| Get By With A Little Help For Your Friends |
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By now I’m sure you’ve all heard about what a tough season it’s been. In the current TV landscape, comedy is looking more like a tragedy. With the morphing of two networks into one, the slim pickins got even slimmer. Half the working writers lost their jobs – so how are us newbies supposed to get a shot? Word in the writing community is that only 25 pilots were picked up this year, as compared to 40 last season. (I’d double-check the accuracy of that statistic right now, but I’m too tired!) Regardless of the stats, the point is clear as Crystal Pepsi: it ain’t good. Most of my highly successful writer-friends are out of work and all anyone can talk about is how bad it is out there. Figures that my debutant ball would end up being more like a lame frat kegger. Okay, a non-alcoholic pledge meeting. At an academic fraternity. But I honestly don’t mind. To me, it’s like getting in on a stock when it’s low. I’ve made the investment, I’m ready, and things can only go up, right? It’s looking pretty good for a couple freelance scripts on shows that wanted to hire me, so how could I complain? I’m a professional writer. I’ve been paid to write. This still gets me giddy. The first produced TV episode I ever wrote is going to AIR this fall. Are you kidding?! Compared to where I was a year ago, I’ve got permagrin!Last week I had lunch with Bob Fisher, the writer of “Wedding Crashers,” along with an already impressive list of TV credits. Now I could go on and on about how cool he is and how positively jazzed I was to spend a couple hours talking with him about the business, but I promised myself I wouldn’t digress. He shared a really interesting thing, though: so far he’s helped 8 new writers get an agent or their first staff job. Just ‘cuz. I’ve been reflecting on that a lot... It may seem like a cutthroat and self-serving business, but nobody gets anywhere without a little help. If you really hope to “make it,” I think it’s imperative to help others as much and as often as you can. Now MY NAME IS EARL may have made karma trendy again, but I can’t tell you how true I’ve found it to be. The people who’ve been unhelpful seem to only get so far. Those who go out of their way to give a recommendation, pass along a job opportunity, spend hours improving a friend’s script… well, they just seem happier!The first show on which I was ever a PA, there was one writer in particular who had worked his way up to staff writer since his days of schlepping coffee. He was one of the kindest people I’ve ever met in the biz. Nice to everyone from the janitor to the craft service guy. Said hello to every person by name. Made his own coffee and copies – never asked anyone to do anything he could do himself. (He would even pause MID-PITCH to say thank you when I set his lunch in front of him!) People wanted the best for him. And that guy has had a VERY impressive career. He now writes on FAMILY GUY – one of the most successful comedies on television. This week I spent over 11 hours helping two friends with their scripts. (I am definitely not the most efficient reader. I give a lot of detailed notes. I can’t help it – I get sucked in!) It wasn’t a drag. It was fun. And I know when I need an opinion on my work, (which is inevitable), they’ll be the first to return the favor. The thing is, no matter how stressed or busy you are, there will be a time (probably soon) when you’ll be desperate. In fact, just yesterday a friend called me out of the blue. A year ago I had gotten him a writers’ assistant job. He was calling with a big lead on a comedy staff job for which he thought I’d be perfect. Pretty cool!Now I’m not saying you should help others in the hopes of milking it in the future. It just seems that the more professional and successful the writer, the more helpful they tend to be. There can be a lot of darkness in this business. And quite a few dark people who for whatever reason don’t want you to get ahead. It can get discouraging. Even depressing. …But from what I’ve seen, the nice guy does not finish last!
If you’re interested in reading some of Alessia’s work you can visit her website at www.alessiacostantini.com |
Long time no write, I know. But it’s been a whirlwind few weeks and I don’t even know where to start! Meetings, lunches, travel, weddings, UMEC, script research, MORE family visits – with a little bit of writing mixed in there, too. Still no definitive word on staffing, though there are a couple irons in the fire that I can’t mention yet... | < Prev | Next > |
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