#1 New York Times Bestselling Author & TV Producer
I’ve got all the James Bond movie posters, so I especially enjoyed Posterwire’s comments today about artist Robert McGinnis’ classic 007 artwork (he also designed the covers for Richard S. Prather’s Shell Scott novels, among many others). There’s a great book on James Bond movie posters, appropriately titled: The James Bond Movie Posters.
Remember DIFF’RENT STROKES? Now imagine it as a drama. Variety reports that UPN has signed producer Darren Star to produce two pilots, one of which is described as:
Neither Sony nor UPN would comment late last week, but it’s believed the
project being penned by [Dan and Ashley McDermott] concerns a pair of orphaned teens who end
up living with their wealthy New York aunt and uncle.
President Bush has been harshly criticized for the government’s inadequate response to Katrina. He just didn’t seem to get how extreme this crisis really was. Now we know why. Here’s what his mother, Barbara Bush, had to say about the victims:
Barbara Bush, who accompanied the former presidents on a
tour of the Astrodome complex Monday, said the relocation to Houston is "working
very well" for some of the poor people forced out of New Orleans."What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want
to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," she said
during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace."
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged
anyway, so this is working very well for them."
It’s "scary" that the survivors want to stay in Texas? The fact that they lost loved ones, their homes, their possessions and their jobs in a flood of sewage is "working well for them?" My God.
Where there’s war, strife, and human suffering, there’s only one man who can set things right. You know who I’m talking about. Sean Penn. War in Iraq? Send Sean Penn. Tidal waves in Sri Lanka? Send Sean Penn. Floods in New Orleans? It’s Sean Penn to the rescue.
There was an interesting interview with CBS chief Les Moonves in the Sunday NYT. In explaining why he canceled JOAN OF ARCADIA, he revealed his take on what audiences want from a story.
On this particular Thursday, at 11 a.m., Moonves was considering which of the
network’s current shows to cancel in order to make room for new programs. He had
decided to take a once-promising show called ”Joan of Arcadia” off the air.
The show was about a teenager who receives directives and advice straight from
God. ”In the beginning, it was a fresh idea and uplifting, and the plot lines
were engaging,” Moonves said, sounding a little sad and frustrated. ”But the
show got too dark. I understand why creative people like dark, but American
audiences don’t like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous
breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to
be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out
any dilemma. This is a country built on optimism.”
The last point strikes home with me. We like heroes who move the story along…and, ideally, there should actually be a story to move along. That means a story with a beginning, middle and end with clear stakes for the characters. The characters shouldn’t be caught up in events, reacting to what happens, they should be driving what happens through their own actions. That’s good story-telling, plain and simple.
Moonves has constructed a Bush-like universe (without the politics): in his
dramas, there is a continuing battle for order and justice, the team works
together and a headstrong boss leads the way. Producers looking to sell shows to CBS either comply with this point of view
or take their shows elsewhere.Curiously, most of CBS’s successful dramas — the three ”C.S.I.” shows,
”Without a Trace” and many of the new about-to-be-discussed drama pilots —
revolve around a group of specially trained professionals who work in unison and
are headed by a dynamic, attractive middle-aged man. These prime-time-TV teams
— much like Moonves’s own — are determined and work-obsessed. They seem to
think of their office as an extended family while, together, they solve crimes.
In a way, it’s an old-fashioned model, harkening back to hits like HAWAII FIVE-O and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, but with a new spin (reminds me of how NBC touted LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT as ground-breaking show because we’d also see things from the bad guy’s pov…I guess no one at NBC had ever seen BARNABY JONES or STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO). Speaking of taking cues from the past, Moonves’ plans for revamping the news division sound like he’s channeling Fred Silverman.
The Superficial has noticed Andie McDowell’s new breasts:
Remember when Andie MacDowell was in movies and famous? Yeah, me neither, but
sometime in between then and now she got breast implants, which makes about as
much sense as Arnold Schwarzenegger taking up weight lifting at the tender age
of 58 to compete in the next Mr. Olympia competition.
I’m sure you can relate to this story from WakingVixen. It happens to everybody eventually.
"After the London bombings and while I was in Amsterdam, I remember getting
word that as of late July, packages and bags were subject to search in certain
NYC subway stations. If you didn’t want to get searched, you best find other
transportation – or a subway station without bag-searching cops. Not a
particularly fool proof system.Yesterday, the bag search finally happened to me. As luck would have it, I
was carrying a bag full of dildos, butt plugs, lube, condoms, a strap on harness
and spiky high heels. I got pulled aside and the cop asked me to open my (black!
suspicious!) bag. I obliged, and the collection of silicone toys was right on
top, with a stiletto poking straight up in the air. The cop didn’t even bat an
eye, just nodded and waved me through the turnstile. Ah, jaded New York, how I
love you."
This is why when I travel I either leave my butt plugs at home or wear them.
Screenwriter Craig Mazin has some excellent advice on pitching. Here’s an example:
First, understand what it is that you’re pitching. You’re not pitching a script. You’re not pitching a story.
You’re pitching a movie. Don’t give me that blank
look. You’ve already done it. Ever see a movie and then have someone
ask you to describe it? That’s movie pitching.What you want to do is achieve the same effect with the producer or exec. You want them to believe that you have already seen a great movie, and you’re just telling them about it.
Craig’s pointers also work for pitching a series. But there’s one thing he doesn’t bring up. Be flexible. Be prepared to get, and consider, the input of the person you’re pitching to. Today we pitched a series to a major production company. The exec we were pitching on got hooked on one aspect of the pitch and said, basically, how would you feel if you just went with that one aspect and tossed the rest? And, what if we added this extra element?
And you know what? It was a damn good idea. We jumped on it. And so did the exec, who is now as invested in the idea as we are and taking it to his superiors with enthusiasm. Will it go anywhere? Who knows. But it would definitely have gone nowhere with that company if we hadn’t been willing to consider other possibilities.
I have spent hours today in front of the television, watching the footage of the damage left in Hurricane Katrina’s wake. The magnitude of the disaster is almost too much to comprehend…an entire American city devastated and soon to be completely abandoned. It’s astonishing. I have a few friends in New Orleans…and luckily, they got out before the storm hit, but their homes and possessions are probably gone, submerged under twenty feet of water. 
Being a writer, you can’t help but think of all the amazing stories coming from this disaster — heart-breaking and horrifying, heartwarming and life-affirming — many of them playing out right in front of us on the TV screen.
In a sad way, it’s also one of those great, unifying moments for our nation. When something like this happens, we aren’t New Yorkers or Californians, Democrats or Republicans… we are all Americans. The tragedy draws us closer together as a nation. Yes, it happened to the Gulf Coast but we all feel the horror and the sadness. We all know someone who is personally affected by this. My heart goes out to all the victims and their loved ones. I can’t imagine what it must feel like.
And that’s the other thing this tragedy brings home. It could happen here. No, it will happen here.
I live in Los Angeles, where a cataclysmic earthquake isn’t a possibility, it’s a certainty…one we all choose to ignore (or to pretend won’t happen in our lifetime). Likewise, everybody knew that New Orleans was built in a bowl below sea level, that massive flooding was inevitable, that everyone living there was on borrowed time. What happened in the Gulf Coast this week is a horrifying reminder of what we here will face some day.
Variety reports that The Writers Guild of America’s board voted 11-3 to rescind their decision to honor ex-WGA president Victoria Riskin with the Valentine Davies Award for her contributions to the industry and the community at large.
The big question is why they voted in favor of it 7-6 before, considering that Riskin resigned in a scandal that revealed she wasn’t an active member and, therefore, was never qualified to be President in the first place (Her successor Charles Holland was forced to resign two months later when the LA Times revealed he’d, um, fictionalized his military service record and his college football achievements).
Despite the vote, there are still members of the WGA leadership… including secretary-treasurer and current presidential candidate Patric Verrone…who don’t get why it was a really, really stupid idea to honor Riskin so soon after she’d embarrassed the Guild with her actions.
Allan Burns [Chairman of the Awards Panel] told Daily Variety he was "stunned" at the board’s vote. He
insisted the awards panel tapped Riskin strictly because of her qualifications
and asserted that there was no concern that naming Riskin would create any
subsequent controversy."It’s a slap in the face to the awards committee," Burns added. "I don’t
think the board understands what the award is about."
How clueless can Burns be? He didn’t realize the choice would create controversy? How couldn’t he?? Apparently, even Dan Petrie, our current president and a man I greatly respect, doesnt’ get it either. He told Variety:
"I would hope that these judgments would be tempered by compassion for someone
who has already suffered and, for that matter, for a Guild that has already
suffered."
She brought the suffering on herself by running for office when she knew she wasn’t qualified to serve. And The Guild brought the suffering on itself by not doing their job confirming her work status before she ran and, now, by naming her for this award so soon after the scandal. I won’t even go into the miss-steps surrounding Holland and their vote of confidence in someone who was so clearly being dishonest. I haven’t been very proud of my Guild membership lately.
But some good has come out of this latest embarrassing episode: It’s going to help me, and a lot of other members, make up our minds about who to vote for in the upcoming election.