by Larry Brody
Some of you have gotten in touch to remind me that for the past several years the PEOPLE’S PILOT has opened on June 1st and to ask if an opening date has been set for PEOPLE’S PILOT 2020.
I hate having to say this, but there won’t be an opening date this year, and right now it looks as though the competition that has become synonymous with TVWriter™ to many people probably won’t be back for quite awhile, if ever.
The following notice, which I posted on the PP landing page yesterday (at both https://peoplespilot.com and https://tvwriter.com/contests-the-peoples-pilot/) hits the salient points:
The PEOPLE’S PILOT Writing Contest has been helping new TV & film writers get the recognition they deserve for 20 years.
The current cultural, medical, and financial climates, however, have made it impossible for TVWriter™ to continue with the PP.
We believe it is imperative to correct the political, ethical, business, and public health problems that have caused so much recent suffering, and are channeling the energy formerly used for running our signature competition to that end.
We look forward to the day when The People’s Pilot can return. In the meantime, please be aware that:
For me, this is a very sad announcement.
I created the PP and have overseen 28 different runnings of the contest over the past 20 years. (For 4 of those years the PP was so popular we held it every six months.) This is the end of an era in my life.
The stresses all of us in the U.S. have been subjected to for the past three and a half + years have been affecting me more and more recently, probably because of my age and its attendant illnesses, including a recent battle with cancer.
No, I’m not going to die from that cancer. I had surgery four months ago, and the ever-able Dr. Dimitri Kuznetsov, got it all.
But these days I’m much more aware of the fact that I’m 75 years old and mortal as hell. And as a writer who spent most of my working life writing and/or producing TV shows like Police Story, Hawaii Five-0, The Streets of San Francisco, and on and on, I find myself wondering how much I’ve contributed to the glorification of guns and violence and general bullshit machismo that has and is causing so much harm.
I’ve been doing an overabundance of overthinking lately, and the regret that’s caused, combined with the fact that over the years PEOPLE’S PILOT has taken more time, effort, and toil than everything I do regarding TVWriter™ has brought me back to the primary feeling of my young adulthood – “It’s time to make this world a better place!”
But how do I do that when I have so much less energy than I did when I was that young man?
Since starting TVWriter™ in 1997 and completing the break from active TV work that I began in the early ’90s, I’ve dedicated myself to helping new writers master their craft and create meaningful and fulfilling written work. This has become as important to me as my own writing was.
The way I see it, the thing I do best in my life these days is the teaching, mentoring, consulting thing. So that’s what TVWriter™ and I are going to concentrate on from now on.
Well, that and the actual living my life in a way that allows me to spend more time with my family and those I love.
Oh, and speaking of spending my time, I am now facing the fact that no matter how much I would like to get all of the PEOPLE’S PILOT 2019 Feedback out to its entrants, that just ain’t gonna happen.
To make up for that, I’ve expanded my online teaching schedule and will be offering Special Discount fees for the TVWriter™ Advanced Workshop or LB’s Master Class to qualified PP 2019 entrants. I also hope to be able to make a discounted Basic Workshop available to the remaining entrants, but that may take awhile.
An email with the deets will be winging its way to the involved parties next week.
That’s it for now. Stay healthy. Stay safe.
And don’t forget to WRITE!
