Avez-vous vu "La Frontière" ?

SO IT LOOKS like the pre-press is starting for The Border. This article comes courtesy of Lee-Anne Goodman at Canadian Press.

Not only is a sale to France cool, but the article features an interview with the Gentlemanliest Writer - Producer in Canadian TV, the inimitable Mr. David Barlow:

TORONTO - It's a blustery day at a desolate lakefront ferry terminal that's serving as the set for the upcoming CBC drama "The Border," and word is spreading quickly among cast and crew: a major French distributor has already bought the rights to the show more than a month before it's set to air.

"This is a show we're all very proud of, so it's really exciting news," David Barlow, one of the writers and producers of "The Border," said Thursday as he wandered the gleaming glass and stainless-steel set, constructed in a federal ferry terminal used only in the summer months by cruise ships, with stunning views of Lake Ontario and the Toronto skyline as its backdrop.

The gods seem to be smiling upon "The Border" - not only has it attracted attention from international buyers like France's Neutra Production, it's also set to air in January when the big U.S. television blockbusters that routinely brutalize the CBC in the ratings will likely be in reruns thanks to the ongoing screenwriters' strike.

"Even if the strike were to end tomorrow, there's still going to be lag time before any new episodes of the big American shows are available," Barlow said. "That will give us an advantage in January - maybe Canadians who wouldn't normally try us will try us. So that little break, the little window, that opportunity to get the show out to people who would not normally try us is a tremendous advantage."

"The Border," premiering Jan. 7, has also attracted some star power behind the camera. Ken Girotti, the Canadian-born director who's been at the helm of episodes of the critically acclaimed "Rescue Me" and "24," was on set Thursday commanding the action.

The parallels to "24" have been frequent, Barlow notes, but says there are key differences between the two shows.

"It is certainly active, it has the energy of '24' and some of the episodes have big international stakes like '24,"' Barlow says.

"But we're more of an ensemble show. There's a core cast of about seven, and it's more collective and it's a show that, in a particularly Canadian way, struggles with the kind of absolute power that these people now have. The characters in 'The Border' - yeah, they try to catch the bad guys and keep Canada safe but they also question what is the right thing to do when you have all these extraordinary powers that immigration people now have here.

You can also get the full piece here.

When Icons Jump The Shark, Or The Day I Walked With Evel

IF YOU'RE MALE and of a certain age today, you're probably like me. You're mourning an icon.

From the NYTimes:

Evel Knievel, 69, Daredevil on a Motorcycle, Dies

Evel Knievel’s famed jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in 1967; he was unconscious for a month afterward.

By RICHARD SEVERO

Published: December 1, 2007

Evel Knievel, the hard-living, death-defying adventurer who went from stealing motorcycles to riding them in a series of spectacular airborne stunts in the 1960s and ’70s that brought him worldwide fame as the quintessential daredevil performer, died yesterday in Clearwater, Fla. He was 69.

His death was confirmed by a granddaughter, Krysten Knievel, The Associated Press reported.

Mr. Knievel had been in failing health for years with diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung condition. In 1999, he underwent a liver transplant after nearly dying of hepatitis C, which he believed he had contracted from a blood transfusion after one of his many violent spills.

Knievel is an icon whose death I found out about through a friend's Facebook status message. That is a first.

It's fine if you don't get what the fuss is about. I mean, he jumped things. Looking back now, it seems a bit silly, really.

One of the great lessons of my life has been about the fickle nature of iconography. In high school, when Ricky Nelson died, I made a joke about it on the announcements, and had to deal with a very angry female teacher who was hurt. An actor on Ozzie and Harriet meant nothing to me. But to her, it was everything.

I learned that day to be respectful of people's icons. (And also, that the baby boomers were the only people peculiar enough to expect that the passing of their icons should affect everybody as much as it did them.)

I was moved the day Kurt Cobain died. Not by his death, exactly. I mean, it was a drag, sure. But to me, that was just a rock star dying. It only occurred to me that something else was going on when about 500 kids showed up outside the Muchmusic building where I worked to spontaneously mourn him.

Years later, on a Six Feet Under episode, there was a flashback to young Claire (about 7 or 8) discovering Nate, who would be in his 20's then, crying over the death of Cobain. That bumped for me seriously because, dude, he'd be upset -- I was -- but not crying upset. Lennon? Sure. He was everybody's icon, but Cobain?)

Anyway, icons are a tricky thing. Point is, if you're under thirty, say, it doesn't matter a whit to me that you don't understand who Evel Knievel was -- other than "that guy who sued Kanye West," or why he was important.

But you do probably have a connection -- even though you don't know it. You're most likely way more familiar with the ripple events of Evel Knievel than the guy himself.

Specifically, jump the shark.

See, that website, the entire ethos behind it, is a ripple off the impact of Evel Knievel.

A quick recap, for the 2 of you who haven't come across it yet. In the popular zeitgeist, a show is said to have "jumped the shark" when a once promising series starts to suck. The episode comes from an episode of HAPPY DAYS, where Fonzie actually jumped a shark.

Why, you ask, would they come up with such a ridiculous plotline?

Evel Knievel.

Garry Marshall, Happy Days' producer, was famous for jumping on top of any trend that seemed popular. And daredevilism, specifically the kind of foolhardy heroics that formed Knievel's stock in trade -- was no exception. In fact, Fonzie jumping the shark was a kind of sequel to an earlier Knievel homage -- an episode where Fonzie jumped a bunch of barrels and slid into Arnold's.

If you're within five years of my age, and you lived in the U.S. -- especially Florida -- you had an Evel Knievel motorcycle and action figure. (I even had the Snake River Gorge Rocket Car set, and the bike tricked out to look like one of his Harleys, and more stickers, coloring books, patches, jump ramp sets and photos than you could shake a stick at.) You'd play Evel Knievel on your bikes, in the park. You'd jump ramps and probably crack your fool head open (I'm getting a smile-on right now picturing today's nervous parents dealing with freaking Evel Knievel as their kid's role model. Oh, 1970's, you were awesome.)

Evel is also the obvious inspiration for the Simpsons episode where Homer jumps Springfield Gorge. He also appeared on the original Bionic Woman. He played himself, natch.


It sounds ridiculous and cliche to say it, but I think the main reason why Evel meant so much to kids was that he always got up. When you're a kid, you're always doing dumb things and fooling yourself and trying stuff and banging yourself up. And Evel did all that. He took crazy risks. And he always got up.

And for whatever reason, that was important.

I met Evel once. I was eight, and his best daredevil days were behind him.

No, we did not fall in love. Let me finish...

I was living in Orlando, Florida, in a subdivision called Bay Hill. Golf fanatics will doubtless recognize the locale as the site of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

This is me in front of my old house in Bay Hill, a couple years ago. Back in the day, I'd pretty much rev up the Evel motorcycle and let'er rip right there on the sidewalk behind me. Sometimes I'd make him jump salamanders, or oranges from the tree down the street.

Anyway. One day, the rumor spread like wildfire through the neighborhood kids. Evel Knievel was up at the club having dinner.

We all got on our bikes and rode up, and got in and as far as the door to the dining room. And there, at a table, there he was, just sitting there. We were all disappointed that he wasn't wearing his trademark star-spangled jumpsuit.

But after a few minutes of fidgeting and quiet gawking, he waved us in. About ten of us bolted into the mostly empty dining room. He met us half way. I swear to this day, you could hear the metal in him clank a bit when he walked, but that might just be an eight year old's active imagination.

He talked with each one of us -- asked our names, and what we liked to do. We all volunteered that we had all his stuff -- the board game and the t-shirts, and the action figures and the motorcycles. I told him about the Rocket Car from Snake River Canyon and how that was my favorite. He smiled and said, "mine too. I almost made that one."

I guess Evel faded away into the rise of Darth Vader, and so marked probably the end of one era of iconic marketing. Because Star Wars surely started the next era -- and probably all the eras to follow.

The pointlessness of the tasks Evel set himself really hearken back to a more innocent time. I'm not sure what his message was, beyond a kind of bullheaded cowboy spirt, and that dumb, occasionally foolhardy brand of American optimism that can seem simple to the other nations of the world.

It is simple. But it's quite useful. I think it's that optimism, that says you can do better, that you can fulfill your dreams and that following your instincts is the way to go -- well, I like to believe that that's at the root of more than American risk taking. It's at the heart of what it means to be American. The star spangled jumpsuit was no accident.

And I still believe that kind of optimism has been more of a force for good in the world than bad. Even if that idea's been sorely tested in the past few years.

What I remember most about my few minutes with Evel, besides the long-lost autograph I wish to God I still had, but probably never even made it to Canada with me...The thing I remember most was what he told us before he waved goodbye:

"Boys," he said. "Don't let anyone ever tell you you can't."



Thanks, Evel. Hope you aced that last jump. And that somewhere, somehow, there's film. Cause that one I'd like to see someday.


For Jim Henshaw's rather more adult view of the Great Evel Knievel, click here.

Christmas Special Mem'ries

MISTY WATER COLOURED, or otherwise, I'd love to hear about your thoughts on Christmas specials. Bill Brioux at The Canadian Press had an interesting article yesterday on some of the older Christmas specials and why they still resonate:

They were powerful little parables, full of delight and imagination. I didn't know or care at the time that they were crafted by artists already considered masters of 20th century pop culture, icons such as Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Charles Schulz and Chuck Jones. I just knew they took me to the North Pole and back, that they made me believe in Santa Claus, flying reindeer and, most of all, Christmas.

Years later, as a TV critic, I wondered why they remained so popular decades after they were made. I watched them charm and delight my own children who didn't seem to mind or care that there weren't any malfunctioning Xbox or Nintendo games on Rudolph's island of misfit toys or that the Whos down in Whoville didn't have cellphones.

What keeps them timeless (and still incredibly popular, in terms of ratings) in an era of 3-D animated epics such as "Shrek" and "Bee Movie" are irresistible characters, memorable music and original storytelling - plus one other thing. They were made before everything became an extension of the Christmas machine.

Sure, there were Peanuts paperbacks and Rudolph records and Dr. Seuss books to buy back in 1965 and '66 - and plenty were sold. But none of those '60s specials were conceived as part of a corporate marketing ploy. They were, in fact, seen as one-off novelties that would be tough sells to advertisers. CBS even worried that no advertiser would touch "A Charlie Brown Christmas" which - at Schulz's insistence - dared to have Linus quote from scripture. Scripture in a Christmas special? Sacrilege.

I know that earlier this week, I was flipping and hunting for something to distract when I stumbled upon A Charlie Brown Christmas. And yup, damnit if I didn't watch the whole thing again -- even if I do have practically every lined memorized. (And even if it does look weird having it on ABC, not CBS.)

Every year I wait til U.S. Thanksgiving to break out the Vince Guaraldi. It's my thing.

Jazz in a Christmas special aimed at kids. Suck it, Paris Hilton world. Once upon a time, even broadcast networks made choices like that. Imagine that pitch today...

Anyway, that's my thing. I want to know what your thing is.

I'm going to be on Q on CBC Radio next week talking about Christmas specials, and I'd love to solicit your thoughts on which ones still do it for you, and why? I'm especially looking for anything more offbeat -- ie: not the Holy Trinity of Charlie Brown, The Grinch, and Rudolph.

Let loose below in the comments.

Blood Ties Lifetime a No-Go

WELL, HELL. Tanya Huff, Blood Ties writer, posted this on her blog the other day:

Hey Tanya,

I just wanted to give you an update in regards to the Blood Ties final two episodes. Those episodes will not air on-air they will air online instead.

The schedule is as follows:

November 30: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly will air on Television and "We'll Meet Again" will air online.

*Basically you will get two episodes this Friday (November 30)

Next Friday, December 7: The final episode will air online only.

(bit about how we'll handle the blog deleted because we haven't decided yet)

Also, is it possible to send a message to the fans letting them know they can watch online the final two episodes?

The idea is to always keep plugging, and keep as positive as possible, but honestly I can't see how this gets spun as anything other than bad news.

I don't know, man. You get a committed fan base, they show big love for the show. It's a show that doesn't cost Lifetime a lot. After the splash they made with Army Wives initially, even that seems to have cooled. I just don't know what their thinking is.

There seems, all along, to have been a bit of a disconnect between the online part of Lifetime and the network itself. Somebody at the net side of things clearly likes the show, or hears so much from the fans, maybe, that they're more aware of how this thing's going to be perceived.

It's just really disappointing, though. Because I think the last batch of episodes were really great. We were kicking into a different storytelling style, we were opening up all sorts of great mythology expansions for the future. The script I wrote (that now won't show on TV in the US, I guess, what a drag) is one of my favorite pieces of writing I've ever done. A really cool story that was well-made and well cast. And Peter's season finale was a thing of beauty too.

After not knowing so much, here's what I do know: the cast's options are likely expiring any day. The financing for a Season 2 becomes very difficult because of ownership changes of the Canadian net that financed Season One. (Basically, CHUM, the S1 backer doesn't exist anymore. Part of the assets were sold to CTV, and part to Rogers. That puts who pays for what into dutch.)

This for a show that's doing pretty well in Canada, that sold everywhere, that drew a younger audience to Lifetime in the USA...It's just so goddamn disappointing that it's so hard to get anything made. And even when you do and people like it....

Ah well. Sorry, U.S. fans. We did what we could. If the guys at Kaleidoscope manage to pull this out and put together a Season 2, they're rockstars. But in my gut, I feel....oogy.

(This is, of course, my opinion and mine only, and does not reflect the views of Lifetime, Disney!, Kaleidoscope, Insight in B.C., CityTv, Rogers, or any actual descendants of Henry Fitzroy.)

The Reality of My Slacking Is Overrated

I HAVEN'T EVEN absorbed the move to full slack mode yet, mostly because I haven't yet made it to the slacking part. In fact, I was off for about nineteen hours, total, before I had to start working on this other thing. That's the problem with irons in the fire -- they spark and ember on their own schedule. And they don't care if you feel "a little burned out."

I've also been intersecting with my industry in some different ways. There was the WGA support demo on Wednesday, of course, and the day before I got a chance to sit around with Production Executives at Alliance Atlantis to talk about storytelling. These were a group of execs who oversee all the reality shows you see on various lifestyle networks -- this cooking show on Food Network, that dating show on Slice or the home reno show on HGTV.

It was an interesting exchange of views and expertise, and also a bit of a callback. A few short years ago I was one of the guys writing some of those shows. Reality has grown a little long in the tooth since then, of course -- and the surest sign of that is that now the formats are becoming hybridized. It's not enough to have "reality," you have to have "constructed reality" (which is basically scripted by another name -- think Curb Your Enthusisam but not funny) or docusoaps, or this game show element grafted onto that documentary element.

What's key, of course, is that this explosion in reality mirrors what's been going on in drama for the last few years. Rarely these days do you see a pure procedural, or mystery, or romantic comedy. Everything's got something else grafted on top of it. You hide the sci-fi in your show and call it anything but; you insist that your supernatural premise isn't. (I'm not a fan of the show, but you have to at least respect the guys behind Supernatural -- at least they're putting it out there.)

Then there's the argument about the comedy -- single cam, multi cam -- live audience, or pseudo-live audience feel. like How I Met Your Mother... being a writer today doesn't just mean trying to nail your genre -- it can mean trying to nail two or three.

TeeVee's on its fourth generation now, and with audience fragmentation, and decades of absorbing formats and narrative structures -- it was inevitable that you'd get to a point of this kind of cross pollination. What's weird is, reality's in the same place. Except the whole cycle's only taken about 5-7 years to get here.

I'm not one of those writers who has a secret hate-on for reality tv. Mostly I ignore it, or use it as video wallpaper when I'm tired. I have found myself fascinated and drawn to strong personality reality -- like anything with Gordon Ramsay, who I just find insanely interesting to watch.

I guess the truth is that with limited time, the time I could spend on that stuff really gets shuffled to actual documentary content. I'm looking forward to finally catching up on Ken Burns' The War over Christmas, for instance.

But going forth into that room of people, grappling with issues of character setup, and voiceover, and editing and how much to recap and whether you really need teasers anymore -- part of me just had to marvel not how different the scripted and reality worlds are different, but how much they're the same.

I started my talk by saying something I truly believe: that drama owed reality a debt over the last few years. Since reality came along, it's made characterizations sharper and forced us to commit to stakes and storylines we may not have considered earlier. I don't think that a character like Gregory House would have been welcome on network tv a few years ago. But after OD'ing on Simon Cowell, House just seems ... well, at least House saves lives, you know? And by cheekily tweaking reality with the House-Survivor arc, that show has finally done the one thing it's never been successful at: introduced a story arc with a satisfying beginning, middle, and end.

But in that fourteenth floor boardroom the other day, no one was talking about House. They were worried about things like simple storytelling -- about not being able to shoot enough to really get the story; of having to rely on voiceover written by editors who can't write because nobody will pay for a real writer-- of having to tart up in post flawed concepts that were ill conceived and rushed, or not well thought out. They fretted about setup and execution; of how to make sure that the people knew the show before they started making the show.

The bubbling subtext was one of professionalism. How do we maintain it?

And the answer to most of the questions they asked me boiled down to the same thing: what are you asking the audience to know and to feel at this moment? Where are they? What do they know, what don't they know?

The reason why reality took off in the first place was because it put these questions front and center. The good guys and the bad guys, the narratives sharp and clear, the dramatic through line concise and pounding. There's a series of TV memories I've got locked up in the old noggin -- and the first episode of that first season of Survivor is right there beside the first time I saw Twin Peaks, or thirtysomething, or the first time Tony saw the ducks, or Claire Fisher leaving the foot in the cute boy's locker.

But when you listen to people fretting over squeezed budgets and producers who are great at selling shows but not making them -- well, that's when I see the future. And it's not a great future.

You knew I'd get back to the strike eventually, right?

One of the most ill informed things that swirls at the margins in this contretemps is this breathless vision of YouTube content, and how user-generated content and low cost stuff is the future.

It's not. If anything, the crisis in reality right now is about seeing the cracks form. They sold it as low cost alternative programming. But the only reason it's low cost is because it's on the backs of employees who do as much work shaping and conceiving as a writer does a scripted teleplay -- but without the benefit of the protections, health benefits and creators righs currently enjoyed by, say, the people who bring you House.

House is hard. Content is hard. Good content is doubly so. All of it requires patience and thought and a certain baseline of professional skill. They haven't come up with the assembly line robot to replace the writer. At root, the "producers" in reality TV and the writers walking a line in L.A. and New York are both the generators of the content, and its raw materials.

Apart and separate from any of the other moral or economic arguments for the WGA in this dispute, is this:

Support the writers, because if you don't, the stuff you enjoy is going to start to suck.

And no high-falutin story seminars or network pitch meetings are going to change that scary, irrevocable truth.

Out of the Blackout and Into the Pit

BY NOW you've probably seen this statement from the WGA:

To Our Fellow Members,
After four days of bargaining with the AMPTP, we are writing to let you know that, though we are still at the table, the press blackout has been lifted.

Our inability to communicate with our members has left a vacuum of information that has been filled with rumors, both well intentioned and deceptive.

Among the rumors was the assertion that the AMPTP had a groundbreaking proposal that would make this negotiation a "done deal." In fact, for the first three days of this week, the companies presented in essence their November 4 package with not an iota of movement on any of the issues that matter to writers.

Thursday morning, the first new proposal was finally presented to us. It dealt only with streaming and made-for-Internet jurisdiction, and it amounts to a massive rollback.

For streaming television episodes, the companies proposed a residual structure of a single fixed payment of less than $250 for a year's reuse of an hour-long program (compared to over $20,000 payable for a network rerun). For theatrical product they are offering no residuals whatsoever for streaming.

For made-for-Internet material, they offered minimums that would allow a studio to produce up to a 15 minute episode of network-derived web content for a script fee of $1,300. They continued to refuse to grant jurisdiction over original content for the Internet.

In their new proposal, they made absolutely no move on the download formula (which they propose to pay at the DVD rate), and continue to assert that they can deem any reuse "promotional," and pay no residual (even if they replay the entire film or TV episode and even if they make money).

The AMPTP says it will have additional proposals to make but, as of Thursday evening, they have not been presented to us. We are scheduled to meet with them again on Tuesday.

In the meantime, we felt it was essential to update you accurately on where negotiations stand. On Wednesday we presented a comprehensive economic justification for our proposals. Our entire package would cost this industry $151 million over three years. That's a little over a 3% increase in writer earnings each year, while company revenues are projected to grow at a rate of 10%. We are falling behind.

For Sony, this entire deal would cost $1.68 million per year. For Disney $6.25 million. Paramount and CBS would each pay about $4.66 million, Warner about $11.2 million, Fox $6.04 million, and NBC/Universal $7.44 million. MGM would pay $320,000 and the entire universe of remaining companies would assume the remainder of about $8.3 million per year. As we've stated repeatedly, our proposals are more than reasonable and the companies have no excuse for denying it.

The AMPTP's intractability is dispiriting news but it must also be motivating. Any movement on the part of these multinational conglomerates has been the result of the collective action of our membership, with the support of SAG, other unions, supportive politicians, and the general public. We must fight on, returning to the lines on Monday in force to make it clear that we will not back down, that we will not accept a bad deal, and that we are all in this together.

Patric M. Verrone, President, WGAW
Michael Winship, President, WGAE

DHD has the skinny here.

But if I can just say for a minute -- this is simply not a serious offer in any way shape or form. That script fee for webisodes? I just got paid more than that to write my portion of an interactive web-thingie for The Border. A Canadian show.

This is not good news. Fans4Writers, all you guys out there...the CEO's aren't listening...hopefully on the weekend I'll work up a post about something new to be tried.

And this one aint about sending pencils.

A Decent Dose of Perspective

AS YOU ANXIOUSLY check Nikki Finke every five minutes, remember that the process of negotiation is a difficult one, even when the sides are talking. Jim Henshaw has an excellent piece up about labor negotiation, with some historical context on the very first contract secured by the Writers Guild of Canada. It's an interesting read.

The negotiation process is a complex one. You come to see some of your own positions as justified but maybe unattainable. You see some of the Producer's requirements as onerous but logical. And both of you get snagged on issues that can't be addressed without throwing some other section already agreed upon completely out of whack.

A clause may be painful for some of the membership and perfect for the rest. They pay the same dues and work just as hard. What do you do?

A loophole covered creates another that a disingenuous producer could drive a truck through. Do you hamstring them all for the sake of one potential bad apple, or cut them some slack and hope the trust is appreciated and respected?

Those two words constantly reverberate in your head -- strong but reasonable.

In the end, the final agreements are always imperfect. This isn't a business where everybody operates the same jack hammer.

Our first IPA (Independent Producers Agreement) was imperfect, but it achieved its goal of creating a a reliable foundation for a burgeoning industry. Accepting that development money was scarce, we made the initial writing stages cheaper, creating a "script fee" that was below WGA rates, but was topped up when it went into production. We also created a "Production fee" that prepaid residual uses and didn't require further outlays from the producer until he was out from under his negative cost and in profit.

I've had writers tell me it was an agreement that finally allowed them to earn a living in this country. I've had others insist it cost them a fortune. They're probably both right.

What comes out of the current talks in Los Angeles will be imperfect. Nobody will get everything they want. We'll give away things we've championed to make a deal and some writers will complain that the strike wasn't worth it.

The Legion of Decency can be read here.

Writers' Protest Day Wrapup

"Today, people all over the world are going to signify that we do have power and we do have influence. Every day we grow stronger. We're more resolved."

TOM FONTANA (Homicide, OZ) Quoted today in the Hollywood Reporter

When both sides went back to the bargaining table on Monday, there was a whole lot of optimism in the air. But that's cooled now -- with the realization that the two sides in the WGA strike really are still quite far apart.

This is when people can start to lose heart. So symbols are important. I'm glad writers around the globe got out there yesterday to show striking American writers that we are all united, too.

The French Demo is up first with a great video:



Seriously, how cool is that? Oh, and is anyone surprised that the Irish demonstrators seemed to be having the most fun?



And get a load of the German writers at the Brandenburg Gate. (I can't remember, did anything else of historical importance ever happen there?)



Here's an article on the Canadian demo. (Mercifully minus my mug, which appears in the print edition.) There's coverage of the British demo here,

And here's a story about the Australian edition.

Speakers at the 50-strong Sydney rally included Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jan Sardi (Shine, The Notebook), Craig Pearce (Strictly Ballroom, Romeo+Juliet, Moulin Rouge) and AFI-nominated writer Rick Kalowski (Comedy Inc, The Honourable Wally Norman).

Here's another take on the Canadian demos, complete with another quote from that annoying quote whore. At least here I manage not to insult anybody. And I avoid the dreaded war metaphor!

Striking WGA members, don't lose faith, keep fighting. The public backs you, and so do your fellow scenaristes. (Seriously, how cool is that word. I want to be called a scenariste always!)

Canadian Screenwriting Awards Entry Deadline Extended

I'VE BLOGGED before about The Canadian Screenwriting Awards, and how they're pretty much the best party going. (Erudite wiseasses + good food x booze/ short awards show = Awesome.) Well, before the big shindig comes the entries.

Originally the deadline for entries was tomorrow, but it's now been extended to Monday, Dec 3 at 5:30 pm.

To be eligible for entry, scripts must have been produced within the WGC’s jurisdiction, and either broadcast on TV or radio, released theatrically in North America, or screened at a Canadian film festival for the first time between December 1, 2006, and November 30, 2007. All entries must be written and submitted by a WGC m ember in good standing.


So there you go. Don't be shy. Get those scripts in. And in a related story, they're looking for judges...

Call for Judges for the 2008 Canadian Screenwriting Awards

Help Celebrate the People Behind the Scripts

Everyone has an opinion about what makes a great script – here’s your chance to make your opinion matter. The WGC is looking for members to volunteer as judges for our upcoming 2008 Canadian Screenwriting Awards.

To volunteer as a judge, please email David Kinahan at d.kinahan@wgc.ca and indicate the genre(s) in which you have experience. Please do not volunteer in any category where you have submitted an entry.

CBC's take on the Day of Solidarity

FROM CBC.CA.

Canadian writers take to streets to support striking U.S. colleagues

Solidarity events also held in U.K., Europe, Mexico, New Zealand and other areas

Last Updated: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 | 4:02 PM ET

CBC News

Screenwriters in Toronto and Montreal took to the streets Wednesday to show solidarity with members of the Writers Guild of America, who are in the fourth week of a strike.

Canadian TV and film writers joined writers in Paris, London, Berlin and other entertainment centres around the world in a show of support for their U.S. colleagues.

A member of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain shows his support for striking Hollywood screenwriters.
(Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press)

"As Canadian writers, what happens in the U.S. desperately affects us," said Denis McGrath, a Canadian screenwriter picketing outside Toronto's Sony Centre.

"We already make a lot less money than American writers do, and we still have it better than writers in other countries," he said.

"So all around the world today, in six, seven cities around the world, different members of their national writers guilds are marching in solidarity with the WGA for their deal on internet rights."

Yes. If you insist, you may now officially call me, "Quote Whore." But only capped like that. It's classier.

I Killed In The Line

YOU ALWAYS KNOW when Alex Epstein is calling. That's because your phone rings, and your cell phone rings, and you get an email almost simultaneously. Seriously. When Mr. Crafty Screenwriting wants to get ahold of you -- he means stat. It makes one kind of feel like Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters. I'm surprised I didn't immediately start sculpting a giant "I Support The WGA" sign out of mashed potatoes.

Alex was calling last night (and I'm sorry Alex, for dodging your call) to try and figure out if I'd come up with any catchy slogans for the line today. I hadn't. My bad.

Little did I know that I'd be facing much the same question, for real, 12 hours later. Today, of course, was the International Day of Solidarity in Support of the striking members of the Writers Guild of America. Over a hundred writers marched in Toronto in support of the WGA's efforts to secure a fair deal on Internet rights from the AMPTP. The Toronto writers were joined at the demo (outside the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts) by members of ACTRA, the Canadian Actors' Union, the Writers Union of Canada, and the Canadian Media Guild.

A similarly sized crowd -- English and French, marched and demonstrated in Montreal, where it was much colder. And similar demos took place all over the world -- Australia, Ireland, France, and England. Writers everywhere recognize the importance of the sea change facing our industry. We who face the blank page are well acquainted with staring into the abyss. And though we're a fractious lot, there's a certain unanimity in facing down an opposition who wants to pay you nothing for the product that essentially starts with you.

But Goddamn, son, none of that high falutin talk helps you when you're out there walking around in a circle in dead silence. That's what it was like for the first five minutes. You know, we Canadians, we're a reticent lot. So, someone tried out a desultory "Stop Corporate Greed Now," or something like that. But face it, droogs, we're not going up against Monsanto or Martin Marietta here (although G.E. is a defence contractor...hmmm) so that fell a little short. I floated one: "Internet/DVD/Don't Ask Us to Write for Free." Not bad for a first draft. But you know, walkin round and round in a big circle, the thing is, those slogans? They get old pretty fast. So it was, walking furiously, trying to come up with something sung. "C'mon Denis," somebody said. "Come up with another one."

Can I remind you for a moment that this is a group of one hundred writers? Did I miss the part where I was elected to do all the free writing needed everywhere in the Country? This blog, demonstration chants, seriously, you need a prescription written, give me a day and I'll see what I can do.

But the new chants weren't coming, no matter what I tried. Naturally. Open big, then hit a dry spell. I tried going for a "Pay us fair, Right is right" and then followed by something about "or you'll have to go home and talk to your wife tonight." But that didn't seem particularly egalitarian, I couldn't make the scansion work, and I couldn't shake the suspicious feeling that I was stealing an old Henny Youngman bit.

The thing is, walking around, cold, carrying a sign, traffic around you, weird TV cameras and photographers prodding you for the get -- man, this is not the way to spitball. Where's the couch? The gummy bears? The corn chips? Seriously, guys, can we just talk about The Simpsons or Battlestar Galactica for five minutes and try to get our bearings?

But this is the thing, when you're a pro, you gotta do what you gotta do. I shifted gears. We needed a song. Something Full Metal Jacket-y. Why not? People are entirely too cavalier going for that war metaphor in describing the fight for internet rights anyway...why not steal from basic training?

So I came up with a quick framework:

I don't know but I've been told.

(classic start. Good.)

The internet is paved with gold.

(Topical. Aces.)

Now they say that they won't pay --

(Hey, this is easier than a chant. This is really cooking.)

But then: boom. Brick wall. I did the fifteen year old poetry thing. You know, cruise through the alphabet, a -- eh? No, too cute. Bay, Cay, Day, Fay, Gay....wait a min...no, no, no that's just asking to be misinterpreted, stay on point. Jay, Lay, May, Nay, this is hopeless.

I think I did an interview leaning on my sign.

By the time I'd returned to the line, Jeremy Boxen (Falcon Beach) had come up with our sell line,

"It's colder here than in L.A."

So that became the official Toronto chant. And believe me, it was funny because it was true. And yes, I know the comedy writers out there will point out that the setup was all wrong, that the punchline didn't follow and the construction is way sloppy...but damnit, everything in Canada is about the weather. And anway, Jeez, if you're gonna pick pick pick the minutae -- I mean, do you think they gave Lincoln this much guff at Gettysburg?

You learn a lot walking around in a circle talking to the same people over and over. For once and for all, the difference was firmly established between Toronto-based writers Lara McKinnon and Anne Fenn (who's got a very funny piece in this Month's Walrus Magazine) Anne is kooky. Lara is quirky.

Also seen on the line...Don Ferguson, (Air Farce)...Big time showrunners Peter Mohan (Blood Ties) and David Barlow, (The Border, Blue Murder) (at left) Aaron Martin and Karen McClellan, (The Best Years) Screenwriter/Playwrights Mike McPhaden and Jason Sherman, Brenda Greenburg, Sean Jara, Karen Hill, Jennifer Cowan, Claire Ross Dunn, Shelley Eriksen, (Blood Ties, Shania) (In fact, Blood Ties fans, you missed a good portion of the writing staff of the show -- even book author Tanya Huff made the trip in from the country to the demo!)

Fellow bloggeristas Henshaw and Golick were there (Golick was one of the main organizers of the event, along with the irrepressible crew from the WGC: Executive Director Maureen Parker, Kelly Lynne Ashton, Laurie Channer, David Kinahan and President RebeccaSchecter)

Best of all, there was a strong contingent of new and emerging writers who are probably going to spend a significant portion of their careers writing for the internet: Heather Jackson, Sarah Glinski, John Callaghan, Cole Bastedo -- a lot of young faces for whom this fight isn't theoretical at all. They'll feel the heat of what's to come hotter than the rest of us.

So we made some noise, we marched in a circle, we did a little monkey dance for the cameras. Sugith Varughese worked the camera for our video. Maureen tried to get me to come up with more slogans. (I tried, Maureen, I tried.) I collected some nice words from people about Across The River To Motor City. I resisted the urge to self-deprecate. I got to meet print writers I read, like Gemma Files and, finally, Jaime Weinman from Macleans.

And then a bunch of us landed in at Shopsy's. Classy act award goes to Brandon, a guy who's trying to break in who bought coffee for Peter and Jim and breakfast for me. Smart guy, Brandon. No flies on him.

(Of course we rewarded him with hair curling stories about the real industry. That's right, kids. The Too Hot For TeeVee truths that never even make it into this blog. Not in a million years.)

It was at that little table that we tried the best we could to reach for the metaphor for our little industry. For as much as things look shakier for the WGA right now -- it could always be worse. You could be in Canada. Sometimes it's all about just reaching for the right metaphor:

"It's worse than hurry up and wait."

"It's more like a race...but, it's a bad race..."

"A race between between a snail and a turtle."

"No...not a turtle."

"A retarded chicken."

"A headless, retarded chicken."

"Perfect."

"That's the Canadian industry right there. It's like a race between a snail and a headless, retarded chicken."

Solidarity forever, Bitches!

UPDATE: Full Circle. Alex Epstein reports from the Montreal march, where not only did they have slogans, they had slogans in two languages. And he got interviewed en Francais! Not just Crafty, folks. Le Crafty. Tres Jaloux. (Anybody who blogged about any of the other marches in other cities, let me know and I'll throw up a link.)

Strike Alt Viewing

SO I STILL find it difficult to enjoy American scripted programming on the TV. I find myself thinking about the whole mess and I can't concentrate on the narrative. So what do you do in the meantime?

Well, here in Canada, SHOWCASE has started running the British import Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Thursday nights at 10pm. It stars Billie Piper (Doctor Who) and the first episode was actually quite excellent.

Additionally, if you haven't before, Sunday nights might be a good time to tune in Canadian comedy Rent-A-Goalie. The second season (for which I freelance wrote two episodes) is looser and more absurdist, but still has a bevy of interesting humor. A joke about William Burroughs smacks up against jokes abou bodily functions, people go on strike because they don't like their nicknames, and the small bedroom community of Burlington, Ontario becomes the nexus of all that is evil and perverse. (That part's true, by the way.) (SHOWCASE, Sunday, 9:30 p.m.)

The other thing I'm really enjoying -- courtesty of Will -- is clips of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe series. It airs on BBC Four in the UK. If media deconstruction classes in High School were this fun, maybe they'd get somewhere.

Script Linkage Not So Much

A COUPLE of eagle-eyed visitors have emailed to let me know that the script link for the earlier post on Across the River To Motor City is dead. I know. I was contacted by someone from the production who expressed concern that having script material out there that differed from the final product might confuse potential investors while they're still trying to get a second season.

Whatevs, kids. I don't necessarily agree, but I'm not the guy doing the selling on this one...and I'm all about playing team, remember. As the series unspools, I'll be writing more about the script to screen transitions.

In related news, Saskatchewan is awesome.

Rally to Support the WGA in a Country Near You

AS THE WGA and the AMPTP return to the bargaining table for the first time since the strike began, a news blackout is in effect.

But that doesn't stop writers, film industry workers, actors, directors, and fans from around the world showing their support for the concept of fair compensation in the digital age.

Here are rallies taking place around the world, this Wednesday, November 28th. All times listed are local times.



LONDON, UK

The Writers' Guild of Great Britain invites you all to congregate outside the Trades Union Congress HQ in Great Russell Street in central London. Map. There will be signs and material there.




TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

The Writers Guild of Canada is asking people to meet outside the Sony Centre (formerly the Hummingbird Centre, and before that, the O'Keefe Centre) on Front Street just East of Yonge, at 10 am. (Rally is 10 to 12 noon.) There will be signs. Wear red if you can. The location is close to two subway stops -- from King Station, walk south. Or from Union, walk East. Either way it's about 1-2 blocks. Writers, Friends, Actors, Directors, Crew, Moms, Fans -- all are Welcome!

MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA

The Montreal rally is being co-sponsored by SARTEC, the French writers' union in Canada, and the WGC. It starts at 10:30 a.m. and runs to noon. Meet at the SARTEC offices (1229, rue Panet in Montreal - between René-Lévesque and Ste-Catherine). Weather is currently calling for -4 and sunny, so bundle up a bit.

PARIS, FRANCE

Because, you know, the French aren't good at strikes or rallies or anything. Heh heh. This is the one where you can find yourself some lovely young artist type and fall in love. Except it's serious. Very serious.

à 16 heures précises sur l’esplanade du Trocadéro,

(According to the UGS website )


AUSTRALIA

Now if I didn't have to be in Toronto, this is the one I'd try to be at. You think Neighbours just happens? The AWG also managed to get THREE demos together. Bravo!

SYDNEY
4.30pm
Sydney Square, Sydney Town Hall, George Street
(meet from 4.15pm)

BRISBANE
5.00-5.30pm
Queen’s Gardens, cnr. Elizabeth and George Sts, Brisbane

PERTH
5.15pm to 6.00pm
Entry Forecourt, Perth Railway Station, Wellington St, opposite Forrest Place.
RSVP: Please email wa@awg.com.au with “Solidarity” in the subject header

DUBLIN, IRELAND

3:00 pm
Guild Office
Art House, Curved Street, Temple Bar
(According to the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Blog)


If you hear of any others, let us know.

Because, Perversely, I Know It Matters To You...

DAVINCI'S INQUEST's 2nd season was just released on DVD, and today the New York Times gives it some love:

VIEWERS disappointed with this fall’s crop of new crime shows — or worried that a lingering writers’ strike will rob them of their favorite old crime shows — can take solace, we’re told, in DVDs. But what if you’ve already watched all 10 seasons of “The Sopranos” and “The Wire,” as well as the 14 Orbach-Noth-Florek-Moriarty episodes of “Law & Order”? What’s left to discover?

At the moment the best answer may come from a country known for its low crime rate. The Canadian series “Da Vinci’s Inquest,” whose second season has just been released on DVD (Acorn Media), passed largely unnoticed in the United States but had an eerily “Sopranos”-like track record at home. The shows, which made their debuts just three months apart, were both nominated as their countries’ best dramatic series in all seven years they were eligible. “The Sopranos” won the Emmy twice; “Da Vinci’s Inquest” won the Gemini five times.

Because it’s a police procedural centered on a coroner’s office, “Da Vinci” has been called a cross between “Law & Order” and “CSI.” (It’s right there on the DVD box: “The realism of ‘Law & Order.’ The science of ‘CSI.’”) But it’s not at all like either of those shows. While its crimes can be sensational — several multiple-episode story arcs in the first two seasons involve a serial killer preying on prostitutes near the Vancouver docks — its approach is resolutely low-key, avoiding both ripped-from-the-headlines formulas and glossy melodrama.