Last week the spotlight turned from the latest in the Writers Guild of America-Talent Agents Association conflict to some backstage drama on HBO’s hit series Big Little Lies.
The first shot was fired on IndieWire by Chris O’Falt with article about HBO brass, Big Little Lies boss David E. Kelley (a name you may have encountered one or two hundred times before on various sites including this one), and director-producer Jean-Marc Vallee denying BLL second season director Andrea Arnold creative control of the show and re-editing all the episodes after the season finished shooting.
The return volley by the HBO biggies was reported by Dominic Patten for Deadline (a middle-of-the-road site committed to keeping the showbiz boat from rocking). The article begins with HBO’s praise for Andrea Arnold and then careful explains the underlying reality of TV in the USA – creative control always rests with the network where the show appears, with the executive producers taking care of the hands-on application of corporate fiat.
TVWriter™ being dedicated to educating its visitors in the sometimes honorable (and sometimes not )and sometimes creative (and sometimes not) business of TV, we think it’s important to present both sides of the story for everybody’s edification, indignation, and entertainment.
With that in mind, take a gander at the following links:
- ‘Big Little Lies’ Season 2 Turmoil: Inside Andrea Arnold’s Loss of Creative Control
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HBO Responds To Reported BTS Big Drama On ‘Big Little Lies’ Season 2
NOTE FROM MUNCHMAN: Bottom line – to me this is just another example of business as usual. Things like this occur in all possible variations everyday. Or, to quote Leo Tolstoy himself, “Nothing to see, folks, nothing to see. Move on, move on, move on….” Hmm, doesn’t sound much like Tolstoy, does it? Oh well.
What do you think?