Dana Whitaker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fear_of_fish) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2009-01-04 10:11 pm
fear_of_fish) wrote in fandomhigh2009-01-04 10:11 pm
Entry tags:
So You Want to Make a TV Show- 2nd Period- Class #1
As the last student walked into the classroom, Dana greeted them all with a smile and said in a voice that was just quick enough to make you realize that you were going to have to work to keep up with her, "So you're here. You made it. If you're not supposed to be in So You Want To Make a TV Show you have one of two choices. One, you can slip quietly out the door and we'll pretend never to speak of this again while we really snicker behind your back after you leave, or two, you can pretend you're really supposed to be here and just not show up next week, which is the safe bet since I'm not paying enough attention to remember your names yet anyway.
"If you are supposed to be here, congratulations, you get to have me as a teacher. My name is Dana Whitaker, and you've probably never heard of me but if you've watched Sports Night anytime recently you know my work. I run that baby and I run it well. And you may be here because you thought that this sounded like fun, or you think television is a blow-off thing, something a monkey can do, and if you think so, I'd like you to know that this monkey would have to be some NASA-trained ape, with possible genetic engineering and maybe even some psychic abilities to be able to put up with the egos, the drama, the last minute fires that pop up around you every day during the extremely long and hard hours that you spend trapped in a building with the same people whose egos create the drama which sparks at least half of those last-minute fires. Time is valuable, which is why I will tell you right now that the fastest way to get yourself detention is to waste mine. If you show up late, that's an automatic one unless you have a good reason or a damn entertaining excuse.
"We're going to be covering a lot of different aspects of putting together shows, but this week you're gonna be winging it," Dana went on. "Forget syllabuses- syllabi? Someone get me a right answer on that- that's cheating. I want you to go ahead and start making your own show.
"This is what TV is. It's a fast-paced environment where half the time you have to figure out what you're doing as you're doing it, so this is exactly what I want you to do. What do you think goes into putting together a show? Do you think you need a script? Are you going to write one? Are you going to make someone else write one? What kind of show do you want to work on? Are you going to work with other people to get things done or are you going to take it on alone and figure that gives you the right to boss people around later? I want to see how you work, so, show me how you work, so get going."
"If you are supposed to be here, congratulations, you get to have me as a teacher. My name is Dana Whitaker, and you've probably never heard of me but if you've watched Sports Night anytime recently you know my work. I run that baby and I run it well. And you may be here because you thought that this sounded like fun, or you think television is a blow-off thing, something a monkey can do, and if you think so, I'd like you to know that this monkey would have to be some NASA-trained ape, with possible genetic engineering and maybe even some psychic abilities to be able to put up with the egos, the drama, the last minute fires that pop up around you every day during the extremely long and hard hours that you spend trapped in a building with the same people whose egos create the drama which sparks at least half of those last-minute fires. Time is valuable, which is why I will tell you right now that the fastest way to get yourself detention is to waste mine. If you show up late, that's an automatic one unless you have a good reason or a damn entertaining excuse.
"We're going to be covering a lot of different aspects of putting together shows, but this week you're gonna be winging it," Dana went on. "Forget syllabuses- syllabi? Someone get me a right answer on that- that's cheating. I want you to go ahead and start making your own show.
"This is what TV is. It's a fast-paced environment where half the time you have to figure out what you're doing as you're doing it, so this is exactly what I want you to do. What do you think goes into putting together a show? Do you think you need a script? Are you going to write one? Are you going to make someone else write one? What kind of show do you want to work on? Are you going to work with other people to get things done or are you going to take it on alone and figure that gives you the right to boss people around later? I want to see how you work, so, show me how you work, so get going."
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