Query-Feary

A reader emails, basically, the following:

You write a lot about a lot of stuff. And you don't mind saying what you think. But you don't talk about what you're doing. Why not?

That's a good question. In some cases, it's to be circumspect. I'm not sure, exactly, what my obligations are when it comes to development deals I have, and what I can and can't talk about. So I mostly err on the side of "say little." Also, I'm of Irish background, and fatalistic in the way of all the Irish in the sense that it's not nice to talk about something until it's actually something. Development deals are like bums. Everyone has one. They all work the same. Nothing to get excited about.

That being said, I guess a more general rundown of exactly what I'm working on right now wouldn't be too out of order. So, in my best vague terms, here we go:

1. A half-hour comedy -- currently on a desk somewhere in Toronto waiting to be read -- takes place in the dorm of a mid-sized University somewhere in Canada. It's like Degrassi meets Dawson's in a Dorm. Status: Work completed, in with the Network.
   
2. An hour-long mystery series about a father and a daughter, set in two eras. Status: Two of three scripts co-written, and in with a Network. Revising 1 & 2, writing 3, and revising bible.
   
3. A half-hour comedy set in and around a neighborhood, about small neighborhood issues, and the whole NIMBY movement. Status: Pilot and Script, In Consideration for the Canadian Film Centre Pilot program. Currently being pitched.
4. An hour-long series that's part soap, part office drama, and a spin on the "case walks in the door each week" engine that fuels most cop, lawyer, and medical shows, but in an arena that isn't cops, doctors, or lawyers. Status: Bible + Pilot, 2nd Episode currently at Outline. With a Network.

Right now I'm also in various stages on a couple of other projects where I'm a hired gun, among the ones worth talking about:

1. Writing an episode of an animated series.
2. Story Editing a half hour comedy series.
3. Writing & Story room work for a friend's half hour series.
   

Those at the moment are my open projects. It sounds like a lot more than it is, because there's usually one or more lying fallow while you wait for notes and feedback. Still, in an average week, I'm usually writing two different projects. Sometimes three. Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's not. It is definitely easier than working for a living.

This is the main reason why I want to be out of the development game for a while. At this point, being able to focus on one project through production would be a godsend. Some of my projects seem tantalizingly close. But close, we all know, is only good for horseshoes, hand grenades, and shooting close personal friends of the Vice President.

So that's what I'm up to.