Questions to Me: What the Hell Have You Done?

Strangely, I've received the same question twice in a couple of days -- a couple people asking me what, exactly, I've written on. Fair enough.

I would describe myself as a "mid level" writer, in the sense that I'm still building my career. Most TV writers will start with freelance episodes, then staff on a show and then move up the chain. In Canada, it's sometimes a three steps forward, one step back sort of proposition, because a lot of shows here are written strictly freelance. Also, unlike in the USA, where they have a creator write a pilot, then shoot it, then pick it up and have them hire a staff, often here they like to develop many scripts before making a decision, so sometimes you'll have story rooms for shows that aren't even greenlit.

The first show I wrote on professionally was the second season of Starhunter, a Canadian produced sci-fi series. (I should say that this was the first scripted drama I worked on. I got paid to write Documentary and Lifestyle shows before this, as well as things I wrote for the Canadian Sci-Fi Channel, SPACE.) I got the gig on Starhunter because I had to go out and shoot on set for their first season, for a special I produced for Space. By that time, I knew I was planning to leave production and take a hand at writing full time, and I talked my way into writing for the show.

I wound up writing three episodes for the second season, all freelance, non-guild. I did lots and lots of drafts and they actually used one of my scripts, I think, to show backers to get finishing money. You do what you have to do. I also learned on that show that, far from the U.S. style of writer-showrunner, Canada was a very different place. I think Playback did an article on the show, on set of my episode, and named the Director, the Producer, the Art Director, the Propsmaster, the Actors, and the Production Designer. But they didn't name me. Classic!

A couple of years ago I saw a box set of this show in a mall in Florida, and I almost bought it, just to have my eps (2 of which were kind of botched. 1 turned out okay tho) but I just couldn't bring myself to spend my own money on it.

I then had a year or so where the only scripted drama work I got was on a half-hour comedy produced out of Vancouver. Very low-budget. I'll always remember it though, since I had to go turn off my TV, and finish up the funny-funny of the draft of my episode to deliver it by 5pm on the afternoon of September 11, 2001.

From there I wrote and worked on a couple of lifestyle series, and wrote an episode of Life & Times on the Hockey Player Carl Brewer (still my favorite of my non-drama projects.) I also wrote about 75 episodes of a docu-soap set around the Toronto Zoo called Zoo Diaries. That was a fun little show that paid the bills.

During this time, I also did some writing for interactive projects, including kids' CD Roms. There were also a couple of development projects where I was in a story room, one for CTV and one for CBC. Both went nowhere. And I think I rewrote a children's film for very little money. I think it still hasn't been made, and I still haven't been fully paid.

I finally went legit and Guild when I got Charlie Jade, in 2004. I had been in a strange place before that. I actually had a lot of breadth and experience, but my credits didn't show it, since a lot of them were development credits. Charlie Jade was its own adventure, for a lot of reasons. That's where I met Alex from Complications Ensue. I spent four months in South Africa on this show, and learned quite a bit about myself in the process. This is also where I found out that in a pinch, I could write reallllly fast, and still maintain good quality. This is by no means an easy thing. But it can be a valuable thing.

When I got back from South Africa, I entered what I called "My Development Year." I had three projects in development at three different networks. All very different. Juggling was sometimes a problem, especially because no one else feels the need to keep to deadlines in getting notes to you, but when those notes come, everybody's suddenly in a hurry. This was, in another sense, the year of push-me, pull-you.

By 2006, I was humming along on a number of fronts. I did my first foray into animation, with a few episodes of two series for Teletoon, Skyland and Carl Squared. I liked writing animation. I think animation producers in this country really know their audience well, and what works for their shows. I found them to be professional in the extreme...and they paid on time, too! I'd like to do more animation work in the future.

One of the shows I created, or co-created, through 2005, was with the guy who'd been my boss on Charlie Jade. That show, Across The River To Motor City, got picked up for six. This is a big deal, since it meant that I now was going to be able to get a co-creator and co-executive producer credit. This show pretty much swallowed my whole summer. Since there were only six, and I was locked into a co-write with the Exec Producer, we only had the space to hire one other writer to come in and help us break and write an episode. I rewrote all six scripts pretty much all through production. Being called "head writer" doesn't really mean much when the only person you're supervising is, you know, yourself. But whatever. It was a ton of work and I got it done and I'm pretty proud of the work I did. Now I'm waiting to see how it all works when it's cut together. I'm glad that project is done. I certainly sleep better now.

Lately, I've been taking it a bit easier, and the bright spots have been helping my friend with a series that he's trying to get up at another network, and just recently I've had the pleasure of helping out with a script for the second season of Rent-A-Goalie. I'm also trying to figure out what I do next. Oh, and shooting my mouth off on this blog. Which is starting to make me nervous. And my agent. It's starting to make my agent nervous, too.

There might be something new coming for me soon. Or maybe not. In any case, for all the concerns and sleepless nights and angst and crazy people and bitterness and cynicysm, it is actually better than working.