Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
P.D. Days for Scribes: The 2010 Toronto Screenwriting Conference
WHEN I WAS but a wee snapper in grade school, I remember vividly being of two minds about what they called "P.D. Days." P.D. stood for "Professional Development." Teachers would huddle in conference rooms (I suppose, I was never really sure) and we'd get an extra day off for fun and frolic. There were a lot of P.D. days in the winter, it seemed, and they all involved tobogganing and snow down your snowpants. I'm kidding. I was too cool for snowpants. Not too cool for pneumonia, though.
Sometimes I'd imagine the teachers and what they were doing. At first I pictured them with a whole different set of kids -- rough kids, like crash test dummy kids, and their job was to learn'em. They'd learn to appreciate us more. Then I got a little older and I just figured they went skiing or something. Man, I hope they didn't have to play that trust exercise where they close their eyes and fall back and expect people to catch them. That one always creeped me out.
Professional development is important in any job. You always want to be learning new and better ways to do what you do, to unlock unrealized potential, or shake off old patterns that might prevent you from stretching yourself, and doing better.
When I got older I'd hear talk of my corporate friends going to retreats at places like Deerhurst Inn where they hit each other with pillows and did the falling back thing. It all seemed rather odd and exotic. And a little bit gay.
I don't mean that as a pejorative. I really mean "gay." If our culture has taught me anything, it's that adult pillow fights inevitably lead to same sex hookups. Not that there's anything wrong with that. That's what she said.
Alright. The point is, for writers, professional development is much like the profession itself -- solitary, and haphazard. You're always looking for inspiration, and most of what training you get is from soaking up the world around you, and occasionally reading books.
Add to this: most writers are self-taught. I don't mean that they don't take a course now and then, but the only way you really ever get good at writing is to be bad at writing, by yourself, for years, getting slowly better until you're not bad anymore and then you show selected people what you've done, and hopefully build from there.
What's interesting with that is that there are probably as many systems or tricks or tips or processes for being a writer as there are writers. And we rarely, if ever, get to peel back the curtain and see how someone else gets it done. Maybe a stray quote in an article might hint at something, but you can't really follow up, ask for clarification, or just look the person in the eye and say, "Really? Ginger Ale, Oprah, and Animal Crackers?"
It's in this spirit that my agent, Glenn Cockburn, organized his first Toronto Screenwriting Conference, happening this weekend, Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11th.
"I am so excited to be a part of this event," says Cockburn. "I have found over the years there exists a large gap in the entertainment education and event market for experienced writers to continue to master their craft. In starting the Toronto Screenwriting Conference the idea was to create a new annual event where experienced writers could come and share their expertise with working writers and the people who work with them like producers, directors, and network executives."
Sometimes I'd imagine the teachers and what they were doing. At first I pictured them with a whole different set of kids -- rough kids, like crash test dummy kids, and their job was to learn'em. They'd learn to appreciate us more. Then I got a little older and I just figured they went skiing or something. Man, I hope they didn't have to play that trust exercise where they close their eyes and fall back and expect people to catch them. That one always creeped me out.
Professional development is important in any job. You always want to be learning new and better ways to do what you do, to unlock unrealized potential, or shake off old patterns that might prevent you from stretching yourself, and doing better.
When I got older I'd hear talk of my corporate friends going to retreats at places like Deerhurst Inn where they hit each other with pillows and did the falling back thing. It all seemed rather odd and exotic. And a little bit gay.
I don't mean that as a pejorative. I really mean "gay." If our culture has taught me anything, it's that adult pillow fights inevitably lead to same sex hookups. Not that there's anything wrong with that. That's what she said.
Alright. The point is, for writers, professional development is much like the profession itself -- solitary, and haphazard. You're always looking for inspiration, and most of what training you get is from soaking up the world around you, and occasionally reading books.
Add to this: most writers are self-taught. I don't mean that they don't take a course now and then, but the only way you really ever get good at writing is to be bad at writing, by yourself, for years, getting slowly better until you're not bad anymore and then you show selected people what you've done, and hopefully build from there.
What's interesting with that is that there are probably as many systems or tricks or tips or processes for being a writer as there are writers. And we rarely, if ever, get to peel back the curtain and see how someone else gets it done. Maybe a stray quote in an article might hint at something, but you can't really follow up, ask for clarification, or just look the person in the eye and say, "Really? Ginger Ale, Oprah, and Animal Crackers?"
It's in this spirit that my agent, Glenn Cockburn, organized his first Toronto Screenwriting Conference, happening this weekend, Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11th.
"I am so excited to be a part of this event," says Cockburn. "I have found over the years there exists a large gap in the entertainment education and event market for experienced writers to continue to master their craft. In starting the Toronto Screenwriting Conference the idea was to create a new annual event where experienced writers could come and share their expertise with working writers and the people who work with them like producers, directors, and network executives."
Monday, April 5, 2010
"Have a Take. Don't Suck"
YOUR WRITER CRACK of the day comes courtesy of Emily Nussbaum's excellent New York Magazine profile of David Simon (The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street, The Corner, the upcoming Treme)
A tiny taste:
"Pugnacious D" is available online here.
Hipped to me once again by the vivacious Karen "Thrillkill" Hill.
A tiny taste:
Simon and I sit on the bench outside, as he sips an orange juice and vodka. His cold has gotten worse. (Earlier, I’d heard him moan to Lippman on the phone, “God, don’t even talk about lung cancer while I have this cough.”)
As a vendor shills barbecue, Simon tells me about other projects: a film about the Lincoln assassination he’s writing with Tom Fontana, a book about the drug trade, an HBO series about the CIA. He reminisces again about his years as a reporter, peppering a corrupt politician with questions. The guy derided Simon from the assembly floor, announcing, “This little person came up to me … ”
He loves the punch line, the politico privately telling him, “Thank you, Mr. Simon, for being fair.”
We discuss Lippman’s website the Memory Project, on which readers share childhood stories. Simon has long had a love-hate relationship with the Internet, that prime suspect in the death of newspapers. When I’d asked Simon how much he read comments online, he said he read sparingly: “It’s your job not to listen.” (Then I interviewed, separately, Overmyer and Treme producer Nina Noble. “I don’t read at all, and he reads everything,” Overmyer said, gesturing down the street at Simon. “Somewhat,” Noble said. “But not as obsessively as he does,” shooting Simon a glance.)
But lately, he’s been thinking about ways he can turn the web to his advantage.
“Fuck the exposition,” he says gleefully as we go back into the bar. “Just be. The exposition can come later.” He describes a theory of television narrative. “If I can make you curious enough, there’s this thing called Google. If you’re curious about the New Orleans Indians, or ‘second-line’ musicians—you can look it up.” The Internet, he suggests, can provide its own creative freedom, releasing writers from having to overexplain, allowing history to light the characters from within.
"Pugnacious D" is available online here.
Hipped to me once again by the vivacious Karen "Thrillkill" Hill.
Toronto Screenwriting Conference News
SO THEN, I might have mentioned that I'm moderating a Q&A at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference this weekend. It's a very craft-oriented, nitty-gritty kind of conference. Less war stories than process stuff. Should be gold for writers. I'll have more up about it tomorrow.
But this afternoon I'm actually doing my pre-interview. My session's going to be with a longtime, well-respected Drama development, current and production executive. I've got a good handle on how I'm going to go in -- but if you have anything you've ever wanted to ask a Network exec about pitching, managing the relationship with the network, what makes a good meeting or a bad meeting, or anything else crafty that you'd like to get in there, leave it in the comments below.
And like I said, I'll have more on the conference & its lineup tomorrow.
But this afternoon I'm actually doing my pre-interview. My session's going to be with a longtime, well-respected Drama development, current and production executive. I've got a good handle on how I'm going to go in -- but if you have anything you've ever wanted to ask a Network exec about pitching, managing the relationship with the network, what makes a good meeting or a bad meeting, or anything else crafty that you'd like to get in there, leave it in the comments below.
And like I said, I'll have more on the conference & its lineup tomorrow.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
One Small Multitouch For a Man....
ALRIGHT, SO HERE I am sitting in the Orlando airport, waiting for my flight home to Toronto. I've launched Pages for the first time, and I've got the case set up on the angle to provide a platform to type.
My first blog on the IPad.
The keyboard isn't quite big enough to touch type but with predictive text and two blazing fingers of hunt and peck I'd say. I'm capable of about fifty words a minute which isn't bad.
for all the fooferal about the lack of multitasking what they haven't said is that it's third party apps. I can listen to music as I type. I'm doing that now. I can also download in the background. Switching between apps is blazing. my battery last night lasted about 13 hours.
I downloaded two books from the bookstore. Beautiful. Crisp and clear. The Amazon kindle book app is outstanding. They were ready. my favorite game is Scrabble. they did a great job on it.
judging by the ABC app, which I'll probably lose access to when I hit Canada, it kicks flashes ass. Hulu where I was staying was choppy. This is smooth as hell.
Did I mention it was fast?
This is easier to use than an iPhone. I'm as suspicious of hype as anyone else. But this really feels Star Trek to me.
More later.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Bodice Ripping Weekend fun
FOR THE RELIGIOUS this weekend has one meaning. For some it's just a long weekend. For me, a lapsed Catholic, it means that I won't go to church (not with all that boy-touching all over the news) but I won't eat meat today (As I had a character say once in a script, "just because I don't believe in God doesn't mean I don't fear him. That's just common sense.") Oh, and I'll spend most of the day thinking about the iPad I'm going to pick up tomorrow, so I guess, what, that counts as worshipping Mammon or something.
Yeah. I'm probably screwed.
But hey, if you happen to be by your TeeVee on Easter Sunday night, you get a great old fashioned yarn done new with blood & guts and stuff -- complete with some fine Canadian artists working on it. (Not writers, but hey, we'll work on that later.)
As the release put it:
Yeah. I'm probably screwed.
But hey, if you happen to be by your TeeVee on Easter Sunday night, you get a great old fashioned yarn done new with blood & guts and stuff -- complete with some fine Canadian artists working on it. (Not writers, but hey, we'll work on that later.)
As the release put it:
BEN HUR is a gut-wrenching, action-packed drama about the struggle between the Roman Empire and its rebellious conquest Judaea, and two best friends caught in a terrible moment in history. This brand new, Canadian co-produced, two-part miniseries premieres on CBC Television on Easter Sunday, April 4 at 8 p.m. and concludes on Sunday, April 11 at 8 p.m.This is going to air in the USA too, but not til Christmas. So Canada for once gets a show first!
Joseph Morgan (Alexander, Master and Commander) stars as Judah Ben Hur and Stephen Campbell Moore (Amazing Grace, The History Boys) is Octavius Messala, life-long friends on the opposite sides of a war for Judaea’s national identity that tests their characters to the maximum.
The stellar international cast also includes Emily VanCamp (Brothers & Sisters, Everwood) as Esther, Hugh Bonneville (Notting Hill, Mansfield Park) as Pontius Pilate,
Ray Winstone (Beowulf, The Departed) as Quintus Arrius, James Faulkner (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Good Shepherd) as Marcellus Agrippa, Alex Kingston (ER, Law & Order: SUV) as Ruth, Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) as Tirzah, Lucia Jimenez (Butterflies and Lightning) as Athene, Ben Cross (Star Trek, Chariots of Fire) as Emperor Tiberius and Kris Holden-Reid (The Tudors, Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story) as Gaius.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Integration Evil
LAST NIGHT's IPAD integrated "Ipad" storyline on MODERN FAMILY made for the unfunniest episode of the season thus far.
And paradoxically, it made me want one EVEN MORE.
Sometimes I hate my gadgety weakness.
Oooh, and now there are reviews. Reviews! I say, and they're rapturous!
Shiny. Shiny. Shiny.
Two more sleeps.
And paradoxically, it made me want one EVEN MORE.
Sometimes I hate my gadgety weakness.
Oooh, and now there are reviews. Reviews! I say, and they're rapturous!
Shiny. Shiny. Shiny.
Two more sleeps.
Round Two on the CRTC's TV Policy
IT'S CALLED THE "kick it to the curb" hour -- where you announce stuff that's going to be unpopular just before the weekend, especially before a long weekend, and this is one they're really going to want to kick to the curb.
The CRTC's decision over the new TV policy continues to cause ripples a week later. Jim Henshaw has his own patented (and pessimistic) view of the proceedings here.
One of the less talked about provisions in the new policy is the idea that Canadian broadcasters will now be able to demand blackouts on U.S. nets for programs where they own the Canadian rights, if they're not able to show in simulcast. This creates somewhat of a technological problem for the cable and satellite companies, who'd need to hire more people just to keep track of the blue bars all over the schedule.
Simultaneous substitution, of course, is the thing that the Canadian private networks built their fortunes on -- being able to piggyback on U.S. net publicity and show their bought & borrowed shows on two channels at once.
Well, in the spirit of last year's duelling commercials fight, Canada's top two cablers aren't going to make it that easy. They're set to announce by end of business that they're pulling all U.S. network feeds from the cable packages in sixty days. This will predictably cause outrage and hate from customers, which the companies will blame entirely on the networks, saying that pulling the U.S. signals was the only way that they could keep people's bills by going up by more than 10 bucks a month.
"Don't blame us, blame the networks" is going to be the new mantra.
This pretty scorched earth policy was made clear in a press release that leaked a little early over Canada Newswire this morning.
The networks aren't down and out themselves, either. The WGC is apparently learning that petitions to the CMF and the CRTC will seek to re-define as CanCon any program in which somebody tells somebody else "I'm sorry."
What a stupid fucking industry.
The CRTC's decision over the new TV policy continues to cause ripples a week later. Jim Henshaw has his own patented (and pessimistic) view of the proceedings here.
One of the less talked about provisions in the new policy is the idea that Canadian broadcasters will now be able to demand blackouts on U.S. nets for programs where they own the Canadian rights, if they're not able to show in simulcast. This creates somewhat of a technological problem for the cable and satellite companies, who'd need to hire more people just to keep track of the blue bars all over the schedule.
Simultaneous substitution, of course, is the thing that the Canadian private networks built their fortunes on -- being able to piggyback on U.S. net publicity and show their bought & borrowed shows on two channels at once.
Well, in the spirit of last year's duelling commercials fight, Canada's top two cablers aren't going to make it that easy. They're set to announce by end of business that they're pulling all U.S. network feeds from the cable packages in sixty days. This will predictably cause outrage and hate from customers, which the companies will blame entirely on the networks, saying that pulling the U.S. signals was the only way that they could keep people's bills by going up by more than 10 bucks a month.
"Don't blame us, blame the networks" is going to be the new mantra.
This pretty scorched earth policy was made clear in a press release that leaked a little early over Canada Newswire this morning.
The networks aren't down and out themselves, either. The WGC is apparently learning that petitions to the CMF and the CRTC will seek to re-define as CanCon any program in which somebody tells somebody else "I'm sorry."
What a stupid fucking industry.
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