From today's Calgary Herald:
'There is no secret to good TV'
Alexandra Burroughs
Calgary Herald
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Tony Soprano isn't the only one ready for a hit. As one of television's favourite anti-heroes faces his fate in the series finale of The Sopranos tonight, there's another kind of mafia stalking the 28th annual Banff World Television Festival, which kicks off today.
The don of this mob is Canadian TV writer Denis McGrath, and just like Tony Soprano, McGrath is trying to exploit a chaotic situation for his own benefit.
McGrath and his self-described "writer's mafia" -- a.k.a.: a half dozen of his writing pals -- are hitting the Banff festival at a time when the North American television industry is in turmoil.
Declining ratings, competition from the Internet, unpredictable viewing patterns and skyrocketing production costs have put the TV industry into a morass of confusion, speculation and pessimism. Rarely have industry insiders been so outspoken about the dire straits of their medium. Hit shows are no longer predictable. American networks are gambling on outlandish ideas and expensive risks. A singing talent show is the industry leader.
But in that chaos, McGrath sees opportunity.
"We're going to hang out in Banff and talk to people to help them understand that there is no secret to good TV," says McGrath, who writes a popular television industry blog called Hey Writer Boy, and recently worked on the upcoming CBC series The Border.
"Good TV is about focused creativity from writers who have power."
By the way, I'm not the Don of the Writer's Mafia. More like the Court Jester, and the Guy who takes the cannoli and leaves the gun. But let's not quibble when I'm saying bold and stupid things:
"Everything about TV is more complex than it has ever been before," he says.
"The characterizations, the shading, the humour, the fact that we're willing to watch an anti-hero like House on TV whereas 20 years ago every hero had to be a white hat wearing do-gooder -- this is all making for better TV.
A high dollar and pending strikes in the U.S. may strengthen the homegrown industry by keeping a lot of Canadian talent from seeking more lucrative opportunities in the United States.
"We've got this interesting bottleneck. We have the talent. We have a few good shows, a few hits," says McGrath.
"If some of this talent sticks around, we have an interesting opportunity here to actually move forward and do some good work."
McGrath says he's going to Banff to convince producers and broadcasters to take advantage of the opportunity before it's too late.
"The next Canadian broadcaster that actually has the courage to go out and green light something that's entertaining, but keeps that complexity -- they win."
3 comments:
I love that "There's no secret to good tv". God, somebody, please listen!
Is there chaos in the tv streets in north amarica? Maybe. Harry Lime springs to mind.
I remember the days of three networks (U.S.) competeing with each other; Chips, Love Boat, Dukes of Hazzard...Duh.
Now networks are forced to wake up and deliver a product that people actually get attached to. House, The Office, Deadwood, The Sopranos.
The difference is that now shows (the good ones that people watch and talk about) are writer driven.
"American networks are gambling"? Great! About freaking time. Costs are rising? Yeah, but they'll make it up when a good show comes out on DVD. let's not lament that. (But really nobody's crying poor.)
The first true Canadian hit in years? Corner Gas. Writer driven.
But to Canadian producers, this matters not. They don't look toward a second season or DVD sales. I'm not blaming them, our system is aet up so the broadcasters "indicate" the direction they think they should go in, the producers react with a pitch, then once the deal is signed the "creative" people are put to work to WRITE THOSE SCRIPTS AS FAST AS YOU CAN, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! IT'S NOT SHAKESPEARE!
Then in the fall, it starts again.
I can go on about this but I won't. I just want you to spread the word. Please, cough, cough, tell them....tell them there are people here...people who...want canadian tv...to be good. Go. Do this... cough.
Oh, wait there's someone at the door. I'll be right back.
That's awesome. You're a hero to millions!
Okay, a hero to dozens: us starting out Canadian writers that want to work in a challenging, vibrant, HOME-GROWN industry. Keep fighting the good fight and reporting back from the Banff trenches.
As the founder and owner of the REAL Writers Mafia, they should really consider calling themselves something that isn't already an established business/organization.
Some research would have been prudent.
One may avoid a large lawsuit that way.
Peace, love and inspiration.
-West - www.writersmafia.org
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