An LA Development Executive in Toronto

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. My last day of work on the TV movie was Monday, and my Executive Producer boss has flown back to the warm climes of LA.

It's a bit of a tradition, when a movie is finished, that the Producers (or Directors, Actors, whoever) give their former Assistants a parting gift. The Director's Assistant got a partially-used book of coupons. I was given a promotion: my boss wants me to continue working with her, doing development for her LA production company! I'm going to help her find (or create) ideas for her to pitch to networks and studios. This means that I now have a direct line to getting something produced in LA, which is somewhat mind-boggling to me.

I would suggest for others that are in Canada and looking to make connections in the LA industry to do the same thing I did: look up the OMDC In-Production list (or the equivalent for Vancouver or Montreal), and cold call productions. If you can get on a show, and it's from the US, you've made some good connections.

However, you should know how to make connections and keep them, rather than turn people off with your aggressiveness. At no point did I ever ask my producer to read anything I wrote, or for any job after production. She asked me what my goals are, and I told her I'm a writer. Then she asked to read my scripts. I asked a lot of questions as they occurred to me, which showed my interest in learning about the whole production process (which is why we are there, after all). And when opportunities came up, like when she asked me to write coverage for her, I took them with eager excitement and tried to do the best I could. That's it.

So now I'm an LA Development Executive (sorta), but I'm still in Toronto and still looking for a day job (because I'm essentially working for free until I help get something optioned). So it's not a glamorous life (yet). But I'm definitely a few steps closer!

How to Stop Worrying and Love your Job

The irony is that when I actually have something worth writing about, I don't have the time to write it.

After not getting into the CFC, I had to re-evaluate my year, as I'd essentially pinned all my hopes and plans on it. I immediately decided that I had to quit my day job, as it wasn't in film or TV and was hurting my soul. Most of all, it wasn't giving me time or energy to write, so I was going nowhere by working there.

So I quit with no immediate prospects, and started looking. Some months beforehand I had made cold calls to the productions listed on the OMDC In Production list, and had spoken to a few people and sent out some resumes, but nothing had come of it. There was one person that I'd ended up chatting with more than the others, as they were also an RTA grad, and I sent him an email to say I was looking again. Well my timing was perfect, because he soon replied to say that he was working on a TV movie and they needed assistants. I went for an interview and was hired! So I'm currently the Assistant to the Executive Producer of an American TV movie. This job would never have appeared to me without having made an effort to network, or by following up later with my new contacts.

My boss is an LA producer, who does a lot of stuff for HBO and Showtime (though this specific project is a Sony/Lifetime production). I've been doing the basic admin stuff assistants are expected to do, but she's really taken an effort to make this a learning experience for me. She knows that I want to write and produce, and I've been watching all the script revisions (and how the writing affects and is affected by the production team), the casting process, the entire pre-production process, and the politics between all levels of production. She now has me doing development for her as well (for projects she wants to do after this), and I'm learning how to write coverage. Maybe I can convince her to carry me back to LA in her suitcase...

I had been the assistant to an Executive Producer once before (at a reality TV company) and from that experience I was convinced that I just simply wasn't cut out to be an assistant. I was made to feel stupid, slow and all around incompetent, because that particular EP was basically just a cruel and unhappy person. I am glad I took this new position, because I LOVE this job. And while that's partly because I actually want to work in scripted TV, it's mostly because my new boss is awesome, and is kind and a pleasure to work with. And because I'm enjoying myself, I'm impressing her, and all of a sudden I'm a good assistant. She called me a "breath of fresh air" the other day. I haven't heard that before, not in this industry.

At the same time, I can see that my boss is unusual in this industry, and even in my office. There is another EP, a Producer and a Director in the office, each with assistants, and mine is definitely the nicest. The other assistants all complain about how unreasonable or sadistic their bosses are. What I can see is that, if you are a boss and have an assistant, you'll get more out of being nice to them, than if you are cruel. Either way, all they want to do is impress you, and they will do whatever you want, as fast as they can. But, if you're mean to them, they'll do this out of fear and hold resentment towards you, and dread coming into work. If you're nice and show appreciation, they will work harder and longer without complaining, and they will feel a strong sense of loyalty to you. I am going to try my damnedest to remember what kind of boss I want to be, when I get there.

As a point of interest, I was partially hired because of my technical skills, with computers, programs, technology in general, ect, and I've kind of become the production's resident tech/IT guy. It never occurred to me how important that might be on a production, but I was chosen over another person because of it. I'll be sure to emphasize it more on my resume from now on. For those of you not particularly technically inclined, try to think of what skills you have that can set you aside from all the other people with exactly the same education and years of experience as you.

So, the CFC would have been a great experience, but if I'd gotten in this year I would never have been able to take this gig, and this experience and contacts I've been generating are invaluable. Hooray for failure!

Large victories are reached by climbing small failures.

Well, I didn't get in to the CFC this year. I did hear, from people that have taken the program before, that making it to the interview stage is a very significant thing, as they only interview approximately 20 people, 8 of whom are picked for the program. And that this year there were many more applicants than usual (probably due to the economy).

Last week I got a follow-up call from the CFC. They told me that they liked my writing, but that applicants in general were extremely strong this year. They gave me some very insightful notes on my pilot and spec, and implored me to apply again next year. They knew about my writing group (5 of us applied to the CFC, 3 got to the interview stage, 0 got into the program), and they said that having a writing group is a great thing, but that I'm at the point in my skill level where I could use the eye of a professional story editor, someone who does TV writing for a living. Well, OK, I said, that's a great idea but where would I find a person like that? "Oh, we might be able to help you find someone." That blew my mind - that a program I didn't even get into would go to all that trouble! I'm not sure what exactly it entails, but it's certainly above and beyond what is expected of the CFC, and it really gave me a confidence boost.

In agent news, there is a particular Toronto agency that I'm interested in having represent me, and I called them up and they surprised me and asked to see my pilot and resume. I promptly sent those out and quickly got an email back saying that they had read on my resume that I had two specs, Mad Men and Heroes, and asked me to send them both. I was worried, since Heroes was my first spec, and I believe my weakest, but they insisted on seeing them both, so I sent them. About a month later I got a call back, and they said that they thought I had talent, but that my specs were problematic, and then they gave me some great notes. They said in order to take on a writer the writer would have to have 2 TV specs that were at least re-writeable, but unfortunately, the types of corrections I'd have to make would require me to completely re-write the storylines of the specs, so they suggested that I start a brand new spec. In the meantime they said they can't yet offer me representation, but they are willing to read my new scripts and give me notes on an unofficial level. Though of course I had wanted representation, I actually agreed with their notes and jumped at the chance to have them be at all involved with my career. Having professional eyes on my work can only be a good thing, and who knows, it could lead to representation in the future. So now I've decided to write a Fringe spec. Heroes and Mad Men were bad specs to choose, I think, since they are either too serial or too unusual in structure to be a good spec for a new writer such as myself. Fringe, as long as I stay away from the serial elements, will be a good, episodic, normally structured show to show my chops with.

I'd like to note, on the spec vs. pilot debate, that they had not read my pilot. In fact, they couldn't have cared less about it, and it was only on my surprise about that fact that they even offered to read it. They said the reason they don't care about pilots with new writers is that our first job is going to be writing on someone else's show, so it's important that we have 2 specs of other shows that are brilliant.

So all in all, this has been a sobering, humbling past month for me. I've realized that I still have some ways to go before I'm at the level that I thought I already was at. But it's also given me hope because at every point, I have been encouraged and nurtured, even by the people who have turned me down, and this has to mean something. So I carry on.

CFC interview!

I received a call this morning from the Canadian Film Centre and I've been asked to go in for an interview for their Prime-Time TV Writer's Program! They don't know exactly when yet, but likely over the August long weekend. I was planning a camping trip that weekend, but I'll cancel that eagerly for this.

There were 5 people, including myself, that applied to the CFC from my writing group. Two were given rejection notices on Monday and since then the rest of us have gotten requests for an interview. Of course I was the last person to find out. It sucks for the people that didn't get in because they are both great writers, and for one of them this is the second attempt at applying. Ironically last year they got an interview and they didn't this year even though they felt like their material was stronger. I'm not sure what to make of that, though I was told that there were many more people that applied this year than previous. Perhaps that's because of Denis McGrath, Alex Epstein and other Canadian scribes extolling the virtues of the CFC over the blogosphere?

Past the first gate and closing in on the second!

On the Definition of "Collate" and it's Importance to Scripts

Yesterday I delivered my application to the Canadian Film Centre's Prime Time Television Program. The time it was due? 5pm. My submission time? 4:59pm.

Cause that's how I roll - on the edge.

That was a monster of an application package, surely bigger than anything else I've ever submitted for anything.

It included:

• 1 spec script - Mad Men
• 1 original one-hour drama pilot
• my CV
• a one-page Letter of Intent
• a synopsis of my Mad Men spec, as well as a synopsis of the next spec I want to write
• a synopsis of my pilot as well as synopses of two more pilots I want to write
• a top 10 list of my all-time favourite shows
  

Of course, I only realized the night before that I hadn't written the extra synopses, which meant I may have somewhat rushed through them. In the sense that when I did a spell check I found that at least one word had exactly 0 correct letters in it.

Then while I was printing the triplicate copies of my scripts (you had to hand in 3 identical packages) out at 4pm, I found that somehow the printer wasn't set to "collate". I must admit, though I consider myself as the keeper of an above-average vocabulary, I didn't actually know the definition of that word. I certainly know it now.

col·late (k-lt, klt, klt)tr.v. col·lat·ed, col·lat·ing, col·lates

1. To examine and compare carefully in order to note points of disagreement.

2. To assemble in proper numerical or logical sequence.

3. Printing

a. To examine (gathered sheets) in order to arrange them in proper sequence before binding.

b. To verify the order and completeness of (the pages of a volume).

I printed out 3 copies of 2 60-page scripts, but somehow I had only two piles. Each pile was ordered like so: Page 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 ... and so on, for 360 pages. It was now 4:10, and I knew it would take me at least 15 minutes to drive to the CFC. So I sorted them all out and hopefully I didn't mix the pages up; I didn't have time to go through each script page by page to make sure.

Ordered, bound and clipped, I set out for the CFC. Traffic is clear, until Lawrence and Bayview. At 4:45 I'm stuck in traffic, a 5 minute walk away from the CFC. At 4:50 I'm freaking the fuck out. At 4:55 I'm considering just driving off the bridge and making it all go away. Then traffic starts to move, I almost get in several accidents, and when I finally find the CFC laneway, I park the car and run/jog to the door, getting inside at 4:59pm.

And now I wait.

One week. One Pilot (1st draft, that is).

It is done!

One week. One pilot. I think that's acceptable in TV land. 2 days until the CFC application is due, and everything is coming along nicely.

I was very happy with my first draft. I'll venture to say it's the best first draft I think I've ever written. And it's also the longest completely original script I've ever written, as it's my first pilot. So with confidence, in the wee hours of last night I sent out the first draft of my original one-hour dramedy pilot, "Merely Mortal", to my writing group. I know there will inevitably be problems to fix because you can never write a perfect first draft, but there weren't any problems I could see. And I think that's an important distinction to make because you should only ever send out a draft for notes if you can't see anything wrong with it. Too many times people send out drafts and when they get notes they say "oh yeah I knew about that", or they preface their script with the warning that they know there's a problem with this, that or whatever. Well if you knew about it why didn't you fix it? I think it's lazy writing to not try and fix everything you can on your own.

I also don't think a first draft should be the very first draft. It's the best you can make it in your first shot. Your very very first draft will likely be your word-vomit. Personally, I like to just write my first draft as fast as I can and then go back and tweak a bit. Three quarters of the way through my story I realized I was missing an entire plot. So I added that in, finished the script, then went back over it and looked for problems. I found some, fixed them and then sent it out.

Having immersed yourself in the research and characters you will have difficulty being objective about your script after a certain point. You need two things to overcome this: other people and time. Other people will point out things that don't make sense or aren't expained well enough. Once you send out your draft, even if you get notes back immediately, wait at least a day before going back and writing the next draft. You'll see your script with fresher eyes and subconsciously your mind is going over and over your plots, and working it out and identifying problems. So when you come back you will probably find you can point out issues you didn't realize existed.

There have already been notes trickling in (thank you guys!) and tonight I will re-attack the script and try and fix those problems. So far it seems it's all minor stuff, no huge structural changes. And that's not surprising because I felt when I sent it out that it was working well structurally.

I think the main point I'm trying to make is to do your own work, and let others help you in the ways you can't already help yourself.

TheSketchers.com website launched!

Not a huge post today, as I'm still plugging away at my pilot (10 days to go until my CFC application is due! eek!).

I just wanted to let the internets know that my sketch comedy team just launched our brand spankin' new website today! And though there's only one sketch up there at the moment, it is mine, all mine.

Check it out: http://thesketchers.com/