...Which means that someday, somehow, I will actually find something to write about here again. Because seriously, I've watched, like, three hours of new television in the past week. If that. Bring on the new episodes!
In the meantime, there are several new interviews up on Adopt A Writer, which will be continuing post-strike, since introducing viewers to writers is certainly a worthy cause. Sandie, from Daemon's TV, interviewed Javier Grillo-Marxuach, who has written for Lost and Medium, among others (interview here). She also interviewed Cathryn Michon, who has written for Side Order of Life and Designing Women, among others (interview here).
Therese, from Writer Unboxed, interviewed Ellen Sandler, who has written for Everybody Loves Raymond, Coach, and many other sitcoms (interview here). Jill, from Criminal Minds Fanatics, interviewed Debra J. Fisher and Erica Messer, who have written for Criminal Minds, The O.C., and Alias (interview here). Dan, from TiFaux, interviewed Michael Jann, a writer for The Tonight Show (interview here).
Check back as the week continues--we've got great interviews to come!
Showing posts with label Adopt A Writer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adopt A Writer. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Writers' Strike is Over!
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Adopt A Writer: New interviews!
Nina Bargiel, interview by Kimra for BuzzSugar.
Recent reports that the writers’ strike could be nearing its end are good news for TV and movie fans, but they’ve got to be even better news for folks like Nina Bargiel. As a member of the Writers Guild of America, Bargiel — who wrote 17 episodes of Lizzie McGuire and has worked for several animated shows — has been on the run since the writers’ strike began in November, working three part-time jobs, blogging on a couple of websites, and marching on the picket lines. (Click here to read the full interview.)
Eric Estrin, interview by Fergus and Marcia for Pop Vultures.
Eric Estrin is a long-time member of the WGA, with television credits going back over twenty years. He has written for such diverse shows as Miami Vice, Murder, She Wrote and The Outer Limits and also served as writer/producer on V.I.P. (Click here to read the full interview.)
Stay tuned here and at the central Adopt A Writer site for more!
Monday, February 04, 2008
Adopt A Writer: Sam Kass
The WGA has been there for Sam’s wife as she’s battled cancer for the past eight years. With a ticking clock on their health care eligibility, Sam worries that their insurance benefits could expire before he has the opportunity to land another writing job, leaving his wife without treatment. Despite this heart-wrenching situation, Sam and his wife both stand behind the WGA: “This strike is about more than just us. Hopefully it will end soon, and I'll be able to secure a job that will keep our benefits going. Until then, I'll get out on the picket line and do my duty.”
Sam’s courage and sense of humor during such difficult times made me grateful for the opportunity to interview him, and I am proud to introduce him to all of you:
SAM KASS (Pictured at left with Larry David) – Arli$$; Hudson Street; Seinfeld; The Search for One-eye Jimmy. Sam’s latest project is the soon-to-be-released mockumentary Naked Movie, starring Sam (he also wrote and directed) along with Carmen Electra, Tori Spelling, Lou Diamond Phillips, David Carradine, and Jeff Garlin.Did you always want to be a writer?
This whole thing started because of my mother. I was a terrible student growing up in Brooklyn, failing class after class. One of my teachers suggested to my mother that perhaps I could use a little structure. That somehow got turned into being sent to the New York Military Academy at West Point, which was not my idea of a good time. I would write my mother letters, begging her to get me out of there. My mother decided that my letters were so creative and well done that she proclaimed I would become a writer. And for the next ten years, all she'd ever buy me would be pens and notebooks. Basically, I had 435 pens and one pair of socks...
What was your first writing job? From there, how did you get your first big break?
I started off in New York as a playwright. By Off Broadway standards I was fairly successful, meaning that I only needed two part-time jobs to supplement my income. Here's a little story—my play Lusting After Pipino’s Wife was a big Off Broadway hit. It ran for almost 2 years. I was driving a taxi at that time, and one night I picked up a woman several blocks from the theater. She was carrying my playbill and raving about the show. She never looked at the license on my meter, nor realized that she was being driven home by the playwright... That's when I decided it was perhaps time to investigate Hollywood.
About a year later, in 1994, I had just written/directed my first film, The Search for One-eye Jimmy. It had a great cast; John Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Beals, etc. At the time, Laurie David (Larry David's wife) was a producer at Fox. She saw my film, and came to New York to offer me a pilot deal. I didn't know what a pilot was, I didn't know who Larry David was, I had barely heard of Seinfeld. I was a playwriting cab driver, living in a Brooklyn tenement with a wife and two little kids. Laurie convinced me to come to L.A and "pitch" my story to the executives at Fox. She was actually talking about my life story. So I did. And they bought it. And then we made perhaps the worst pilot ever. Laurie even brought in Larry to "consult." If memory serves me correctly, he made it worse...if that was even possible.
The lead was played by an actor named Lew Schneider, who was so terrible he gave up acting after that pilot, and became a writer. To this day Lew still apologizes for "ruining" my pilot. Lew went on to write for Everybody Loves Raymond. I happen to know this because we were on a plane together; Lew in first class, and me in coach. Episodes of Raymond played throughout the flight…6 hours of shows executive produced by Lew Schneider. In one episode he actually appeared....a nightmare at 30,000 feet.
How did you become a writer on Seinfeld? What was it like to write for one of the greatest shows of all time?
After the pilot debacle, I moved back to Brooklyn—for about a week. Then Larry David called and asked me to write for Seinfeld. I turned him down. Four times. My mother said that if I didn't take the job, she'd kill herself. So I turned it down again—the funeral was the following week. (Just kidding.) Eventually, I relented, and we moved to Los Angeles. I kept my tenement apartment in Brooklyn, just in case. And 14 years later, I still have my taxi license—just in case. And with this strike, "just in case" could be here any moment.
Not many writers can boast that their first TV gig was perhaps the greatest series of all time. Mine was. In retrospect I realize that Seinfeld was the purest of all TV writing gigs. There was no "table," where writers auctioned off lines in an attempt to one-up each other. Writers were actually allowed to write here. …At my ex-agent's urging, I left Seinfeld to work on a new Tony Danza show. [Hudson Street] was his comeback vehicle after Who’s the Boss? We both look at each other today and laugh. Actually, he laughs and I cry.
I have to ask, since you wrote the Seinfeld episode in which Kramer’s first name was revealed to be Cosmo. Who came up with Cosmo?
Larry actually came up with Cosmo, but there were several other names in the running. It was a huge secret up until tape night, and we blacked out all the Cosmo references in the script. NBC paranoia...
What is something you think people might be surprised by in terms of your lifestyle in Hollywood and your life as a working writer?
The biggest misconception is that TV writers are all rich. There are a lot of people on the picket line who laugh at that notion. I actually own a boutique in Santa Monica called Marcia Bloom. That's my wife. She makes all the clothes herself, and now and then I'll work behind the counter. Come on in—I'll sign your Seinfeld memorabilia, and I'll sell you a dress.
It seems like many writers have additional careers to supplement their writing income—your boutique is a good example. Would it be difficult for you to provide for your family on a writers’ salary alone?
Of the 14 years that I've been a member of the WGA, I'd say only 6 or 7 of those years I made enough money to support my family. There were 5 years that I made a lot of money, and that's been a nest egg (although dwindling) throughout the years.
Can you explain why the issues surrounding the strike are important to you?
The issues we're striking for are so basic-- A tiny little piece of the Internet, and a couple of extra pennies on a DVD sale. Come on, guys! Are you kidding me?
Because of the strike, you haven’t been able to sell anything for three months. What has that meant for you financially?
Let me just say this-- Eight years ago, my wife was given 6 months to live. She's still here. Breast cancer, lung cancer, stem cell transplant, chemotherapy every week for 8 years. The WGA has been there for her. During the strike, the clock continues to tick on your health care eligibility. Your health care can expire without you having the opportunity to secure a job that would extend your benefits. Depending on how long this strike lasts, it is conceivable that our benefits could expire. My wife is uninsurable. No other company would take her on at this point.
We both stand behind the WGA during this period of uncertainty. This strike is about more than just us. Hopefully it will end soon, and I'll be able to secure a job that will keep our benefits going. Until then, I'll get out on the picket line and do my duty.
Sam adds…
There's no doubt that my wife and family face a serious problem with her health, but it's in no way any more ominous than what many Americans face today—there's a health care crisis that affects one and all.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Adopt A Writer: Meet the WGA, one writer at a time
Each participating blog will interview a TV writer about their life as a writer —and as a striking writer— with the goal of putting a human face on the WGA for our readers and showing the public that the average writer is much more like the average viewer than the AMPTP wants us to believe. Sixteen of the top independent TV blogs have signed on to participate in the project, and we're in the process of recruiting writers. (If you're a writer and you'd like to be adopted, please email us at adoptawriter@gmail.com.)
Each interview will be published on the interviewing blog's site, and all interviews will also be collected on the central Adopt A Writer site, which already has our first two interviews ready for your reading pleasure. I'll also try and post an excerpt and link to the interviews as they are published. Thus, TV viewers, meet...
Jasmine Love, interview by Spadada for Ramblings of a TV Whore.
Jasmine Love has been in the Writers’ Guild for ten years. You don’t know her name or her face and she isn’t the money hungry already rich writer that the AMPTP wants to blame for this strike, but she is one of many people affected by it. Over the years she’s climbed her way up from writers’ assistant to working writer and she loves TV as much as you and I do. She’s written episodes of Moesha, The Division, and The District and was about to start work on a freelance script when the strike began. (Click here to read the full interview.)
Kate Purdy, interview by Hilary for Pass the Remote.
Kate Purdy worked as a researcher for Cold Case for two seasons before getting a promotion to staff writer this season. She earned her full-fledged WGA membership right before the strike began this past fall. Currently, she’s serving as a Strike Captain and she’s a regular contributor over at United Hollywood. (Click here to read the full interview.)
Stay tuned here and at the central Adopt A Writer site for more!
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