Interesting article in The Village Voice (found via Way Down Here) about the fact that true creativity is more present in television than in movies these days.
In the past year, I had meetings with two different directors about the feature film screenplay I’m working on. Both directors are recognized names in Quebec’s cinema. When we talked about scripts we like and what’s interesting these days, the directors mentioned The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. They didn’t think to mention movie scripts! And it used to be that people were ashamed to say they worked in television!
The problem is, tv writers get to develop characters over the course of hours and seasons. When you write for a movie, you have 120 minutes at the most to make sure that moviegoers will get a clear sense of the main characters and get attached to them. So when a movie director tells me to write characters like in The Sopranos, when I know he’s watched 6 seasons of the show, I cringe a little…
I’ve always been attracted to television writing because of that possibility to develop characters over time. For me, the positive aspect of this « quality trend » in television is what the reporter of The Village Voice considered a downside:
« TV is altogether less oriented around one artist’s singular vision and drive. For a start, it’s not the director who’s king, it’s the writer. Arteta argues that’s why the quality of TV « has shot through the roof now. In television the writers make a lot of money and have all the creative power, so the talent gravitates there. You get these amazing writers running TV shows. » Producers also expect guest directors to step on to the set for an episode, make their contribution and leave – almost like an anonymous gun for hire. »
Hey, what’s not to like about this situation?
