Not all PACs are evil. The Writers Guild of America West is working for us not only on the professional front but culturally, personally, and politically as well.
We know this is expensive, but in these trying times we at TVWriter™ firmly believe that, as any of John Wayne’s characters might have said back in the day, we all “gotta do what we’ve all gotta do.”
Last weekend, The Death and Life of Mary Jo Kopechne, a new play by Peter Lefcourt, opened at the Odyssey Theater in L.A., where it will play weekends until August 12th.
You may know Mr. Lefcourt from his television writing and production work for various series including Cagney & Lacey, Remington Steele, and Desperate Housewives. If so, you’ll understand why TVWriter™ is unreservedly recommending you hie thyselves to the theater and enjoy this fine new example of Peter’s work.
In Mr. Lefcourt’s own words:
Winging it with the future of TV – well, all of us out here are winging it, but the data brokers have a whole ‘nuther perspective:
“What do you think about gas in the tank for the long term?” asks Cindy Holland, Netflix’s vice-president of original content. It’s a Tuesday morning in May, and Holland and a handful of her direct reports are meeting in the 14th-floor San Junipero conference room of the company’s Hollywood headquarters. They’ve come to discuss renewal decisions for two existing shows, the Drew Barrymore–Timothy Olyphant zombie comedy, Santa Clarita Diet, and the recently launched remake of Lost in Space.
As Holland goes around the room, she stares at a laptop screen filled with the memos her team has prepared. She notes the mixed reviews for Lost in Space. “Do we care?” Not that much, it turns out. The show is renewed for a second season.
I’m back with multi-talented writer, actor, producer, and director Jon Paul Burkhart. He has a ton of credits to his name in all of these arenas, and he’s played roles on many popular shows like This is Us, Castle, American Horror Story, Parks & Recreation, and most recently GLOW.
His latest role is as one of the villainous leads in Sick For Toys: a psychological thriller that he co-produced with his partner David Gunning.
Normally, we wouldn’t be posting this news article because strictly speaking it isn’t about actually writing TV. But when we saw this on our Writing & Showbiz Newswatch, we did a double-take. Read on and, as writers, you’ll see how upsetting this situation is for those of us who toil in the fields of the Industry every day:
NCIS: New Orleans producer CBS Television Studios is hiring an outside investigator to look into allegations of harassment and misconduct against Brad Kern, the former executive producer and showrunner of the CBS procedural, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. At the same time, CBS Television Studios has inked a new two-year overall deal with Kern.