Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 1/24/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Nick Bakay (TWO AND A HALF MEN) is writing the script for an NBC sitcom based on Jessica Simpson’s life and starring – OMG! – Jessica Simpson. (Former NBC programming chief  Ben Silverman is the producer here, demonstrated his vaunted good taste and judgment by saying, “Jessica Simpson is truly a modern-day Lucy with incredible comedic chops….” He said some more too, but we were too busy gagging to listen.)
  • Shane Brennan (NCIS) has a 10 episode commitment for an untitled TNT series based on novelist David Baldacci’s books about a couple of private eyes. (Considering that Shane’s one of those writers who has kept CBS on top for so many years, we’re kinda curious about why this project didn’t end up there. Anybody got a guess?)
  • Steven Bochco (um, what hasn’t he written?) & Eric Lodal (nol produced credits but a great IMDB bio) have sold MURDER IN THE FIRST to TNT, about two San Francisco homicide detectives working on a high profile murder case. (We love Bochco, but when we think of his last TNT outing, RAISING THE BAR, we start getting a little nervous.)
  • Jeffrey Nachmanoff (THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW) is writing and directing the drama HOSTAGES at CBS. (The good: It’s based on an Israeli series. The not-so-good: The Israeli series was never produced.)
  • Scott Pendergast & Amy Berg Scott did WILFRED, Amy’s a documentarian) have written the script for are an unnamed TNT drama starring Geena Davis as a bail bonds-uh-person. (The good: It’s being produced and, presumably, run, by LEVERAGE’s Dean Devlin. The bad: It stars Geena Davis, whom we all remember from…um…wait, it’s on the tips of our tongues….See what we mean?
  • ALPHAS, a Syfy show featuring one of the least distinguished casts in TV history, has been cancelled. “We’ve been proud to present this entertaining, high-quality series for two seasons and to work with an incredible ensemble of talented actors, producers and creatives,” says someone identified as “The Network.” Our 1st question: What? You didn’t work with any writers? Our 2nd question: What? The show’s writers weren’t creative? OTOH, looks like TNT isn’t blaming the writers this time around.

munchman: Isaac Asimov is Still Dead

…And he’s also still blowing me away:

asimov_biz_card

Funny thing though. Asimov is known much more for his work than his personality, so I had no idea he was so, um, self-confident. Harlan Ellison, OTOH, is renowned for being right out there as the King of Self Confidence, yet his business card says, simply:

Peer Production: Purveyors to Czars

purveyors to czars

David Louie Lukasik has made an art movie.

We know it’s an art movie because it’s pretty. And it moves slowly. And the sound is weird. read article

‘South Park’ Creators Launch Production Studio

And now, our favorite quote of the week:

Mr. Stone initially said he hoped Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks or Mr. Lucas’s Lucasfilm could serve as a model for Important Studios, then paused for a moment. “In some ways it’s a stupid comparison because they are gargantuan,” he said. “We want to be a smaller, more humble version of that.”

He continued: “If DreamWorks is Walmart, we are over here knitting sweaters.” read article

See the Top Short Films at This Year’s Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Screen Room Capture

The Sundance Film Festival wants all of us to appreciate its glory. And who can blame it?

So, with that end in mind, the Short Film Programmers of the 2013 Festival have chosen their dozen favorite festival entries and posted them all on our good pal YouTube for those of us who just couldn’t make the trek to Mormon Country. read article