Life in Hollywood, below-the-line

Life in Hollywood, below-the-line
Work gloves at the end of the 2006/2007 television season (photo by Richard Blair)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

About those links...

Sept. 18, 2007

Just beneath my profile (upper right corner) is a link labeled "IDMB Glossary," leading to the Internet Movie Database. The film and television industry has its own unique jargon used on a daily basis by those of us who work there -- terms like "Best Boy," "A.D.", or "Abbey Singer." Any reader who comes across an unfamiliar term need only click this link to achieve instant enlightenment.

The next three links are well worth checking out by anyone interested in the television biz. “Martini Shot” is a four minute weekly commentary on KCRW (89.9 FM in LA) by veteran television writer/producer Rob Long. Long is a very funny guy with a highly developed sense of the absurd – and the television business is nothing if not absurd. His keen insights from the writer’s room and above-the-line perspective on the biz are often brilliant, and always worth hearing. Recent broadcasts and archives can be accessed via the link to KCRW's website.

Ken Levine is another industry pro: a writer, producer, and director of countless sit-coms who rounded out his education with a stint broadcasting major league baseball games over the radio for the Seattle Mariners. His blog covers the television industry, but also wanders into the realm of baseball and modern culture. Sit-com writers are very clever people, and Ken is at the top of his game. His blog is a great read.

As television critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, Tim Goodman writes with a slash-and-burn style that offers no quarter and takes no prisoners -- but he’s usually dead-on target. Unfortunately for me, he unleashed his heavy artillery upon two sit-coms I once worked for, both of which subsequently sank without a trace. But I can't fault a man compelled to call ‘em as he sees ‘em -- and besides, he can flat-out write. Reading those painfully funny columns left me in the odd position of laughing (ruefully, of course) as he methodically torched my two shows -- first one, then the other -- thus helping put me out of work.

Thanks Tim. Now I’m back humping cable on the goddamned rigging crew...

Check out his rather cheeky blog, “The Bastard Machine,” then click on over to his more sober but wonderfully savage Chronicle columns on the SF Gate website. You just might learn something, and -- unless he's critiquing a show you happen to be working on -- you won’t be disappointed.

R.I.P “Good Morning, Miami” and “Four Kings.”

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Mike,

Eryc here. Man, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I don't think I was expecting to be hit with that photo. What a splendid metaphor for this soul-sucking, bitter bitch of a trade we've chosen to fall in love with. And I do say 'fall in love' with because who else would be foolish enough to continue taking lashes from this tramp, unless of course they were effectively rendered blind by her coruscating, yet gilded facade. We're unable to escape because we're now lost in the dark, no longer able to find our way out of the path of the whip. Like moths to the flame. Shit, my wings are on fire, that is the last thing you'll hear from me as well. I think one of those Pars, or maybe one of those Xenon bulbs in the projectors, has already burned out both my retinas.

In a word - WOW! You are indeed talented on numerous levels. Keep writing bro. Unfortunately, I think I too have crossed the rubicon at this point; for all my musings about law school, I know where my heart truly is. It's right here in the blood, guts and offal that comprises our "Industry." For better or worse. Shit. Literally. I can smell lots of it.

Can't reiterate enough what a pleasure it was making your acquaintance on the Vision Creative shoot yesterday. Thank you for taking the time to show me the light - god I kill me. Seriously though man, I really appreciate your patience and willingness to answer my banal questions.

Best,

Eryc-Tramonn
etramonn@filmylem.com
and you can check out some of my work at:

http://video.yahoo.com/video/group?gid=170174

all these videos were shot for under $10K, so I did as much as I could for that. Actually, we did more than we should have been able to.

Unknown said...

And please stay in touch...hit me with an e-mail so I can send you my contact number if you didn't get it from the call sheet. Thanks.

Eryc

Tim Goodman said...

Great stuff, MT. Glad to see you blogging the experience. One day this or something very much like it will be your book, giving below-the-liners their due and a good laugh (and probably an all-knowing cry as well). Hell, that's your blurb right there. Thanks for the kind words. - Tim