I just got back from my "Save The Cat" Writing Group, comprised of all Guild
members, except for one, K8. She’ll join soon, I just know it. Anyway,
we had a good session where they broke down the first 20 pp of my next feature
and read some awesome beats from Van’s new feature project.
Got home and watched some NBC
finales off the DVR, specifically The Office and ER. I won’t ruin it for all
of you who are saving up all your watching for the weekend, but I must say
that they both had some surprising moments and some predictable ones
(mostly in the form of OTN dialogue).
Steve Buscemi was grossly underutilized
on ER, but I was excited to see the lovely Amy Ryan (Helene McCready in Gone
Baby Gone) join the cast of The Office.
On a totally different tip, I’m stoked, yep, stoked to see the new horror/suspense
series on NBC, called Fear
Itself (premiering June 5th). I don’t know about all of you out there,
but a little horror goes a long way for me. Although I spend my time developing
and writing comedy concepts/scripts these days, I am a long-time fan of the
horror genre. Some say the horror genre thrives during tough political and
economic times, and I think this move by NBC (and their advertisers, no less)
reflects that.
According to the website: “Fear Itself” is a provocative, new 13-episode suspense and horror anthology series set to push the boundaries of this classic genre through a host of provocative talent, both in front of and behind the camera, including award-winning, sought-after directors John Landis (“An American Werewolf in London”), Darren Bousman (“Saw II, III and IV”) and Ronny Yu (“Bride of Chucky”); actors Brandon Routh (“Superman Returns”), Shiri Appleby (“Charlie Wilson’s War”), Elisabeth Moss (“Mad Men”), Cynthia Watros (“Lost”), Eric Roberts (NBC’s “Heroes”) and John Billingsley (“Star Trek: Enterprise”); and writers, including Joe Gangemi (“Wind Chill,” the novel “Inamorata”), Steve Niles (“30 Days of Night”) and Dan Knauf (“Carnivàle,” “Supernatural”).
The series is produced by Lionsgate (I pitched them a horror two
years ago) in association with IE Indy TV, and was created by Mick Garris.
The Emmy-winning team of Keith Addis and Andrew Deane (“Masters of Horror”)
are the executive producers. Peter Block is co-executive producer; Grant Rosenberg
is supervising producer; and Adam Goldworm, Ben Browning and Jonathan Hackett
are producers.
By the way, check out this
picture of our very own Bill Gohde at the Great
American Pitch Fest last year. It’s coming up next month, and we’ve secured
a free pass to it for the winner of our own PitchFest on May 31st. Thanks to
long-time Guild buddy, Signe Olynyk and new pal, Bill True.
