And the Emmy Goes to…

Greg Yaitanes!  Yep, the former Invisible Man director has won an Emmy for best director of a drama series.  The series is House and the episode he directed is entitled “House’s Head.”

There are a couple of versions of a story going around that when it came time to go to the press tent after the awards ceremony, none of the reporters had a question for Greg.  Strange.  You would think the reporters would be better prepared, after all, this is the Emmy’s. 

Here’s the LA Times version of what happened:

Greg Yaitanes, one of the directors of “House,” won an Emmy for his work on the first part of last season’s finale. But when he walked into the press tent, no one jumped at a chance to ask him a question. Just as the director was going to leave, one reporter jumped up (out of pity?).

Before she asked her question, Yaitanes said, “Wouldn’t it have been better and more uncomfortable if I didn’t answer any questions?”

The reporter asked, anyway: “It seems House becomes more and more unlikable as the seasons go on. Do you think there’s going to be redemption for him this season?”

Yaitanes said, “I am not a writer. I’m a director.”

The reporter tried to ask the question again in a different way but then just gave up.

“It’s OK,” Yaitanes said. He left the stage.

Hollywood Today had a slightly different version of what happened:

Greg Yaitanes director of ‘House’ won for best director of a drama series. Unfortunately when Yaitanes came to the stage there were no questions until one clueless reporter asked him what it was like to win as the writer in the series. “I’m not the writer I’m the director,” Yaitanes said scolding the reporter. He abruptly walked out of the press tent.

Well, that was awkward.  Too bad none of the reporters asked him a question about the actual directing of the episode. 

Also, which version do you believe?  This reminds me of something I learned many years ago:  Don’t believe everything you read in the press.  You’d be amazed how frequently reporters get their facts wrong.  Now I’m not trying to paint reporters as evil or incompetent, although I’m sure there are some in the bunch.  But I’ve known a few reporters in my life and even briefly worked in an ABC newsroom many, many years ago; and I’ve got to say I really liked the reporters I’ve known.  But the nature of the job is so deadline driven that it is often difficult to find the time to make sure the facts are precise.  The above is a good example of this.  We have two different versions of the same event and, because of the way they are worded, we have one that paints Greg in a more flattering light than the other. 

Anyways, if you haven’t seen the House episode that won Greg the Emmy, you can watch it below.  It’s a complex episode filled with numerous flashbacks and dream sequences.  I can see why Greg won for this episode.  He definitely deserved it.

Coming Up for Air

Well, folks, I apologize for being away so long.  My screenwriting class sucked up all my time and I was forced to put my nose to the grindstone to catch up and get my homework and outline done.  The good news is that I now have a complete first draft of my outline done!  I also got an A in the class.

In addition to the outline, I have the first 15 pages written.  The teacher had us outline one act of the story and then write a few pages of the script each week (starting with week four).  So an unexpected bonus is to have a first draft of the first 15 pages done.  I found that alternating between writing the outline and the script is a great way to develop a story.  They feed off each other and it really helps the process.  And the cool thing is that if this is the story we end up developing, I can just hand over the pages I’ve already written to the writer and she can take it from there.

I was interested to see what kind of reactions I would get from people who had no idea that I was writing for a specific cast and project.  Nope, I didn’t divulge that info to them.  I just went in as a student with a story I wanted to get outlined.  I wanted to see if the story would stand on its own terms.  The story is still a bit rough, but the overall response I got was good.  One classmate in particular was very enthusiastic about it.

So I’m feeling pretty good about the story.  However, it’s only the first draft.  I need to continue working on it, but I’m going to take a break from it for now and tend to other pressing matters. 

I’m still negotiating an agreement with the writer.  Yep, still.  We would have been finished with it by now if her lawyer hadn’t been called to jury duty and then immediately following that took off on vacation.  But we’re back working on it and it looks like we’re getting close to wrapping it up.  In addition, I have unanswered emails that are piling up.  If you’re reading this and I haven’t answered your email yet, I apologize.  I’m working my way through them and hope to get caught up soon.  I also have story submissions from two other writers that I really need to give feedback on.  And now I can finally get back to blogging regularly.  I’ve got a bunch of news that is piling up.

Stay tuned.