What It’s Like

I really intended to write a post with no strike talk whatsoever, but this Leno situation has me worried. For the record, I think this has been a genuine misunderstanding. The WGA contract does make an exception for “material written by the person who delivers it on air,” in case of a strike. What they apparently meant was that guest performers could still write their own stuff. But honestly, it’s far from clear. So now we’ve got a situation with the obviously pro-writer Jay Leno at odds with the Guild, and NBC sticking their nose in for good measure. The WGA now has two options: punish Leno for the violation and risk losing his very public support, or let Leno slide on the rules and risk pissing off the WGA members, some of whom already feel that late-night writers are getting special treatment. Ick. I can’t even pick the less-bad option. The only person who could offer a solution is Leno himself. He could declare that, however unintentionally, he did break strike rules and will stop writing his monologues immediately. That could give the WGA room to let him off with a small fine, and everybody stays friends. So whaddya say, Jay? We’ll be your best friends…

Onto my intended topic: spec scripts.  I did an interview recently for Hollywood By Phone, and one of the callers asked what she should do with a “Star Trek: Enterprise” spec she’d written and really liked.  Would anyone still read it?  Unfortunately - probably not.  I had enough trouble getting people to read my “Voyager” scripts when the show was still on the air.  For some reason, Trek is considered its own beast, and not evidence that you can write anything else.  It’s even tougher to get anyone to read a spec of a cancelled show.  There may be a few exceptions for really iconic, beloved shows.  One writer I know got a job this past season with a “Buffy” spec.  He also had other, more conventional specs, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that a showrunner would even still read a “Buffy.”  Not that I have one myself.

By “conventional,” I mean specs of current, popular shows: “House,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Ugly Betty,” etc.  You should always have at least one, preferably two great, current specs.  If a script becomes outdated, as my “House” did when the original team broke up, it’s generally not worth the effort to update it, unless the fix is really minor.  Write something new.  Your outdated spec can still serve as a back-up sample, when someone is wowed by your first-string spec and wants to read more.

Once you have one or two terrific, conventional specs, you can get experimental.  There are legends, mostly in the sit-com world, of writers who got jobs by writing a “Dick van Dyke Show,” or a “Mary Tyler Moore” where Mary time travels to the present and meets Murphy Brown.  Scripts like these are high-risk, high-reward ventures.  Some readers (more likely studio execs than showrunners) will simply dismiss them as “gimmicky.”  Remember, Hollywood tends to embrace the tried-and-true and fear anything too different.  But if the right person reads it, and embraces your originality, you’ve scored a lot bigger than the best “Office” spec in the stack.

I heard a great story from a fellow drama/sci-fi writer:  she wrote a “Lost” spec about Vincent.  Yes, Vincent, the dog - complete with a flashback to his life before the crash.  Wouldn’t you immediately grab that off the pile and read it?  A lot of people did.  My friend got a slew of meetings off her spec and, more importantly, a job.  She also had a “West Wing” spec, but it was the “Lost” which really launched her.  As we were talking about this, she said something particularly smart about sending out a spec: “You don’t need everyone to like it.  You need someone to love it.”  Exactly.

Your first spec or two should demonstrate that you know how to follow the rules, and imitate the format and voice of a show.  Your “why not” script should show off your voice.  It can be a tweaked version of an existing show or it can be an original spec pilot or feature.  Not weird for weirdness’ sake, of course, but something distinctly “you.”  Be prepared for some negative reaction - some readers will be confused, intimidated, or they might just hate it.  The person you’re trying to reach is the creative kindred spirit, who will read your “Desperate Housewives/Galactica” crossover ep and say “This writer, I gotta meet.”