So It Begins…
After 20+ years working and writing in Hollywood, I’m passing along all my lessons learned so you can thrive. I started my film and television career by learning all the aspects of production at Columbia College in Chicago - to working for Dustin Hoffman - to writing TV and comic books. (That’s the beginning/middle/end of a very long story I’ll tell here someday soon…) But to tide you over, here’s a nice pic of me and Dusty.
My sister and writing partner, Shawna Benson and I have had a fairly successful career albeit with a split paycheck. We wrote and produced episodes of “The 100”, “Wu Assassins”, “Star Trek: Prodigy”, and “Batman: Caped Crusader” and even dipped our toes into DC Comics “Batgirl and the Birds of Prey” and “Green Arrow”.
But lately, we’ve found ourselves writing our hearts out to the sound of crickets and the barrage of entertainment industry headlines bemoaning the state of TV. Cool cool. Very awesome. I love it here.
Many feel our industry changed in what felt like a ‘whisp of a moment’ but in reality, some of us saw it coming years ago. What used to be an industry that understood viewers wanted dependability, escape, and entertainment quickly transitioned into an algorithm driven whack-a-mole mistaking stability with stagnation. Hence the embrace of AI. The promise that all those pesky annoyances brought on by creative types could simply be waved away with ones and zeros. Executives who “could have been a dancer” decided they knew better than anyone what people want and decided to take what is chiefly, a collaborative effort, into solo-robo-fanfic.
If it weren’t for the WGA strike efforts the powers that be might have tried to do away with writers altogether. But room minimums quickly became room maximums… especially if the dude running the room had a few EP buddies he could depend on, oh and a bone thrown to a lower level writer. As a mid-level team, my sister and writing partner, Shawna Benson and I found our difficult trek up the proverbial ladder made even harder when the rungs were knocked out. Sure, there’s still two poles there we could try to shimmy up, but there were added flames fanning up. Viewers grew tired of their favorite shows being cancelled after a few scant episodes (the regular 24 dropped to 13 then fell to 8 and if you’re lucky 6 a season). Streaming cancellations are on the rise and for good reason. In what could have been a repository for film and past TV shows, became a messy spaghetti wall of failed attempts at finding “THE SHOW”. And if it didn’t find an audience (with little to no advertising) then good riddance. So what’s a writer to do? Is all lost?
Of course not. There’s always going to be a place for incredible writing, passionate storytelling, and relentless pursuit of exposing humanity’s strengths and weaknesses. And I do believe all will come full circle. Why, just a few weeks ago I walked into the sea after reading executives pontificating on successful shows like “The Pitt”. They said, clearly, audiences are looking for a show with great writing that they can sink their teeth into. Is it the increase in episode count? The formula-driven story structure? The cost efficient standing sets? We’ll never know!! (Reader: We knew.) Nevertheless, they revisited. Hope is on the horizon that the industry comes back. That’s not to say it was perfect before, but it was practiced. It employed thousands of people who could rely on a steady paycheck, healthcare, life-long friendships, and constant learning and growing in their chosen creative field. That’s the Hollywood I want back. Miss me with the Harvey Weinstein ilk, but aim true with the competency porn of watching a well-oiled production in action.
What do we do while the rusty, battle-worn, Hollywood ship rights itself? For me, I’m exploring turning my Producing expertise into Project Management skills, fine-tuning my Mixology know-how, studying theme park design (primarily Disneyland), deep-diving on fascinating (usually forgotten) woman in history all the while rediscovering my love of movies, music, and antiquing. In essence, living a life worth writing about.
If you’re here because you want to be a writer… I got you. We’ll figure it out together and I’ll happily point my torch toward the pitfalls so you can navigate more easily. If you’ve swung by because you’re a friend, fan, or family… this is probably going to be the best way to track my goings on. But if you’re also struggling in your field whether it be writing or whatnot, perhaps you’ll find solace in another soul, searching for her place in the world. I hope to bring honesty, humor, and humility on this journey. I hope you bring water, toilet paper, and snacks. We’re going to need ‘em.
