New video...

She's Tiny! She's Adorable! She's Staunchly Conservative! So much cuteness makes her regressive social views seem, well, not so awful. She's Baby Palin.

We've just finished Episode One (Enter the Speedo) of SWIMKATA. Take a look..

For all the pics and videos, go to our regular blog at: http://mastersofhumility.blogspot.com/

And now, the rest of the Con.

It was definitely less fun than previous years. Partly the lines, which made attending a panel all but impossible unless you lined up an hour ahead of time or sat through the previous panel just to ensure a seat. (This made for some weird audience vibes from people who did not really give two craps about the panel they were attending.) Partly because the writers strike meant there were no new pilots and very little in the way of new footage to screen.

Still, I learned a bunch of interesting facts. For example, Futurama has 3 ph.D's on staff, and they must be working the Simpson staff pretty hard. Their panel, usually one of the funniest at the event, kind of fizzled.

One of the more interesting events was WRITING PRIME TIME ANIMATION, wherein WGA prez Patric Verrone attempted to take us into the writing room of a fictional animated Sopranos spin-off FAT TONY AND THE GUYS. The one thing these panels never can quite capture is the hours and hours of bantering back and forth trying to come up with the funniest gags possible, but it was a good (if truncated) view of the various stages in the animation writing process.

Saturday night was spent hob-nobbing with writers at the Marriott, first at the Animation Writers Reception, then at the bar. I felt an odd sense of deja vu as I met and chatted with various writers, animators, actors, etc. Then it struck me, this was what Comic-Con used to feel like, before the multitudes of ravenous fans made it necessary to put walls of security up between the creators and the unwashed masses.

Sunday the crowds and the madness diminish and it's possible just to show up at the panel you like and actually, you know, be allowed in. My possible favorite panel was Sunday's IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA with -- hey, how about that? -- an actual episode screening. I'm always amazed at how these guys can organically work obscure taboos (such as cannibalism) into a show with a fairly traditional set-up. Also, Rob and Glenn's new pilot BOLDLY GOING NOWHERE, appears to moving forward, and PHILLY season 4 will have a 1776 flashback.

Then, Hamlet 2, a movie I really want to like, but seems too enamored of going for the easy joke. Still, Elizabeth Shue's got a great supporting role as, well, Elizabeth Shue.

And, as always, my Con ends with the STARSHIP SMACKDOWN. For those who've never been, Smackdown consists of several SciFi luminaries (as well as friends, girlfriends, and guys who worked on the luminary's DVD special features) arguing over which starship would win in a fight. I know it sounds silly -- and it is very, very silly -- but I'm always impressed by the panel's ability to argue an absurd point. (Example: maybe Starship Dave could beat BattlestarGalactica, given BSG's proven susceptibility to machines that look human). Still, I'm always miffed that they don't realize the TARDIS could kick any starship's ass.

And now, MY CON SCOOP. On the train ride home, got to meet Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall. I'm always reluctant to meet my comedy idols. (For example, I've seen Bob Odenkirk several times, but always sense an all-envelopping "don't talk to me" aura.) But Scott turned out to be as nice and as cool as he seems, and he let me know that THE KIDS IN THE HALL are working on a script for a new movie. That's right, a new movie. At least 90 minutes of new KIDS IN THE HALL genius. Lovers of good comedy everywhere may rejoice.

And for those of you worried that the KIDS may have lost their edge, here's a sketch they previewed at a UCLA show I was lucky enough to attend...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2EqWvdNx1I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO0kRE5OTZI

Late Friday night and I am exhausted. Comic-Con gets more insanely crowded every year. I didn't get into half the panels I wanted to, but there was still plenty to keep me occupied. Anyway, here's the skinny.


Favorite costumes: Not sure why these guys picked the 8th, 6th, 4th and 1st Doctor, tho', but you can see pics of them at our blog at www.MastersofHumility.com

Most Pointless (if impressive) Costume: A guy done up exactly like Bob's Big Boy, right down to the plate with plastic cheeseburger. Who's really that big a fan of kitchy diner food?

Best Giveaway: an actual flash drive with episode's of Adam de la Pena's new web series ON THE BUBBLE.

The One Piece of Merch I Will Have to Buy: This year's Alex Ross shirt is of Obama-as-Clark Kent, opening his shirt to display a red and blue "O" superhero emblem.

Least Interesting Panel Revelations: The cast of the BIG BANG THEORY really get along well.

(Oh, and less uninteresting, Sara Gilbert will come back next season as that nerd who has that loathing-bordering-on-sexual-attraction thing going with Sheldon.) Actually, it was nice to see this show, which started out not sure if its über-nerd characters should be objects of derision or sympathy, to come out firmly on the side of the freaks.

Panel Revelations (interesting) from "Art of Adapting Comics to the Screen"
Zak Penn is writing the AVENGERS movie and trying to make sure the next four movies fit within the continuity set up by IRON MAN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK. I know a lot of people have damned Penn's INCREDIBLE HULK movie with faint praise. I liked it, but got the sense that a lot of the character moments of Bruce (Ed Norton) learning to accept the Hulk as part of who he is instead of fighting against it were cut. The absence of these moments left the film kind of flat, and the ending inexplicable. (He's driven into a Hulk rage by a bout of intense meditation?!) Zak Penn confirmed that's pretty much what happened when the studio edited the film.

EW's Showrunner Panel. Both Josh Schwartz and Bryan Fuller said that due to the long, writers' strike-induced hiatus, their networks are treating the first episodes of season 2 of CHUCK and PUSHING DAISIES as "second pilots" with full promotional pushes, although with DAISIES, I doubt this means Barry Sonnenfeld will be invited back to go massively over-budget, as happened with PUSHING DAISIES first pilot.

Great panel on WRITING GENRE TV. Too bad 90% of the audience was there just to be sure they'd have a seat for a panel on the following panel concerning Online Anime Fans.

In the evening, another great edition of Jerry Beck's WORST CARTOONS EVER, including SUPER PRESIDENT, a superhero who will blow his secret identity if he ever tells anyone his superhero name, and with a sidekick oddly resembling Karl Rove. No good clips on the net, although I've posted a crappy screen capture.

Then, Spike and Mike's Animation Festival, which I have to say: What the hell happened? The show has been a high point in Comic-Con's past, but this year was just relentlessly awful. Are they losing good animators who now just post online. Luckily, it was slightly redeemed by ending with a new Dr. Tran video. If you are unfamiliar with Dr. Tran, I've posted the original:

What I love about all these videos (made by Lone Sausage) is if you try to explain them to someone, they sound incredibly stupid, but watch them and they're hilarious. The new video had a weird old guy giving Dr. Tran advice on his 100% Ice stand and ended with an ad for a store called TITS.

Okay, that's it for me. Wish me luck for tomorrow.

--Andy

Working with Hollywood is an exercise in living with paradoxes. If you spend all your time writing (or producing, acting, directing), there’s no time left to network, but if you keep in touch with all your contacts, there’s no time to write. You need to believe passionately in your work, yet constantly questioning your own judgment (Is it good enough, really? How can I make it better?)

And then there’s the biggest paradox of all. How to break in? Best way is get an industry job as one of those assistants constantly picking up lunch, copying scripts, answering the phones, etc. Not a bad gig, but these days, they’re almost as hard to find as actually paid writing gigs, and it can frustrating putting all your energy in finding a job that may afford you the opportunity to get the job you really want a few years down the road, provided nobody above you becomes convinced they ordered the Reuben when you’re sure they wanted a B.L.T.

Then, there’s the other tack. Find a job with enough pay to live off of and enough down time to pursue what you really want to do. That’s great, up until the moment when you want to show your work to someone who matters, and well, you don’t know anyone who matters.

For years, and all through film school, I taught adults English as a Second Language. It’s great work – rewarding, good pay, lots of down time. Then I left to be a Production Assistant on MY NAME IS EARL, then a Writers’ Assistant on THE GAME, then the strike happened and afterwards, well, now there aren’t as many assistant jobs to go around.

So, I’m back teaching, this time way out in Gardena (just take the 110 past the last Starbucks). And it’s nice. Not as many hours as I’d like, but hey, times are tough. But it’s also weird. Those years and years I spent doing menial labor, did they mean nothing? How hard do I want to look for yet another assistant gig, especially when there are so few sitcoms out there that all the jobs, especially writers’ assistants, are so scarce it’s like the hyenas fighting over the last scrap of carrion?

And yet, when a sitcom pilot called RITA ROCKS called asking for assistant, I dropped everything I rushed over. See, there’s just nothing like the feeling of forward momentum, however incremental, plus the knowledge that you – yes, you – are working on a honest-to-God TV show – in however a menial capacity, and let’s not forget the thrill of being able to drive on a lot – even if it is for a show on the Lifetime Network.

I didn’t get the job, which I why I still have time to write the very post you’re reading, but I am going to the taping of the pilot tomorrow, and if the show gets picked up, who knows? Maybe they’ll have something for me, something menial and lowly paid, but at least this time, I’ll get to sit in the same room as the actual writers for the show, and not just when the script coordinator has a migraine. I’m going to insist on that. After all, three years working in the TV trenches should count for something.

P.S. - Speaking of writing, Devon and I just finished a new draft of HARD SELL, our pilot for the producer in the USC Stark Program, and are currently editing our next short film. And hey, at some point we’re going to put together a website that’s more than just a re-direct to our MySpace page. I mean, an actual webpage with logos and links and videos and everything. Stay tuned.

--Andy,
Master of Humility, 25 March 2008

So, the strike is over. Ding-dong, the witch is dead! A new day is won! We can all go back to our lives happily toiling at the same studios we'd been picketing.

Not so fast. Alas, while we were gone, studios got in the habit of brutal budget cuts, lay-offs, consolidations and contractions. Everyday someone proudly announces he's cutting back on the number of movies, DVD, TV shows, etc., making Entertainment the only industry whose health is judged on how little it produces. Seriously, it is only a matter of time before some studio announces they are eliminating overhead by not making anything, which I'm sure would be hailed as prudent fiscal responsibility and send its stock soaring on Wall Street.

The fallout is: my assistant job at THE GAME has been eliminated, and they told me a day after I turned down some teaching gigs because I couldn't commit to accepting new work when my show was gearing up for production. Great timing, guys.

And I'm not alone in this. I've got at least five friends suddenly out of work in this new, austere work environment, and there's plenty of rumors about the scarcity of jobs and surfeit of over-qualified candidates. It seems as if the business is in a painful fallow period, where it's just getting harder and harder to make money doing scripted television, but the Internet has not yet flowered into a place where writers/directors/actors can have a career. It'll happen, probably soon, as the strike nudged a lot of talented people in that direction, but there's still some roadblocks such as 1) how can you make money of the internet? 2) how can you promote your work to a mass audience in an environment where everyone with a video camera and a URL is created equal and 3) seriously, how the hell is anyone supposed to earn a living of this?

Luckily, I've got some teaching gigs way down in Gardena to tide me over during the strike. So hear I am in the Gardena Public Library waiting for my evening class, having come down early to avoid the crushing traffic on the 110. And the new locale has led to the discovery of my new favorite comic store, GEOFFREY COMICS – almost every trade in the store is half off, and the guy even has pizza parties every few weeks.

Still, not all bad news. The post strike video "ATTACK OF THE D-GIRLS" a side project by me and some friends at StudioFred.com, has garnered some good buzz, and Devon and I are hard at work on the next draft of our sitcom pilot HARD SELL, and setting up a time to meet with our producer next week. One good thing about having a producer in the USC Peter Stark program, he has to do stuff quick otherwise there's nothing to grade him on.

--Andy
Master of Humility