Sam Jackson said it best back in Pulp Fiction: ”Well, the way they make shows is, they make one show. That show’s called a pilot. Then they show that show to the people who make shows, and on the strength of that one show they decide if they’re going to make more shows. Some pilots get picked and become television programs. Some don’t, become nothing.”
The pilot production process is a fascinating one, and it’s one that, 99 percent of the time, we never get to peek inside of. Until now.
Screenwriter John Rogers (Transformers) is blogging his experience as a writer-producer on the pilot for Leverage, a heisty, espionagey show for TNT. Dean Devlin (Stargate, Independence Day) is directing and Timothy Hutton is starring. Rogers talks about location scouting, the vagaries of casting, the toil (and cost) of shooting, and Chicago’s defiance of heart-healthy foods (”At the Original Pancake House today, my western omelette was the size of a hubcap”).
Start here, and work your way up. Once you’re done Leveraging, peruse the archives. Rogers, an ex-stand-up comedian, is one smart-funny sumbeyotch: ”Nothing like having Tim Hutton read my words to help me realize I should have written a much better script.” And check out some embedded footage from the shoot, after the jump!
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I think this is a cool concept for a blog series. I think I have a basic understanding of how the process works, but this kind of insider stuff is interesting to me.
Still, do you think maybe we’d get a truer sense of how tough pilot season can be if we were following a project that wasn’t directed by a guy who’s produced a couple of blockbuster flicks and stars an Oscar winner. I’m just sayin’.
I didn’t even read this post (sorry) because I was too distracted by that photo of Tim Hutton. Dude has not aged well.
This pic is too bad. However, this will not reduce my love of him. I saw him on the celeb and millionaire singles website millionairecupid.com last week. He posted many great pics there. I love them very much!
I believe Uma Thurman said that quote about pilots from Pulp Fiction..and I don’t know but it irks me when a magazine like EW gets stuff like that wrong.
Oh shut the F up. Chicago has the best restaurants in the world. I’m so sick of these nasty jabs at Chicago by people who don’t know what they are talking about. And I don’t even live there.
Alberto… It’s definitely Jules (Jackson) who explains what a pilot is. It’s at the beginning of the film.