 {spotlight} feature reports
California Dreaming – an LA Diary
22nd August
All of Glasgow is in Edinburgh. I’m packing for a first time trip to Tinsel Town. Ruby Slippers packed. 4am. Partick is dark and other worldly. Taxi along Dumbarton Road. Is it turning yellow?
Bright Lights Baked Ziti
25th August
Wake up in the biggest bed I have slept in, and know what Julia Roberts must have felt like in Pretty Woman. From the hotel balcony Sunset Boulevard glistens, and snakes below the hills towards Hollywood. Jet lagged, I watch a photographer snap a society wedding on the terrace below. Later I go for a walk. But no one walks here. Or at least not for the sake of it. Times like this a girl needs Toto. Car Valet boys tout for business. A gargantuan Tony Soprano smiles benignly down at me – TV don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that bing! Sopranos theme parties are all the latest rage for fans in frantic anticipation of the show’s fourth season.
26th August
8 participants on this Media Xchange Drama Series Showrunner Programme meet each other for the first time round a pool high up in the Hollywood hills on a hazy Sunday afternoon. Gathered by host for the week, Catriona Wood, Chief Executive and founder of Media Xchange, an organisation dedicated to the promotion and facilitation of co-operation between media professionals working in the international marketplace. The Xchange provides a series of seminars, workshops and exchanges from drama to sitcom to feature films (info@mediaexchange.com)
The Young and the Restless
Like contestants in a reality TV show, the participants gather: (Declan, a writer of episodic TV drama who is devising his own series; Joahann, Producer of the UK soap Family Affairs; Holly, a freelance writer and script-editor specialising in teen drama; Matt, who is in production with Burn It, a 10 parter written and created by him for Manchester’s Red Productions; Des, an Associate Producer at Red whose credits include Cracker, Prime Suspect, Bob and Rose; Ed, a writer, producer, director from Fiction Factory in Wales; and Jochen a Development Executive from RTL TV in Germany. Tell tale sunburn draws the Celts and the Mancunian together. Proceed from Passion
Michael Duggan, Showrunner is our guest. Key fact about American Showrunners is they are all writers. And herein lies the striking key difference in development between the US and UK model. The writing budget is the biggest single line item. Michael began honing his creative skills working on Emmy-award winning shows such as Hill Street Blues, and St Elsewhere which established Steven Bochco as one of the innovators of the ‘new order’ in television. Michael was a staff writer for Miami Vice, and helped launch one of the US most enduring and acclaimed series, Law and Order, as supervising producer/head writer.
Michael gives us an illuminating overview of the TV industry in LA. The big studios are playing safer with subject and approach, an exception being the highly anticipated hard hitting The Shield (now here on C5). The Sopranos was originally passed by every broadcaster – how do you place a gang mobster on TV? Despite its cult success 75% of US audience have not seen the show - no access. A show like Northern Exposure would be very difficult to get made now – too quirky and small town. Recognition is that high quality scripted drama increasingly finds its way onto cable and this is where more subversive voices are found – like Six Feet Under the show about death in the sunshine state where everyone is forever young. – The programme makers are not bound to the strict procedures of advertisers so can take more risks.
There are limited places a Producer can go in US with a project because of syndication. CBS receives 500 pitches, buys 100 scripts, makes 10 pilots, with 3 making it to air. Demographics also dictate the product: CBS – older, 35 plus female audience, NBC more sophisticated, urban (e.g. West Wing) and expects a lot from its viewers, ABC -–traditionally sought new challenging dramas, but now going more populist mainstream. Fox – young men orientated, rarely featuring young women as leads.
Michael believes the way forward for UK should not be a derivative one, the US and UK industries are borne of different impetus – US largely sponsorship based and UK public based – informs kind of drama that has developed. Michael’s message to us: Take what we do well and make it your own. TV production like baseball with a 3/10 hit. Good material will always find its way on to the screen.
Fly me to the Moon
27th August
Monday morning. We go off in twos to our various shows (Declan and Matt head off to the NYPD Blue precinct, Holly and Johann to The District, Des and Jochan head to 24 and Ed and I head furthest afield down to the David E Kelley studios at Manhattan Beach, driven by a jazz drummer from Chicago – who gigs by night and drives by day. Mike also is a wonderful guide to alternative LA – I miss that old Buick and Stan Getz to start my day.
At Castle Kelley, the great wizard himself is not in residence, but we are well looked after by Bob Breech, Senior Vice President of David E Kelley Prods, Kelley’s right hand man and guru in his own right. David E Kelley has written more than 300 hours of TV. The two men came together on LA Law, and have remained together since – forming one of the most successful partnerships in TV primetime.
As Showrunner, Bob is involved in every aspect of the show, and responsible for the creative vision. He oversees a team of 10 full-time writers who flesh out ideas, often from a thumbnail storyline, and research them, and craft them into strong A and B storylines – “its very tough to find a compelling story that has legs for 4 acts to really sustain itself and grow. Those stories are not easy to find or develop. There’s no formula to it”. It is imperative to avoid isolation in writing and development process. Showrunner’s role is to encourage communication. Writers need to be open to constructive criticism. They are paid well in US and so there are few of them. They have to face the fact they will be re-written.
We are here to shadow The Practice, now in its seventh season. Each season runs to 22 eps as opposed to 8/10 eps, which is norm in UK. The world of The Practice revolves around a small law firm in Boston who can just about cover their overheads. They have in inherent mistrust of authority. The storylines are often borne from ethical issues. Public morality v. ethics provides the conflict. Informs the skill demanded in the writing – the characters must never become mouthpieces. They are you and me. There is a cast of 9-10 running characters.
Episode 4 of this run (story 1128) is shooting down on the lot (12-day shoot for 50’ ep with a 2/3-day edit, shot on 35 mm with 2 cameras). Episode 5 is in prep for the following week (8 days prep for Director). The budget for an hour of drama in the USA is $2.7m.
Ed and I take time out at lunch to sit down on the lot and begin to get our heads around the two episodes, after an editorial overview from Bob Breech. A blue boiler suited stagehand drives past in a big red steam engine. Ed and I find ourselves in Barton Fink. Two lost souls, in this airless City of Angels.
I am a fan of The Practice, catching it now and then on the erratic late night C5 schedule, and so I am intrigued to read the scripts. The writing is skillful and economic and every word counts. The ensemble cast of characters are a wonderful heady mix and the trademark D E Kelley humour shines through with great humanity.
The Episode’s Supervising Producer, who will also be directing an episode further down the line, takes us on a visit to the set. This is what is so liberating about the studio set-up – the whole team is incentivised by a fairly secure contract, with a real passion for the show, and the opportunity to train and learn from each other.
The Director of this episode is acclaimed Parisian director Jeannot Szwarc, who it is wonderful to meet as he started out directing some of my favourite TV classics like Ironside, Columbo, Kojak and The Rockford Files. He has been a wonderful mentor for those around him and the supervising producer getting a directing break has learnt from the best. What leaps from the short scene we watch is how you can say everything with a silence. The Practice is a show about pace and transition and so that informs the kind of directing skills necessary.
Every great writer needs a great opponent
28th August
We meet for morning coffee with Jonathan Shapiro, currently co-producer on
The Practice, having started out as a staff writer for 2000-2001 season. Like most of the writers on The Practice, Shapiro is an ex-lawyer. (He was a trial attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of US Justice Dept, and an Assistant United States Attorney, Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section, LA), all this experience is ripe for drama and brings truthfulness to the legal stories of the show. In the shadow of the infamous Rat Pack poster, to the strains of Gustav Holst, Shapiro is working on a B storyline for a script further down the series. (The Practice storylines contain an A, a B and a small C story. A story carries the hour, B story often resolves in the hour, and the C story may resolve in 1 or 2 eps.)
The writers tend to work on stories one by one – someone working on B while another works on A. Jonathan is very curious about the UK development process – the role of UK script editor is a very odd notion to the US – where most producers/developers are writers. And he envies the opportunity we have in the UK to make single voice authored serials.
There are five writers’ rooms on the corridor, each writer has an assistant who does research and compiles synopses etc. I guess like a trainee script editor role and a great way in to the business for graduates. Having this creative hub all in one building with the studio downstairs, the art department along the corridor and the editing beneath is a very creative environment. There is always the sense of the bigger picture - everything is in service to the story. And having been in development hell for longer than I can bear, it is hugely liberating to feel part of a thriving production house.
Jazz drummer takes Ed and I on a detour to Santa Monica. We eat nachos and watch the bold and beautiful down at muscle beach. Before heading back we have our fortunes told at a 1940s fortune telling machine on the pier –a landmark that is also the last stop on Route 66. Estrella predicts abundant happiness.
One Moment in Time
29th August
We sit in on a Producer’s casting session for next week’s episode – Neighbouring Species. In the space of a morning (15 minutes per actor) we see a wonderful array of character actors for a C story which forms the case of the week. A blue collar ordinary Joe whose quiet morning ritual of reading the sports section is frustratingly shattered by the booming singing voice of neighbour Maxine, a large black woman for whom a daily rendition of Whitney Houston dispels her depression and fills her with hope. A story that is David E Kelley at his very best. The proof of the calibre of the writing is hearing the actors working with material that gives them such potential.
The session is co-ordinated with the precision of air traffic control by 2 wonderfully sassy casting directors and their assistants who would not be out of place in Sex and the City. The roles are a gift for actors, with 6/7 page monologues a common occurrence in David E Kelley scripts, writing full of subtext, and demanding acting of the highest calibre. The attention to detail and understanding of the humanity of the story, and the vision of the show, is steered by Bob – quietly, articulately and intelligently directing the actors through the speech. For the core cast of lawyers in this show – the actors always need to be mindful of their character’s personal moral dilemma v. the story’s bigger ethical dilemma. The Director is in casting, and the supervising producer and daily producer, together with the co-producer (who in this instance has written the episode). The Director is a hand for hire – the vision being driven by Showrunner Bob
The performances we see are genuinely moving – and especially some of the singing Maxines – some unknowns, some stage actresses – filling that airless concrete space and completely transporting the office staff on their lunch hour right into the heart of this week’s story.
Everything is in service to the story.
The Tone Meeting for this Episode kicks off after lunch. A crucial element of the pre-production process that is something I will certainly consider importing. The Showrunner leads this. The Producers, staff writer, the Director, the Editor attend. The purpose of this 3-hour or so meeting is to be absolutely sure that everyone is on the same page as far as attitude, emotion, and conflict of the show are understood. Every scene is talked through. Subtext is very important in a show like The Practice. Director needs to know the nuances of the legal world to enable the show to have verity. The Supervising Producer’s role is to work with the Director. Is ever present on set to answer editorial questions and bring an objectivity to the directing process – e.g. maybe that performance needs to go a little deeper, and is the Director’s no.1 ally. The Practice never re-writes on set. And table reads are rare. It is also useful for the Showrunner in a tone meeting to gauge the Director here – how are they responding – how will the time be used. What are they like? The whole process is about refinement for the shoot. And time of course is the enemy.
The Scotswoman, the Irishman and the Welshman.
30th August
We wrap up down at Manhattan Beach, and Ed and I have Declan with us today who has finished his last shift down at NYPD Blue. One of the highlights of his week being complementary box tickets for the Dodgers game. The Celtic trio chat with Bob Breech at the end of the day – it has been an educative week, and everyone has been so giving of their time in a busy schedule. The Producers we met are genuinely curious, and interested about the UK system. Bob is open to debate of whether the US and UK can work together– we talked around what a co-production scenario might be. The universality of stories. The fact that American shows play well in UK – particularly in Scotland. There are no clear answers. But lots to think about. And importantly the dialogue has begun.
1st September
My last day in LA. It is Labour Day Weekend. The end of summer. The press and TV is saturated with build up to the anniversary of September 11th, and fittingly, the weekend also marks the dedication of a new Cathedral for LA – Our Lady of the Angels, the first major cathedral to be built in the US for in more than 30 years, an incongruous worshipper overlooking the Hollywood freeway. Some question whether the new cathedral can provide a spiritual centre for a fragmented, sprawling city like LA. It is this dichotomy that has surprised and excited me about this city, about the people I have met, the stories I have heard, and the drama I have seen unfold around me.
Do you know the way to San Jose?
I am catching a Pacific Starlight Amtrak to San Fransciso from LA Union Station, one of the most beautiful and striking art deco buildings I have ever seen. Vast, like a place of worship. The ghost of Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot sways up the platform ahead of me. It’s 102 degrees in LA this weekend. The route up the cooler Pacific coast highway takes me through a medley of towns from an Ella Fitzgerald songbook.
I arrive in San Francisco late at night. I’m woken by the sound of clanging cable cars climbing half way to the stars.
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