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KCRW's Martini Shot

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Language: English
Category: Arts / Arts
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Veteran TV writer Rob Long shares his behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood life with Martini Shot, a four-minute weekly commentary heard during KCRW's broadcast of NPR's All Things Considered.

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Part of the Process

I have a friend who is working on a television show with two studios involved (which means two separate sets of studio executives, all giving notes and thoughts and suggestions on every single rewrite) and three non-writing producers, doing the same, and a separate set of network executives, doing the same......

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[ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:44:00 EST ]

What I'll Never Do Again

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[ Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Bip

Not too long ago I was in a meeting with the president of a television network. The show I was working on at the time was on the air and successfully so. Sort of unusual for me, I guess, but it has happened in the past. Despite the impression that my four minutes here often conveys, I've had good meetings and successful exchanges and positive outcomes during my time here in Hollywood. And this was one of those meetings......

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[ Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

The Event

In the late 1980's, a huge phone company hired a top-of-the-line consultancy to make a forecast. Cell-phone usage was growing quickly, and the phone company needed to know how to plan for this new, business model transforming technology. So they paid these consultants a lot of money to answer this question: how many mobile phones will be in use in this country by the year 2000?...

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[ Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Plus Aimable

The cliché, of course, is that American television is awful. You know the saw: bad sitcoms, predictable dramas, tame dialogue, soft characters. About four years before it was even invented, people started hating television. Now, not so much ? there's a lot on that very good, and television's blood rival, feature films, have become mostly movies about robots, so TV ? with itsMad MenandThe Wireand30 RockandWeedsjust seems more sophisticated......

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[ Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

No One Wants Westerns

Years ago, on my first day in film school ? never mind how many years ago; let's just say, enough years ago ? there was a guest speaker ? I honestly don't remember who, but it was someone big, someone powerful, someone with real cred in the industry......

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[ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Out of Town

This is hard to believe but true. Not too long ago -- and when I say "not too long ago," I'm saying it from the perspective of someone who remembers some very old things, like that there used to be a hardware store on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, before someone invented the $80 candle......

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[ Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Too Many Plates

Hollywood is divided into two basic groups: the first group is the one-project types, the serial types. The second, the hedgers, the plates-in-the-air guys. Writers, directors, actors are in the first group ? these are the people who do one thing at a time. They tend to immerse themselves in a project, focus on it, care about it. A writer will write a script, then worry over a rewrite, then tweak it and polish it and get notes on a second draft, do that, and?.then wait......

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[ Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Validation

The rumor was all over town, and it was serious enough that my agent felt the need to call me. "It's not true," he said. "What's not true?" I asked."The rumor. About the valet parking fees..."...

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[ Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

This Is Where We Keep the Writers

A friend of mine was working on a show once at a large studio that offered tours of its facilities to tourists. They'd gather in the morning, wilting in the Hollywood sunshine, and be led around by a young studio page who would guide them around the various studio landmarks......

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[ Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Do You See the Problem?

A friend of mine pitched a show last week to a network, and they didn't buy it. This isn't a sad story, because another network did want it, so, you know, no tears, but for the six days between the first network saying no and the second network saying yes, he had time to sit and stew and second guess the show he was pitching......

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[ Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Big Phone

There's an famous photograph of studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, back when he was running Disney, on the set of a movie, talking on a cell phone. Famous because, at the time, it was the symbol of a hard-charging, ubiquitous studio boss ? always there, always on the phone, always on top of things......

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[ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Write It on Spec

I was talking to a writer the other day who has written a wonderful script. He's sort of an unknown, so he did the smart, entrepreneurial thing: he wrote it on spec. That is, he just carved out some time in his day, sat in one place and, over the course of several weeks, he eked out a funny, smart, fresh pilot script......

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[ Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Waiting

A friend of mine called up someone he's known for over twenty years. They had had a meeting a few weeks ago about a project my friend was working on, the guy he's known for such a long time is in the talent management business ? although, when you get right down to it, everyone in the entertainment industry is in the talent management business ? and the meeting went well, everyone was happy to see everyone else, everyone was excited about the project, everyone was going to follow up, so when my ...

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[ Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Dither

Working in the entertainment industry is a little like being a character in one of those magical realism novels ? it's about as close to real life as you can get and still have room for unexpected plot twists and scary monsters......

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[ Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

My Back End

In Hollywood, written -- that is to say, legally binding -- contracts are thought of as vulgar. In fact, just asking for a written contract is apt to bring out the latent mafiosi in Industry denizens. "I'm giving you my word," their pained expressions seem to say. "What? You don't trust me?"...

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[ Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

The Pie

I got a call recently from an agent I know â a guy who represents some wonderful writers â some of whom I've worked with, some of whom I've only wish I've worked with â and he told me that he was leaving the agency business and becoming a manager......

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[ Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:51:05 EDT ]

Who Are You?

For the past year or so, I haven't had what you might call an assistant, on the logic that my life isn't really so complicated that I need assistance. I can work my phone, I can use Google Maps, I can unwrap my own sandwich â I'm a functioning, reasonably organized adult who makes his uncertain way in the world unassisted......

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[ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Rice Bowl

I'm in New York right now, and I just had lunch with an old friend of mine who somehow, despite richly deserving it, has not yet been fired by the investment bank where he works in something called "structured finance"......

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[ Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Le Sit-Com

A few years ago, back during the Golden Ageof television â and by Golden Age here I don't necessarily mean the age when television content was golden, when the shows were of a uniformly excellent quality â I honestly don't believe in that kind of designation â I think no matter when you turn it on, you can always find something on television worthwhile, interesting, and of high quality......

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[ Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:21:18 EDT ]

Hide Away

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[ Wed, 13 May 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Wrap

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[ Wed, 06 May 2009 22:02:37 EDT ]

Dials Up

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[ Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

The Grey

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[ Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

The Vanishing

Childbirth, like producing a hit TV pilot, is painful, takes too long, requires muscle relaxants and ultimately involves more people than is strictly efficient. And also afterwards, the brain tends to forget all about the struggle. That's so you'll want to do it again......

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[ Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Guess Who?

A friend of mine tells this story about a pilot he did years ago. It was a pretty simple premiseâ single dad raising a kid; kid's smart; dad's weirded out by getting into the dating world; you know, that show â and the network was pressuring him to cast a certain actor in the lead role, an actor who was really hot at that moment, who was a major star on Broadway......

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[ Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

The Gates

The first time you drive onto a studio lot, the first time the gate lifts and you glide your car into the little fortress of money and cool and casual assurance, you feel like you've...won....

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[ Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:08:14 EDT ]

No TV on Your TV

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[ Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:48:01 EDT ]

The Tweet

Thereâs an old story about former NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff. While he was running the network in the early 1980âs, he was on the phone in his office, talking to somebody about something, and he suddenly had a flash of inspiration â totally unrelated to the conversation he was having......

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[ Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

Positive Rob

Not too long ago, I had a meeting with a couple of writers who hadwritten an excellent pilot. They were experienced, smart guysâ they'd been on lots of shows before, never quite at the top of the pyramid, but close enough â but for some reason, the network that bought the pilot wanted to add one more element, what's called in the business a "show-runner"......

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[ Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:44:00 EDT ]

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