Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer. In the entertainment business it means this:
The movie industry resumes after three months of vacation. When agents submit spec screenplays there will be executives there to read them. (But only for a couple of weeks. The Toronto Film Festival is days away and they’ll all be gone for that.)
Your agent returns from his-or-her vacation. They rented a villa in Nice for a month and then met up with more successful clients than you, rented a yacht and cruised the Mediterranean, buying some amazing artwork along the way. Your vacation was an August weekend in Tucson.
Sitcoms are back in production. Show number three has just filmed and there is no script for show four. It goes into production on Wednesday. Pre-production began right after Memorial Day. What happened to all that lead time???
Showrunners on new shows are being bombarded with notes from nervous networks, studios, non-writing producers, actors, managers, and spouses.
Showrunners on new shows are also making those obligatory calls to the network crying that they’re not getting enough on-air promotion. They’ve seen one promo for their show while ads for DR. KEN are still running even though it’s been canceled.
Hour dramas are already way behind schedule. Upcoming scripts are being revised, slashing any scene that can’t be filmed in an hour.
Showrunners on ensemble dramas are receiving those calls from cast members’ managers complaining their clients aren’t getting as much to do as other cast members (whose managers are also complaining).
Network development people are a month into hearing pitches and they’ve heard the same one eleven times already. “What if we went home with the Joker and met his family?”
Writers who spent months preparing their pilot pitches only to be shot down in the first minute now scramble to come up with something else.
Oscar campaigns get sent upstairs for approval.
The Cedars-Sinai cardiac ward is reserving a couple of private rooms. October is just around the corner.
HAPPY LABOR DAY!
4 comments :
You know, I really wish you and Mr. Isaacs were still in the business. I'd give anything to see another quality sitcom.
Hey Rashad. Take another minute to think about what you wrote...
Actually, I was being sincere. I DO wish Levine & Isaacs were still in the business, because today's sitcoms just plain suck. (I apologize, though, if that didn't come across before.)
First of all, my belated condolences on the death of your father. (It's never too late, in my opinion, to express sympathy - you haven't stopped missing him, and won't). The way you always wrote about him showed how much love there was (and still is) between you.
Secondly, a weekend in Tucson can be a great experience. Come for the 4th Street Fair, or the Tucson Meets Itself Festival or any one of the many local events that are open to one and all.
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