Moore for Your Money

Ronald D. Moore and David Eick's Battlestar Galactica has always been at the forefront of the TV Podcast revolution.

With BSG, they haven't been afraid to do things that aren't just of interest to fans, but are also of great interest to writers. Moore's commentaries, because they're recorded contemporaneously with the episode's production, have a lot more immediacy than the usual "commentary track" on a DVD, done long from the dates of production, when time and context might have dulled some of the more potent fights, and smoothed over some of the raw experience of making the thing.

What Moore has done, by recording commentaries on shows that he's just finished, has laid bare the writer/showrunner process. He doesn't just laud great performances or outstanding choices; it isn't about the self-congratulatory anecdotes or justifications for why things were done -- often the most interesting podcast and comments are about episodes where he thinks the writing failed, or fell short: shows where things had to be restructured or rejigged during production, or post. In discussing where he and his writers have failed, Moore casts an instructive tone that I think is the new bar for useful commentary. If you really want to write for TV, it's crazy not to watch this show and watch it again while listening to Moore speak about it.

I think what also leaks out is just what an arduous and overwhelming task producing a 22 hour television season can be. It's not like making a movie, folks.

From that baseline, then, Moore has expanded his service to future storytellers. First he took a microphone into a three part story meeting where they ran down the arc for the end of season 2. If you're toiling away out there, hoping to staff one day, this is the best way to get in a story room before you find yourself actually in a story room.

There was also an interesting roundtable with some of the actors, where the underlying philosophy of the show got a generous airing.

Now he's done it again. In a new podcast on the Sci-Fi Channel Site (also Available via Itunes) -- Moore takes you into the editing room, as he watches a cut for episode 315, "A Day in the Life."

As hard as it is for a new writer to understand the story room, it's almost harder to grok the changes that go on on the floor where the director is in control, through the first director's cut with the editor, to what becomes known as the prodcucer's cut. We've said many times here that TV is highly collaborative. If you've never sat in on an editing session for a TV series, listening to this podcast with a copy of 315 handy for reference is probably a really, really great way to start.

It's a great service he's doing for future creatives everywhere. It's transparent and brave, and Moore and co. are to be lauded for it.