This is sad to watch
Sunday, July 31, 2011
A White Supremacist is a Principal of a School in The Bronx? Child, Yes!
This couldn't be a better movie I tell you. Frank Borzellieri is a principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, which is mostly attended by Black and Latino students. Frank doesn't really care about that, in fact, he has done a 'few' things to cause problems.
Fox example:
Ban literature he labeled "anti-American" from school libraries. His targets included books on different races and culture, and a biography of King.Sad thing here, the person who hired him didn't think this was any concern.
Remove an openly gay teacher and gay-rights activist from the classroom at Public School 199 in Sunnyside, and ban school employees from making any references to homosexuality.
Introduce a resolution calling for students to be taught that U.S. culture is superior. Borzellieri's views rankled teachers at St. Barnabas School in Woodlawn, Bronx, where he taught English from 2006 to 2009
In 2004, Borzellieri wrote the book "Don't Take It Personally: Race, Immigration, Crime and Other Heresies," in which he declares "diversity is a weakness" and says the rising black and Hispanic populations in America will lead to the "New Dark Age."
He has also written frequently for the white supremacist publication American Renaissance, with which he is still "intimately involved," the non-profit Southern Poverty Law Center says.
Mount Carmel pastor, the Rev. Eric Rapaglia, said he knew of Borzellieri's views, but didn't "see any cause for concern" when he hired him to run the 200-student elementary school.
"I knew of him from my last parish," he said. "Do I agree with all of it? No. But I think much of it is valuable and logical and reasonable.Really? What is really going on here?
"A lot of his ideas would actually benefit minorities," he added.
Wolverine: It Gets Better
Well it's not Dan Savage, but it's as good as it gets. In this special issue of Generation Hope, Wolvie eases a young mutant's troubles about being himself.
This actually makes sense. Wolvie's son Daken is bisexual and hot.
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Mr. Special Effects
Hello from Seattle where starting tomorrow I again call the action and pitching changes for the mighty Mariners. In the meantime, I'm going to dip into the "Best Of" file. This is one of my favorite all-time posts so I cart it out every couple of years. Certainly one of my funniest -- and I didn't even write it.
I've talked about the need for showrunners to hold down the budget. What I didn’t mention was how difficult that can sometimes be. Hollywood is notorious for huge mark ups. Studios charging their own shows outrageous rent for their stages and facilities, etc. And if God forbid you need a special effect look out. In writing rooms whenever we propose even the smallest stunt we turn to my partner, David Isaacs, who has created a great character – Mr. Special Effects. He will then describe what is required to pull the stunt off and how much it will cost.
Here is an example, in the form of a memo. And believe me when I say this is TYPICAL.
Report from TV Special Effects Department:
RE: Frasier
Situation: In a dream sequence, Frasier is on the air and his board explodes.
Proposal---If I'm to understand correctly from our conversation you all want the entire radio board to explode in Frasier's (Mr. Gramner's) face. filling the studio room with smoke. It's quite a coincidence since my dad created the same effect for Mr. Al Ruddy for an episode of 'The Monkee's. (For your reference it's the one where the Monkees try to outfox a Russian agent played by Mr. Lloyd Bochner). The good news is that with all the advancements in explosive delivery it's a much easier effect. (The real reason you never saw Mr. Mike Nesmith at any Monkees reunion is that he had four fingers of his left hand blown off. It's certainly not true that he was sick of being a part of a third rate Beatles knockoff. That and feeling responsible for Yakima Canutt losing a testicle on "How the West was Won" haunted my father till he fell to his death rigging Mr. Demetrious 'George' Savalas for a jump off the Brooklyn Bridge in 'Kojak.)
Anyway, the effect is fairly simple, but of course we want it foolproof and safe. (within reason) First of all we will rig a series of explosive charges across the board. That will control the blast as oppossed to one big blast which is harder to control. I will set off the charges in sequence from a specially designed phaser. That should supply our explosion and still create the effect. We also set a charge inside the board so that in the case of a fire breaking out from the initial explosion (small possibility) I'll blow that charge which in turn would smother the flames. That, of course, would also preclude a second take.
Now I'm to understand that Mr. Gramner would like to do the stunt himself (concurrent with an 'Entertainment Tonight' segment profiling sitcom actors who do their own stunts.) That's fine but we will take the precaution of covering his body in an inch to an inch and a half
of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly under a flame retardant herringbone suit. (It's uncomfortable but the guy works, what, twelve hours a week?) That will protect him vis a vis a mistake in explosion deployment. (Just to warn you in spite of caution it can happen---Sometimes to a serendipitous result. My dad worked for Mr. George Roy Hill on 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance KId." Liitle known fact, the boxcar being blown to smithereens was not in the script. It was what we call in the S.E. business a happy accident. Thankfully the only injury was a prosthetic arm that was mangaled up pretty good. It belonged to my dad's assistant 'Spider' who had lost his real arm and half a foot working with my dad on 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'. Long story)So we will protect Mr. Gramner. Safety for the cameramen and crew are at your discretion. Should be a do it every day, piece of cake effect. Still it's S.O.P. for me to ask you one question that's in the order of a final safeguard. Was there originally an actor you really felt could have played Frasier in the event that Mr. Gramner was unavailable or... "a handful"? Have to ask. It many times makes a tougher call but I will remind you of 'happy accidents'.
I'm going to ball park a cost for you then come up with a final tally later. I know you have budget concerns but it's a heck of a stunt. Figuring explosives , equipment rented from the studio electrical dept., special costuming from the studio costume dept., crew, overtime, dummy board and console from studio props, studio fire chief standing by, and I figure you'll want to throw in pizza for a hard working S.E. bunch, I think I can bring the whole thing off for you, on the cheap, for about 110 thousand dollars. Again that's if we're not figuring on another take.
Loved the script by the way.
Mr. S.E.
My Dream Cast for the JEM movie
Since The Smurfs was a success. I guess it's time to bring out my Dream Cast for the JEM movie. So here are my picks for the classic cast.
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| Kristin Bell as Jem/Jerrica |
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| Jamie Chung as Aja |
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| Amanda Seyfried as Kimber |
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| Katerina Graham as Shana |
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| Tyler Hoechlin (Teen Wolf) or Darren Criss as Rio |
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| Anna Faris or Emma Stone as Pizzazz |
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| Taylor Momsen as Roxy |
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| Vanessa Hudgens as Stormer |
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| Jeremy Piven as Eric Raymond |
Silurian warrior Madame Vastra and her partner, Jenny the Samurai Maid in Battle
I found this cute pic of our new favorite lesbian Sci-Fi couple
Classic Doctor Who in the Making
Saturday, July 30, 2011
VIDEO: Nancy Pelosi - Speaker Boehner Chose To Go To The Dark Side
Nancy told it like 'tis at the Debt Ceiling Debate
CPAC Tells GOProud "Don't Come Around Here No More"
GOProud got served their walking papers from CPAC. For some reason they always believed they have a home there. Well, they just got kicked out with no deposit:
The event, organized by the American Conservative Union, is one of the largest conferences for conservatives held anywhere in the United States each year.
But it had faced the loss of some participants over the past several years specifically because of its inclusion of GOProud. Some of the organizations whose leaders have raised concerns in recent years have included heavyweights such as the Heritage Foundation, Media Research Center, Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America.
But word of the change came today when WND obtained access to letters mailed to GOProud as well as the John Birch Society, which also was left on the chopping block by the new procedures that Al Cardenas, the chief of the organization, announced he would implement when he took over.
In a letter dated today and addressed to Jimmy LaSalvia at GOProud, Gregg Keller, national executive director for the ACU, said, "The American Conservative Union is preparing to open registration and announce sponsorship opportunities for our Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2012.
As a courtesy to your organization, a previous co-sponsor of CPAC, this letter serves to inform you GOProud will not be invited to participate in a formal role for CPAC events scheduled during the 2012 election cycle."
The letter noted that GOProud "members" are welcomed and encouraged to attend "as individual registrants."
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A long night's journey into day
I’m heading up to Seattle tomorrow to begin a nine-game stretch of broadcasting for the Mariners. There was a game earlier this week between the Pirates and the Braves that lasted 19 innings and lasted over six hours. That prompted this Friday question by Joe Knucks-all (yes, it’s an ode to Joe Nuxhall):
What's the longest game you've gotten to call, thus far?
Friday, September 25, 1992. The Mariners at the Texas Rangers. Sixteen innings, but first a little background:
This was the very end of the season. Both teams were already eliminated. So the game meant absolutely nothing.
The game was held in the old Arlington Stadium, a converted minor league park that was, to be charitable, a dump.
It must’ve been 100 degrees at game time and by the end -- 95.
We were doing the game on TV that night as well as radio. That meant the rotation was that I did the first half of the game on television then switched with my partner, the great Dave Niehaus and did the rest of the game alone on the radio. Did I mention sixteen innings?
Because this was the end of the year rosters were expanded. I believe we set a major league record for the number of players used in one game. The Mariners used 29, the Rangers only used 25. The Mariners employed eleven different pitchers. Between the two clubs there were 481 pitches thrown (I think 12 strikes).
We left twelve men on base. Texas left a staggering twenty. M’s second baseman, Bret Boone went 0-7.
You can’t believe what a mess my scorebook was. Completely indecipherable. Navajo Code Breakers couldn’t figure out who batted for who when.
But the incident I remember most was this: Our bullpen was down the leftfield line. Late in the game, maybe the 13th or 14th while play was in I look out and all of our relief pitchers and bullpen catchers are running out onto the field. WTF?! Seems someone discovered a big rat in the bullpen. So while members of the grounds crew removed the rodent we had a ten minute "rat delay".
We won the game 4-3. Omar Vizquel drove in the winning run and then was thrown out in a wild rundown. It was that kind of game.
And then when the game ended – 5:08 after it started -- I had to do the postgame show. That was another half hour. One of the features was the game re-cap. I think I said something like "A bunch of guys got into the game and made outs and didn't score, and we did that for like five hours, and then someone drove in a run. I'll have the out-of-town scores next!"
But I will say this, yes it was exhausting but also exhilarating. You get your second wind after about four hours. And the game takes on a life of its own. The adrenaline kicks in and suddenly it’s great fun.
And the way things are going this year, I’d gladly call a thirty inning game if it meant a win.
Is there a Season 5 for True Blood?
Rumors are stirring about True Blood and if there's a fifth season. Well, according to the series showrunner, Alan Ball, it is:
Ball said Thursday during HBO’s presentation at the summer Television Critics’ Association tour stop that he has inked a deal for another year on the series, effectively tipping the network’s hand that a fifth-season renewal could be imminent.
“There will be an end for me at some point but I just closed a deal to do another season,” he said. “I don’t have any desire to leave because I’m having more fun than I ever had in my life.”
Ball later told The Hollywood Reporter that his deal is exclusive to HBO, where he has a "couple pilots" in development.Sounds interesting. I'm sure there's a fifth season. Why wouldn't it be?
True Blood is currently airing its fourth season and HBO hasn’t officially announced its renewal.
Ball told The Hollywood Reporter in June that he was negotiating for a new contract for a fifth season but was unclear what his status would be afterward.
Ball added that writers on the Anna Paquin-Stephen Moyer series were breaking stories for Season 5, including “how a vampire is made.”
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Friday, July 29, 2011
Beaver Cleaver is back on the air
I'm on starting at 11 PM EDT and replayed at 11 PM PDT. You can hear it here. I was certifiably insane in those days. Enjoy.
Interesting Quote: Nancy Pelosi
“I would think that if she wanted to be the President of the United States, she would understand that this is a larger issue than whether someone is gay or not, but as to whether someone is harassed and bullied to the point of seeing no way out. Obviously it’s an issue bigger than Michele Bachmann’s district, so maybe we should all be speaking out about it, and not just leaving it to her."
Nancy is speaking to Michele about the gay teen suicides in her district.
California Supreme Court schedules Prop. 8 Hearing on September 6th
Here is the press release:
California Supreme Court Schedules Case on First Day of Fall Session
San Francisco, CA – Today the Supreme Court of California announced that the hearing date for Perry v. Brown will be on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 10:00AM. The date announced is the very first day of the court’s fall calendar. The court will hear oral arguments on a question of whether under state law proponents of initiatives have standing to defend their initiatives when they are challenged in court. The question was certified to them by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit earlier this year.
In response to the court’s scheduling order, Chad Griffin, American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) Co-Founder and Board President, had the following to say: “I am very pleased that the Supreme Court of California calendared our case for the first day of their fall session. The governor and attorney general of California – and the United States District Court – all have found Proposition 8 unconstitutional. I am confident that the California Supreme Court will swiftly reach a decision on this question, and that this nation is now one step closer to seeing the dark walls of discrimination finally crumble.”
In a separate, but related matter – the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California will hear AFER’s motion on August 29, 2011 requesting that the video recordings from our January 2010 trial be released to the public.
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Friday questions on Friday
Since I already answered Friday Questions on Wednesday and Thursday I thought I should probably answer some Friday Questions on Friday. Thanks again to Jeff Greenstein for his fantastic post yesterday. If you have a Fri Q, I’d love to answer it (or find somebody better). Just post it in the comments section. Thanks.
Brian gets us started.
Ken, you have mentioned several times that you got your first writing assignment on THE JEFFERSONS. What was the story line and how did you come up with it?
A new cleaners moves in across the street and George begins losing his confidence. The episode was called “Movin’ on Down”. I can’t remember exactly what led us to it. But I do recall we came up with the idea in a booth at Mario’s restaurant in Westwood late one Saturday night. That very spot is now Table 17 at the California Pizza Kitchen.
Tyler K. wonders:
Do TV writers have a harder time writing enough material to fill the required episode time, or cutting material down to do the same? Also, how short do you see TV episodes getting as time goes on? We've gone from 25-minute episodes of Cheers and Mash to 22-minute episodes of Frasier and Friends to some current shows being less than 20 minutes.
Surprisingly, it’s MUCH harder to write a 20 minute show than a 25 minute show. You’d think it would be easier because you had less to write. But it’s much tougher telling a good story in only 20 minutes. Everything has to be so truncated. And if you have a series where you do A and B stories, it makes things especially difficult. Imagine if FRIENDS were still around today. Or MASH.
Stories are more layered, more nuanced, more emotional when you have more time. Why more emotional? Because the emotion has to be earned. And that’s harder to do when characters have to make quick turns.
Michael writes in:
I recently saw a couple episodes of "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" on AntennaTv. 5 or 6 writers shared the writing credit for both shows I saw - I assume they were the show's entire writing staff. Are there union rules that would prevent that from happening today?
Yes. For a sitcom today only two writers or two teams of writers can share teleplay credit on an episode. So if this week’s show is written by Ken Levine & David Isaacs, we each get half. If the show is written by say Earl Pomerantz and Ken Levine & David Isaacs then Earl gets half and David and I split the other half.
Now things get really complicated when shows are room written like THE BIG BANG THEORY or TWO AND A HALF MEN. Because you can also assign story credit, which pays less than teleplay but at least is something. So if you’ll notice BIG BANG THEORY writing credits, there are usually five or six names. Some get shared story credit, others get shared teleplay credit.
It's a joke because the names on the screen have no relation whatsoever to who actually wrote what. Credits are just divvied up. To me that defeats the purpose of credits.
From Bob Summers:
Why did the TV seasons of the 70s and into the 80s used to end in March, and why and when did that change to May? I think I have an answer, but I'd like an insider/expert opinion.
This changed when May sweeps were introduced. Most major agencies base their network advertising buys on sweep period ratings. So networks hold back original episodes and sprinkle in stunt programming to inflate their sweeps numbers as much as possible. Was that what you were thinking, Bob?
And finally, LaprGuy has a question about announcing baseball:
How much does the highlight package (and, maybe moreso, the demo reel) come into play when you are announcing a game?
I don’t think about it at all. As for highlights, I’m just trying to capture the drama of the moment and be accurate. I have no catch phrases.
Re: demo reels, I don’t think about that either. I just try to stay in the moment. Over the course of a season I figure there will be one or two demo-worthy innings somewhere along the way. But my main focus is on the listener and the game at hand. I’m trying to do an informative, entertaining, and descriptive broadcast, not impress. By the way, I'm back on the air not impressing anyone starting Monday night when the Mariners host the A's in Seattle.
VIDEO: Christian Bale talks about The Dark Knight Rises at a Press Conference
This is short, but sweet
Thank to Ani for sending me this
Thank to Ani for sending me this
Summer Lovin': The Screenwriting Classes part 1
My summer classes are coming to a close. It's been fun but really intense, especially in my "The Plot Thickens" Class.
In this class, we had to take our finished scripts from last year and try to "sell" them to the market. We created a query letter, developed a pitch and on Monday we will actually pitch our movies to real agents.
But the big scare was this past Wednesday. Me and other student had to go through a board meeting. This is when production companies take a script apart to see if it's interesting, watchable and marketable. Everyone in the room talks about characters, plot, story and theme.
The guy before me didn't have it so good. His script was good, but the story just didn't come together. And by the end of the discussion, everyone (except me) passed on the movie. My teacher, who owns a production company, said he would pass on it as well.
Then came my script for Shadow Boy. I was nervous, because for 30 minutes I couldn't say anything. I had to listen to all of their views and opinions. In a nutshell, they liked it. However, the straight guys wouldn't see it (gay characters) but the girl and my teacher would. My teacher said it would be a tough sell to major companies, but it could possibly be the next big thing.
He asked me if its a gay movie or a movie with gay characters. I said it's both, leaning more towards a movie with gay characters. None of them are stereotypical (no Glee gays). In fact, the guys in the class didn't realized they were gay until 20 pages in.
I also got notes from the class for Shadow Boy, here are some examples:
The concept behind SHADOW BOY is its greatest strength. Franchises such as TWILIGHT have capitalized on the intersection of the love story with the supernatural thriller, but Victor takes the genre mash-up in a new direction by featuring an extremely unique protagonist—a comic book-obsessed, gay male living in the South—who must also confront magical forces set against him. By telling the story of a unique protagonist in a more or less common setup, SHADOW BOY combines a number of conflicts—social, political, moral—in new ways.SHADOW BOY is a compelling story with a great combination of primal and supernatural elements (survival and love with powers and shadows). A re-write to enhance the format, the characters (and their specific arcs) and the last act would reinforce this unique concept.
I felt pretty good about my review. My teacher thought of my movie as a popcorn film that could draw multiple crowds. I think I could pull the Glee/Twilight/TrueBlood crowd. Perhaps a panel at Comic Con?
Anywho, I was happy that I wasn't a "pass". Maybe I can do this writing after all.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
BackFlash Video Thursday - Robert Palmer
Some of you may not know this one, but I used to love it as a kid. This is Robert Palmer "Looking for Clues"
BENT CON is Coming!
I will give more details soon. I'm a part of planning committee for Bent Con and we have an special event coming for the gay geeks!
Interesting Quote: Tony Perkins
Same-sex attraction is not a choice, but homosexual conduct and homosexual self-identification are choices. Pawlenty ignored the silly "choice" question and answered the more relevant one--what causes homosexuality?--accurately. He went on to say, "There's no scientific conclusion that [homosexuality is] genetic." PolitiFact rated this statement "mostly true"--but grudgingly.
Most of their "analysis" was devoted to explaining that if Pawlenty had said it's not "biological" (rather than "genetic") it would have been false. They quote the American Psychological Association's research on "possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social and cultural influences" and concede, "no findings . . . permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation . . . is determined by any particular factor." Pawlenty is right. And PolitiFact's contradictory conclusion that "scientists do believe that sexual orientation is caused by biology" is wrong.
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Question of the Day: Gay Movie Edition
Would want to see a Gay movie or a Movie with Gay Main Characters?
The inside story on DREAM ON
Do you have any idea how they used to write Dream On? It had these old movie/tv sequences in between characters' lines to make things more funny. Did the writers come up with the jokes based on old tv shows/movies they remembered or did they have people to help them with those/come up with better ones?
To answer this I went to one of the writer/producers of DREAM ON, Jeff Greenstein. Jeff went on to produce obscure shows like FRIENDS, WILL & GRACE, PARENTHOOD, and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. He more than graciously fills us in.
The short answer is both. Here's the long answer.
Before the Dream On staff convened for our first season, we spent hours watching tapes of old anthology series like GE Theatre and Jane Wyman Playhouse (yes, there were tapes in those days, chilluns), painstakingly logging intriguing clips into our notebooks. Sometimes stories would emerge from these sessions—for example, when creators Marta Kauffman & David Crane noticed the startling number of times people offered each other coffee: "Would you like some coffee?" "More coffee?" They concocted a story where main character Martin Tupper has to kick caffeine, only to be plagued by "Getcha some coffee?" "Have another cup," and so on.
Every once in a while, we'd come across a clip that was so delightful we'd build an entire sequence around it. Jeff Strauss and I wrote an episode where a marathon sex session was intercut with dry narration of a rocket launch: "Yes, the big rocket was off, climbing into the atmosphere with a tremendous thrust of power." And then we'd cut to Martin, well... thrusting. You get the idea.
My favorite of these was an episode called "Calling the Kettle Black," which won us the coveted and defunct CableACE award. Martin finds a joint in his son's sock drawer and gives the kid the "just say no" speech. Cut to an old clip of Nancy Reagan saying "Good for you."
There was also an entire post-production phase where exec producer Kevin Bright would insert or alter clips to punch up a scene. Hence, in a way, the writing process continued all the way through editing.
So to return to the short answer: sometimes the clip tail would wag the writing dog, sometimes vice versa. It lent an additional level of difficulty to the scripts, but it also saved us from having to write subtext. And I think we can all say hurray for that.
Thanks, Jeff. Both for the answer and some GREAT shows over the years.
New Short Film: Growing Leadership
A new short film from Model D and The HOPE Fund focuses on LGBT people of color. It's called, “Growing Leadership”. Here's more:
"There is exciting momentum within the region's LGBT community, in great part due to the growing base of leaders serving communities of color," said Allan D. Gilmour, chair of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and co-chair of the HOPE fund. "The HOPE Fund is very pleased to release this film, which highlights several of our Racial Equity Initiative grantees and their leadership philosophies and experiences."
This is an initiative to bring awareness to LGBT people of color issues.
via B.G.A. Life
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Concept Art of a 'Fantasy' Wonder Woman you never knew
When J Michael Straczynski released the 'pants' WW, he also had another idea. So he reached out to the artist Colleen Doran for a different concept.
It didn't work out, but this is what it looks like:
What do you think?
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It didn't work out, but this is what it looks like:
Some time ago, after J Michael Straczynski’s new version of Wonder Woman was first released, JMS asked me to do some concept sketches for a more fantasy-oriented version of the character. I know this will set the internet into a tizzy, but this was more rumination than reality. I was not asked to draw a series, just to do some concept sketches. It is very unlikely any of these sketches will be used for anything. So whether you like ‘em or hate ‘em, be aware that concept sketches are meant for brainstorming, and we do not censor our brainstorms. You put it on the paper, then you draw something else.
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Here is some Coverage from the NAACP LGBT Town Hall Meeting
I'm a little surprised that there wasn't a lot of coverage on the NAACP LGBT Town Hall meeting, but I managed to find something:
From FreeSpeech TV
And here is a report from People's World
Bond spoke on the taskforce's three-part mission:
* to strengthen NAACP's knowledge of LGBT issues and policies;
* to build relationships among LGBT civil rights and human rights organizations;
* to advance awareness of LGBT issues "as they relate to overarching programs and interest of the NAACP."
In his opening, Bond, a veteran civil rights leader, said, "We know sexual orientation is not a choice. We know homosexuality is not a mental illness. We know you can't 'pray the gay away.'"
The event was organized as a town hall-styled meeting with audience participation and a panel that included famous gay African Americans, like comedian and actress Wanda Sykes and CNN Anchor Don Lemon who publicly came out in his memoir, "Transparent."
Bond said gay rights are another component of civil rights.
"Sexual disposition parallels race. I was born black and had no choice. I could not and will not change it if I could. Like race, our sexuality isn't preference. It is immutable, unchangeable, and the constitution protects us all from prejudices and discrimination based on immutable differences."
Many panelists and audience members spoke about the role of the church in the Black community, and the conflicts that have arisen from that relationship on the issue of LGBT rights.
Bond said although one might be a member of a church that preaches against a religious same-sex marriage that viewpoint should not be extended to same-sex marriage in city halls, as a civil right.
Sykes said her church experience pressured her from being truthful with her sexuality because of the ingrained notion that gay and lesbian relationships were fundamentally wrong. Such sermonizing can be lethal, she said, because of bullying and violence against LGBT youth and the high level of suicides.
"You just suppress everything and become this other person. You start living that life that you think that you're supposed to do. I worked it so hard I got married! It just hit me, like, wait a minute. Why aren't my relationships going further? Why can't I really open up? And I realized oh, that's right. I forgot; I'm a lesbian! That's what it is. You don't have breasts!" Sykes said to an applauding and laughing audience.
Sykes and other panelists urged the formations of social support groups, including within churches.
Halfway through the meeting, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous joined the panelists on stage.
Jealous has been an outspoken supporter of LGBT issues and spoke briefly on his adopted brother being gay, and instances of defending him during childhood from bullies.
The discussion turned to California's anti-same-sex marriage Prop. 8 that passed in 2008. Many people blamed it on African American voters who came out in big numbers to vote for Barack Obama.
But, according to Jealous-and audience members-the bigger issue was the lack of outreach to the African American community at an early stage.
Jealous criticized LGBT groups "who come to the black community late" because it sends a message of disrespect.
"If folks really wanted to win on Prop. 8, and thought the black community was so important, then they should have been organizing" outreach a lot sooner, he said.
I'm disappointed with lack of coverage on this event. But I'm also hurt by the lack folks at the session. Still, I'm glad the topic was talked about.
Advice for first-time showrunners...not that anyone asked
Hey Ken - can I ask you what are mistakes that first time showrunners make?
1. Not communicating with your staff. It’s not enough to have your vision for the show; you need to clearly share it with your other writers. Don’t just assume. It’ll be hard enough for them without trying to figure out what’s in your head. Same is true with your editor and directors.
2. Be very organized. Time will go by much faster than you think. From day one lay out a plan. You want so many outlines by this date, so many first drafts by that date, etc.
3. Don’t squander that period before production begins. It’s easy to knock off early or move meetings back. But this is golden time before the crunch when actors arrive, cameras roll, and a thousand additional details require your attention.
4. Accept the fact that the first draft of the first script you receive from every staff member will look like a script from the last show they were on. It will take them time to adapt to your show.
5. Remember that every writer is not a “five-tool player” as they say in baseball. By that I mean, some may be strong at story but not jokes, or punch-up but not drafts. Not everybody is good at everything. Consider that when putting together your staff.
6. Hire the best writers not your best friends.
7. Hire at least one experienced writer. Otherwise, on top of everything else you're doing, you're re-inventing the wheel.
8. Don’t show favoritism to some writers over others. It destroys morale and no one loves a teacher’s pet.
9. Pick your fights with the network and studio. Don’t go to war over every little note. Antagonizing everyone all the time is a good way to ensure this will be your only showrunning gig. Yes, you’re an artist and you’re trying to protect your vision. And yes, a lot of the notes are moronic, but you have to hear them out. You have to consider them. You have to do the ones you can live with. The best way to get your way is to get them on your side.
10. Don’t overwork your staff. This goes back to being organized. There’s only so many times you can whip the same horse. Your people are dedicated to the show but not to the extent you are. They’re not getting any back end deals. They’re not getting interviewed by ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY. This show may be your whole life but they want to go home.
11. Praise your staff. If they turn in a good draft, let ‘em know. This sounds like such a simple thing but you’d be surprised how many showrunners don’t do it.
12. Respect the crew and learn their names. When you walk onto the set, greet them. They’re not just a bunch of convicts picking up litter along the side of the expressway. They’re dedicated highly-trained professionals who never get any recognition. Take the time to know who they are.
13. Take care of yourself. On the weekends get plenty of sleep. Eat right. Relax. It’s a long haul.
14. Never make your staff work late nights if you’re not there with them.
15. Don’t get so caught up in the work and the grind that you forget to have some fun. You’re running your own show. That’s a rare opportunity. Enjoy it… or at least as much as you can before you have to put out another fire.
16. A good way to completely destroy any morale is to automatically put your name on every script and share credit with every writer. You may win in arbitration but you lose your troops. The trade off is not worth it. You’re getting paid more money than anybody already. Let your writers receive full credit and residuals. 17. Accept responsibility. When things go wrong (and they will) ultimately you’re the one in charge. Not saying you can’t make changes in personnel if someone doesn’t work out, but don’t be constantly playing the blame game. You’re the showrunner. You take the hit.
18. On the other hand, don’t take all the credit. When ideas and scripts and jokes come from other people, publicly acknowledge their contribution.
The bottom line is a showrunner has to develop people skills and management skills as well as writing skills. You may have enormous talent but that will do you no good when your staff firebombs your car with you in it. Good luck. The work is hard but the rewards are enormous. Wasn't Natalie gorgeous?
New Report: 1 Out of 3 Gays are Closeted at Work
A new report tells us that it's still hard to be out and proud at work:
In a review of studies including the 2008 General Social Survey, a national probability survey, the Williams Institute reported Monday that 38% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees who are out at work reported being harassed because of their sexual orientation. More than one-third of respondents said they were not out to any colleagues at work.Just when I thought it was getting better.
Surveys focused specifically on transgender workers in recent years have found even greater employment discrimination: a 2011 study, for example, found that 78% of trans employees had reported at least one form of harassment on the job, with nearly half experiencing discrimination in hiring, promotion, and retention.
Via the Williams Institute's Monday release:
Among LGB respondents to the [General Social Survey], 42% had experienced employment discrimination at some point in their lives, and 27% had experienced employment discrimination just during the five-year period prior to the survey. …
“This new data shows that it’s still risky to come out about being LGBT in the workplace,” study co-author and Williams legal fellow Christy Mallory said. “Therefore, it’s not surprising that the GSS data also show that one-third of LGB employees are not open about their sexual orientation to anyone in the workplace.” …
source
Walking Dead Showrunner Leaves
Great Hera! What is going on?
Word on the street is Frank Darabont has stepped down as showrunner.
TV Line has the story:
According to our sister site Deadline.com, the show’s creator/executive producer/director has decided to vacate his post on the critically acclaimed series, which is currently in production on its second season. The reason, per Deadline, is that “Darabont hails from the feature world and… never quite adjusted to the daily grind of producing a TV series.” There’s talk Darabont may stay on in some capacity, perhaps as a consultant.Wow, more to come on this story.
Ironically, Darabont told the audience at last Friday’s Comic-Con panel, “We’ve got people coming to the [writer's] table going, ‘Wow, we love this and we want to be a part of it, and that’s a really cool thing.’”
AMC has yet to officially confirm Darabont’s departure.
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