Virgo

I love the pretzels in the lobby of my building.  German salt I believe they're called, but they could be called German Hairballs for all I would care and I'd scarf them down 2x a week.  During the daytime, work-week, hours nothing makes my day more than when I indulge in one. 

So, today I was downstairs talking with one of the baristas as they warmed one up for me and I noticed they changed their entire set-up.  The George Foreman moved to the right side of the bar, and the coffee machine moved to the left side.  So, naturally, I tell her how much I hate change, because I'm a positive kinda guy.  Immediately she asks is I'm an earth sign.  "Like from astrology?"  She nods.  "I don't know.  I'm a Virgo."  She laughs.  Apparently, Virgos are earth signs and earth signs hate change.  We talk for a little while longer and I tell her that I have absolutely no idea what the heck a Virgo does or is.

So, I come back upstairs and start eating my pretzel.  Let me tell you...it's goood.  But, I keep getting this nagging knot in the back of my brain.  So, I look up Virgos and start reading.  Half of which is true and half of which is false and another half is tomfoolery.  Bored, I start looking around the internet at all the other signs.  Let me tell you, there is a treasure trove of untapped inspiration when you look at this stuff.  Every sign has very detailed traits, and they don't get along with this sign, and love this other sign.  Here's a sample:

"Has a very keen and sharp intellect. They are methodical and extremely precise. Slow t make moves, as they analyse their knowledge, as to apply it usefully. They are practical and imaginative and develop skills that enable them to improve their being.

Some Negatives:
Can be obsessed with the idea of ‘order’. Can do and will do anything to achieve this. Known to be nagging and fault finding. Most have shy tendencies, are very introverted and self conscious. Having hypochondriac illusions."

Naturally I have characters brewing in my head, so I start looking through these signs trying to pull usable information for my own scripts and projects.  I highly recommend it.  Whether it's hogwash or insightful, it's great material.  Astrologists basically created 12 archetypal yet very human characters.  It's a gift from 2 thousand years ago. 

Trust

When you work in any industry, trust is important, but I find it especially important when dealing with a film/tv/web series, etc.  Why?  Because you're judged not by what you've done, as much as what you've completed.  Starting 50 movies is great, but if you've never completed one, what good are you?  The answer, not very.  Let me tell you a few stories about projects I've worked on.  The names have been changed to protect the innocent. 

My first film, ATTACHMENTS, was finished shooting in July 2007.  It's still in post-production.  It'll hopefully come out this year... but who knows. 

TRIBE CALLED ?LOVE, my first TV show, was completed for a grand total of...not enough money.  Let's just say I was hoofin' it all over the nation's capital.  I WAS one of the innovators who used Google Maps to make my project work... mostly because there wasn't a budget for anything else. 

TULIPS AND DAGGERS, another TV show, didn't have enough gear to get through a proper production.  We didn't even have night camera to catch the contestants while the cameras weren't on.  Also, no confessional.  Then, when we got into post-production, I was awarded a grand total of one 2 hour editing session during the assembly cut.  It still isn't finished, save for a trailer. 

So, as you can see from this smattering of productions, I've done some small stuff, but it doesn't matter because either a) it's not good enough to show or b) it's not done so nobody knows it exists.  There are tons more stories that I have about falling in with an untrustworthy cat, but I won't bore you with them. 

What does this all mean?  Well, don't sign a contract with someone just because they wave it in front of you...or offer you a chunk of money.  See, once you sign, they sort of own you.  You'll be called in to do rewrites, or sit in on casting, or any number of things which eat away at your time.  Then, they'll get through the process and take a big fat dump on everything you've worked on.

My advice:  Look carefully at a producer, make sure they've done something, anything, that they've followed through to the end.  You don't have to produce AVATAR to earn my respect, but you do need to show that you've got your head on straight and that you'll see my project through to the BITTER END, before I agree to work with you.  That, or write me a big, hairy, ungodly check and then I'll shut my mouth because, well, I'm a whore.  

Seasons in LA - TV

LA is all about seasons. There's a rainy season and a dry season. Ba dum dum. I'm actually not kidding though. At least in the TV world, everything is based on seasons. Many people will tell you that TV has moved from a buying season to an all year development season. While this is true in many respects, MOST projects are still bought in the same way they have for 50 years. So, let's take a minute to discuss how this works. Instead of starting in January like a real calender, we'll start in May, or, the development season. It's important to note that these are just guesstimate dates based on my own experience. Networks have ordered series in June and given script orders in February.

MID MAY - AUGUST/SEPTEMBER - DEVELOPMENT/STAFFING SEASON

After upfronts, where networks announce their line-ups for the following fall, all production company switch from competing to get projects on the air to developing projects for the next year. Even the companies with shows on the air have to begin preparing their shows for the following year. This involves more than just getting a killer concept. They also have to attach writers, get proposals written, and if possible both attach actors and get artwork for pitches.

If you've gotten shows on the air, you begin the process of setting the show up and staffing said show. This is the busiest time of the year for writers, because agents/managers/lawyers are shoving scripts in new showrunner's faces, trying to get their clients on their show. However, this is also a huge time for all crew members as they are vying for spots as PAs, catering, Grip, Electric, and all manner of crew positions.

Shows don't have much time before they are expected to be up and running, so things usually happen fact and furious and people slow to pull the trigger don't get the job.

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER - THANKSGIVING - PITCHING SEASON

After projects are set up and production companies are feeling confident, producers, with writers in tow, go out to networks to try to sell the concept. While some shows are bought in the room, the vast majority are passed on, or made to wait for weeks on end while networks hem and haw about whether to order a script. Even if picked, unless you're JJ Abrams or Seth MacFarlane, you're not going to get a series order in the room. You're going to get a script order.

A script order for a production company means little less than squat. They don't really made any money off a script order since they're paying most to all of it to the writer. Even if a script is bought, produced to pilot, and ordered to series, a production company is going to deficit that money for 4-5 years until it's bought to series, as talked about here.

THANKSGIVING - CHRISTMAS - WRITING SEASON

Most script orders, though not all, are given before Thanksgiving with scripts due by Christmas to review over the long holiday. This is really an extension of Pitching season, however it's worth mentioning in it's own section.

2 WEEKS AFTER NEW YEAR'S - MID MAY - PILOT SEASON

Starting a couple weeks after the New Year, when executive have had time to read all the scripts, pilot orders start trickling out. When pilots are ordered, a little mini spike in production happens. By this point and at every major network, the thousands of pitches have been whittled down to 100 or so script orders and those have been whittled 20 or so pilots. By upfronts, those pilots will be whittled again to a handful of projects which will get on the air.

Interestingly enough, just because a project is ordered to pilot doesn't necessarily mean it has or will have financing. Many scripts come from producers or writers without studios or financing behind them. As we all know, most pilots fail, and most series fail. So, in order for a studio to come on board, they don't only have to believe in the concept of the project, but believe they can sell it internationally and keep it on the air long enough to make a profit. While most of the pilots will find financing, some of them will fall by the wayside. Even others will have to go to several studios to make their case. It's a strange little twist which most people don't talk about.

MAY - UPFRONTS

In May, every network has a presentation of their products, their schedule for the upcoming year. Some would say this is where the production companies who received series orders have won, but we all know that 90% of pilots fail, so it's a little presumptuous for that, wouldn't you say?


I'm sure film also has it's seasons, spec season heats up after Labor Day and dies down in May, but I find the TV season much more interesting. So, what do you think? Are there seasons in LA?

Pilot Season

Since I'm waiting for notes on my script, I've had a chance to catch up on pilot scripts and review orders and I have to say, I'm shockingly disappointed with the quality and originality of what's out there. My manager has a mantra: "Don't show me anything unless it's shockingly original."

I wish these writers listened. Here's a smattering of pickups from the last couple days. Granted, some come close to being original, but the vast majority just seem like rehashing.

CBS has commissioned a pilot for a half-hour multi-camera comedy
entitled “Hitched” about a 20-something newlywed couple who,
surrounded by their family and friends, is still learning about each
other.

ABC has commissioned a pilot for drama entitled “No Ordinary Family”
about a typical American family whose members have special abilities.

CBS has commissioned a pilot for an unnamed comedy about a widower
father who raises his 12-year old son while jumping back into the
dating pool.

Fox has commissioned pilot for multi-camera comedy entitled “Most
Likely to Succeed” about a group of friends who were superstars
growing up and are now dealing with the reality of adulthood.

Fox has commissioned pilot for half-hour single-camera comedy entitled
“Traffic Light” about three male childhood friends, now in their early
thirties, in different stages of his life like a traffic light: (1)
red light is for the one who is married with a child and whose life is
at a standstill; (2) blinking yellow light is for the one who is
living with his girlfriend and on an irreversible journey from
bachelorhood to marriage; and (3) green light is for the eternal
bachelor.

ABC has commissioned pilot for drama project entitled “Edgar Floats”
about a police psychologist who becomes a bounty hunter.

NBC has commissioned pilot for half-hour multi-camera comedy entitled
“Nathan v. Nurture” about a successful 35 year old heart surgeon who
decides to search for his biological parents only to find that they
had three more kids (all underachievers) and kept those kids.

NBC has commissioned pilot for multi-camera comedy entitled “This
Little Piggy” about two adult siblings who move in with their eldest
brother after he inherits his parents’ large, rambling Portland,
Oregon house.

NBC has commissioned pilot for legal drama entitled “Pleading Guilty”
based on Scott Turow's novel, and centers on Mack Malloy, an ex-cop-
turned-attorney who works as a partner at a powerful Chicago law firm.

102 pages

1-3/4 pages away from finishing the outline. There have been some -hiccups - along the way, but the format of this blog didn't work as well as I thought because there were very few. I thought it would be a torturous, laborious process to finish the first pass with work, but it really wasn't. partially, or mostly because I did 2 months of drafting an outline. I'm hoping the rewrite process has most hiccups and issues because who wants to read about a dude with no problems...nobody.

Little Snag

Well, I got a couple pages today. Unfortunately, I had to do an interview over lunch, and do a bunch of errands for my bosses, which is fine. Things are things. I'll keep churning away...chopping wood.

Act 2's butt kicked

It's getting a little sad how quickly I'm kicking this script's butt. After a slow go at first, my speed picked up. I'm 87 pages through the first pass in 2 weeks. 4 pages left to go in my outline. At this point, I'm not even bothering to write dialog or good action blocks, I just want to get it done, scrap my outline document, and work straight from the script.

I actually have, for the most part, liked this process, but I'm hoping where it will really be helpful is in rewriting. When I don't work from an outline, at least 3 drafts are spent just getting to a coherent structure, moving things around and making them work. With this process, I'm hoping I can get to the right structure much quicker. In general, also, I like the script as much as I thought I would on the surface. There's a ton of rewrite work to do and I'm not going to be able to work as fast when I actually have to craft the scenes, but I'm overwhelmingly positive about this draft so far.

I'll probably finish it up in about a week or so, depending on my schedule. There is no holiday weekend, so I won't be writing 40 pages in three days this weekend. I think I can finish during lunches this week, but I'm not sure. Definitely by next week, I think I'll be done this pass.