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BrainStorm

Creating Media of All Kinds

Friday, April 27, 2007

Going to Banff!


I found out yesterday that I'm definitely going to the Banff World Television Festival in June. I got a fellowship from CTV. Thank you CTV! I've been hearing amazing things about the networking opportunities there for the last 2 years, so I'm very excited to be going. I'll be taking ideas for two drama series and a couple of lifestyle shows, but I'm also just excited to hear and possibly meet panelists including Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars creator), Jenji Kohan (Weeds creator), Ben Silverman, (Exec Producer of Ugly Betty), and Greg Daniels (Exec Producer of The Office).

In other, but possibly related, news, while I'm sad that Falcon Beach got cancelled, this opens the door to me, or one of the other 3 writers originally from Winnipeg at this year's CFC!, or possibly, conceivably someone else, to bring a great show to the 'Peg!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Wisdom from Robert Towne

From Above the Line: Conversations about the Movies

On screenwriting:

Screenwriters are trying to pedict the future. What's going to happen at some unnamed time and place when people are going to expend upwards of $50 million, with actors they don't know, with settings and climactic conditions that nobody knows, and what's going to happen when that product is finished and goes into a theater before audiences which may or may not show up. And in that screenplay you're saying that this will be an effective tale, one that will make the investment profitable. That's a level of arrogance that on the face of it is foolish...

There are so many variables, the screenplay itself doesn't tie anything or anyone down enough to be able to predict with any certainty whatever the f*ck is gonna happen with it! It's a meaningless document. The screenwriter controls nothing.

But notwithstanding that, there are some of us who try. [And] I certainly don't think about that when I'm writing.

***

On directing:

You're so passive when you're directing. When you're writing, you've got the whole world in your hands - though there's a point where that can get passive too. But when you're a director, from the moment you say "Action," you're the only f*cking asshole on the set that doesn't have a job. Everybody else is doing something. You are doing nothing. But watching. And your only job is to be in touch with your feelings... respond to what's going on in front of your eyes. And do it quickly enough so you're not only able to feel but you're able to articulate how you feel in time to tell the actors before the next take... You don't need to know why you're making a movie half the time, or if it's going to be any good, until it's done and then you say, "Oh f*ck, that's why I was making it." It's a voyage of discovery, not just of invention.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Recovered

Whew, it took a month, but I think I'm now fully recovered from the physical and mental fatigue brought on by the intensity of 6 months in the PrimeTime Program. Lying on the beach helped, emptying my brain for a week helped, sorting through papers and catching up with friends helped, reading trash novels helped, and riding my bike through the spring air has helped a lot!

So I'm back at it. Busy editing my novel-turned-feature, getting writing samples out to agents, and eagerly studying Ugly Betty to prepare to spec it over the next few weeks. I had planned to spec The L Word, and developed through a scene-level outline, but season four has blown my plotlines to smithereens. I'm really enjoying Ugly Betty though -- after I've seen the full season, I'll post an analysis.

Yesterday, a few of us returned to the CFC to speak to potential applicants for this coming year's program. It was great to verbalize what I got out of my time there, including:

- a writing regimen
- a methodology for taking an idea from concept to script, more efficiently and calmly than ever before!
- the opportunity to work for 3 months with one of Canada's top producers in a setting approximating a story room
- a solid pilot for my original one-hour drama
- a table read of my pilot
- the chance to film a 3-minute scene from my pilot
- sincere and valuable feedback from a variety of professionals on several of my show ideas
- a 5 year business plan
- how to break down a show to spec it
- how to pitch and lots of practice doing it!
- meetings with many of the top Canadian agents
- meetings with almost every Canadian broadcaster
- meetings with dozens of Canadian production companies
- an opportunity to ask questions of working writers and producers
- invitations from almost every guest to set up a meeting as appropriate as I go forward
- a basic understanding of the current state of the Canadian television industry
- the chance to become colleagues with seven amazing co-writers, future show-runners and quality note-givers
- new ideas, encouragement, information, guidance...

Convinced you to apply? Here's the link for more info.