You know, being quadriplegic is a pretty big obstacle to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I'm not one to whine too much, but been quadriplegic plus being loaded down with the flu, an ocular migraine, and hearing that I had a Basel cell carcinoma on my face threw me for a loop last week.
All is good now. I'm over the flu, my ocular migraine is gone and I'm not particularly concerned about the Basel cell carcinoma because after it was removed it looks like there's only healthy skin underneath. And, from everything that people tell me they are common.
I wanted to take a moment to thank all of the people who have been writing to me about this blog. It is a labor of love that I am happy to share with people and for my own selfish reasons it documents everything that has been happening over the last few months.
So, what is happening? A lot! My script for ABC/Disney is coming along very well. In fact, I'm in a sort of limbo, the period of time after submitting my script when I am waiting for notes. During that time I am at a loss of things to do. I don't have any graphic design work to do or anything else productive other than reading about what's going on in the industry ... what sold ... Who's buying what ... what company was just acquired by who. That sort of thing.
In the middle of these doldrums, I got a call from a celebrity who had a comedy series that ran for three years on Fox recently and who is looking to develop a new comedy series, and asked me to get involved. It will be a very cool, very edgy comedy. He asked me to keep the details under my hat for a while, but there will be plenty on here about it soon, probably toward the end of December.
Although I've done almost exclusively dramas throughout my career, I much prefer comedy. My sense of humor is what has gotten me over all of the obstacles that I have surmounted. Anybody who knows me knows that I love intelligent humor and I love to make people laugh. A lot of my humor is edgy and some people (some stuck up, narrow minded simpletons) don't find it funny. In fact they find it tasteless. Personally, I can't spend much time around people with no sense of humor. It's like they have a glaring hole in their personality.
The bottom line is, the possibility of being part of a comedy series is invigorating to me. Let me put that another way. YESSSSSS!
Well, I guess it's about time wrap things up. Be looking for my demo reel on my website. I will have it up there soon. It contains three minutes of some of my best dramatic stuff on television. I would love to get your comments on it.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Cruising (for lack of a better title)
You know, I planned when I started this blog to add to it weekly with my progress. I obviously failed in that attempt. Such is life.
I called this entry Cruising because that's pretty much what I'm doing right now. I finished the first draft of The Outsiders two weeks ago and sent it to ABC. Adam Myman got back to me last Friday with notes and a request for a rewrite on the first twenty pages. I sent that off a few minutes ago. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I know there will be lots more rewrites. As Ernest Hemingway said, " The first draft of anything is shit. "
I am settling in to a pretty decent daily writing habit. I work best with a deadline. Who doesn't? Surprisingly, I don't put it all off until the last minute like I did when I was in high school.
I've been trying to watch three ABC shows in particular; ALIAS, Desperate Housewives, and Lost. Three pretty decent shows. They all have certain things in common with the Outsiders. Lost, for example, has a sci-fi aspect that is an integral part of the show, but it's a show about people, about their relationships, about their interactions. It's not a show about science-fiction. ALIAS is of course a spy show, but what makes it popular are the relationships. Who's marrying who? Who's sleeping with who? Who's about to murder who? Desperate Housewives is about everybody's dirty little secrets, but it wouldn't be popular if we weren't interested in the relationships, (a cast of hotties don't hurt either!).
The Outsiders is a show about an alien from outer space who comes to Earth and tries to fit in. But, it's really about the relationships that develop around him. The people that he comes to care about, and those who care about him. He's a fish out of water trying to make the best of the cards that he has been dealt. That's what I do every day. I'd venture to say that that's what everyone does every day.
His goal is to rebuild the spaceship that he crashed here in so he can fly back into space to rescue his wife and two kids who are rocketing through the universe in an escape pod blasted away from his spaceship during entry into the earth's atmosphere. (I hope that doesn't sound too convoluted,) The government is after him, of course they're after us all. He is befriended by an older woman, and taken advantage of by her son. He bonds with a kid in his building whose parents are away all the time. He even bonds with the government guy who's after him. There are a lot more relationships that evolve over time, but I can't pack all of them into the first episode.
It's interesting how the more I write about a character the more I get to know him and the people who know him. They are like a group of friends that I go back and visit every day. It's often more them telling me the story, rather than me telling them. In fact, when I do try to direct the story it tends to fall flat. I've read and talk to several writers who say that's common.
Common ... and kinda cool!
I called this entry Cruising because that's pretty much what I'm doing right now. I finished the first draft of The Outsiders two weeks ago and sent it to ABC. Adam Myman got back to me last Friday with notes and a request for a rewrite on the first twenty pages. I sent that off a few minutes ago. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I know there will be lots more rewrites. As Ernest Hemingway said, " The first draft of anything is shit. "
I am settling in to a pretty decent daily writing habit. I work best with a deadline. Who doesn't? Surprisingly, I don't put it all off until the last minute like I did when I was in high school.
I've been trying to watch three ABC shows in particular; ALIAS, Desperate Housewives, and Lost. Three pretty decent shows. They all have certain things in common with the Outsiders. Lost, for example, has a sci-fi aspect that is an integral part of the show, but it's a show about people, about their relationships, about their interactions. It's not a show about science-fiction. ALIAS is of course a spy show, but what makes it popular are the relationships. Who's marrying who? Who's sleeping with who? Who's about to murder who? Desperate Housewives is about everybody's dirty little secrets, but it wouldn't be popular if we weren't interested in the relationships, (a cast of hotties don't hurt either!).
The Outsiders is a show about an alien from outer space who comes to Earth and tries to fit in. But, it's really about the relationships that develop around him. The people that he comes to care about, and those who care about him. He's a fish out of water trying to make the best of the cards that he has been dealt. That's what I do every day. I'd venture to say that that's what everyone does every day.
His goal is to rebuild the spaceship that he crashed here in so he can fly back into space to rescue his wife and two kids who are rocketing through the universe in an escape pod blasted away from his spaceship during entry into the earth's atmosphere. (I hope that doesn't sound too convoluted,) The government is after him, of course they're after us all. He is befriended by an older woman, and taken advantage of by her son. He bonds with a kid in his building whose parents are away all the time. He even bonds with the government guy who's after him. There are a lot more relationships that evolve over time, but I can't pack all of them into the first episode.
It's interesting how the more I write about a character the more I get to know him and the people who know him. They are like a group of friends that I go back and visit every day. It's often more them telling me the story, rather than me telling them. In fact, when I do try to direct the story it tends to fall flat. I've read and talk to several writers who say that's common.
Common ... and kinda cool!
Friday, September 16, 2005
Climbing Ever Skyward
I've been on overdrive lately and I love it. I've had to turn down graphic design and Web design work because I was too involved in my writing project. Ain't that terrific? This is what I have been working toward for I don't even know how many years. I just know I've been climbing this damn ladder for so frigging long I'm not sure how to get off of it. It just occurred to me the short answer is not to get off of it
I've been going to more and more seminars over at ABC Disney where I get to meet writers and producers of top shows. In addition to finding out all kinds of intimate inside information about how the business works, how to stay employed once I get employed, and how to move up, I'm getting to know the people who do the hiring when the time comes.
Much of my effort goes into making people feel comfortable around me and around my disability. I just except fact that certain people are going to be uncomfortable at first. I certainly would be if I'd never been around a guy who, among other things, can't shake hands. I let people know early on that I'm cool about my disability, I joke about it, and then move on, as if it wasn't there. I've heard it referred to as acknowledging the elephant in the room. As long as I acknowledge that I'm in the chair and don't try to ignore it, I found that people pretty much get past it within the first few minutes. In fact, in certain groups of people, I can get a lot of mileage (no pun intended) out of my disability. I know a million jokes about it and readily invite people to have fun with it.
That isn't to say that I poke fun at myself, or I make jokes about my disability to cover low self-esteem. There are some comedians, fat guys, ugly guys, skinny girls, who spew out a long string of jokes about themselves that in my mind, aren't that funny. I wouldn't engage in any mean spirited banter, and, to tell the truth, it rarely comes up. Most people know where the line is. If they don't they find out right away either from me or from the reaction of other people around.
I hope of not being Pollyanna, maybe I'm still enjoying my honeymoon, but everyone I've met so far at ABC/Disney is very nice. Very accommodating. And talk about a diverse company ... I have never seen such a diverse group of people working together anywhere. My experience is that there is always a predominant group. Some places its white people, some places disabled people, whatever. But the diversity there is the predominant group. And it is pretty much at all levels. It's not white guys at the top who have all the power. From what I've seen, it's pretty well spread out among all the ethnic groups. I'm very impressed.
ABC has also offered to help me as much as possible with the completion of my project as well as the production of the promo for it. In other words they are going to great lengths to insure that my script for the pilot episode of The Outsiders is the absolute best it can be, and the video to promote it will not only be something I'll be very proud of, but will have such a knockout production value it's bound to get me noticed, and more importantly a job.
I hate to blather on about this but I am so thankful and so blessed for being in this position. People say I deserve it, and I guess after all the work I put into it I do, but the bottom line is I'm just thrilled to be here.
I've been going to more and more seminars over at ABC Disney where I get to meet writers and producers of top shows. In addition to finding out all kinds of intimate inside information about how the business works, how to stay employed once I get employed, and how to move up, I'm getting to know the people who do the hiring when the time comes.
Much of my effort goes into making people feel comfortable around me and around my disability. I just except fact that certain people are going to be uncomfortable at first. I certainly would be if I'd never been around a guy who, among other things, can't shake hands. I let people know early on that I'm cool about my disability, I joke about it, and then move on, as if it wasn't there. I've heard it referred to as acknowledging the elephant in the room. As long as I acknowledge that I'm in the chair and don't try to ignore it, I found that people pretty much get past it within the first few minutes. In fact, in certain groups of people, I can get a lot of mileage (no pun intended) out of my disability. I know a million jokes about it and readily invite people to have fun with it.
That isn't to say that I poke fun at myself, or I make jokes about my disability to cover low self-esteem. There are some comedians, fat guys, ugly guys, skinny girls, who spew out a long string of jokes about themselves that in my mind, aren't that funny. I wouldn't engage in any mean spirited banter, and, to tell the truth, it rarely comes up. Most people know where the line is. If they don't they find out right away either from me or from the reaction of other people around.
I hope of not being Pollyanna, maybe I'm still enjoying my honeymoon, but everyone I've met so far at ABC/Disney is very nice. Very accommodating. And talk about a diverse company ... I have never seen such a diverse group of people working together anywhere. My experience is that there is always a predominant group. Some places its white people, some places disabled people, whatever. But the diversity there is the predominant group. And it is pretty much at all levels. It's not white guys at the top who have all the power. From what I've seen, it's pretty well spread out among all the ethnic groups. I'm very impressed.
ABC has also offered to help me as much as possible with the completion of my project as well as the production of the promo for it. In other words they are going to great lengths to insure that my script for the pilot episode of The Outsiders is the absolute best it can be, and the video to promote it will not only be something I'll be very proud of, but will have such a knockout production value it's bound to get me noticed, and more importantly a job.
I hate to blather on about this but I am so thankful and so blessed for being in this position. People say I deserve it, and I guess after all the work I put into it I do, but the bottom line is I'm just thrilled to be here.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Moving Fast
Wow! Winning this scholarship has turned into quite a coup. I've been meeting more and more TV executives, many of whom are interested in looking at my scripts. I'm managing to get some publicity as well. Creative Screenwriting, Script Magazine, Television Week Magazine, a mention on the Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences website,emmys.org, an on-line Magazine about the entertainment industry called HGEN, and a few places that I'm not aware of yet. It is very cool!
I'm doing my best to keep the ball rolling, to keep my name out there, so that when it comes time to hire new writers for TV shows, the staffing season as its called runs from March to May or June, producers will think of me.
I'm trying to learn from the lessons I experienced when I was a " celebrity " twenty years ago. The main thing I did wrong was not making sure that my name was always out there. This is such a product driven business. Sure you have to be a quality product, either as an actor, writer, director, producer or whatever, but you also have to make sure that your name is out there. If you're selling soda, you better advertise that your product is on the shelf, otherwise nobody will know to buy it, and even if they notice it on the shelf, the name won't click with them so they won't buy it.
Such is the business that I love! I've tried not working, I've tried working in mainstream jobs, I've tried working at home, it's just not fulfilling for Jim Troesh. I've been excited about the entertainment industry for as many years as I can remember. When I first learn to read, I read credits at the end of shows and imagined my name being there with the rest. I even wanted another Troesh to be up there, but it wasn't until my own name was up there that that happened. And, what a satisfying day that was!
I guess the bottom line is to follow your heart. I know it sounds sappy, but it's true! The hard part is tuning out all the negative messages. And, I don't just mean those coming from the outside. If you've got friends or family telling you that you can ' t do what is your heart's desire to do, it's tough. But, if you've got a voice in your head that is also telling you not to do what it's your heart's desire to do it's a nearly impossible thing to get over. I don't know how I got over it myself, but I thank God that I did. I hope there is some comfort in that for people reading this who might be inspired to do what is they really want to do
Well, I think have run at the mouth plenty for this morning. If you're still reading, send a comment, I'd love to hear what you think.
I'm doing my best to keep the ball rolling, to keep my name out there, so that when it comes time to hire new writers for TV shows, the staffing season as its called runs from March to May or June, producers will think of me.
I'm trying to learn from the lessons I experienced when I was a " celebrity " twenty years ago. The main thing I did wrong was not making sure that my name was always out there. This is such a product driven business. Sure you have to be a quality product, either as an actor, writer, director, producer or whatever, but you also have to make sure that your name is out there. If you're selling soda, you better advertise that your product is on the shelf, otherwise nobody will know to buy it, and even if they notice it on the shelf, the name won't click with them so they won't buy it.
Such is the business that I love! I've tried not working, I've tried working in mainstream jobs, I've tried working at home, it's just not fulfilling for Jim Troesh. I've been excited about the entertainment industry for as many years as I can remember. When I first learn to read, I read credits at the end of shows and imagined my name being there with the rest. I even wanted another Troesh to be up there, but it wasn't until my own name was up there that that happened. And, what a satisfying day that was!
I guess the bottom line is to follow your heart. I know it sounds sappy, but it's true! The hard part is tuning out all the negative messages. And, I don't just mean those coming from the outside. If you've got friends or family telling you that you can ' t do what is your heart's desire to do, it's tough. But, if you've got a voice in your head that is also telling you not to do what it's your heart's desire to do it's a nearly impossible thing to get over. I don't know how I got over it myself, but I thank God that I did. I hope there is some comfort in that for people reading this who might be inspired to do what is they really want to do
Well, I think have run at the mouth plenty for this morning. If you're still reading, send a comment, I'd love to hear what you think.
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