OTL OVERVIEW: Look At The Bright Side
Aug 13, 2007 | 11:05
AM PST
Tags: on
the lot, OTL,
reality
TV, talent,
Zach
Lipovsky, Adam
Stein, Will
Bigham, Adrianna
Costa, Carrie
Fisher, Garry
Marshall, videowilliams,
Cici, Oliver
Stone, failure,
George
C. Scott, Spielberg,
Burnett
Edit | Delete
If you’ve ever worked in television, you know
there’s no point in expecting something brilliant every time. Most shows fail.
We miss the mark more often than hitting it. Formulas have to be followed,
corners cut, and time is never on our side. My writing mentor, who’s created
half a dozen drama series, has few illusions about the job. She once came to
work in a T-shirt that read:
THEATRE
IS LIFE
FILM IS ART
TV IS
FURNITURE
So as On The Lot prepares to join such other
creative misfires as Hee Haw Honeys (Syndication, 1978–1979), My Mother The Car
(NBC, 1965–1966), Homeboys In Outer Space (UPN, 1996–1997) and The Brady Bunch
Variety Hour (1977) in the list of failed TV shows of our time, I’m doing my
best to look at the bright side. Sure, there was plenty they stuffed up, as
we’ve been grousing about on the message boards ad nauseam. But they uncovered
some real talent, despite themselves.
Buried Treasure
I’m a part of that initial generation of OTLers
who hoped to make the cast ourselves. And being one of those fuzzy foreigners
who couldn’t see the show on FOX I had to have it recorded and mailed to me
each week. (Don’t you wish you had an internet friend like cici?
She never missed one!) I’ve felt the magic of the movies in that opening title
sequence, and enjoyed working vicariously through the lucky handful making
their flicks onscreen. But initially I watched with jealous pangs of “I could
do that too!”
Then the gold got teased out in the
form of the best of the filmmakers. By episode 13, we were down to 5
self-effacing, intelligent, articulate guys, with a distinctive vision each.
Hardly any of the films they’d made were duds. And that jealousy gave way to
awe and admiration. There’d been the hi-tech brilliance and heart in all Zach’s
work, the off-the-wall inventiveness of Adam’s (particularly Worldly
Possessions & Driving Under The Influence), and the good old-fashioned
charm of Will’s (especially Unplugged). Put these flicks in any regular short
film festival and you’d really be blown away.
Could I have created what they did, week after
week? Sure I could have… in my dreams. Who am I kidding? Spielberg and
Burnett have done what they said they would, and found at least one or two
of America’s Next Great Filmmakers. And given them the professional resources
they needed to shine. There is indeed a new generation coming up, to wipe the
floor with the old. There’s excitement in that sense of discovery.
Off The Radar
It’s a shame so few of us cared. Some subjects
just don’t lend themselves to reality television. And to judge by On The Lot’s
ratings, this was one. (Don’t you love how Adrianna kept on saying “Good
evening, America” and “America, cast your vote” when only the slimmest fraction
of America was actually watching?) As a San Francisco journalist once put it:
“Short films are like poetry. Everybody wants to write it but nobody wants to
read it.” It reminds me of an email I once saw…
The Top 10 Least Popular FOX-TV Reality Shows
(10) "Scariest Nervous Little Urinating
Dogs!"
(9) "Downunder III: When Koalas Swarm"
(8) "The World's Most Awkward Silences!"
(7) "World's Wildest Bumper Car Crashes"
(6) "Caught in the Act: First Graders Eating
Paste!"
(5) "True Stories of the California
Department of Highway Maintenance!"
(4) "When Prickly Heat Attacks!"
(3) "Knock-Knock Jokes Revealed!"
(2) "America's Funniest Wave-Particle
Dualities!"
(1) "When Supermodels Hurl!"
Look Who’s Talking
See, the OTL producers were really stuck between a
rock and a hard place. One of the staples of reality TV is humiliation- pushing
people outside their comfort zone and telling them they s.u.c.k- but there was
something really icky about doing it to filmmakers. It’s not the same as doing
it to singers, dancers, performers, because filmmaking- even bad filmmaking- is
already so hard to do. I think the judges were aware of this themselves, as
someone memorably observed on another website:
"I keep thinking Carrie Fisher is going to
have a meltdown on live tv. It'll be her moment to comment on a film but
instead she'll lapse into silence and then shake her head and say: ‘This show
s.u.c.k.s. What am I doing here? I'm sorry Steven. My career is in the toilet.
Who am I to judge anyone when this is the best job I can get?’ And then she
pulls a gun out and starts waving it around."
Not only did Carrie and Garry seem uncomfortable
passing their judgements, the competitors looked desperately uncomfortable
getting them. Wouldn’t you? Their weeks of work would be brushed off with a
couple of comments, and all they could do was stand on that big bare stage,
nod, smile and maybe say “thank you” till their moment was mercifully over. The
only good bits were the words of the guest judges, who impressed me with their
knowledge of the craft.
Yet to cut this staged dross and replace it with
shots of the filmmakers in action wouldn’t work either, since nobody wants to
see writers and editors tapping away at computers, film sets are boring, good
filmmakers don’t tend to argue, it’s all highly technical anyway, and you’ll
end up revealing the plot of the film they’re producing. They tried doing this
in the first couple of episodes: the audience tuned out in droves.
The most intractable problem of all is that
filmmaking is an art, not a competitive sport. (George C. Scott refused to
accept his Oscar for "Patton" in 1970 because he thought that pitting
actors and their work against each another was demeaning.) In NASCAR or
baseball or football, you can see who is performing well, who isn't, you can
call it play by play, and it’ll be clear to all who won and who just lost. In
film? My view may differ from your view. And we'll both be right.
The only thing we all agreed on was…
That Hostess Has To Go (But I Wish She’d Come Over
To My Place)
Adrianna seemed to have wandered in from another
show altogether. Like “The Female Wrestling Hour” or “When Supermodels Hurl”.
Every time she opened her mouth, I thought of the line: “Honey, I’d love to
scr*w your brains out, but I see someone already beat me to it.” I think she
probably hit her nadir in Episode 4: that excruciatingly drawn out and
repetitive elimination episode, in which she looked not just incompetent with
her verbal and physical stumbles, but pizzed off- as if she'd only come for the
dress rehearsal and they told her "Surprise! This is going to air."
Unlike the filmmakers, however, she didn’t
improve. What little audience there is for a show like this are hardcore film
geeks- and while we may be socially challenged we’re not dumb- so it takes more
to hold our interest than eye candy. We needed a host who showed some sort of
rapport with the artists, some knowledge of film. As it was, she was like that
big, expensive set: terrific to look at, but completely incompatible with the
contestants and irrelevant to their films. Perhaps she might have worked as a
muppet, walking round and moving her lips while someone smarter like Carrie
Fisher did the voice.
Still, it was fun to watch her little
dresses shrinking. As one OTL board-rat quipped: "Given the progress of
Adrianna's wardrobe over the weeks, why don't they just cut to the chase and
bring her out in a bikini with a pole?" Wouldn’t Garry have some quips to
make about that? Or perhaps a heart attack.
The Defeats Are Also Battles
I guess I bytch because I care, because I’m one of
those OTL tragics who’s stayed with it right to the bitter end. I feel like
Zach when he got the boot: there’s disappointment but no regrets. I even feel
qualified to give a few predictions. You’ll see Adrianna Costa find her niche
in health & beauty infomercials. (“Hey, America- your favourite skin cream
is here!”)… Will & Adam making movies… and Zach directing a
lines-around-the-block blockbuster, if not with Dreamworks then with somebody
else. (Look for something entitled “Paradise Redrawn”.)… And you’ll even see a
few of us from this website here and there. We’re all veterans of this train
wreck one way or another.
In the end, it’s all networking, lessons in
filmmaking, grist to the mill. So don’t let anyone convince you that the fact
the show got canned made it a total waste of time. As Oliver Stone once said of
his failures, quoting General Pancho Villa: “The defeats are also battles.” At
least we didn’t have to pay for it!
Live and learn.
Delete
michkeemae
visit blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 12:03 PM PST
VideoWilliams,
Thank you for the smart, thoughtful and pertinent blog. Your comments echo my
own thoughts regarding the show. I particularly appreciate your diplomatic and
positive way of writing about all of the hard working people we have seen on
the screen. And those behind as well.
Your writing style is wonderful.
Donna May
http://films.thelot.com/films/1318
Delete Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 12:10 PM PST
Thanks for that, Donna!
It sounds like you got sick of all the on-line negativity as well. There is
something uplifting about spotting true talent on-screen: it makes you feel
like a better person just for being able to appreciate it.
Now it's my turn to check out your writing & filmmaking style! Will look at
your film...
Last edited by videowilliams on August 13th at 12:13 PM.
Delete
DawnAkemi
visit blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 12:47 PM PST
This is a very nicely written, positive take on the show,
Dave.
You could certainly have "...created what they did, week after
week..." Or, rather, not exactly what they did, but had you been on the
show, you would have brought your own form of creative genius.
Delete Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 1:01 PM PST
That's so sweet of you to say, Dawn.
I think the pressure might have helped me. I'd be surrounded by brilliant
people and would have to keep up or die- kinda like bantering with you here on
these blogs! It's like an old Australian saying:
"Bite off more than you can chew and chew like buggery."
Delete
DLCook
visit
blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 2:53 PM PST
You are a fantastic writer. This is the kind of support
that always should have been there for these filmmakers. As I had said on other
occassions, these filmmakers could have been any one of you. There is so much
truth in your observations of the show and what you learned about yourself.
Nothing is ever a waste of time when one can learn from the experience and have
empathy and admiration for those who remind us of ourselves. You have moved a
little farther down your spiritual path in a more enlightened direction, my
friend.
Delete Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 3:14 PM PST
Wow, Diane, that's praise indeed! I see
your occupation is "Certified Spiritual Counselor" so you know
whereof you speak...
Delete
stud88
visit
blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 3:20 PM PST
Dear videowilliams:
I was just preparing a post on Coppola, and coincidentally, was about to quote
him about his thoughts on TV.
Stay tuned...
You put alot of effort and thought into this post; I expect the soul-searching
is much appreciated by bloggers who appreciate your good-faith intentions...
Julian
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 3:44 PM PST
Nice to see you here, Julian!
My all-time favourite quote on TV comes from journalist Hunter S. Thompson:
"The TV business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic
hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's
also a negative side."
Since I couldn't match that for a cynical viewpoint, I figured I'd better try
looking at the bright side instead! I look forward to hearing what Coppola
said...
Delete cici visit
blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 4:14 PM PST
Great post, Dave!
You deliver as usual!
I'm glad I could play a part in making it happen.
:-D
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 4:19 PM PST
I owe every frame of the show I've viewed to you, cheech.
That's one big-ass part to play!
;-)
Last edited by videowilliams on August 13th at 4:20 PM.
Delete cici visit
blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 6:34 PM PST
Did Dave just say I have a big ass??
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 13, 2007 | 8:40 PM PST
And biceps to match!!
Delete michkeemae
visit blog
Aug 14, 2007 | 5:35 PM PST
Nw see.This is the kind of smart
blogging repartee I've been missing lately.
Hi Cici and Dawn Akemi.
Videowilliams, thank you for the wonderful comments on my film.
Donna May
http://films.thelot.com/films/1318
Delete
cici visit blog
Aug 14, 2007 | 8:33 PM PST
Hi, Donna May!
I hope we can keep in touch if this site goes down...
Please email me at ezosso@gmail.com!
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 14, 2007 | 9:18 PM PST
Donna, thanks for your wonderful comments on my films and
profile pics. I had a look at yours as well... nice cherry pie!
Oh, and cici, if this site goes down on you... well, you can finish that
thought yourself.
Martinis, anyone?
Last edited by videowilliams on August 14th at 9:21 PM.
Delete gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 21, 2007 | 11:01 AM PST
Wow....a blogger who can write. But I
don't agree with you about your TV comments. My screen-writing teacher John
Truby who wrote for 21 Jump Street says the best opportunities are on TV not
film.
More TV shows are made then movies and cable TV has very good stuff....as
reality TV kills off free TV. Now TV is morphing once again with E-TV and its
interactive dimensions are opening unknown doors...
Sturgeon's law says 90% of most anything is crap anyway. TV, Movies,
acting....blah, balh...
Last edited by gamblerman on August 21st at 11:02 AM.
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 21, 2007 | 2:57 PM PST
Hi gamblerman!
Perhaps I did slam the door on the possibility of good TV a little hard. A
friend of mine who works in Hollywood said a couple of years ago that people
were saying:
"This is the golden age of TV drama. As mainstream movies get dumber and
dumber, the place you want to be is shows like Law & Order, NYPD Blue, The
Sopranos, Deadwood... There's better writing, better acting... So it's here and
not the big screen where the big stars of tomorrow are to be found."
Nevertheless, I still think Sturgeon's Law applies. What a great term that is:
I think I'll use it from now on.
Delete gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 21, 2007 | 8:11 PM PST
Not only are movies getting dumber and
dumber. People are watching them less and less. TV RULES. It's also morphing
and fragmenting like crazy....fusing with digital worlds more and more....the
customized FLUX BOX is coming: a digital screen where all images are consumed
period set to your private preferences...
Americans spend 15% of their entire lives in front of the small screen. This
will INCREASE when you throw your computer in...
Movie theaters?
Going, going gone....
OTL is a like visiting this musty and ancient museum....
M
Last edited by gamblerman on August 21st at 8:19 PM.
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 2:54 AM PST
Hmmm... I'm not sure if the movie theater is really
disappearing as fast as you claim there, gamblerman. It was feared that might
happen when television came in, but it didn't. Then again with the advent of
the video recorder, but it didn't.
Going to a movie has always been about the "going" as much as the
"movie". It provides an excuse to hit the town- a place to take a
girl, to take your kids, to go to with friends- it's an event. As the
Australian director George Miller once put it:
"Films are like dreams: when we congregate with strangers in the darkness
of the cinema, it's a kind of public dreaming where we process, mostly
unconsciously, the more insistent concerns of our lives."
You just can't get the same experience on your own.
But I won't dispute that all these digital options, including the internet, are
changing the balance of the media in some revolutionary ways.
Bring it on!
Delete gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 8:25 AM PST
Well, yes.
The theater will have its niche. But I personally rarely go to one anymore. All
my media consumption is increasingly on my laptop.
I wonder what W.D. Griffith or Sergei Eisenstein would think about this
development if they could rise from the dead.
M
BLEEP, Grouchox has deactivated his blog. What brimestone and fire!
Last edited by gamblerman on August 22nd at 8:56 AM.
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 2:30 PM PST
I think D.W. Griffith and Eisenstein would be right into
digital media- the same way that Beethoven got right into digital music in
"Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" (sorry to use such a lowbrow
analogy). Creative minds love new technology. Between 1908 and 1913, Griffith
produced no less than 450 short films!
I know less about Eisenstein- I guess because he doesn't share my first two
initials- and also because he was more of an intellectual. Nevertheless, they
were both great experimenters, who between them helped create the language of
cinema.
As you rightly observed in an email: "TV's interactive dimension seems to
be opening new doors. No genius has gone through yet." The time is
certainly ripe for several to appear...
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 2:39 PM PST
Oh, by the way, I just checked grouchoX's blog, and while
the man himself is sadly deactivated, his words remain there, fire and
brimstone and all!
Delete gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 6:39 PM PST
Yeah, interactivity. How do you measure
and monetize it? Sorry, I hate bringing that up. But somehow Vloggers are now
taking off like Amanda Congdon who was fired from rocketboom.
It would be nice to start a serious e-series with a vlogger like her commenting
on the high-brow e-series and educating people about how to read serious
e-movies that are perhaps a little slower and more meditative instead of brain
dead fast funny videos that people forget quickly for the most part.
It's now a 2-way street with interactivity. How would Eisenstein and Griffith
have handled this?
In old media it was a one way street.
I guess you just have to experiment until the right formula comes along.
I don't know how Kubrick ot Trakovsky would survive in such a new media
enviornment. Tarkovsky's takes are so long. Most people would start squirming
and wanking. But if you can just zone into his work long enough it's really
astonishing stuff. It becomes an altered state....
Kubrick is so high concept and so mind expanding if you can just slow down and
get your brain into delta. But today's media is geared to alpha brain waves....
Life in sound-bite city....
Woo hoo....
M
Congrads on your feature.
BE A VLOGGER, DUDE.
Last edited by gamblerman on August 22nd at 7:58 PM.
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 8:56 PM PST
Michael, I think you and I and everyone using the web to
try and get our film work, vlogs or whatever out there finds we're wrestling with
the question of how to make the effort pay. Advertising- even if you're willing
to accept it- cannot cover the costs alone. The first vlogger to crack that nut
will be onto a winner.
Thanks for noticing my Featured Film on the Home Page. That's an ego boost at
least. And retrospective congrats to you on your Featured Blog!
I love your attitude to long takes. Perhaps we ought to give the final word on
this subject to Douglas Trumbull, who in his commentary for the DVD of
"Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition" said the
following:
"I think that there's a big tendency these days to make movies that are so
tightly hermetically sealed with dialogue that there's no room for the audience
to interpret it or say "Well, this is what I saw in it," or "I
saw God" or "That meant something religious to me" or
"something spiritual to me." You know, you've gotta let movies
breathe a little bit. So I got very into that through "2001" and
working with Stanley Kubrick, and working in what was then called Cinerama and
was delivered at that time on huge 90 and 100 foot screens in beautiful
NON-multiplexed theaters..."
Last edited by videowilliams on August 22nd at 9:04 PM.
Delete Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 8:57 PM PST
(cont'd)
"...But you'll find that when you can present the audience with an image
that's truly worth watching- it's spectacular, it's awesome, it's interesting,
there's a lot of things for your eye to look at- you want that moment to be on
the screen for a long period of time. You don't want to cut it up into 8 frame
chunks. It could be on the screen for 30 seconds, 45 seconds, a minute-
uninterrupted- and if it's good, it can hang in there. And whether it's a
Stargate or the Mothership or a wormhole or whatever it is, it could be really
great!
So when I look at a movie like "Star Trek The Motion Picture" now
after 20 years, I feel like, you know, "Hey, that's not bad!" Because
the stuff I'm seeing today is all action-oriented, the cuts are 8 frames long,
you never take the time to take a breath and look at something that's awesome
and spectacular- awe inspiring- or, you know, subjective- that gives you an
opportunity to kinda grock the fullness of something. I just feel very used by
most movies today because they're too fast- they're looking for too much pace. It's
very common today that even a live action movie is accelerated by deleting
frames- and I just think it's all for effect and doesn't have any heart to
it."
Last edited by videowilliams on August 22nd at 9:04 PM.
Delete
gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 9:40 PM PST
You worked with Kubrick?
Woo hoo....get outta here!
Do tell. he's one of my fav directors. Way beyond his time. Probably in the top
ten list of all time with Tarkovsky. 2001 and Solaris are bookends to an era...
I like long takes because I lived in monasteries for years with saints and
speaking was unnecessary. But People just can't handle my " long takes.
They want action!
They don't want to slow down.
They don't know what they're missing.
I'm going to make an anti-YOU TUBE site for my stuff. This is a slow speed
zone.
All ye who enter.
M
Delete Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 10:05 PM PST
No no, Douglas Trumbull worked with
Kubrick. Those last three paras were quoting him! I'm afraid I'm about a
generation too young.
Nevertheless, I think Doug Trumbull is a genius in his own right. He did the
special effects for 2001, Close Encounters, Star Trek and Blade Runner, plus
directed Silent Running and Brainstorm... heaps and heaps of awesome stuff!
So you lived for years in monasteries where speaking was unnecessary? Wow. I'd
say you're definitely making up for lost time on these blogs!
Last edited by videowilliams on August 22nd at 10:14 PM.
Delete
gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 10:45 PM PST
I'm a writer, not just a film maker....poetry, short
stories, novels, kids books, and essays....
Vavavooommmm.....
I can also connect ESP-wise if necessary...
All my films are about people who can do this...
M
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 10:54 PM PST
Maybe you can send me your next comment psychically...
Delete gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 11:01 PM PST
Can't mate...I'm watching Play Misty
for Me. An old Clint Eastwood horror flick....
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 22, 2007 | 11:35 PM PST
Ah... That must be why I suddenly feel an irrational fear
of women... am getting flashes from that classic stalker flick...
Delete gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 12:27 AM PST
It's a nickle and dime Fatal
Attraction....crappy acting, silly dialogue. Clint's first try at directing. He
has improved considerably.
This movie is so bad, I can't blog about it.
Nice views of Big Sur. Used to drive there a lot...
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 12:56 AM PST
Yeah, Clint's love of that area really comes through. You
can see why he later decided to become mayor of Carmel.
Another ladykiller film set in Big Sur that kicks Play Misty For Me's ass is
Basic Instinct. What a car chase on the cliff roads that one had!
Delete gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 1:35 AM PST
Basic instinct is good. But I believe
the car chase was here in Marin where I live.
I'm being too harsh on Clint.
As a fellow director you know how hard this business is. So many things can go
wrong. Writing can be bad, casting can be bad then you're dead. Directing can
be bad, editing can be bad. So many hurdles....
Then the public or critics may not understand you.
But it's the greatest job on earth....
M
Last edited by gamblerman on August 23rd at 2:06 AM.
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 3:36 AM PST
Ah, the BI chase was filmed up in Marin! I'll remember
that.
I've seen directing described in a dizzying number of ways:
"One of the last truly dictatorial posts left in a world that's becoming
increasingly democratic."
- Francis Ford Coppola
"Like being pecked to death by penguins."
- Bob Hoskins
"Like running in front of a speeding train, attempting to lay down
tracks."
- I can't remember
"The worst job in the world."
- Martin Scorsese
...And yes...
"The best job in the world"
- Steven Spielberg
I guess it prettymuch runs the gamut.
Last edited by videowilliams on August 23rd at 3:37 AM.
Delete
gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 8:38 AM PST
Every movie is unique. A crap shoot.....Coppola said it's
jumping into the abyss....I agree.
I did my first super 8 movies when I was 13, then did experimental stuff at 21
influenced by Stan Brakhage still with super 8 and then video....another hiatus
and at 31 more video....
Then I disappeared and at 48 video again in the internet age...this time with
actors. in LA.
No film school.
Some theory at UC Berkeley when I was a student.
I'm still learning....
M
Delete JessicaMarie
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 2:07 PM PST
Nice blog, Wallaby.
You're such a great writer....
Delete
gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 2:25 PM PST
Are you talking to Williams or me?
M
Delete Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 2:51 PM PST
She was talking to me, gamblerman.
And welcome back to OTL, Jess! Even if it's only for a precious stolen moment
on a library computer. Gosh, it feels like a royal visit! I shoulda known you
wouldn't let me down, even after nearly 3 months away. Thanks for the Jessican
stamp of approval.
Gamblerman, to fill you in, you're in the presence of blogging greatness.
Before there was Julian's Blog, there was Jessica's Blog- an almost permanent
fixture on the MPB list from the week when she arrived until a month after she
left.
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 2:57 PM PST
Oh, and regarding Michael's comment "I'm still
learning," I'm reminded of a line used by George Lucas:
"Film is an apprenticeship for life."
Along with one by William Goldman:
"NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING."
Delete gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 3:13 PM PST
I see....hum, what to blog about
today....Man who Fell to earth, Quest for fire...drugstore cowboy....global
insanity...I'll come up with something.
Julian feels OTL won't disappear. Now it's season 2 with the actors....ah, well....
Delete
Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 4:02 PM PST
Season 2 with the actors? Huh! Almost sounds plausible...
In fact, that might actually work better...
Delete
gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 4:05 PM PST
Go talk to him...
Delete Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 4:07 PM PST
Will do.
Delete
gamblerman
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 5:25 PM PST
When you see my stuff. Write me a private letter. I sent
you some links...
Seeya
Delete Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 5:35 PM PST
Seeya, gamblerman!
Thanks for the links and the conversation. I've got lots of food for thought.
Will be in touch.
Delete
robk visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 9:15 PM PST
As usual, I'm late to the party.
I already emailed you about this blog posting dave, but will state for the
record here it was one of the most complete and thoughtful posts about OTL. You
even managed to put a positive spin on the entire experience, which I suppose
makes you an optimist.
Rather than make a snide comment or attempt a witty retort, I'll save it for
your trip to the States later this year. LA r Denver... let's hook it up for a
brew(s).
Onward and Upward.
- ROB K
Delete Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 9:43 PM PST
Nah, the party doesn't start till you arrive,
Rob. So by definition, you can't be late!
In any case, you did achieve both wit and snidenesss in your emails of last
week. To whit:
awesome OTL post! it deserves a thoughtful response...
(robk, August 16th)
...followed by...
I really had high hopes for OTL, but in the end it sucks so much! If there is
any justice in the world it will get the axe, then the producers will be
dragged to the parking lot, strung up from light posts and flogged. They made a
mess of an otherwise awesome idea for a show. They deserve no mercy.
(robk, August 17th)
I think your point is crystal clear. Am looking forward to that brew!
DawnAkemi
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 10:08 PM PST
My goodness... such popularity! Dave... now you are the
host with the most!
Hi gamblerman! Thank you for asking me to be my friend... it feels good even in
OTL's eleventh hour! Your discussion with Dave is terrific!
Hi robk! I hope those brewskis are happening in L.A.!
Hi Jessica! Hope you're settling into L.A. okay and we are still on for lattes
and girlish giggles.
Delete
DawnAkemi
visit blog
Aug 23, 2007 | 10:09 PM PST
Mmmm... 50th comment... mmmMMmmm!
Delete Edit videowilliams
visit blog
Aug 24, 2007 | 3:52 AM PST
You're a trooper to have read 'em this
far, Dawn! Since thanks to gamblerman, it's been a highly intellectual trip. So
would you like to go for a record? Currently, the marks to beat are:
videowilliams's Blog...57 comments
DawnAkemi's Blog......85 comments
cici's Blog....................115 comments
Of course, we'd have to try and maintain the cerebral tone...