Tue, 18 September 2007 ...You might get another podcast Or, in our case, find yourself pondering more career options than you ever expected. Each with complications you never anticipated, too. PS: in big bold letters, let us say here and now, WE'RE SORRY it took so freakin' long to get this episode made. As we'll explain, we've been, well, kinda busy. Comments[16] |
The strike threat has everything in an uproar, to be honest. Even more than usual, nothing is certain. On the one hand, it's business as usual because everyone has to keep moving forward as best they can, if faster than normal. On the other, there's a horizon line that might be the end of the world, no one can tell yet.
The big problem (in my eyes) is broadband downloads. It's been a long time coming, the technology is finally ready to step onstage in a big way, and the old ways of doing business are in flux.
The companies are, as usual, pleading poverty -- they have no business model, the networks are bleeding, etc. Meanwhile, they're telling Wall Street all about the riches to be made.
I don't know what the consensus in the Guild is (if there is one), I don't know how the SAG membership feels (we'd likely hold off striking to link up with them next spring), but to me it's a bunch of horseshit. I don't make the big bucks so I have less to sacrifice, but I see something like a last stand for the unions coming up. If we don't draw the line now, it'll never be drawn again. If the companies run the table in this negotiation as completely as they have in the past couple decades, we -- the unions -- are toast.
And believe me: the union is everything. We're too few to stand against international conglomerates as individuals. We can barely do it en masse.
I see a strike, because the companies will push things to see if they can break us for good. They're already throwing out bullshit sideshows about ending the current residual model for good. That may be just a negotiating ploy, a distraction, but it's also fundamentally indicative of their overall attitude. They hate having to share income with the people who create it. So they ignore the new ways they're making money and focus on whining about how the old ways are dying, like those are somehow unrelated.
If we have the spine to stay out for awhile, I see the old TV model dying an accelerated death. The networks lost viewership to cable in the last big strike; this time they'll lose to DVD & downloads. There's lots of content out there to be watched during a strike. And the companies will just rake in money off of those income streams via their studio arms instead of through broadcast. How that affects their thinking, I can't guess. As it is, theatrical release has become advertising for the BIG profit center, DVD's. They still moan about that while they count the take.
Long-term, of course, the studios will just burn their their backlog of content at a faster clip than otherwise (as has begun to happen with film libraries released to DVD -- they're running dry). Which means, long-term, coming back to writers to save the day by supplying more content. It'll probably be a big boon to user-generated content too, though most of that stuff is pretty weak.
It'll change the game, is my guess. It's part of what's driving our internet interest right now: new opportunities are out there, waiting to blossom in a programing desert. We'll see how that pans out for everyone.
So how's it affect us? I saw an NRA bumpersticker once that kinda fits: "Make love, not war. Prepare for both. NRA"
The big problem (in my eyes) is broadband downloads. It's been a long time coming, the technology is finally ready to step onstage in a big way, and the old ways of doing business are in flux.
The companies are, as usual, pleading poverty -- they have no business model, the networks are bleeding, etc. Meanwhile, they're telling Wall Street all about the riches to be made.
I don't know what the consensus in the Guild is (if there is one), I don't know how the SAG membership feels (we'd likely hold off striking to link up with them next spring), but to me it's a bunch of horseshit. I don't make the big bucks so I have less to sacrifice, but I see something like a last stand for the unions coming up. If we don't draw the line now, it'll never be drawn again. If the companies run the table in this negotiation as completely as they have in the past couple decades, we -- the unions -- are toast.
And believe me: the union is everything. We're too few to stand against international conglomerates as individuals. We can barely do it en masse.
I see a strike, because the companies will push things to see if they can break us for good. They're already throwing out bullshit sideshows about ending the current residual model for good. That may be just a negotiating ploy, a distraction, but it's also fundamentally indicative of their overall attitude. They hate having to share income with the people who create it. So they ignore the new ways they're making money and focus on whining about how the old ways are dying, like those are somehow unrelated.
If we have the spine to stay out for awhile, I see the old TV model dying an accelerated death. The networks lost viewership to cable in the last big strike; this time they'll lose to DVD & downloads. There's lots of content out there to be watched during a strike. And the companies will just rake in money off of those income streams via their studio arms instead of through broadcast. How that affects their thinking, I can't guess. As it is, theatrical release has become advertising for the BIG profit center, DVD's. They still moan about that while they count the take.
Long-term, of course, the studios will just burn their their backlog of content at a faster clip than otherwise (as has begun to happen with film libraries released to DVD -- they're running dry). Which means, long-term, coming back to writers to save the day by supplying more content. It'll probably be a big boon to user-generated content too, though most of that stuff is pretty weak.
It'll change the game, is my guess. It's part of what's driving our internet interest right now: new opportunities are out there, waiting to blossom in a programing desert. We'll see how that pans out for everyone.
So how's it affect us? I saw an NRA bumpersticker once that kinda fits: "Make love, not war. Prepare for both. NRA"
Thanks for another podcast. Since I did not discover your podcasts until a couple of months ago, I was getting to listen to two or three podcasts a day. It was great, until the podcasts ran out.
Since podcasts help get me through my factory production line type of work at Dial Directions (www.dialdirections.com), I am listening to a wide range of podcasts and I just have to say you guys are the best podcast in your niche and one of the best overall. I am not just saying to kiss up, that is not my style.
Part of me hopes you guys nail a major deal and get stuck doing your own original show for a network with a big budget, but part of me also hopes you get so bored you do another podcast ;)
If you do get a show, you have to do what Ronald D. Moore does over at Battlestar Galactica. If anyone has not checked out the BG podcasts, Moore does more than just writer/producer comments, he actually recorded sessions in the writer room, did a great roundtable with the actors, and talks about life at BG.
Keep up the great work and good luck.
Since podcasts help get me through my factory production line type of work at Dial Directions (www.dialdirections.com), I am listening to a wide range of podcasts and I just have to say you guys are the best podcast in your niche and one of the best overall. I am not just saying to kiss up, that is not my style.
Part of me hopes you guys nail a major deal and get stuck doing your own original show for a network with a big budget, but part of me also hopes you get so bored you do another podcast ;)
If you do get a show, you have to do what Ronald D. Moore does over at Battlestar Galactica. If anyone has not checked out the BG podcasts, Moore does more than just writer/producer comments, he actually recorded sessions in the writer room, did a great roundtable with the actors, and talks about life at BG.
Keep up the great work and good luck.
Good to hear from you guys again! I hope we hear from you soon with good news about one or two of your potential projects.
posted by: Clinton on Sat, 9/22 09:41 PM EDT
Hey great to have you back,
This whole internet business you mentioned....tell me the two of you aren't getting involved in gay porn!! Trust me, I've seen the two of you (not that I'm anything special to look at either)!
You said you are no longer writing for the Dead Zone, did the program go off the air? If not, why are you not returning?
In your next broadcast, can you tell us if writing for a tv show, and hearing your dialog coming from the actors mouths, give you the rush you had anticipated? Was it worth all the sacrifices?
Maybe you could also touch on the specifics of the tv writing process. Once you were assigned a script and wrote it, what happened next? How many back-and-forth's were there between you and the Show Runner or other higher ups? Were you called upon during the shooting of the show for clarification? Etc...
In my humble opinion, stick to writing. I don't know what type of internet (ad)venture you're contemplating, but it seems to me like you're just trying to avoid the emotional rollercoaster you have to face finding another writing job. Stay the course!
This whole internet business you mentioned....tell me the two of you aren't getting involved in gay porn!! Trust me, I've seen the two of you (not that I'm anything special to look at either)!
You said you are no longer writing for the Dead Zone, did the program go off the air? If not, why are you not returning?
In your next broadcast, can you tell us if writing for a tv show, and hearing your dialog coming from the actors mouths, give you the rush you had anticipated? Was it worth all the sacrifices?
Maybe you could also touch on the specifics of the tv writing process. Once you were assigned a script and wrote it, what happened next? How many back-and-forth's were there between you and the Show Runner or other higher ups? Were you called upon during the shooting of the show for clarification? Etc...
In my humble opinion, stick to writing. I don't know what type of internet (ad)venture you're contemplating, but it seems to me like you're just trying to avoid the emotional rollercoaster you have to face finding another writing job. Stay the course!
Hey Why Me? & Chris --
We're tucking your show requests under the hat, they're good. God knows we need good ideas for more 'casts...
As far as DZ, we're not there because the season ended, that's all. It's a standard 13 episode cable-show season, not as long as broadcast. Whether it'll get picked up again, whether we'd be there if it was -- that's all unknown at the moment.
As far as gay porn goes, hey, if we'd been smart enough to think of doing websites for it 10 years ago, we'd be retired by now (well, at least if it DIDN'T feature us...THAT would be far more likely to turn a stomach than a profit!)
We're tucking your show requests under the hat, they're good. God knows we need good ideas for more 'casts...
As far as DZ, we're not there because the season ended, that's all. It's a standard 13 episode cable-show season, not as long as broadcast. Whether it'll get picked up again, whether we'd be there if it was -- that's all unknown at the moment.
As far as gay porn goes, hey, if we'd been smart enough to think of doing websites for it 10 years ago, we'd be retired by now (well, at least if it DIDN'T feature us...THAT would be far more likely to turn a stomach than a profit!)
Hi guys, glad to have you back on the air so to speak.
I have a writing question this time around--
I'm working on a (pilot) script that revolves around a group of actors. The script opens with a scene in which a husband and wife are having a domestic dispute that threatens to turn violent. After a few moments the scene turns into an absurd comedy and it is at this point that we pull back to reveal this husband and wife as actors on a children's theater stage.
Now my question is, how do I execute this in terms of stage directions and character intros? That is to say, on the one hand I intro the scene with "A HUSBAND and a WIFE..." only to reveal them as "JOHN and SANDY..." a few pages later.
Can I have HUSBAND and WIFE turn into JOHN and SANDY? Or must I use something like, "JOHN and SANDY, although we don't know them as such just yet, argue on on stage at a children's theater, although we don't know where they are just yet, in front of an audience we're going to see in a page or two, but not yet... etc., etc..."
Since so much of the joke relies on the reveal (actually the entire series premise for that matter), I have it right now as HUSBAND and WIFE inside a trailer, then as they exit the stage and head into their dressing room I sort of reintroduce them as the actors they really are (JOHN, SANDY, etc.).
Does this make any sense? Is there a better way?
Thanks!
I have a writing question this time around--
I'm working on a (pilot) script that revolves around a group of actors. The script opens with a scene in which a husband and wife are having a domestic dispute that threatens to turn violent. After a few moments the scene turns into an absurd comedy and it is at this point that we pull back to reveal this husband and wife as actors on a children's theater stage.
Now my question is, how do I execute this in terms of stage directions and character intros? That is to say, on the one hand I intro the scene with "A HUSBAND and a WIFE..." only to reveal them as "JOHN and SANDY..." a few pages later.
Can I have HUSBAND and WIFE turn into JOHN and SANDY? Or must I use something like, "JOHN and SANDY, although we don't know them as such just yet, argue on on stage at a children's theater, although we don't know where they are just yet, in front of an audience we're going to see in a page or two, but not yet... etc., etc..."
Since so much of the joke relies on the reveal (actually the entire series premise for that matter), I have it right now as HUSBAND and WIFE inside a trailer, then as they exit the stage and head into their dressing room I sort of reintroduce them as the actors they really are (JOHN, SANDY, etc.).
Does this make any sense? Is there a better way?
Thanks!
Greg --
This is one of those questions that has no right answer. The test is: what does your reader need to know to understand, clearly and easily, what's going on?
People may tell you there is some technically correct answer. But you need to be aware there are also two very different kinds of scripts: selling scripts and shooting scripts. The latter would probably have some sort of "Husband/John" character name so that everyone knows which actor has to be scheduled for that day, etc.
But you're doing a selling script. You want your reader to get sucked into your world. If you think the most effective way to open is to play out that opening scene as if it really was the reality we're falling into by reading your script, then you have to play it as if that's the script.
But I think you'll also want to take a line or two or three -- you're the judge -- to make that transition really clear and transparent when it comes. The reader is going to be disoriented by the shift (and is probably reading while in the middle of a phone call or lunch). You need to make it super easy for them to understand who is who. And your reason for making this potentially confusing choice had better be REALLY evocative and engaging. The humor or better yet the emotional resonance that comes out of seeing the setting and contrasting that scene & what happened against the reality of what's going on and who these people REALLY are had better pay off in a way that really makes them sit up and take notice. If it's a cheap construct or just a one-liner, they'll just feel confused and exasperated. That's my two cents on it, anyway. Good luck.
This is one of those questions that has no right answer. The test is: what does your reader need to know to understand, clearly and easily, what's going on?
People may tell you there is some technically correct answer. But you need to be aware there are also two very different kinds of scripts: selling scripts and shooting scripts. The latter would probably have some sort of "Husband/John" character name so that everyone knows which actor has to be scheduled for that day, etc.
But you're doing a selling script. You want your reader to get sucked into your world. If you think the most effective way to open is to play out that opening scene as if it really was the reality we're falling into by reading your script, then you have to play it as if that's the script.
But I think you'll also want to take a line or two or three -- you're the judge -- to make that transition really clear and transparent when it comes. The reader is going to be disoriented by the shift (and is probably reading while in the middle of a phone call or lunch). You need to make it super easy for them to understand who is who. And your reason for making this potentially confusing choice had better be REALLY evocative and engaging. The humor or better yet the emotional resonance that comes out of seeing the setting and contrasting that scene & what happened against the reality of what's going on and who these people REALLY are had better pay off in a way that really makes them sit up and take notice. If it's a cheap construct or just a one-liner, they'll just feel confused and exasperated. That's my two cents on it, anyway. Good luck.
Welcome to Sam & Jim Go to Hollywood, Season 3 (Spoiler Alert: Be Sure not to miss the Shocking and Controversial "kiss" episode this season!)
Thanks guys for giving us a new season (or at least just one new episode) of your show.
I share your angst. Being torn in different career directions is gut wrenching. Having to endure jobs that don't excite you would be torturous. Having to suspend your creative endeavors because you need to spend your energy on the tortorous job would be that much worse.
Years ago when I was interviewing at radio stations; I talked with a lot of stations I didn't want to work for. My philosophy was, 'what's the harm in having them make me an offer'. I figured there was always a price at which I would allow myself to be whored out. Of course, that dollar amount was a lot higher for the places where I didn't want to work.
I think it's clear that you shouldn't take a job you don't like if it doesn't pay well. It's like Winston Churchill said: "Sometimes, you gotta be a ho. You gotz to be a ho."
(was it Churchill or Flavor Flav who said that, I'm not sure).
So I got to thinking, does your agent have a point? Are you guys still too unknown to get your own series and do the things you want to do?
What kind of background does the typical person who gets a show have? Do they have years of writing for other shows? Do they have awards? Do people at about your level of experience get shows produced? I'm just curious, not saying your agent is right or wrong.
During your passionate roulette wheel metaphor, you alluded to the fear of running out of time - getting old before you can accomplish what you want to do. That raises a few more questions. First, how old are you guys? More importantly, what is the "window" in Hollywood in terms of age. At what age do writers become 'too old' and therefore 'irrelevant'?
Sorry for all the questions. Don't feel like you have to respond to every point that I've rambled about on here.
Anyhow, I'm excited about your internet idea. I've been doing some internet video work for a company that has put a significant amount of money into becoming a destination site for viewers. If there are any services I can provide for you guys to help pitch your project, :i.e.: editing, video shoots, etc., just let me know.
I hope your most recent tooth gnashing scenario passes quickly and that you guys get what you want and deserve.
-Waddy
Thanks guys for giving us a new season (or at least just one new episode) of your show.
I share your angst. Being torn in different career directions is gut wrenching. Having to endure jobs that don't excite you would be torturous. Having to suspend your creative endeavors because you need to spend your energy on the tortorous job would be that much worse.
Years ago when I was interviewing at radio stations; I talked with a lot of stations I didn't want to work for. My philosophy was, 'what's the harm in having them make me an offer'. I figured there was always a price at which I would allow myself to be whored out. Of course, that dollar amount was a lot higher for the places where I didn't want to work.
I think it's clear that you shouldn't take a job you don't like if it doesn't pay well. It's like Winston Churchill said: "Sometimes, you gotta be a ho. You gotz to be a ho."
(was it Churchill or Flavor Flav who said that, I'm not sure).
So I got to thinking, does your agent have a point? Are you guys still too unknown to get your own series and do the things you want to do?
What kind of background does the typical person who gets a show have? Do they have years of writing for other shows? Do they have awards? Do people at about your level of experience get shows produced? I'm just curious, not saying your agent is right or wrong.
During your passionate roulette wheel metaphor, you alluded to the fear of running out of time - getting old before you can accomplish what you want to do. That raises a few more questions. First, how old are you guys? More importantly, what is the "window" in Hollywood in terms of age. At what age do writers become 'too old' and therefore 'irrelevant'?
Sorry for all the questions. Don't feel like you have to respond to every point that I've rambled about on here.
Anyhow, I'm excited about your internet idea. I've been doing some internet video work for a company that has put a significant amount of money into becoming a destination site for viewers. If there are any services I can provide for you guys to help pitch your project, :i.e.: editing, video shoots, etc., just let me know.
I hope your most recent tooth gnashing scenario passes quickly and that you guys get what you want and deserve.
-Waddy
posted by: Waddy Padilla on Wed, 10/3 11:29 PM EDT
Congrats, guys! I love hearing a good success story!
posted by: Jim VInes on Tue, 10/9 05:19 PM EDT
Hi Jim, thanks for the help!
In the end, I just went with calling JOHN/HUSBAND "John" and then used a line to the effect of "off screen we hear CHILDREN cheer. We pull back to reveal our characters as actors on a children's stage."
Works perfectly--just needed a little distance.
Formatting that montage on the other hand...
In the end, I just went with calling JOHN/HUSBAND "John" and then used a line to the effect of "off screen we hear CHILDREN cheer. We pull back to reveal our characters as actors on a children's stage."
Works perfectly--just needed a little distance.
Formatting that montage on the other hand...
Hey guys,
Just came across this article by Nikki Finke...now she's talking here about film writers, but I was wondering if any of this rings true for television writers as well...
http://www.laweekly.com/news/deadline-hollywood/screenwriters-in-the-shit/15085/
Just came across this article by Nikki Finke...now she's talking here about film writers, but I was wondering if any of this rings true for television writers as well...
http://www.laweekly.com/news/deadline-hollywood/screenwriters-in-the-shit/15085/
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