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Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach

~ I TEACH emerging female writers in tv/film & novels HOW to create stories to fall in love with✨© Stephanie Bourbon 2022

Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach

Monthly Archives: August 2013

Bringing The Runaways Home

27 Tuesday Aug 2013

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Bringing The Runaways Home, Michael Chiklis

This is a great article by Michael Chiklis and while I was going to blog today about this week’s Breaking Bad-I had to do this instead.. really great stuff!

 
 
Bringing The Runaways Home
August 27, 2013 at 9:03am

More than just a sign?

More than just a sign?

 

Since our new mayor seems to be taking up the cause of stemming the tide of runaway productions, I thought I would write a little note to not only praise and support him but hopefully to help push this sucker over the top.

 

People who are not in our industry need to read this and understand a few very important issues with regard to runaway productions in CA and their impact on our state and local economies respectively. They are absolutely devastating! Los Angeles is a film and television industry town. Show business put it on the map and made it flourish. Unfortunately, state legislators are all the way up in Sacramento and there is a very real and detrimental disconnect between those good folks and the realities on the ground here in LA. 

It’s vey difficult for them to wrap their heads around the idea of granting huge tax incentives to an industry, when they are constantly reading headlines about this actor’s 50 million dollar payday or that producer’s 10 million dollar profit participation check on said film. 

The message they are not getting is that the vast majority of people in our industry are middle class professionals. Actors, writers, electricians, painters, construction workers, etc. etc. 

Literally many hundreds of thousands of people who go to work on set and make a solid living wage, which in turn is spent in the local economy. 

New Orleans has seen it’s share of hard times over the last decade and intelligently, the local government there has bent over backwards to bring as much production to the state as possible. It’s working and they are reaping the benefits. This is true in my home state of Massachusetts as well as Atlanta and a number of other major cities and states in the union. 

I have to say, I’m happy to see many of the runaway productions in recent years at least staying inside the country. Through the nineties, I barely worked in the United States. The Commish was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia and at that time a tremendous amount of work was being sent to not only Canada but South Africa, Australia, Prague as well, to name just a few. 

All of this has amounted to the slow and steady dismantling of Los Angeles as “Mecca” for film and television. 

Since having my children, I have made it a priority in my life to try to work at home. Thus far I have been very fortunate. Shawn Ryan and I both pushed for The Shield to be shot in LA and happily we were able to keep production costs low enough to keep the show here for it’s entire seven year run. 

A TV show in particular is like a micro economy and it’s fingers reach in so many different directions. Lights to lumber, publicity to parking, a production means work and money and life for the local economy.

Now, I have talked about this since returning from shooting the Commish in the mid nineties, but I’m going to put it out there once again in the hopes that someone acts upon it. I don’t care who takes credit for it, so long as they do it!

Part of the problem is, CA keeps going to the federal government and asking them for the tax breaks for the film industry. The Fed looks at a 25 to 30% rebate and scoffs, laughing them out of the room. Then the whole thing lands on the state legislature and the same scenario plays itself out. The burden must be shared three ways; Federal, state and local. If all 3 provide for let’s say an 8 1/2% tax break for any production shooting in Cali, there’s your 25% and now we’re actually competing for productions to stay local. Call it, THE PATRIOTIC TAX REBATE! That ought to sell it in D.C. and Sacramento. 

PS this doesn’t need to be limited to the film industry but that’s the subject of another note. 

For now, I think everyone in the state of California would be thrilled to see the film and television industry come back home where it belongs…HOLLYWOOD! 

That alone would turn the state’s economy around and help to balance it’s perennially underfunded budget. So please Mr. Mayor, don’t let this go. Explain and keep explaining this to people until they get it and make it happen. 

Yours truly,

Michael Chiklis

 

Consistency/Continuity in Films

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Uncategorized

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Films, Moneyball, The Show, Writing

Last year, I think I wrote a blog on the film Moneyball, which I loved by the way, but there were some glaring, GLARING issues, like the little girl sang a song that hadn’t even been released at the time of the film-when it took place-the Boston Red Sox pennant winning was up in the office-this film took place before that. Today someone threatened my life because of that blog, telling me to get an effing life etc…now, honestly? Is that needed? I never said anything bad about the film, I was just saying that a film of that caliber should NOT have such mistakes in them. A lot of people/clients/friends/writers read my blog because I do give writing tips and lessons between reviews and such, and I think it’s very important that people know that something like that can ruin a story for someone else, so just get your facts straight. That’s all. I used Moneyball because it had just come out, not to slam the song The Show, or Moneyball. I was once on an animated film that part of took place in the ’70s, well they wanted a dance sequence with the Electric Slide, everyone got so upset when I raised my hand and said, “that dance wasn’t popular until the late ’80s, why don’t you have them do The Hussle or something?” (Actually the Electric Slide was invented in the ’70s but no one was doing it in bars etc. until much later.) The point is, if I notice it, others will, so just get it correct, it’s not that hard to check facts. In any case, I apologize if I offended anyone, but I stand by what I said, those mistakes are huge. The film made heaps of money so it’s really not that big of a deal if one writer/blogger has the opinion that song should not have been in there, is it? I say to the person who threatened me, you get a life. Honestly. 

Perfect Pilot-Brothers & Sisters

19 Monday Aug 2013

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Brothers & Sisters, Jon Robin Baitz, Pilot, Television

There are a lot of people who are creating television shows and while some have great premises only some work. One of the biggest things I see writers doing wrong-myself included-is that their pilot isn’t strong enough. Not the writing of the story, usually that is clear, but introducing the characters and their back stories that tell us, the audience, WHO they are, WHAT they are about and WHAT they want. Buffy the Vampire Slayer has one of the strongest pilots ever written and I think everyone knows that. You see immediately about WHO Buffy is, and the world she is in and the RULES of that world without any exposition, it is all from character.

Recently I have been rewatching Brothers & Sisters and if you haven’t seen it, you should, it’s great. The creator Jon Robin Baitz really did a great job introducing everyone through their dialogue, actions without having to explain everything. It’s really amazing. I highly recommend this show to any writer, new or established.

Also it’s very entertaining. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_%26_Sisters_(2006_TV_series)Image

 

My New Guilty Pleasure Gets Renewed For a Second Season

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

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Ana Ortiz, Brett Cullen, Brianna Brown, Dania Ramirez, Devious Maids, Edy Ganem, Eva Longoria, Grant Show Marc Cherry, Lifetime Television, Mariana Klaveno, Rebecca Wisocky, Roselyn Sánchez, Susan Lucci, Tom Irwin

Yippee!! Was so excited yesterday when I heard the new that Devious Maids-Lifetime television’s great new guilty pleasure-was picked up for a second season.

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/devious-maids

I love this show. It is really fun, has great characters and a really exciting who-done-it going on. The maids are all of Hispanic descent and I have read some reviews where this bothers people, but this show is set in Beverly Hills and that is reality. All the maids are great characters and if you watch it you will fall in love with them. You can see more about each character at the link I provided above to Lifetime.

Some facts about the show: (From Wikipedia)

comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry, produced by ABC Studios and executive produced by Cherry, Sabrina Wind,Eva Longoria, Paul McGuigan, Larry Shuman, David Lonner, John Mass, Paul Presburger, and Michael Garcia. The series premiered June 23, 2013, on Lifetime

The show’s cast includes Ana Ortiz as lead character, and Dania Ramirez, Roselyn Sánchez, Edy Ganem, and Judy Reyes as other maids, with Susan Lucci,Rebecca Wisocky, Tom Irwin, Brianna Brown, Brett Cullen, Mariana Klaveno, and Grant Show in feature main roles. The series centers on four Latina maids working in the homes of Beverly Hills’ wealthiest and most powerful families, and a newcomer who is making it personal after a maid was murdered and is determined to uncover the truth behind her demise.

The show was originally in development to air on ABC. The pilot episode was released online on June 9, 2013, before its television debut. The pilot episode has received positive reviews from critics. The pilot drew 1.99 million viewers, and in episode six, show up on 45 percent from the series premiere, to 2.90 million viewers.

I tuned into this show because I love Brianna Brown’s work and she posted that she was going to be on a new series a while back. I kept following her posts and finally the day came and the show was on. She is of course fabulous-as she always is, and so is the rest of the cast. I love Ana Ortiz-remember her as Ugly Betty’s sister? She is amazing in this role. Susan Lucci makes me laugh, unlike on AMC where she made me cringe for years-I love her in this role, she is quite funny and likable. Rebecca Wisocky is such a complete cow on the show, and yet as a viewer you feel for her. Roselyn Sanchez is drop dead gorgeous and super funny and endearing at the same time.

Marc Cherry has done it again. I have to be honest and say I wasn’t a huge fan of Desperate Housewives, but I love this show. Every single week there is something fun and engaging.

I love ALL the characters so much. Every single actor in this show is bringing it bigtime!! What fun. I kinda wish I was writing or acting on it. It’s that much fun.

Trust me you will love it too. Catch up now and tune in Sundays, Lifetime!Image

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