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Posts tagged as “TV Shows”

Update One

What a break.
You can pretty much skip to the end if you don’t care about my miserable existence.
Come to think of it, I might skip this too.

So where were we? Oh right, Paris.
Following a brief (2 days) stint in NYC, I headed to Los Angeles in the hopes of having a star on the walk of fame getting a job.

Before dreams of glory could be had, I needed to deal with the real-world and all of its complexity.
Starting with housing.
Thanks to the amazing power of Craigslist, I found a studio-apartment in less than four days. All hail technology!
Which brings me to my move last week.
I was very surprised at how…dirty and empty the studio was. No sheets, no pillows, no towels, no microwave, no cookware, no nothing. Suffice it to say the first night was rough.
I didn’t expect to buy in three days so many household items. Bed, Bath and Beyond is a life-saver on that end.
On the brighter side of things, that means my next apartment won’t be that empty.
It also turns out that the previous tenants never cleaned the place. Not to go into gory details but I need to deal with clothes moths now…

Yes, I’m slowly discovering the real American way of life.

So after spending well over a grand I didn’t have on everything from pans to trashcans, pillows and iron steamer, I decided it was time to buy some more stuff, like books.
In case you haven’t heard, the Book Soup is pretty great. They even had Bozo the Clown the other day promoting his new book. (I’m not making this stuff up)

In the past three weeks, I did get to see three movies: Middle Men, Cyrus, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Middle Men was quite nice though unfortunately visually hectic. Cyrus was very funny and heartfelt. Much more than Step Brothers actually, which was positively surprising.
And last but not least, Scott Pilgrim. I am kind of torn between two positions on this flick. On the one hand, it was entertaining, so I guess mission accomplished. Though on the other hand, I didn’t feel that much of a development regarding the characters, as if all of this was a mere pretext for having epic arcade-style fighting on the big screen.

I still have no television, which means the few shows I get to watch are through the wonderful world of the Internet. And the crappy Wi-Fi of my neighbor. Welcome to the 21st century.

Last night was the ‘Writing for Genre Television’ panel at Meltdown Comics. It was, as expected, awesome. I know that a few of you peeps out there weren’t able to make it, so there’s going to be more on that tomorrow right here.

And now you are all caught up on the past month.
I’m off to see back-to-back two of the greatest films ever made at the New Beverly Cinema:
Night of the Hunter and M.
Sounds fun.

Tomorrow’s program: review of the ‘Writing for Genre Television’ round-table, including awesome writing advice.
I promise.

What the World Cup can teach you about television writing

What the World Cup can teach you about television writing

As the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is about to close, you might come to realize that association “soccer” football is closer to the world of television writing than you realize. You don’t have to be a fan, or even care about football to appreciate a few valuable lessons that can be applied to TV writers.
Let’s start off with the most obvious.

Be in shape to play the game

For the same reason you don’t see overweight people running around the field, you won’t see a professional TV writer who is ignorant of act breaks, A/B/C stories, character arcs, script formatting and grammar.
Learn, write, and learn again.
You don’t need to be a master at everything, but at least be aware of the rules before playing.

You don’t have to be big to become big

I’m a firm believer that, even if you’re an unknown, at the end of the day everyone has their shot.
Take a cue from underdogs like Uruguay, Ghana and, yes, the U.S., whose teams managed to defeat and even outlast most of the favorites. Finalist Spain was even beaten in the group stage by Switzerland!
It’s not because people don’t see you right now as important that you won’t be in the near future. You can aim high.
Trust yourself and your writing.

Be ready

Upsets and surprises can happen anytime, whether on the field or in real life. Hollywood is an unpredictable place (except for the weekly superhero movie), so when opportunity comes knocking, you better have your awesome specs ready. In football, the offense must be at all times prepared to receive the ball, and score. Do the same.

Don’t be cocky

You’ve heard the adage, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Well even if you’re halfway there, you still need to make the next step. Translation: even if the writing job you’re given isn’t what you’ve dreamed of, think twice before saying no. You can be sure someone else is ready to tackle you and take that job in your place, and you might regret it. If you drop the ball, you will lose it.

Passion is key

Being a soccer player in America is kind of like being a television writer. It’s a full-time gig, you’re underpaid compared to other writers/athletes at the same level, and no one outside your profession takes you seriously.
So why do you really want to become a TV writer?
Ironically, the U.S. team went far because of their gusto. You could feel from their game that they were playing because they loved the sport, they loved their teammates, and they loved to give a hundred percent of themselves for it all.
On the other hand, spoiled Italian and French players were “playing” as if it was a burden. The passion was gone.
Please, don’t be that guy.
Find a way to remind yourself daily of why you want to be a TV writer.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

If this World Cup showed us anything, it is that favorites may not be as amazing as previously thought. Brazil, Italy, Argentina, Portugal, England, how many of them ended up disappointing their fans – and the people who bet on them.
Instead of going all-in by supporting your one script, you need to have a wide variety of specs ready to show. You might have a favorite, and that’s okay, but don’t let it deter you from writing other spec scripts from other genres and formats.
You came here to write, prove it.

It’s a team sport before all

Perhaps the greatest comparison between television and football is that both are based on team play. Everyone is working together to attain a common goal (literally). You will be surrounded by teammates, so play ball (figuratively). Pass it around, trust your comrades, and respect the process. No matter how great, rarely can a single player save the whole team. Case in point this year with Messi and Ronaldo.
If you put faith in other people, the ball will come back around (in a good way).
With that said…

Take the shot

Don’t expect that everyone will constantly be holding your hand (or foot for that matter). If you’re lucky, you might be guided along the way by kind writer souls (aka mentors), but when everything is in alignment, you need to score. There can be so many passes between the players before someone needs to step up. Sometimes, it is good to take the initiative.

Know that people will blame the coach

There will come a time where you will be an exec, and perhaps even a show-runner.
The sad truth is that, like in football, the main guy who gets blamed for all the problems is the coach (you). Yes, we just said it was a team sport, but still. Whether with the audience (“that episode was sh*t!”), with the VP (“that episode was expensive!”), or with your players (“fire him or I quit!”), when something goes wrong, you will be at fault.
Nine times out of ten, you will need to accept this and move on. The one time you might pull a Fabio Capello, and get your contract renewed, even if all has failed.

The game is sometimes unfair

Like with Suarez’s handball which prevented Ghana from moving on, you might be surprised at some of the tactics used by some to move ahead, as well as the shows being made compared to those that aren’t. This is no reason to be bitter at other people’s success. Embrace this opportunity to prove once more your originality.

Never lose hope

Even if you think you’re outplayed and you may get eliminated, never despair. The best example this tournament is undoubtedly Landon Donovan’s last-minute goal. This example actually can be extrapolated to the entire performance of the U.S. team. Indeed, in every game they seemed to be both outmatched and losing (1-0 for England, 2-0 for Slovenia, 1-0 for Ghana), but every time, the team was able to overcome their apparent inferiority and actually transform a downside into an upside. The team was reacting instead of suffering.
When you are down, get out of this vicious circle and realize that you can get back up.
This brings me to my next point.

If at first you don’t succeed, try again

We’ve had our fair share of incredible matches with the German team, but the semi-final where Spain defeated them was for most non-aficionados a bore. Why? Not a lot of goals means no action, right?
The truth is that during the whole 90 minutes of play, both teams were probing each other’s defense, trying to find holes, and exploiting them to score.
It might not have been spectacular for outside viewers, but it is very effective.
In the TV world, this can be compared to ideas being pitched.
You might not be able to get them through the first few times, but the more you try, the greater your chances are at having a few of them heard, and perhaps getting made. It takes some work, and a lot of patience, but with such fierce competition on the other side, you can’t expect to score on your first try.

Believe in yourself.
Write the future.
Score.

A letter from a Lost writer

I haven’t had the time to write my thoughts about Lost yet, but in the meantime, here is an anonymous post by one of the Lost writers. I’m being told it is legit.
Nonetheless, some of the points listed here are pretty interesting if you want to understand a bit more ‘what just happened’.

First …
The Island:

It was real. Everything that happened on the island that we saw throughout the 6 seasons was real. Forget the final image of the plane crash, it was put in purposely to f*&k with people’s heads and show how far the show had come. They really crashed. They really survived. They really discovered Dharma and the Others. The Island keeps the balance of good and evil in the world. It always has and always will perform that role. And the Island will always need a “Protector”. Jacob wasn’t the first, Hurley won’t be the last. However, Jacob had to deal with a malevolent force (MIB) that his mother, nor Hurley had to deal with. He created the devil and had to find a way to kill him — even though the rules prevented him from actually doing so.

Thus began Jacob’s plan to bring candidates to the Island to do the one thing he couldn’t do. Kill the MIB. He had a huge list of candidates that spanned generations. Yet every time he brought people there, the MIB corrupted them and caused them to kill one another. That was until Richard came along and helped Jacob understand that if he didn’t take a more active role, then his plan would never work.

Enter Dharma — which I’m not sure why John is having such a hard time grasping. Dharma, like the countless scores of people that were brought to the island before, were brought there by Jacob as part of his plan to kill the MIB. However, the MIB was aware of this plan and interfered by “corrupting” Ben. Making Ben believe he was doing the work of Jacob when in reality he was doing the work of the MIB. This carried over into all of Ben’s “off-island” activities. He was the leader. He spoke for Jacob as far as they were concerned. So the “Others” killed Dharma and later were actively trying to kill Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and all the candidates because that’s what the MIB wanted. And what he couldn’t do for himself.

Dharma was originally brought in to be good. But was turned bad by MIB’s corruption and eventually destroyed by his pawn Ben. Now, was Dharma only brought there to help Jack and the other Candidates on their overall quest to kill Smokey? Or did Jacob have another list of Candidates from the Dharma group that we were never aware of? That’s a question that is purposely not answered because whatever answer the writers came up with would be worse than the one you come up with for yourself. Still … Dharma’s purpose is not “pointless” or even vague. Hell, it’s pretty blatant.

Still, despite his grand plan, Jacob wanted to give his “candidates” (our Lostaways) the one thing he, nor his brother, were ever afforded: free will. Hence him bringing a host of “candidates” through the decades and letting them “choose” which one would actually do the job in the end. Maybe he knew Jack would be the one to kill Flocke and that Hurley would be the protector in the end. Maybe he didn’t. But that was always the key question of the show: Fate vs Free-will. Science vs Faith. Personally I think Jacob knew from the beginning what was going to happen and that everyone played a part over 6 seasons in helping Jack get to the point where he needed to be to kill Smokey and make Hurley the protector — I know that’s how a lot of the writers viewed it. But again, they won’t answer that (nor should they) because that ruins the fun.

In the end, Jack got to do what he always wanted to do from the very first episode of the show: Save his fellow Lostaways. He got Kate and Sawyer off the island and he gave Hurley the purpose in life he’d always been missing. And, in Sideways world (which we’ll get to next) he in fact saved everyone by helping them all move on …

Now…

Sideways World:

Sideways world is where it gets really cool in terms of theology and metaphysical discussion (for me at least — because I love history/religion theories and loved all the talks in the writer’s room about it). Basically what the show is proposing is that we’re all linked to certain people during our lives. Call them soulmates (though it’s not exactly the best word). But these people we’re linked to are with us during “the most important moments of our lives” as Christian said. These are the people we move through the universe with from lifetime to lifetime. It’s loosely based in Hinduism with large doses of western religion thrown into the mix.

The conceit that the writers created, basing it off these religious philosophies, was that as a group, the Lostaways subconsciously created this “sideways” world where they exist in purgatory until they are “awakened” and find one another. Once they all find one another, they can then move on and move forward. In essence, this is the show’s concept of the afterlife. According to the show, everyone creates their own “Sideways” purgatory with their “soulmates” throughout their lives and exist there until they all move on together. That’s a beautiful notion. Even if you aren’t religious or even spiritual, the idea that we live AND die together is deeply profound and moving.

It’s a really cool and spiritual concept that fits the whole tone and subtext the show has had from the beginning. These people were SUPPOSED to be together on that plane. They were supposed to live through these events — not JUST because of Jacob. But because that’s what the universe or God (depending on how religious you wish to get) wanted to happen. The show was always about science vs faith — and it ultimately came down on the side of faith. It answered THE core question of the series. The one question that has been at the root of every island mystery, every character backstory, every plot twist. That, by itself, is quite an accomplishment.

How much you want to extrapolate from that is up to you as the viewer. Think about season 1 when we first found the Hatch. Everyone thought that’s THE answer! Whatever is down there is the answer! Then, as we discovered it was just one station of many. One link in a very long chain that kept revealing more, and more of a larger mosaic.

But the writer’s took it even further this season by contrasting this Sideways “purgatory” with the Island itself. Remember when Michael appeared to Hurley, he said he was not allowed to leave the Island. Just like the MIB. He wasn’t allowed into this sideways world and thus, was not afforded the opportunity to move on. Why? Because he had proven himself to be unworthy with his actions on the Island. He failed the test. The others, passed. They made it into Sideways world when they died — some before Jack, some years later. In Hurley’s case, maybe centuries later. They exist in this sideways world until they are “awakened” and they can only move on TOGETHER because they are linked. They are destined to be together for eternity. That was their destiny.

They were NOT linked to Anna Lucia, Daniel, Rousseau, Alex, Miles, Lapidus, (and all the rest who weren’t in the church — basically everyone who wasn’t in season 1). Yet those people exist in Sideways world. Why? Well again, here’s where they leave it up to you to decide. The way I like to think about it, is that those people who were left behind in Sideways world have to find their own soulmates before they can wake up. It’s possible that those links aren’t people from the island but from their other life (Anna’s partner, the guy she shot — Rousseau’s husband, etc etc).

A lot of people have been talking about Ben and why he didn’t go into the Church. And if you think of Sideways world in this way, then it gives you the answer to that very question. Ben can’t move on yet because he hasn’t connected with the people he needs to. It’s going to be his job to awaken Rousseau, Alex, Anna Lucia (maybe), Ethan, Goodspeed, his father and the rest. He has to atone for his sins more than he did by being Hurley’s number two. He has to do what Hurley and Desmond did for our Lostaways with his own people. He has to help them connect. And he can only move on when all the links in his chain are ready to. Same can be said for Faraday, Charlotte, Widmore, Hawkings etc. It’s really a neat, and cool concept. At least to me.

But, from a more “behind the scenes” note: the reason Ben’s not in the church, and the reason no one is in the church but for Season 1 people is because they wrote the ending to the show after writing the pilot. And never changed it. The writers always said (and many didn’t believe them) that they knew their ending from the very first episode. I applaud them for that. It’s pretty fantastic. Originally Ben was supposed to have a 3 episode arc and be done. But he became a big part of the show. They could have easily changed their ending and put him in the church — but instead they problem solved it. Gave him a BRILLIANT moment with Locke outside the church … and then that was it. I loved that. For those that wonder — the original ending started the moment Jack walked into the church and touches the casket to Jack closing his eyes as the other plane flies away. That was always JJ’s ending. And they kept it.

For me the ending of this show means a lot. Not only because I worked on it, but because as a writer it inspired me in a way the medium had never done before. I’ve been inspired to write by great films. Maybe too many to count. And there have been amazing TV shows that I’ve loved (X-Files, 24, Sopranos, countless 1/2 hour shows). But none did what LOST did for me. None showed me that you could take huge risks (writing a show about faith for network TV) and stick to your creative guns and STILL please the audience. I learned a lot from the show as a writer. I learned even more from being around the incredible writers, producers, PAs, interns and everyone else who slaved on the show for 6 years.

In the end, for me, LOST was a touchstone show that dealt with faith, the afterlife, and all these big, spiritual questions that most shows don’t touch. And to me, they never once waivered from their core story — even with all the sci-fi elements they mixed in. To walk that long and daunting of a creative tightrope and survive is simply astounding.