On the Fox Lot

It’s been a while since I’ve been out to the 21st Century Fox Lot. Most of my work the last 2 years has been with Universal — specifically Universal Cable Productions. The Fox lot is across the street from a cemetery. It has an okay back lot — not great but okay. The main building for Feature Film development looks like a 1940’s middle school. It’s cute, kind of small, deco in design and a weird shade of green. Then there are bungalows and the main executive building —  a slanting mirrored glass affair designed in the late 90’s and suffering from an engineering flaw that no one is allowed to discuss but will be evident when we have our next big earthquake. I’m thinking about the Fox Lot today because of all the show runners and executives who work there knowing they’re making money for the Murdoch empire. Progressive minded, educated folks who are lining this monster’s pockets. Some of the top tier talent are now saying, “maybe not anymore.” And that’s the thing — Fox used to be the biggest game in town. But now Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are where it’s at — especially if you want to do something really new.

Anyone else reading Hannah Arendt’s “Origins of Totalitarianism?” I’ve been working through it on Audible because when I’m not reading scripts I don’t want to use my eyes. It’s a slog to be honest. Still though, feels like required reading in this time. I’m not quite as smart as I’d like to be. My sister, she’s super smart. But from what I can tell, being super smart just makes one miserable. It’s not a case of ignorance being bliss — I try to remedy my ignorance whenever possible. It’s a question of mental capacity. I once tested my IQ and it was like 105 — something completely average. I believe it. So often I’m the last to catch on. I have a friend who is also what I’d call super smart and when we talk I find myself struggling to keep up. He’ll start talking about the “Hegelian, blurgity blarg” and I’m lost. Can I blame my Dade County Public School education? Can I call myself disadvantaged for having studied Art History and German at Florida State University instead of something useful?  I’d like to — but the truth is I never applied myself.

I’ve been writing promos for Swingleft.org. We’ll see if it all happens. It’s freebee work and man-oh-man the notes. The notes! Worst notes ever. Normally when I work with a producer or an executive they’ll work to give concise coherent notes. They also lead with “what we liked” — a common courtesy that helps the writer lower their defenses. “What we liked” is rule number one of giving constructive feedback. Anyhow, no “what we liked” straight to “can you change 100% of this?” Or at least it feels that way. I’d like to think I’m a big boy with tough skin who can take medicine like a pro but nobody likes to hear their baby is ugly. I remember writing a toast for my husband and sister-in-law for their parent’s 50th. They asked me to do this for them because “you’re a writer” and they didn’t know what to say. So I wrote a toast, right? The notes on the toast! I thought they’d never end. I think I did 15 drafts of that toast. Some famous screenwriter once said, probably in the 1940’s, “the three primary human desires are food, sex and rewriting someone else’s screenplay.”  File this under no good deed goes unpunished.

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