotline is frustrating as all hell because it fractures the reality of Dillon, Texas with unnecessary melodrama. And it's a real shame too, because even in the midst of this misbegoten excuse of a story there are moments where Tyra and Landry (probably my two favorite actors on the show) really shine (specifically I'm talking about episode two, "Real Man" scene and the last scene in the episode).

There's still a lot to like in FNL. The Julie / Matt storyline is still strong (though I'm a little worried about this new live in caregiver at the Saracen's). Mrs. Coach is still riveting. Buddy's meltdown is amazing to watch. But compared to last year, the new season's been wildly inconsistent.

Rum and Spies, Dust Busters and Samurais

Wow. The pace is definitely picking up around here. Canadian funding deadlines are looming, VIFF is shifting into high gear, my online UCLA extension class starts today and TeeVee continues its deluge of new shows.

What's been on lately?

Chuck

I quite liked Chuck. Josh Schwartz is channeling the funny, pop-hipster bits from the OC. The action sequences were good, and there's some great comedy (the western showdown at the end may have been a joke we've seen/heard before, but it was well executed).

There are some problems inherent with the premise though. It feels overly familiar, hard to escape when every second show at the moment is an "ordinary man develops special abilities" show, but Chuck also reminds me a bit too much Jake 2.0.

Also, as others have noted, wouldn't all the super secret information in Chuck's head be obsolete after a couple of weeks? Last I heard intelligence was...ahem...time sensitive...

Journeyman

I'm a sucker for time travel stories, so I really, really wanted to like Journeyman, but it just left me feeling "meh."

The love triangle is interesting and offers some fun dynamics to play with. The scenes of Dan in the past, interacting with friends and family, were by far the best parts of the show. The modern drama (trouble with his wife, intervention, etc) fell flat because the audience is out ahead of the characters. We know that Dan's not doing drugs. We know he's not cheating on his wife (does time travel cheating count?). So all the speculation by his wife / brother / boss lacks drama because we know they're wrong.

I loved the murky morality of the time travel plot (he's going back in time to save a guy, only to kill him in the end), but it lacked cohesion in my eyes. I kept wondering what he was doing, how the pieces fit together, and even once it had all played out (turns out he was meant to save the guys unborn child) I couldn't help but think "what's the point of all that?"

Reaper

Reaper and Chuck are the same show. I found the sidekick in Reaper to be more obnoxious than the sidekick in Chuck. The comedy in Reaper was broader, more slapstick. It had some nice moments (love the dogs and the DMV), and the I think that the premise is better than Chuck (at least there were less logic gaps in Reaper than in Chuck). And there's nothing cooler than sucking up souls in a Dirt Devil.

Safe to say I'm a fan.

Cane

I love Jimmy Smits. He's almost enough to make Cane watchable, but in the end he can't save it. At the end of the day this show was flat out boring. I'm falling asleep writing this...

Heroes

Heroes is starting to piss me off. As I watched the first season on DVD all my old niggles (poor payoffs, annoying characters, muddled storylines) really started to come to the fore. The second season premiere didn't do much to alleviate my concerns.

The biggest problem with Heroes is the number of characters and plot lines they're trying to juggle. There are already too many, and the premiere introduced two more!

So the premiere had: Claire and HRG adjusting to their new life (which was good), Suresh infiltrating the company (Suresh irks me to no end), Parkman kicking ass and taking names (detective? nice!), Hiro in feudal Japan (and with a gaijin Kensei? WTF?), Ando and Hiro's dad sitting around drinking coffee and getting death threats, Nathan as an alcoholic with a beard, Peter tied up naked in a cargo container, oh and the two new people on the run in Honduras (if they were heading south they could guest star on Prison Break!).

Anyone else confused by all that?

Scary thing is it's only going to get worse if they follow through with their plan to incorporate a character introduced on Origins into the main show.

Anyways, so much was going on that the episode really just served to reintroduce everyone (with some heroes not even mentioned...Sylar? Nikki / Jessica?). I can't help but feel that they're just throwing bucket loads of stuff at the audience in the hopes that some of it's going to stick.

I think Heroes would be better off if they just focused down onto some of their core stories (Claire/HRG, Hiro, maybe the Petrellis) and get rid of the rest.

All in all there are a lot of shows I want to like this season, but most of them just aren't there yet.

VIFF

The Vancouver International Film Festival (and Forum!) is starting up this week. Exciting, exciting!

So far I've got tickets to see Young People Fucking, Persepolis, The Walker and Relative Humidity (a friends short is screening). Anyone have any recommendations for stuff I'm missing?

As far as the forum goes I've got day passes to TV Day (writing panels with Peter Blake of House and Paul Lieberstein of The Office? Yes please!) and New Filmmakers Day. I'll probably slip into a couple of other panels as well (Viral Marketing and Creative Producing look really good).

There are also going to be come good parties around town. I'm still in the process of wrangling invitations for myself, but it's looking like I'll be going to the BC Film 20th Anniversary party and the NSI party.

If any of you fine folks from the scribosphere find yourselves in Vancouver for the festivities drop me a line and I'll buy you a beer...

K-Ville and Gossip Girl

The new TeeVee season is here. Huzzah!

So far I've caught K-Ville and Gossip Girl, and now let me tell you what I think (you're all dying to know, right?).

K-Ville

K-Ville's a cop procedural set in post Katrina New Orleans. It's a premise with huge potential, though I didn't feel the pilot quite lived up to it.

My main problem was one of inconsistency. There were some absolutely fabulous bits, and then there were ones that left me groaning and scratching my head. Boulet (Anthony Andersen) and Cobb (Cole Hauser) have good chemistry. Boulet is an interesting character, a cop dedicated to saving his hometown, but not all that concerned how he goes about it (drinking on duty, torture, pulling a gun on his partner). In a lot of ways he reminds me of Vic Mackey (of The Shield). Cobb's character reveal at the end of the pilot was nicely done, and made for an interesting twist. The rest of the shows characters get little but lip service (tough but lovable captain? Check!), but you can't develop EVERY character in a pilot.

The city of New Orleans made for a nice backdrop. It's cool to see a city that's not LA or New York up on the screen. I also thought that the show made good use of its premise, namely that it's about cops in a city recovering from tragedy. Just like Rescue Me is about firefighters dealing with the aftermath of 9/11, K-Ville plumbs the same depths in New Orleans. All of its characters were damaged by the storm. Some of the best sequences of the show were the ones that dealt directly with this issue. The opening sequence where Boulet's partner Charlie abandons him. The super creepy firehose through the window bit and the Boulet's family reaction to it. Cobb's revelation of his past. These are the sequences that set this show apart from the rest.

There were a couple of things that really didn't work for me. The action sequences were so over the top as to be ridiculous (I haven't seen a cop fire so many bullets since Live Free or Die Hard), the procedural mystery of the week was, well, weak, and the preachiness started to get to me after a while (yes, we know New Orleans got hit hard by Katrina. Yes we know you're fighting to get it back to where it was. We can SEE that on screen, do you really have to keep telling us the same thing?).

Tone down the action melodrama, get rid of the preachiness (we really don't need it), beef up the mystery (in all fairness I think a lot of this problem can be attributed to the fact it's a pilot. Tough to set everything up and still have a compelling, complex mystery) and we'll have a winner. Until then K-Ville's average. I'll give it a couple more episodes to see if it finds its feet. If it doesn't then it probably won't make it into my TV schedule.

Gossip Girl

Now this might cost me my RMC (that's Real Man Card for the uninitiated), but I actually quite enjoyed Gossip Girl. Sure it's full of sturm und drang, and populated by some thoroughly unlikable caricatures...erm...characters, but for all that it's pretty fun.

Like everything else, it all comes down to execution. Say what you will about Josh Schwartz, but the guy can do some pretty darn good teenage soaps. Gossip Girl feels like you're watching The OC: New York (and we're talking first season OC here). There's some nice banter and verbal fencing (especially between B & S), the plot moves along at a nice clip (though some early strands were seemingly forgotten...little suicidal brother I'm looking at you), and (for once) the use of a voice over narrator didn't piss me off to high heaven (a lot of which I attribute to Kristen Bell). It also helps that none of the actors are as bad as Mischa Barton (ugh).

On the down side Gossip Girl's missing the humor that made The OC enjoyable (it's hard to see them celebrating Chrismukah on Gossip Girl). Like The OC they seem to burn through plot at a prodigious rate (now is this endemic to all things Schwartz? or is it merely a blip in the pilot?). Also the characters really aren't all that interesting (not sure how much depth they have to plumb).

All in all I'd say that Gossip Girl's one of the new shows to watch, I think it'll find an audience.

Oh, and boys, my RMC's in the mail...

Three Weeks...

...and I'm going to be starting my first Television course through the UCLA Learning Extension. Exciting times.

In other news that has me excited Ross rules out a Friends reunion! Yay! Ten years of Friends is more than enough, time for some folks to come up with the next great sitcom (and no I don't think that The Bill Engvall Show quite cuts it).

And I'm off...

Scheduling Dumbassery

Just how stupid can a network be?

Well, if the rumors are true, pretty fucking stupid.

What could possibly possess Sci-Fi to consider running the final season of BSG in two parts over TWO YEARS! Yup...that's right. They'd air 10 episodes in 2008 and then the other 10 in 2009. Sure you could stretch out the final season into two (sort of), but at what cost?

You'd think that the suits would've learned their lesson after watching shows like Jericho implode after a long lay off. Audiences don't want to stick around, twiddling their thumbs.

Then again, they might just be counting on the rabidness of BSG fans. We may bitch and moan, but at the end of the day we're still going to tune in to watch the finale.

But boy do I ever hope this is just an unfounded rumor.

FNL Break Down

As it was promised, so shall it be delivered...

Episode 10 - "It's Different For Girls"

Official Synopsis: The cheer team definitely has something to yell about when Lyla is the victim of brutal high school harassment, and Coach Taylor tries to keep his daughter, Julie, away from Matt.

Teaser

Recap - 00:45 (00:00 - 00:45)
• Matt & Julie relationship
• Smash steroid arc
• Riggins / Lyla fallout

Scene 1 - 00:26 (0:46 - 1:12) - A Story
Lyla cleaning graffiti (Slut, Whore, etc.) off of her locker.

Scene 2 - 01:43 (1:13 - 1:56) - A Story
Cheerleader practice. Catty comments from the other cheerleaders, Lyla struggles with her focus.

Scene 3 - 00:45 (1:58 - 2:43) - B Story
Julie tells Matt that for their budding relationship to work he's going to have to learn to stand up to her Dad. She invites him over to her house to watch TV the following night.

Scene 4 - 01:26 (2:44 - 4:10) - A / D Story
Jason's homecoming. We get to see how his parents have renovated the house (ramps, widened doors). His father's moved his office upstairs. Hint of money trouble ("we'll renovate the utility closet as soon as we can afford it"). Jason gets rid of a picture of him and Lyla.

TRT Teaser (not including recap) - 4:20

Act One

Scene 1 - 01:19 (4:54 - 6:13) - B Story
The Taylor's are driving to school. Julie tells her parents that she's going to be going out with Matt on Saturday. Coach Taylor says that's not going to happen because Matt and the rest of the team have to go to the cheerleading championships.

Scene 2 - 00:56 (6:14 - 7:10) - D Story
Jason's parents tell him that he's going to have to meet with a lawyer about suing the school / Coach Taylor.

Scene 3 - 00:57 (7:11 - 8:08) - C Story
Smash tries to pick up the "New Girl" who just happens to be Waverly, a childhood friend he hasn't seen for a long time, and daughter of the local pastor.

Scene 4 - 00:57 (8:09 - 9:06) - B / C Story
Some friendly locker room ribbing. Riggins says Smash hasn't got a chance in hell of hooking up with Waverly. Someone suggests a bet that Saracen will be able to sleep with Julie before Smash can sleep with Waverly. Unfortunately Coach Taylor overhears all of it and isn't happy.

Scene 5 - 01:00 (9:07 - 10:07) - A Story
Cheer practice again. Her fellow cheerleaders deliberately drop Lyla. Shoving ensues, the Cheer coach demands to know what's going on. They all say nothing's going on. Lyla commits to being with the team.

Scene 6 - 01:49 (10:08 - 11:57) - A Story
Jason sees his neighbors for the first time since he's been home. Challenges the little boy to a race (boy on his bike, Jason in his chair) down the street. At the end he notices Lyla's come to visit. She leaves after Jason says "I have nothing to say to you, don't come back here."

TRT Act One - 6:01

Act Two

Scene 1 - 01:00 (11:59 - 12:59) - C / A Story
Classroom scene. Smash and Waverly discuss the Odyssey, specifically the double standard that exists between men and women. How it's alright if men cheat, but not alright for women. Monogamy is unnatural according to Smash. According to Waverly it's a higher state of evolution.

Scene 2 - 01:26 (13:00 - 14:26) - A Story
Lyla eating in the cafeteria. She's harassed by a couple of other students until Riggins shows up and sits with her. She asks him to leave, that he's making it worse, reiterates the double standard mentioned in the previous scene, until Riggins finally leaves.

Scene 3 - 00:36 (14:27 - 15:03) - A Story
Tyra and Riggins talk in the hallway outside of the cafeteria. Tyra tells him that he's just making things worse for Lyla by sitting with her. He asks her to stay out of it. She realizes that he's in love with Lyla.

Scene 4 - 01:01 (15:04 - 16:05) - A Story
Buddy Garrity's approached in his car dealership by one of the cheerleaders' fathers, who apologizes for his daughter putting some nasty rumors about Lyla on the internet. Scene's intercut with Buddy searching the net for the website.

Scene 5 - 00:42 (16:06 - 16:48) - A / B Story
Coach and Mrs. Coach are playing cards discussing Lyla's situation. "It was like the Scarlet Letter." Saracen shows up for his TV date with Julie, much to her parents dismay.

Scene 6 - 00:34 (16:49 - 18:23) - D Story
The Street family meets with their lawyer. He asks whether or not Jason ever did any tackling drills. Jason realizes that that means they're going to be suing Coach Taylor as well as the school, contrary to what he thought the plan was.

Scene 7 - 00:21 (18:24 - 18:45) - B Story
Coach Taylor pacing in the bedroom while his wife tries to keep playing cards. Wondering what Matt and Julie are doing in the living room. Finally, despite his wife's objections, he decides to go and check up on his daughter.

Scene 8 - 01:07 (18:46 - 19:53) - B Story
Coach scares Saracen away, pisses Julie off in the process. His justification; "They had a blanket." His wife's reaction; "You're an idiot."

Scene 9 - 00:53 (19:54 - 20:47) - A Story
Lyla's looking at the burn website the other cheerleaders have set up in her honor. Buddy checks in on her, she pretends that everything's okay, he pretends the same.

TRT Act Two - 7:40

Act Three

Scene 1 - 02:27 (20:49 - 23:16) - A Story
Pep rally for the cheerleaders. Smash, Saracen, Riggins (and a few other players) dress up in drag and put on a little routine. Lyla's no where to be found.

Scene 2 - 00:27 (23:17 - 23:44) - A Story
Lyla's at her locker. Someone's slipped her a note "For a good time call..." Mrs. Coach finds her and brings Lyla to her office for a talk.

Scene 3 - 00:55 (23:45 - 24:40) - A Story
Lyla tells Mrs. Coach that she's going to quit Cheerleading. Says it used to be the most important thing to her, and ever since Jason's accident she's been pretending that it still is, but now she's done pretending.

Scene 4 - 00:29 (24:41 - 25:10) - C Story
Football practice. Before hitting the field Smash takes some of his steroids, proceeds to dominate practice. Coaching staff comments that he must be eating his wheaties, Coach Taylor "well whatever it is let's make sure he keeps eating them."

Scene 5 - 00:55 (25:11 - 26:06) - B Story
Saracen tries to stand up to Coach after practice. Says that he can't stop him from seeing Julie. Coach Taylor "If I don't want you seeing my daughter, you're not going to be seeing my daughter."

Scene 6 - 00:42 (26:07 - 26:49) - A Story
Lyla crying on her couch. Her Mom tries to comfort her, saying the most important thing is that you learn something from the mistakes you make.

Scene 7 - 01:39 (26:50 - 28:29) - C Story
Smash has Waverly and her Pastor father over for dinner. Wants her to tell them about her time in Africa as a missionary, Waverly's father asks Smash about how his SAT prep course is coming. It's awkward, obvious that something hinky's going on with both things.

Scene 8 - 01:26 (28:30 - 29:56) - A Story
Riggins comes to tell Jason about Lyla's situation. He says that Lyla's always been in love with Jason, that it was a mistake and that he's sorry. Jason's not having any of it.

TRT Act Three - 9:00

Act Four

Scene 1 - 00:55 (29:58 - 30:53) - B Story
Taylor's as they get ready to go to school. Julie says that she's going to get a ride from Matt and Landry, and that she's going to be going with him to the movies on Saturday before the cheerleading thing. Coach Taylor says he's going to have to sit Saracen down for a little "Matt chat."

Scene 2 - 00:35 (30:54 - 31:29) - B Story
Coach Taylor gives Saracen a bunch of game film to review on Saturday in preparation for the next game, and in conflict with Matt's plans to see Julie.

Scene 3 - 00:48 (31:30 - 32:18) - C Story
Smash asks Waverly to go out with him after the game. She ribs him, finally forcing him to drop his Smash persona and be genuine before she agrees to go play miniature gold with him.

Scene 4 - 00:55 (32:19 - 33:13) - A / B Story
Montage of several people watching highlights of the game on television. Jason watching, and then noticing Lyla outside his house. The Riggins brothers hanging out. Saracen and his Grandma, Saracen trying get the TV so he can watch the game tapes. Other families picking up their young kids from the church (which has babysitting for every away game).

Scene 5 - 01:59 (33:14 - 35:13) - C Story
Smash and Waverly on their date, talking about future plans. Smash wants to go to U of T, Waverly's concerned over his academics. Waverly also says that she's going to give up on her dreams of med school "It's probably not the best thing for me right now." Eventually they both call each other's bluff, Waverly doesn't think that Smash used that money for a SAT prep class. Smash doesn't think that Waverly went to Africa.

Scene 6 - 00:56 (35:14 - 37:10) - A Story
Jason and Lyla have it out. Jason says he's unable to forgive her, both cry, Lyla walks away leaving Jason in his chair in the street.

TRT Act Four - 6:08

Act Five

Scene 1 - 00:22 (37:12 - 37:34) - A Story
Panther cheerleaders arrive at the State cheerleading championship.

Scene 2 - 00:58 (37:35 - 38:33) - B Story
Coach and Mrs. Coach get ready to go to the cheerleading championships. They're running late because Coach was playing golf. He's surprised to find out that Julie's going to meet them at the championship because she's getting a ride with Saracen. She decided to help him go over the game tapes. At least now she's interested in football.

Scene 3 - 01:04 (38:34 - 39:38) - A Story
Riggins shows up at Lyla's house, does his best to convince her to go to the championship. She needs that "nothing else matters feeling" that they both get when they're competing.

Scene 4 - 00:33 (39:39 - 40:12) - A / B Story
Coach and Mrs. Coach arrive at the competition, sit with Julie and Saracen, just as one of the referees explains the rules to the cheerleaders in another area of the gym.

Scene 5 - 00:22 (40:13 - 40:35) - C Story
Coach Taylor runs into Smash in the washroom. Smash is cleaning himself up after a monster nose bleed, Coach starts to get a little suspicious that something might be going on.

Scene 6 - 01:48 (40:36 - 42:24) - A Story
Everyone settles into the stands in anticipation of the competition. Lyla shows up at the last minute, checks herself in with the ref (he recognizes her, her response "yup, the whore with the website"). Cheerleaders compete. Jason's there to watch as well. We end with Lyla actually looking happy.

TRT Act Five - 5:07

TRT Show - 39:45



DVD player was glitching a fair bit, so the times are a best guess I'm afraid (things are running short otherwise).


This is one of the heavier episodes of FNL in the early season (at least in my humble opinion). It's also one of the first (only?) episodes that's really all about Lyla. Now I'm not the biggest Minka Kelly fan, but I wanted to break this episode down because it's one of the first times that we're really taken out of the football world and into the realm of the personal.

Now, because of this, it shouldn't come as any surprise that this is a "relationship" episode. All of our main plotlines are about various couples.

Our A story is all about Lyla, and specifically the fallout of her relationship with Riggins and Street. It also has some of the best moments for Riggins and Lyla in the entire show (at least the first half of the season). Scene 3 of Act 5 in particular is solid gold.

Matt and Julie's B story provides most the comic relief, as well as a nice counterpoint to their more dysfunctional counterparts.

The Smash C story is more about his ongoing steroid arc (Waverly acts as a source of continuing, nagging doubt), and Street's D story (so small it'd be a runner if it was comedic) is more about setting up the future lawsuit arc.

The plot lines tend to run in clumps, which works really well actually. The A story gets some momentum and then, just as it's getting a little too dramatic, we're hit with a refreshing burst of B or C.



Anyways, I'll probably follow up with a couple more episodes of FNL (if there's an interest), and then move on to some Dexter.

Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions as to what would improve my breakdowns, please don't hesitate to let me know!

Break It Down

I'm thinking I may take a page from the wonderful Jill Golick and break down episodes of some of the shows I've acquired.

Anyone have requests as to what they'd like to see?

Brotherhood
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Heroes
The Shield

Shopping

My credit card companies must love me.

Went and bought new DVDs on my lunch break today. Unfortunately Best Buy wasn't stocking Friday Night Lights (I had a few choice words about that), but a little internet research later and it's looking like I'll be making a trip to Futureshop on the way home to pick up a copy.

What I did buy (yay for debt!)...

Heroes - How could I not? Sure the show has some problems (dreadful payoff on the "Save the cheerleader, save the world" bit), but I'm still planning on speccing it. It's going to be interesting to see how things go with all the spin offs and marketing hype that's swirling around this show. Is it well enough established to support all the crap they're heaping on top of it?

Dexter - I've seen a couple episodes of this, but not being a TMN subscriber missed more than I saw. I liked what I did see though, and I'm definitely going to spec this show as well.

The Shield (Season 1) - This is a show I've always meant to follow, but somehow never did. It was on sale for a little under $25, so figure I might as well pick it up. Should be a handy reference point if I ever decide to develop a cop-type show.

Brotherhood - I've heard good things about this show, though I've yet to see it. It was only 20 bucks though, and it won a peabody award, so hopefully it'll be worth it.

Delinquent

Two weeks since my last post? Somebody smack me.

In my defense I was really sick with this damn flu that's been going around, and we're in the middle of delivery on one of our shows, so things have been hectic. Hectic and miserable.

Haven't been writing as much as I should either, which always makes me grumpy. Been banging my head against this spy show idea I had (yes the one that I didn't outline when I should have). It still has some serious problems, and I'm fresh out of inspirational new ways of tackling them. Going to set it on the back burner, come back to it with fresh eyes.

Which is actually for the best, cause another great idea fell into my lap, and it's going really well. Have a short synopsis and a couple of (very) light character sketches in the bag, planning on breaking the pilot over the next week, then we're off to the races (whee!).

Other cool things...

Kristen Bell (aka Veronica Mars) is going to be on Heroes! Thank God too, I was starting to worry that I wouldn't be able to get my Kristen Bell fix this year (I know she's attached to Gossip Girl, but from all the rumors that show sounds like it's in a spot of trouble).

Kevin Smith is going to direct an episode of BSG. Not really sure how I feel about this one. Big fan of Kevin's, but his strength lies more in the humor and raunch, not so much the space battles and hard Scifi. On the plus side he does have his comics background to draw on, so hopefully things will be alright.

It's the dog days of summer and the new fall TeeVee season's right around the corner (though as others have noted the concept of a "season" doesn't seem to fit that well anymore), and that means all of last years shows are going to be coming out on DVD soon. It's looking like I'm going to be quite a bit poorer after tomorrow.

On the shopping list so far: Heroes, Friday Night Lights, Dexter and BSG. Also going to snag latest season of The Wire when it comes out. Might also pick up FotC and Intelligence, but we'll see how the ole bank account holds up.

Anyone have other suggestions as to worthy purchases?

As to what shows I'm looking forward to this fall, in no particular order:

Reaper - Looks like a comedy version of The Collector. The pilot's been getting good buzz.

Pushing Daisies - Interesting concept and, again, getting good buzz.

Bionic Woman - If only for Starbuck

There are a bunch more I'll probably drop in on (K-Ville, Life, Dirty Sexy Money, the trainwreck known as Cavemen, but I probably won't stick around them too long...unless they're really good of course).

Should be an interesting year...though word is that most of the new shows suck pretty hard...

Bourne Again

Saw this movie opening weekend. Thought about blogging about it, thought better about it, went back and forth. I have a feeble mind that I can’t make up.

Problem is that this movie’s been festering there. Most summer movies I see, then promptly forget. But not Bourne. Bourne’s stuck around, and for good reason.

It’s a damn fine movie. What summer action flicks are supposed to be.

Let’s break it down.

1. Set-pieces.

Movies are built around set-pieces. Car chases or dance numbers, doesn’t matter, they’re all set-pieces. To quote the wonderful John August, a set-piece is “a scene or sequence with escalated stakes and production values, as appropriate to the genre.”

The Bourne Ultimatum has some beautiful set-pieces.

What makes them great is not only the fact that they’re executed extremely well, but they’re also unique (not in an “I’ve never ever seen this before,” but in an “I’ve never seen this before in a big summer blockbuster.”).

Take the Waterloo train station sequence. In a normal action flick the hero would probably spoof all the surveillance with some techy gizmo, or he’d just go through guns blazing taking out the opposition.

Instead Bourne gets by using observation and wit, only resorting to violence when he has to. It was a fun alternative to what we normally see, and it’s something that helps set Jason Bourne apart from all of the other action superheroes that flood the summer multiplexes every year.

2. An interesting hero.

Jason Bourne is an interesting guy. He’s an assassin who doesn’t want to kill anymore. A man who doesn’t know who he is (or where he came from). It makes for a lot of interesting dynamics floating up there on screen.

Most important though is the fact that Bourne feels like he could be the guy sitting next to you in the theater. He’s the action movie equivalent of the every man. He can’t jump on (and off) of a hovering fighter plane (go go John McClane!). Instead of blasting his way out of every situation he does his best to outwit his opponents. Of course when he’s cornered he’s vicious and fights to win.

Which brings me to my next point.

3. Violence that feels violent.

Too often the action in action movies feels sanitized, glamorized and Hollywoodized. Balletic fight sequences may have their place in the fantastic Chinese kung-fu operas, but it’s refreshing to see a fight scene in which they scrabble for whatever advantage they can get.

I like seeing heroes fight dirty.

If those three points weren’t enough there was this doozy.

Damn that’s cool.

Ten Things...

I've been tagged by that little meme circulating around the scribosphere (courtesy of Matt). This is actually a good thing, since I'm at a cousin's wedding this weekend and don't have the time to come up with an actual post.

So, uhm, thanks Matt!

Without further ado; Ten Things You Didn't Know About Me!

1. I've broken my nose twelve (12) times. This may lead you to believe that I'm a boxer, or brawler, or some-such. I only wish that were true. Instead I'm just really, really clumsy. I've broken my nose falling down stairs, off beds, crashing my bike into a tree, skiing into a tree, catching an elbow while playing basketball, skating, and so on and so forth.

The good thing is that after breaking it for the fifth time it wasn't a big deal anymore (what's that? my nose is perpendicular to my face? eh...it happens).

2. I used to take jazz dance lessons. And I LIKED them! Don't look at me like that!

3. I hated piano lessons until I stopped going to a conservatory and started learning "cool" songs. I'd bring a recording of something to my teacher and he'd help me learn it my ear.

I went from learning Mozart to learning the theme for Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was grand.

4. I started writing for the theater. After highschool my friends and I thought it would be fun to start our own theater troupe. No one else wanted to write anything, so I took the reins. We put on three one-acts and two full length plays before calling it quits. It was really fun.

5. I got kicked out of university for poor attendance. My grades were good, I just had more important things to do than to be in class (like play pool in the bar). Thankfully I managed to convince them to let me back in without too much fuss.

6. I wanted to be a cowboy. The thought of riding around the open plain, sleeping under the stars, was incredibly appealing. And then I tried to ride a horse. After getting dumped off a couple of times I'd had enough. Leave the horse riding to some other chump.

7. I'll work for beer. Back in university I'd spend every summer working as a landscaper. There was one guy that always wanted us to cut his lawn, but never wanted to pay us the twenty bucks it would cost. Eventually we worked out a deal, he'd give us a six-pack and we'd cut his lawn. Smiles all around.

8. I never take good pictures. Ever. Anytime someone tries to take a picture of me I'll manage to mess it up by either having my toungue sticking out (and not on purpose!) or by having food in my mouth. It's a curse.

9. I can (or used to be able to) swear and order beer in eight languages. English, French, Yiddish, Arabic, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Polish. God forbid I need to do anything else cause then I'd be reduced to gesticulating wildly.

10. I've never had a sunburn. Ever. Despite this fact I don't really tan. Chalk it up to genetics.

So some of those are pretty lame, but the family beckons. I know I'm supposed to tag a bunch of folks now, but I'm not because I think that every screenwriter with a blog has been hit by this puppy and it's time to let it die.

Yall can thank me later.

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen..."

"...lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."

I love Shakespeare. Whenever I'm somewhere that's doing a production I'll do my best to go out and see it.

Some of the highlights:

Seeing Richard III in a Cathedral.
The Taming of the Shrew on top of a mountain.
Romeo & Juliet on a beach.
The "Scottish Play" at Stratford.

I've seen most of Shakespeare's plays, including some of his lesser performed works like Troilus and Cressida. But I'd never seen Julius Caesar, until last night at least.

It was a great performance all around. Nice minimal set design. Great costumes. Solid acting with a couple of stand out performances.

What really set it apart for me though was the number and quality of the soliloquies. Mark Antony, Brutus, Caesar. Of all Shakespeare's plays this one had some of the best speeches.

It's too bad that modern narrative seems to have shifted away from monologues and soliloquies. Sure, every now and then you'll see a show in which a character or two gets a monologue, but somehow they're no where close to Shakespeare.

Anyone have any suggestions for a great, modern, television soliloquy? A "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" type speech for a modern generation?

Sounds like my next project...

Outlining

I. Hate. Outlines.

Always have. I'd get a big fat zero whenever a teacher asked me to write an outline cause I'd never do it. Of course then I'd write a really kick ass paper and get an A anyways, so things would work out.

Unfortunately an essay and a screenplay are two very different beasts. My outline phobia may have been fine back in the day, but it's a huge liability now.

Case in point. I'm currently working on a fun little spy pilot. Came up with some great characters, an awesome 'A' plot and a decent 'B' and 'C'. Did the relevant research and then I started to outline the episode.

And then my brain got in the way. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

Started the outline and just kept rewriting, reworking it, adding more and more detail, never getting past the teaser, until I finally realize that I'm just writing the damn thing. Figure "what the hell!" I'll just keep going.

Big mistake. The end result could charitably be called a big, steaming, puddle of vomit. A veritable train wreck. And you can be damn sure that an outline would've saved me from a lot of the problems I have now.

That's okay though. It highlighted some story problems I hadn't considered. And I've got some good thoughts for how to solve them. Just a damn shame that I didn't work them out before spending all this time writing a first draft.

Lesson learned. Next time I write the damn outline.

Fuzzy Bunny Overlords

So, who wants to listen to more hand wringing about Canadian TV? What? Nobody?

Me neither.

On to more important things then! Like Transformers!

I know, I know. I’m a bit late in seeing it, but better late than never.

And I’m glad I did see it. It was a lot of fun. Now I’m ambivalent about Michael Bay. He’s made some fun movies (Bad Boys, The Rock) and some less fun movies (Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys II), but Transformers is definitely one of his better flicks.

It was pretty funny. There were some pretty good actions sequences. Shia LaBeouf is going to be a monster talent. And John Torturro’s always great. All in all it was a good “summer fun-time” movie.

One pressing question I was left with...

How the hell do monstrous alien robots hide behind (or in!) freaking trees? And we’re not talking about 300 foot Sequoia’s or anything here, we’re talking about Willow trees…

Those Autobots are stealthy motherfuckers…

On to robots of a cuter, fuzzier variety, The Last Mimzy!

This was a cute little flick. Some strong child actors and a cute little stuffed bunny from the future. Thought the movie kinda fell apart at the end (how’d the rabbit save the future?) I’m still happy to welcome our new Fuzzy Bunny Overlords.

If you don’t they may just snuggle you to death.

Consider yourselves warned.

What I said to the CRTC

So rather than submit an electronic intervention I actually mailed a hard copy. I figure it takes more effort to physically throw something out than it does to hit the delete key. Though I guess they may have just installed a nice big paper shredder at the bottom of their mail chute or something...

Anyways, here's a copy of the letter I sent in, for anyone who cares...


RE: Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2007-70 – Call for comments on the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) Task Force Report.

Dear Mr. Morin:

This is my written intervention in the CRTC’s call for comments on the CTF Task Force recommendations. As an emerging film professional I was dismayed and saddened to learn of many of the CRTC’s recommendations, and I can’t help but feel that they themselves form a serious threat to the health of our native industry.

The Canadian film and television industry faces a unique set of challenges compared to others from around the globe. As a predominantly English speaking country that shares borders with the largest exporter of English culture on the planet, it is undeniably difficult for Canadians to make our voices heard above the competition. In the words of the CRTC’s chair, Mr. Konrad von Finckenstein, the CRTC and the Canadian Broadcast Act is meant to be “….an instrument for protecting and nurturing Canadian identity.” The CTF Task Force’s recommendations contradict that stated goal.

How would allowing the CTF to fund 8/10 productions protect and nurture Canadian identity? How would eliminating a Canadian writer, director or actor from a Canadian production help us to tell Canadian stories? How does that serve to strengthen Canadian culture?

This recommendation is meant to allow the production of more “commercial” fare. That, in and of itself, is a flawed assumption. The flaw is, of course, that 100% Canadian productions can’t be “commercial.” Not only is this a ridiculous claim, it’s also insulting to all of the Canadians that work in our industry.

Canada’s most successful shows in recent memory have been 100% Canadian. The Trailer Park Boys and Corner Gas. Little Mosque on the Prairies and Degrassi. These shows have succeeded, both domestically AND internationally, not in spite of their Canadian credentials, but BECAUSE of them. We should be striving to produce more of these shows, rather than throwing in the towel.

This isn’t the only faulty assumption made in the CRTC’s recommendations. Another is the belief that a Canadian show would be able to secure a bankable talent (bankable meaning someone who could help to secure U.S. pre-sales of the show) given the budgetary constraints we’re forced to operate under. Take, for example, Corner Gas, which has a production budget of approximately $300,000 Canadian per episode. That’s barely enough (or not enough) to cover the salary of an A-list American actor or show-runner for a single episode. The reality of the matter is that this change would allow Canadian shows to hire a B-list actor that would bring little to no value to the production.

Perhaps more importantly, at least for the long-term health of the Canadian industry, is the message that the CRTC is sending to Canadian creatives. The message that “you’re not good enough.” The question that many Canadians will ask themselves is “if Canada’s unwilling to invest in me, then why should I be willing to invest in Canada?” These proposed changes will result in many Canadians leaving to pursue their careers elsewhere, if for no other reason than a need to make a livelihood.

It is my sincere hope that you are persuaded, if not by these comments, then by the many others that have been made, to further consider the CTF Task Force’s proposal. The proposal is ill-conceived and poses a direct threat to the continued health of Canada’s domestic television industry. There should be, at the very least, a public and transparent debate on the matter before any binding decisions are made.

Sincerely,

Peter Rowley
Screenwriter / Producer’s Assistant
Screen Siren Pictures Inc.

Specs - Serialized Blues?

So we all know that as a writer trying to break in your time is going to be spent doing a set number of things.

You're going to rail against the unfairness of the world and wonder why your genius is being overlooked while Joe Schmo sells a million dollar script about a redneck hamster with herpes.

You're going to spend a lot of time procrastinating (but blogging is sort of like writing!).

You're going to get depressed and wonder what the hell you were smoking when you dropped out of law school to write movies (okay, I never went to law school, but my parents sure wanted me to).

Oh, and if you're really, really good you might even do some writing.

Imagine that.

So what are you going to be writing? Well, if you're like me and looking to break into the wonderful world of television you're going to spend your time writing specs. But what if the only shows you like are heavily serialized shows like Lost and 24? Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty?

How do you shoehorn a episode into what's already an extremely tightly plotted show?

It's something that I've wrestled with a lot in the past. And it's something that's just been asked again over at Lisa's great blog, What It's Like.

Now I'm sure that Lisa's going to answer the question, cause she's just that kind of awesome, but I thought I'd throw my thoughts up here as well. A blog's a ravenous beast, have to keep shoveling something down its maw.

So. How does one write a spec for a super serialized show?

Start at the beginning.

At least that's what I did with one of my first specs. It was a spec episode of 24. Rather than try to shoehorn a story into the middle of season 3 (which is when I was writing), I decided that I'd just write the first episode of the next season.

Now, I'm sure that's not a wildly original idea, but it's what worked for me, and what worked for that show. At the end of the day though it became one of my "bottom drawer" scripts. I filed it away never to look at it again (the fate of many a first script).

That approach wouldn't work for every show though. Shows like Lost or Heroes have such defined beginnings and storylines that carry over from one season to the next that it would be difficult to spin off in a completely new direction.

They do offer different opportunities though. Heroes has multiple timelines that you could explore. In its season finale Lost introduced flash forwards to go with the show defining flash backs. That offers up a whole new ball of yarn for us writers to play with.

Things get a lot harder when it comes to serialized shows that don't have time travel and flashback/forwards, but whose plots aren't limited to a season (unlike say 24 or The Wire). Shows like Battlestar Galactica can be tough to do without a convenient time bending out.

I wish I could speak more to Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty, but unfortunately they're two of the shows that I just don't follow at all (and let's face it...to spec a serialized show you HAVE to follow it). I'm sure someone else will be able to speak to those shows though.

At the end of the day always remember that the most important thing about writing a spec episode of ANYTHING is that you have to nail the template. You have to get the voices right. You have to get the tone right. You have to make it as close as possible to something that would actually happen on the show.

Anyone else have any suggestions on how to spec a heavily serialized show? If so please share. I'm sure there are lots of us dying to hear what yall have to say...

Sunshine

Anyone else looking forward to seeing this?

I think it looks awesome, and I've been hearing some really good things about it...

Too much of a Canadian thing?

-OR-

A defense of Bon Cop, Bad Cop.

I had a very strange conversation with some film friends last night. It’s not like we picked up our discussion topic on the way in from left field or anything. We’d been talking about movies, something we’re wont to do. This conversation wasn’t really all that different from dozens of others we’d had.

And then it went completely and totally off the rails.

I mentioned Severance (which I’ve talked about before) as a movie that they should see. I figure it’s a good example of the direction we should be taking Canadian film, a direction that was exemplified by Bon Cop, Bad Cop (I know I forgot to mention it in my previous post, but I’m doing my best to make up for it now!).

Only one problem. They’d never seen Bon Cop, Bad Cop. Even worse they had no DESIRE to see it (at least until I’d recommended it). The problem? It was “too Canadian.”

Why would they want to go see a movie that rams its Canadian-ness down their throat?

I’d never even considered this. When I got home last night I skipped around the intertubes, looking for similar feelings about BCBC, and, lo and behold, there are lots of people who feel the same way.

It’s a reaction that confuses the hell out of me. When I saw the trailer for Bon Cop I thought “Hey! That looks like a pretty sweet buddy cop movie!” It had gunfights, chases, explosions…everything a cop movie needs. But the one thing I didn’t feel was that it was ramming its Canadian credentials down my throat.

Sure. It starred an English speaking cop and a French speaking cop who happened to be investigating a body found on the border between Ontario and Quebec. That’s the story. It is what it is.

What’s wrong with that? Why does the fact that it’s identifiable as being set in Canada make it bad? Why does the fact that it’s a bilingual film lower your desire to see it? Is there an inherent problem with a movie that’s identifiably Canadian?

BCBC has more in common with Lethal Weapon than some creatively starved, commercially unviable, NFB flick from the seventies. Watching the trailer I saw more cop clichés than Canadian clichés. So what’s the problem?

If this exact same story took place in Europe would people have the same reaction? If the body had been found mid-way through the Chunnel, if it was an Englishman and a Frenchman that were called to investigate, would that be okay? Or would it be too “European Union?”

Why is Canadian Culture taboo? Why do we hate ourselves so much?

Talk about a fucked up national identity….

Alright. Calm down. Let’s try to get this back on track…

Ultimately what it came down to was how free are we to tell our stories. My friends don’t want to be forced into just telling “Canadian Stories.” As a writer I sympathize. I don’t want to have to write about hockey playing beavers who love maple syrup all the time. I like to think that the stories I write are universal. I hope that whoever winds up listening will find them relevant whether they’re from Vancouver or Vietnam (this post probably being a notable exception).

The way in which people determine what is and what’s not CanCon is screwed up. Forget points, forget having to set your story in Montreal, forget having to show off the Maple Leaf X number of times. Forget all of that.

If it’s made by Canadian creatives it’s Canadian. Period. End of story.

That’s what my friends were trying to say. That’s what they were trying to get at (at least I certainly hope that’s what they were trying to get at).

That’s the paradigm shift those in power need to undergo. But that’s not all that needs to change.

We, the general public, aren’t off the hook. We need to re-evaluate how we look at content. It’s time to throw out the pre-conception that “if it’s Canadian it must be bad.” It’s time we embrace good, quality, Canadian driven programming. Who cares if it’s obviously Canadian? Who cares if it takes place in small town Saskatchewan (Corner Gas)? Who cares if it’s set in a trailer park (Trailer Park Boys)?

It’s about damn time we chose what we watched based on the quality of the story, not how many times people say “eh!”

The story. The characters. That’s what’s important.

And if it’s a buddy cop movie, look past the fact that they’re from Ontario and Quebec. Look past the fact that they speak English and French. Look past the fact that it’s a “Canadian” movie.

Look past it and let yourself enjoy the rollicking good story that it is.

You won’t be disappointed.

Nine reasons...

...to watch The Wire.

So what are yall waiting for?

Emmy Insanity

So the 59th Primetime Emmy Nominees are up. I’m not a big fan of awards shows. In fact I usually think that they have their collective heads up their collective asses. Have half the voters seen the shows they’re voting for? I seriously doubt it. This Emmy nominee list is just the latest bit of evidence to bolster my argument.

Friday Night Lights was largely ignored. No Best Drama nod. No writing or acting nods. This is a show widely considered to be the BEST SHOW ON NETWORK TELEVISION. Shut out. That’s disgraceful. Here’s hoping that Ben Silverman doesn’t use the lack of Emmy noms to get rid of FNL early (especially if he replaces it with his Venezuelan Breast Show).

The Wire and Deadwood were both ignored as well. Okay, slight exaggeration. Deadwood got some tech noms (hairstyling, makeup and the like), but no writing or acting nods? Really? I’m sure Al Swearengen would have some choice words about that, most likely starting with mother and ending in suckers.

Even harder to deal with is The Wire’s oversight. This is by far the best show on television (FNL is the best show on network TV, The Wire best show once you factor in cable). But it airs on HBO, is shot in Baltimore (which might as well be the North Pole as far as Ho’wood’s concerned), and features a cast of unknowns. Oh, and did I mention that they’re all black? Just one more reason why no one’s (read: Emmy voters) heard of The Wire.

Alright. Fine then. Surely they couldn’t have gotten it all wrong. The Sopranos got some much deserved noms. Not sure 15 were in order, but I’m willing to go along with the majority of them (that and I’m still afraid Tony might come around and whack me if I disagree too loudly). James Gandolfini and Edie Falco both got acting nods. They also picked up three out of five writing nods. That I can’t agree with, especially when shows like Friday Night Lights and The Wire were shut out. Give David Chase a directing nod for “Made in America” (that crash to black was genius). Give Terence Winter a writing nod for “The Second Coming” (Anthony’s suicide attempt and the aftermath was great freakin’ tv). But do they really need 2 more writing nods? I don’t think so.

The nomination I’m really stoked about would have to be Battlestar Galactica’s writing nom for “Occupation” and “Precipice.” Those are virtuoso episodes of a great, great show. It’s about damn time Sci-Fi crawled out of its ghetto and got some recognition. BSG also snagged a directing nom for “Exodus: Part 2.” Frakkin’ awesome.

Lost rounds out the drama writing noms. Personally I think that Lost really struggled this season, though it started to find its legs towards the end. Not sure that it deserves this nom though.

On the comedy side of things 30 Rock picked up two well-deserved writing nods, as did The Office. If I had to lay money on it I’d go with The Office, which is too bad because Extras (which also got a nom) really deserves it. But being a drama guy at heart I wouldn’t use my advice to decide who you’re going to bet on.

I could spend some time talking about the acting noms, but I don’t really want to (Alec Baldwin? As a LEAD?), cause it’s just going to make me crazy (or crazier).

Good thing that these awards mean absolutely nothing in the long run…but if NBC uses this to cancel FNL early, well, I’m going to take a page from Al Swearengen's book and have some choice words about Mr. Silverman…

Canadian Creatives...

Read this.

Maybe together we can make a big enough stink to change things for the better...

Way to go Denis. Way to go.

For more on the CRTC go check out Alex Epstein, Jim Henshaw and Will Dixon. These guys know what they're talking about, let's stand up with them and lend our voices to the cause.

John From Cincinnati

I'm not a TMN subscriber, and being a Canadian I can't subscribe to HBO directly. Unfortunately this means that I have a tough time seeing some of the new, cutting edge shows right away (though the plus side is I spend less time glued to the tele).

But last night I found myself at my parents house. We had a lovely barbecue, including beer-can-chicken (or up the butt chicken as my mother calls it) and some nice fingerling potatoes. And after the dishes were done, dessert was consumed and my parents had decided to lie down for a spell, I got to watch some television.

And not just any television, but "specialty channel" television (no, not porn...get your mind out of the gutter), including TMN. And on the TMN schedule last night, John From Cincinnati.

I'm a huge David Milch fan. NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues, great, great shows. Deadwood, even better.

Milch is an incredible talent. There are two things that have always struck me about Milch's creations. First are the characters. Deeply flawed, generally unlikable, but fascinatingly watchable (who could possibly tear their eyes away from Al Swearengen?).

Second is the dialogue. Milch is a modern Shakespeare, his dialogue on par with the Bard. Even in a show like Deadwood the writing turns all the vulgarities into poetry. No mean feat.

So watching John From Cincinnati last night was an almost surreal experience. Here's Milch's signature dialogue coming out of the mouths of a bunch of royally screwed up Californian surfers. It was....weird.

I'm really not sure what to think of it either. I had trouble identifying with any of the characters, and I found John (of the title) to be incredibly annoying. I'm sure a lot of that is because I've missed the first five or six episodes. I can safely say that John isn't all that easily accessible. That being said it's a show I'll definitely rent once it's released on DVD.

If nothing else it's a way for me to get my David Milch dialogue fix.

Summer Doldrums

Summer's here in force. Record breaking temperatures mean that I've been spending as much time as possible out enjoying the sunshine (gotta stock up on those rays while we can before that cold Canadian winter sets in). Course this means that my writing's taken a hit, or at least my blogging has.

And it's not like there's nothing to be blogging about. The receent CRTC recommendations on the CTF for one. All sorts of geektastic (and that is so a word) movies to see (Die Hard, Transformers, Potter). But really I think that others around the ole' scribosphere are doing a bang up job hitting the highlights, so why should I rehash things?

Let me just say the following...

It's dark times for Canadian television folks. The CRTC suggestions are not only bad for Canadian creatives (8 of 10? Let me just bend over a little bit more), the proposed changes to the funding streams (splitting up the fund into Heritage and "Marketable" streams, as well as the changes to BDUs) is bad for Canadian producers as well.

Make no mistake, this industry is moving inexorably towards the brink. We just have to hope that those in power actually sit down and listen to some of us (WGC, DGC, ACTRA and, yes, even the CFTPA) who are opposed to these regulatory changes.

If I had a real seat at the table then you bet your ass I'd be raising a stink. But I don't, at least not yet. So rather than spend time getting an ulcer over it, I'm going to go and enjoy the sunshine.

Someone pass me a nice alcoholic beverage with an umbrella in it.

Who am I?

How do you protect something when you don't know what it is?

It seems that we Canadians spend a lot of time worrying about the erosion and Americanization of our culture. Our fears are reflected in the regulations governing the film and television industry (Canadian content, funding criteria). The powers that be set us a goal. They want us to produce "Canadian stories."

Uhm...say what now?

What's a Canadian story? Are there any stories unique to us? What's it mean to be Canadian? I still haven't figured it out. It reminds me of my time at the University of British Columbia studying Political Science. As part of my undergrad I took a couple of Canadian politics courses, much of which were devoted to the question of "What does it mean to be Canadian?"

People kept throwing thoughts out for consideration.

"Canadians are peaceful!"

"Canadians are socially aware!"

"Canadians are tolerant!"

All true, but none really capture the imagination to provide the be-all-end-all definition of what it means to be Canadian. In fact, the closest we ever came to said definition was "Well...we're definitely not American."

Whenever one of my classmates said that I was always disappointed. Defining yourselves as something you're not just seems so...negative. I felt even worse about it once I started focusing more and more on my writing for one simple reason.

Good stories are universal. They should reach across differences and be able to move an audience regardless of their cultural background. After all, we're all human beings sharing one delicate little ball called Earth.

I think that by putting such an emphasis on developing "Canadian Stories" that sometimes we lose sight of that.

And it's something that I'm just as guilty of as Telefilm or anyone else. I'm in the process of putting together an application for the Canadian Film Centre's Prime Time Television Writing program (yeah, yeah...a year in advance...I'm a keener) and find that I'm obsessing about whether or not my spec project's are going to be "Canadian" enough.

Ultimately I think I'm just going to say "screw it" and tell the best damn story I can, Canadian or not. Here's to aiming to be universal, being everything to everyone.

Hell, if that's not Canadian what is?

Oh No(te)s!

In a lot of ways the act of writing and the act of making a film or television show are diametrically opposed. Writing is a solitary pursuit, done behind closed doors, away from prying eyes (or at least locked away in our own neurotic writer brains). Making a film, on the other hand, is collaborative in the extreme. Writers, producers, directors, actors, cinematographers, production designers, costume designers, composers, etc, etc, are all going to bring their own specific styles and sensibilities to the table.

This is one of the things that makes film and television such a unique art form, the fact that it requires hundreds of people working together to realize one vision.

Personally I think that it's also one of our greatest strengths. A hundred people with one, unified goal ought to be able to make a better product, right?

At least that's the way it'd go in a perfect world.

Anyways, all this rambling came about after I read an interesting article over on Variety. Premise? That even TV's greatest writers (David Chase, David Milch and Aaron Sorkin) need to be reined in from time to time. They need someone to give them feedback on their ideas lest they become overly self-indulgent. In other words, they need notes.

Personally I couldn't agree more (though I take exception with some of the examples). The need for notes was painfully obvious in Studio 60. Sorkin's personal neuroses played well on The West Wing, largely because he was able to articulate them within the framework of the show (what's more believable, dealing with crazy right-wing Christians as a political problem in the White House or as a (un)funny sketch on a comedy show?). I can't help but think that if only someone had stood up and said something (anything!) that this show could've been a lot better than it was.

Unfortunately if anyone did say anything it was ignored or disregarded. If it was given due consideration that would be fine, if it was discarded out of hand it's another story altogether. Ultimately you have to assume that everyone is working towards making the project better. Every note should be considered, even if it's not used.

It can take some getting used to as a writer. So let's all repeat it together. Notes are a good thing.

Just don't feel like you have to take them...

Triggerstreet

This is kind of a cool site. Screenwriters and short filmmakers post their work for peer review. You have to review others work to be able to get reviews, so it's hard for people to freeload of others. There are some decent screenplays up there too (although there's a lot of real dreck too).

My only complaint is that they don't accept TV scripts, which means I'm not going to be submitting anything...

The Beat Down

Anyone that wants to gain insight into what my life is like just needs to go and rent The Devil Wears Prada. Anyways, work's been brutal. Stress and dissatisfaction are piling up. It's been hard to not let things beat me down, but I'm doing my best.

A few quick hits...

Ghost Rider was a piece of poop, but it was a piece of poop that made me want to ride motorcycles.

Gave The Best Years another try. It's gotten a lot better than it was, but it's still really, really stale.

Was confused when I saw a spot for Heartland on TNT. Then I realized that it wasn't the same show that the CBC announced.

Still disappointed that I couldn't make it to Banff (or as I like to call it Mecca) this year. As a consolation prize I managed to snag an invite to the CFC screening party here in Vancouver. Shorts weren't exactly short, but I met some cool people.

Been looking for some television writing classes out here on the West Coast (or over the intertubes), but haven't had any luck. If anyone has a recommendation drop me a line!

And now it's off to bed...

Television vs Film: Round One

"So, what do you do?"

"I'm a screenwriter."

"Cool! You write movies then?"

"Actually no, I write for television."

"Oh...so how bout that local sports team?"

I've had a couple of conversations like that the past couple of days. Guess it's understandable that most people think of features when they think of screenwriting. Telewriting just doesn't have the same ring to it.

In reality people are usually pretty chuffed to hear about my ambitions. "It's cool that you want to write for TV, but wouldn't you prefer to make movies?" Somehow that "but" always creeps its way in. Stealthy bugger.

The answer is No. No, I don't much care for features, I'd rather work in television thanks, and let me tell you why (as if yall didn't see that one coming). Here are some reasons off the top of my head:

Format

I think it was Alex Epstein who wrote that (and I'm paraphrasing here) "Movies are a fling, TV's a relationship." The fact that a TV show allows you to keep coming back to your audience week in week out lets you spin much more complex narratives and create deeper characters than in a film. As a storyteller that's incredibly appealing.

Development Cycles

Theoretically at least, TV development cycles are shorter than their film counterparts. This is more applicable to the States, but we'll let that slide for now. It usually takes years to bring a feature from script to screen. In the world of television people are expecting a bevy of new shows EVERY YEAR. This breakneck pace continues once you go into production, after all you need to write a new episode for the crew to shoot the following week. Once a film goes into production, more often than not, the writer's done.

Roles

Features are a directors medium. Television is a writers medium. Directors are the ones who helm a feature, exerting the most influence on what it will become. In television it's the showrunner (always(?) a writer) who exerts that level of control. I think that it's probably every (television)writers dream to be a showrunner.

Creativity

I think TV is where most (not all, but most) of the cutting edge storytelling is being done. Shows like Battlestar Galactica and Deadwood. The Wire and Friday Night Lights. Slings and Arrows and Intelligence. Life on Mars and Doctor Who. These are shows that confounded my expectations and blew my socks off. I'd be hard pressed to name as many recent films that managed to do the same. And I could go on!

Future Trends

I also think that TV, and the people who work in TV, will be the first to adapt and exploit the opportunities created by new media. Just look at things like Sanctuary (from the team behind Stargate), the BSG Resistance Webisodes or the award winning ReGenesis Extended Reality Game. This is the future of traditional media, and the fierce competition in the television world is going to force use to adapt or die.

That's an incomplete list of why I chose TV over film. I could go on and on (and on), but I don't want to excessively bore anyone.

I love both mediums, I just love TV a little bit more.

Does that make film the read headed stepchild?

Hip-pocketed? Hip-checked!

It's official. I've been dumped. Not romantically (thankfully), but professionally.

A while back I took part in a pitch festival here in Vancouver. I wasn't really looking for anything other than experience pitching (I actually quite like pitching, but that's another story entirely). I went in with a couple of pitches for television pilots, met some cool people, had some good (and some ugly) pitches, and basically thought that was that.

And then The Agent called (well, emailed actually). This was off one of my better pitches. She wanted to see the pilot. I send it off. She reads it. She loves it. She asks me to come down to talk about my "future."

Hot damn, right? An agent's interested! I'm on my way!

Yeah. Not so much.

She spins some song and dance about how she likes to rep her clients on a "project by project" basis. No overarching contract, but she'll step in if and when one of my projects gets some traction.

Now I'm a newbie writer, but I'm not a complete rube (at least I like to think I'm not). It's not like a just fell off the turnip truck. I knew this wasn't the way things are usually done, but after giving it some consideration I couldn't really see a downside to it.

So time passes. I check in with Agent every month or so, don't actually get any meetings out of it (in fact the only meetings I attended were ones I managed to set up my own damn self), but I'm still thinking that "Hey! I have a sort-of agent and that's better than nothing."

And then the it starts taking longer and longer to return my calls. Days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and all of a sudden it's six months later. Not a peep.

Talked to an actor friend of mine last night who astutely pointed out that I'd been hip-pocketed. Agent was interested in one of my projects, but not interested in spending the time to break a new writer in. If the project got some steam she'd be there, otherwise I was on my own.

Back to square one I guess.

Sometimes this business frakkin' sucks.

Stay on target...Stay on target...

Last night I went out with some friends and acquaintances to talk about a screenplay idea they have. They're all really smart guys, most of whom work in the industry, all of whom have a wicked sense of humor. The idea they have is a great one too. Just the kind of movie we need to be making in Canada.

So the conversation starts and they're throwing ideas around, each more outlandish (but hilarious) than the last...

"What if we had some Ninja Pandas chasing our hero?"

"Dude! That'd be awesome!"

DISCLAIMER: There are no Ninja Pandas in the script (though there was a fair bit of cheap beer flowing, so I could be wrong).
DISCLAIMER #2: Ninja Pandas are the exclusive property of Emily Blake. She kickboxes and I don't want to get hurt.

The ideas may not have been that outlandish, but you get the picture. As the night wore on I started having Star Wars flashbacks. As ideas and thoughts and sketches piled up I couldn't help but mutter to myself...

Stay on target. Stay on target.

Screenplays, when you come right down to it, are pretty simple things. You have 120 pages to tell your story. It's not a lot of time, you damn well better stay on point or you're going to get lost in the weeds.

And that's where my friends were. The weeds. None of them come from a writing background (or at least not a screenwriting background). Two of them are editors. Some of them are musicians. Most of them have some sort of sketch comedy background.

But a series of sketches (which it became clear was what we were talking about) do not a movie a make.

At the end of the day I offered to stay on as a "story consultant." I'll do my best to help them through the writing process, offering what little insight and knowledge I can. But unless they absorb this first, crucial lesson I think we're going to see a train wreck instead of a caper movie...

So. Lesson Numero Uno. Stay on target. Take a long, hard look at everything in your story. What's the spine? What's off the spine? If it is off the spine, you're probably better off killing it than keeping it.

Remember, you have to serve the story. Sure your cross dressing, karaoke singing, schizophrenic Laotian may be a great character, but is he going to fit into (and add to) your story about Mormons in Salt Lake City? No? Then get rid of him already!

Stay on target. Otherwise Vader's going to sneak up behind you and put a cap in your ass (cause that's the way Vader rolls, yo).

(Don't) Leave Them Hanging

Common wisdom seems to be that open endings aren't the way to go when you're talking about television (and less so for films). Creators should wrap up their series in a nice little package, answer all the audiences questions, don't leave any loose threads. You know...clean up, sweep the floors and turn out the lights when you go.

Just look at the furor going on over The Sopranos finale. Fans are being, well, fanatic, about the whole thing. Most of them want David Chase's head on a platter. They're crashing HBO's website, they're pissed, flooding the intertubes with their vitriol. Clamoring they say "Tell us what happened! Give us answers!"

Why?

This was the perfect ending for a show that embraced uncertainty. There are no easy answers, no black and white morality, just a messy, ugly world. What happened to Tony? I don't know, but I would've been incredibly disappointed if I knew for sure that he got whacked (or arrested, or just went on with his life).

Choosing to go with an open ending was a brave choice and I salute Mr. Chase for sticking to his guns and doing it his way. Thanks for proving that an open ending isn't necessarily "a very bad thing."

Babies, Pirates and Sci-Fi, Oh My!

So I had a nice review of Knocked Up all ready to go...and then Blogger ate it. I was going to try to rewrite the whole thing, but I really don't want to. Instead I'm going to post a few quick hits and other random things.

Knocked Up

Fabulous. Finally a romantic comedy that brings an element of reality to the proceedings. This movie is funny because the audience watching it can relate. They all have friends like that. They've all been in situations like that (maybe not knocked up, but definitely regretting a night of drunken debauchery).

Everyone should see this movie.

Pirates: At World's End

Terrible. I spent the first hour and a bit trying to figure out what exactly was going on and why everyone was doing what they're doing. They've got to get Jack because he's a Pirate Lord with one of the nine pieces of eight? I thought they needed him back because he's a friend! They're trying to free Callypso? When did that happen? It felt like the movie was just careening from one set piece to the next, with no rhyme or reason for when or why.

On the plus side the action sequences are good and it was nice to see all the characters again. Still hardly worth the price of admission though.

Space: Above and Beyond

Not sure that anyone remembers this series (ran for a year in 95-96), found a copy of it in the bargain bin and thought I'd pick it up to relive my youth. I wasn't expecting much, I thought it was kind of cheesy when I first saw it at age 15, but I actually quite enjoyed it. Some of the writing is actually pretty good, of note is episode #12 "Who Monitors the Birds?" What impressed me so much about it was the lack of dialogue. Practically the entire episode is silent, told entirely in images. It was done very well.

And isn't it about time that Sci-Fi shed its pariah status? Where does that prejudice come from anyways?

Blogger Ate My Homework

Or at least my latest post. All gone. Didn't save it. Disappeared into the ether. Darn it.

This makes me a sad panda.

Fans Unite!

Looks like all it took was lots and lots of nuts!

I think that it's great CBS is bringing Jericho back. It's an opportunity for the writers to wind up the story and close it out the way it was meant to close.

Now if the networks were really listening (to me) they'd bring back a few other shows...

Deadwood - You mother****ing ****suckers!
Veronica Mars - Whoever decided to cancel Veronica is the "obligatory psychotic jackass" of the CW.
Dead Like Me - But only if they hire me to write for them!
Undeclared / Freaks and Geeks - Judd Apatow for life!
Firefly - Joss is a (the?) God!

Any other beloved shows you'd like to see come back? Write them down! Maybe if we all start sending them bags of nuts some other shows will come back!

What Canadians should be doing...

...we should be loosening up.

Let me explain...

I was fortunate enough to take part in a conversation with some of the fine folks over at Telefilm Canada recently. The conversation centered around one of the projects my company had submitted with the aim of getting development financing. Eventually we just started talking about the types of submissions that Telefilm gets in general, practically all of which are serious, earnest, dark dramas.

Now don't get me wrong. I like serious, earnest, dark dramas as much as the next guy (which probably isn't as much as the next girl, but that's a subject for another post), but I don't think that they're the kind of films we should be making loads of. Why? Because they're just not that popular.

The general public wants to go and see the latest Shrek or Pirates or Spiderman. Given the choice between some piece of light fluffy entertainment and a serious drama, they're going to choose the fluff.

We need to start making fluff.

Now that's not to say I think we need to start making commercial crap. Fluff doesn't mean commercial crap (no matter what serious artistic types are wont to tell you). We need to take a page out of the Brits book and start making movies that are smart, quirky, funny or scary, but most importantly, that are commercially viable.

Let's toss out some examples, shall we? I'm talking about movies like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. The Descent and Severance. There are already some Canadians who're doing this. If you haven't seen Andrew Currie's Fido you're missing out.

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot to mention Bon Cop, Bad Cop. Mea Culpa.

My point is that it's making those kind of movies with a Canadian spin that's going to save our industry (or at least it's the way that I think our industry should be moving).

It's time to start catering to what people want to see, not what we think they should see...

Why I do bother

-OR-

Hope springs eternal


Glad to see that at least some people get it.

Here's hoping they stick to it!

And as an addendum, check out this post by Will Dixon. Great stuff!

Why do I even bother?

-OR-

The State of the Canadian Industry


I'm usually a pretty upbeat person. I know that I've chosen a hard road. It's a tough game this thing we call screenwriting, but I just can't see myself doing anything else. Of course that doesn't mean that I don't question my sanity at times.

Especially when I see things like this.

That's the CBC's coverage of their fall schedule announcement. Now let us forget for a moment that it's a case of a broadcaster providing coverage of themselves (wonder what the slant on that coverage is going to be?), and look at what they're saying.

Frankly, I was shocked. This year the CBC is charging headlong into producing reality television. Dragon's Den, Test the Nation, No Opportunity Wasted, Triple Sensation. All reality. All a departure from the types of shows Canadians are used to seeing on their public broadcaster.

This wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, particularly if there were a bunch of scripted dramatic series waiting in the wings.

I'd say guess what, but I'm sure everyone can see where this is going...

Four reality shows in its fall schedule and the CBC's only planning on having two dramas. Intelligence (which I do give them kudos for renewing) and a new drama called Heartland. The CBC's also bringing back Little Mosque and a couple of miniseries St. Urbain's Horseman, Showtime's The Tudors (which barely counts since it was mainly an Irish endeavor).

Guess I was hoping for better from the Ceeb.

Why does this depress me? Well it's another symptom of the declining opportunities for Canadian creatives. I think that the CBC has its head up its collective arse if they think that Canadians want to see more crappy reality television (okay...that might've been unfair, but I'm venting) rather than dramas or comedies.

The joys of the Canadian industry.

Let us review:

Screwed up government regulations. Check!

A plain screwed up government. Check!

Commercial pressure? Check!

We could go on (and on) but others have commented much more eloquently (and with more experience) than yours truly (people like Mr. McGrath and Mr. Henshaw...my heroes!).

So what's a young writer to do?

Honestly I haven't a clue. Could always try my luck south of the border, but that would involve all sorts of nasty things like green cards (not to mention I really do love living in Canada).

Nope. Nothing for it but to keep on plugging away.

That reminds me that I have a pilot treatment to finish off...

Back to the grindstone...

Things not to say in an airport...

"Purpose of your visit?"

"I'm here to shoot a pilot."

Anyways, I'm off to read a script now. Kind of ironic that I'm helping to determine the fate of another writer, but that's the way the cookie crumbles...

Poor, poor HAL

Flipping channels while eating a late lunch and stumbled across 2001: A Space Odyssey. Normally this would be a good (if time intensive) thing.

Not this time.

Nope, not this time, cause this time I stumbled onto it just as Bowman was killing HAL.

Poor, poor HAL.

I'm going to go cry now.

The Wire

Growing up I was a big fan of hip hop culture. In my defense I never actually thought or pretended I was from the ghetto. Nope. I was quite content to embrace my gangly, white nerdiness throughout high school. I just liked listening to some of the music and watching some movies.

Ten years on and it's obvious that the movies had a huge impact. Boyz in the Hood and Menace II Society still make it onto any of my top ten lists. I'm a huge fan of early Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X and Clockers to name a few), and I'm embarassed to say that one of my guilty pleasures are modern blaxploitation movies (The Best man, The Brothers...I know they're not really blaxsploitation, but that's what I call 'em).

Over the last couple of years I'd been hearing a lot of good things about an HBO show called The Wire. Ostensibly it's a cop show set in Baltimore's crumbling innercity. It's a world of tough cops, ruthless dealers and the ugly reality of life in the innercity.

At least that's what I thought.

Trying to compare The Wire to any urban hood show that's gone before is like comparing a Monet to a school kid's scribble.

This. Show. Is. Fabulous.

It goes far beyond any cop show that's come before. In fact just calling it a cop show seems wrong. This is a show about a real place, about real people. Everything and everyone is drawn in such detail, with such loving attention, that it feels like you can reach through your TV screen and actually touch them.

The tragedy of their situation is overwhelming. This is a city, and a people, on the verge of collapse. It's their inherent nobility that keeps them coming back, forces them to continue to do their best in a bad situation. And the nobility isn't limited to the "good guys."

Some of the most memorable (and dare I say likeable?) characters in The Wire are its "villains." Barksdale. Stringer Bell. Omar. Bubbles. These are some of the most flawed, most interesting people I've ever seen on screen. And I am absolutely riveted by them.

I cannot say enough about this series. Anyone who's interested in great television (or just great storytelling) needs to pick it up. I cannot recommend The Wire highly enough. You will not be disappointed.

Spiderman 3

Saw this the other night. Thought about writing up a big review, but decided against it. Why? Because I already wasted 3 frakkin' hours of my life on this movie and I refuse to waste more.

Besides my impression of the movie can be summed up with two things:

Good Spiderman hair! Bad Spiderman Hair!

AND

Dance Sequence!

That's it.

Move along.

Nothing to see here.

Thoughts and Musings

...big shout out to Zach Lipovsky who managed to blow away the judges on On the Lot last night. Not only does Zach have some great shorts to his name (Crazy Late anyone?), but he's also from Vancouver! Gotta support the locals!

...maybe I'm missing something being a heterosexual male, but paying $350K to kiss George Clooney? At least it was going to a good cause...

...is anyone else looking forward to The Bionic Woman? I am! And not just because one of my favorite actresses is in it (and apparently stealing the show!).

...I know NBC had a rough season, but I'm not sure that firing Kevin Reilly is the best call. Hopefully they'll still give Friday Night Lights a chance...

Maybe I'll get it together to write a real post later tonight...but I wouldn't count on it (being Friday and all)...

Breaking Into the Box

Clark Perry has a great recap of this seminar that was held down in LA last weekend. A must read for anyone who dreams of breaking into writing for television.