Aug. 4 Heather Conway: In the Globe and Mail on “Does Heather Conway
have what it takes to save the CBC?” by
Simon Houpt. Conway
is the new executive vice-president of CBC’s
English services and has been there for 7 months. I’m sure all of you heard CBC
is struggling.
“It might be my economics background, but I tend to look at
problems and challenges and say: ‘What is fixed, and what is variable?’ ” she
says. “To put your calories against the stuff you can actually have an impact
on, the
variables, is so much better use of your time, your energy,
your intellect, your creativity, than to spend all of your time focusing on
what’s fixed.”
“Who else, she asks, will program the “risky” programs? She
points to The Boys of St. Vincent, an acclaimed two-part mini-series
produced by the National Film Board about sexual abuse by priests at a St.
John’s orphanage. Produced by the National Film Board,
the film was slated to air on CBC in
December 1992, when it was hit with an injunction brought by four priests then
at trial for sexual abuse. CBC fought the
injunction, and the film aired in some areas of the country – accompanied by
emergency help-line information for victims of abuse or those who just needed
to talk about what they’d seen. But it wasn’t until a year later that viewers
in Ontario and parts of Quebec
were finally able to watch it. “That was a national conversation that we needed
to have. And very few nations had it,” says Conway.
But a skeptic might point out that her example is 22 years old.”
My opinion: That first paragraph sounds good and I
will put it in my inspirational quotes.
A tale of Two E-Town shows: I cut out this Edmonton
Journal article by Fish Griwkowsky and Elizabeth Withey on Mar. 8, 2014.
Blackstone and Tiny Plastic Men are nominated for Canadian Screen
Awards.
Blackstone: “Blackstone is an unmuted exploration of community, power and politics on a First Nation reserve”
Tiny Plastic Men: This show is a comedy set in an
office. It stars Chris Craddock, this
Edmonton Public Library Writer in Residence in 2010 who read my scripts.
Out with Dad: I cut out this Edmonton Journal article
"Out with Dad has worldwide reach" by Eric Volmers on Mar. 8, 2014. Here are some excerpts:
It's a fairly mind-boggling scenario for any actress, but particularly impressive when you consider the series has a message that would not go over well in certain corners of the world.
Out with Dad is about closeted teenage lesbian, Rose, who deals with the trials and tribulations of coming out with the help of her single father.
Because the World Wide Web has no borders, the series has become particularly popular in areas where the struggle has considerably higher stakes.
"If we were just on a regular TV channel, we wouldn't be reaching all the places in the world where Out with Dad is helping people," says Medrek, on the phone from Toronto. "The majority of countries that we're big in are places in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia, places where it's still very illegal and you can't even talk about being gay. That's where we're finding most of our views come from. If we were just on a regular TV channel, they would have no access to that. " The 24-year-old got her start doing stage work in Calgary. But recently, it's been the relatively new medium of web series where she is becoming well known. On Out With Dad, she plays openly gay teenager Claire, who was introduced in the second season as the "Girl in the Washroom" before becoming more prevalent as Rose's supportive friend and later romantic interest.
"I love how confident she is and totally optimistic and
just OK with being herself," says Medrek about her character. "I feel
Claire is a bit of an old soul in that she kind of got over those humps, those
emotional breakthroughs, a little bit earlier which is why she's there to help
Rose and her coming-out story as well. " For 14 years, Medrek was a
Ukrainian dancer in Calgary before
her mother suggested she audition for a role in a production of The Wizard of
Oz.
My opinion: I find this article inspirational that is
helping people who are gay.
Also I should create a web series. I know The Listener has their own web
series on ctv.ca. I know Rookie Blue
has their own web series on globaltv.ca.
Sherlock Holmes: On Jan. 13 2012, I was reading a Screenwriting
Goldmine newsletter that said this:
“The other night I saw Sherlock Holmes (the 2009 version,
credited to Michael Robert Johnson) and a few other writers. I thought it was
funny, smart, ultra-enjoyable, with some great set pieces.
Even if the story lacked a little muscle, and even if it had
a number of tremendously hammy lines, and even if the antagonist kept
vanishing, and even if it all felt rather coincidence driven, and even if there
were actually a couple too many stand alone set
pieces that didn't carry the story forward, and even if it
was all a little bit of an exposition nightmare at the end.... well, I'll be
honest, I absolutely loved it. I was actually sad when it finished because I
wanted to go on watching it.”
My opinion: I haven’t seen the movie, but I will when
it comes on TV.
Tammy: I was reading about Melissa McCarthy's movie
Tammy. In this article “McCarthy’s cred
gets film made.” It said it took 6 years
in development to get made:
After six years of development, Tammy is finally in theatres.
Bell
Media: In the Globe and Mail on Jun.
23, 2014, “Bell Media cuts up to 120 people at it’s TV operations.”
They are going to lay off 120 people in Toronto.
Aug. 7 The Golden Vanguard: I used to write my movie
reviews and they put it up on their website.
I emailed them and they said they are closing down the website because
they’re too busy to run it. I have
thought to ask: “How many page views does my movie reviews get read?”
I guess I’ll never know, but that’s fine because I have my
blog. I can see how many page views I
get.
Aug. 12 Focus Features: I was reading the Metro and
learned that Focus Features made the movie Dallas Buyers Club. I was looking it up so I can pitch my TV
movie script to it, but they produce movies released in the theatres.
However, the website looks pretty good. Check it out:
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