40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.
I love this guy. I met him while I was running one of the most enjoyable shows of my career – THE FALL GUY – and he offered me the chance to write and produce any film I wanted with his company…as long as I paid for it. I mean all of it.
In that moment, Roger proved to me that, without a doubt, he had showbiz down. Not that he had to prove anything to anyone, but still…
We’re too bored with Dan’s life to go into everything he told Adam Chitwood in an interview on Collider.Com yesterday, but here’s the part we think is important to those of us who write or want to write TV:
The rumour mill says that Chevy Chase walked off set at the end of filming for Season 3 because he refused to do something. What did he refuse to do?
danharmon:
He refused to do the “tag” for the Digital Estate Planning episode (the 8 bit video game episode). In the scripted tag, Abed comes to Pierce with the thumb drive he took, and says “Pierce, I’ve been able to adjust some of the code for your Dad’s video game and I’ve made a version I think you might like better.” He puts the thumb drive into a laptop in front of Pierce. We cut to the laptop screen, where we see Pierce’s avatar on a front lawn with the giant floating head of Cornelius. Every time Pierce presses the space bar, his avatar throws a baseball to his father’s head, which gives him a thousand points and a “great job, son!” Pierce presses the space bar a few times, pauses, then leans over and embraces Abed and we fade to black. When Adam Countee pitched that tag, tears instantly rolled down my cheeks, and in point of fact, my eyes are getting watery describing it to you. It was the most important part of the episode and possibly one of the most important moments of the season. I was very upset to hear that it wasn’t shot because someone didn’t feel like shooting it, especially since it was literally the last day of shooting, which meant we’d never be able to pick it up. I regret nothing about how upset I got. My job was to care about my show.
…Yes, he’s a producer, not a writer. But that’s the thing. Producers know. Which is why producers get laid and writers…well, not as much. (What? You thought it was the producers’ charm? Good looks? C’mon!)
Exclusive Q&A: Hot Producer Mark Gordon Reveals What TV Projects the Networks Are Buying – by Lacey Rose
Becoming a successful film producer is hard enough. But Mark Gordon has achieved the extremely rare feat of conquering television as well as movies. As of Sept. 20, the prolific producer had sold at least 11 new TV projects (eight dramas, three comedies). If they make it to air, they’ll join Gordon’s other small-screen offerings: ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy andPrivate Practice, CBS’ Criminal Minds and Lifetime’s Army Wives. On the film side, the Producers Guild of America co-president has been behind movies big (2012, Speed) and small (The Messenger,The Details), with several more (includingAngelina Jolie’s Kay Scarpetta project, based on Patricia Cornwell’s novel) in development. The ABC Studios-based Gordon, 54, a soon-to-be-remarried father of two girls who got his start in off-Broadway productions, sat down in his artsy West Los Angeles office to discuss network buying habits, studio missteps and the genre he’d love to tackle.
People ask me questions. They call. They email. They rush up to me on the street.
The most frequently asked question, especially by those rushing up to me on the street, is “What the #&$@! do you think you’re doing?”
…which isn’t necessarily the same as “writing the truth.” At ComicMix.Com, John Ostrander, one of our comic book writing idols, is all over this with some very good advice:
John Ostrander: What is True? – by John Ostrander (ComicMix.Com)