If you haven’t seen Mike McCafferty’s commercial spots for USE Credit Union, click on the link below and check it out. Personally, I think the penguin steals the show.
Category Archives: Blog
Producer/Writer Agreement Update
Yesterday marked the end of several months of negotiation between a writer and myself. Today, I’m happy to say, I placed the hard copies of the agreement and the COA (Certificate of Authorship) into the mail for her signature. It’s almost finished.
What a long, drawn out process it has proven to be. I can’t believe that we started this back in June, and here we are in October just finishing up. I never expected negotiations to go on for so long. I figured it would take two to three weeks at the most and then we’d be done and able to meet to my original deadline. Now I need to contact the cast and let them know that they won’t be receiving the treatments this month after all. Instead, it looks like they will have to wait until January to get them.
So, you may be wondering, do negotiations for producer/writer agreements normally take this long? For studio deals, yes. But not in the independent world, according to my lawyer. This was highly unusual. Part of the reason for the delay was because the writer’s lawyer had jury duty and then promptly left on vacation, leaving us hanging for a while. The rest of the time was spent going back and forth with emails and having our lawyers advise and review each step of the way.
I’m a fairly patient person, but I have to admit that even my patience was tested with the length of this negotiation. Fortunately, I had my entertainment attorney to guide me every step of the way. I had recently changed lawyers from one in the LA area to one that is closer to me (San Francisco) and this was our first time working together. What sold me on him was his experience working with independent filmmakers. I had heard him give a couple of talks about legal issues for filmmakers and I was impressed with how in tune he was to the needs of independent filmmakers. He knows that independents don’t have the deep pockets that the studios have and his advice reflected that knowledge. So far I have to say that I’ve felt that he has truly had my best interests at heart; and that’s one of the most important qualities, next to competence, that is needed in a good lawyer. The fact that, before coming to the Bay Area, he worked in LA and has done the big studio deals really makes him well-rounded and a good fit for my needs. If things continue going this well, I’ll definitely keep using his services.
Now that this negotiation is coming to a close, I really need to turn my attention to the other story submissions I’ve received. If I don’t get things moving with those stories, they won’t be ready by January. So I spent some time today giving long overdue feedback. One story looks promising and two others could be, but they need to be fleshed out more.
Hopefully all this work will pay off and I’ll have several good treatments to present to the cast in January. If they like one of them, we’ll be able to go to the next step and start writing the screenplay!
More Paul in “Entourage”
This certainly does seem to be Paul Ben-Victor week, doesn’t it? So Paul had a brief appearance last week as studio executive Allen Grey in Entourage and he is back again this Sunday in the same role. HBO first airs the episode at 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 12, and repeats the episode throughout the week as usual.
Paul Ben-Victor with Jeremy Piven of Entourage
Paul Ben-Victor in “Coma”
I should have posted this a couple of months ago—shows how behind I am with my blogging—but, because this is a web series, you can view the episodes at your own leisure.
Coma is a gritty and highly stylized web series. Paul Ben-Victor plays the role of Zoli in it. Each episode is only four to seven minutes in length, including the credits; and I should warn you that there is some language. There are a total of seven episodes in this series.
To watch, click on the link below to go to the Crackle.com website. It will start on the first episode and automatically take you through each successive episode, except for the last two episodes. Those last two episodes have been switched, so you’ll need to choose episode six then seven (from the scrolling list on the right) if you want to watch the episodes in their proper order.
Watch Coma
Another Paul Ben-Victor Sighting Tonight
Paul Ben-Victor is going to be reprising his role of studio executive Allen Grey in tonight’s episode of Entourage. The episode is on HBO at 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time, but do check the schedule as HBO repeats episodes throughout the week.
Paul Ben-Victor Sighting Tonight
This is very last minute, but those of us on the West Coast may still be able to catch this. Elaine has informed me that Paul Ben-Victor has a role in tonight’s episode of Everybody Hates Chris. It airs on the CW at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Folks on Central Time might be able to catch it also, but do check your local listings for the correct channel and time.
If you miss it, you can also watch it online at the official Everybody Hates Chris website. It may take a day or so for it to get posted online.
Thanks, Elaine, for keeping your eyes open and helping to keep us informed!
Greg Yaitanes Accepting the Emmy
I ran across this clip of Greg Yaitanes going up on stage to accept his Emmy award. Check it out if you missed watching the Emmy’s.
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.