the slack daily

(Wo)Man About Town.

Where will I be this week when I'm not here?

Saturday nights at 5pm PST you can find me (with my delightful husband) sharing a cocktail and story on our weekly show BetheMarriage LIVE! (On Ice.)

Can't make it Saturday? Then by the following Monday (or Tuesday) you can find the BetheMarriage podcast on iTunes. Go on. Subscribe. Leave a comment. You know you want to. (Don't have iTunes? Then you can check it out here.)

Tuesday night I can be found somewhere tethered to the computer, listening to The Best Show on WFMU. (You can even follow its host, Tom Scharpling, on Twitter.) If you're still up for some auditory stimulation, check out Evan "Funk" Davies Show. (Or even follow him on Twitter.)

Thursday night at 7:30pm PST, I'll be joining some friends while we watch Acker & Blacker's Thrilling Adventure Hour, which streams live on The Room Live. Check it out! It's FREE. 

Friday night there's Paul F. Tompkins Show at Largo at the Coronet.

Saturday morning at 11am PST I'll be tethered to the computer again to listen to LAGenX (and possibly call in) followed by Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic on WFMU from 12-3pm PST.

The rest of the week I'm hopefully writing.

Which means you'll have to be content with following me in 140-character spurts on Twitter. (And while you're at it, follow Will's newest project, 3 Tweet Stories. No, really, it's good.)

You're welcome, stalkers. YOU'RE WELCOME.

Famous People & the Novelty Keychain Market.

I discovered this in my Internet travels the other day:

Now other famous people want to link to me:

To thank our fans for their support, we're giving away one of our paparazzi photos:

 

The fan who will receive this slice of elegant novelty keychain history will be one of the callers from our February 13th episode of BetheMarriage. Because we love you, we've given you two ways to check out the show:

1. You can watch the full episode (we're not wearing pants)
2. You can download the edited audio-only podcast on iTunes (why don't you subscribe while you're at it?) here.

Then vote for your favorite! This poll closes on Saturday, February 20 at 4:30pm PST.

A Very Special BetheMarriage...

Saturday night, from a special, undisclosed location, we will be broadcasting Very Special Valentine's Day BetheMarriage...

Click the image to get to the show!

 

Image courtesy of:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rajkamalaich/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

BetheMarriage - The Podcast!

Busy on Saturday nights?

Hate being chained to the computer for your BetheMarriage fix?

Have you always imagined a world where you can get Will & Nina on the go?

We've made your dream a reality!

The BetheMarriage podcast is here for you! Subscribe on iTunes or through Feedburner with your favorite feed thingamajig.

Things I Learned From Superbowl Ads.

1. I shouldn't abort my child because one day she may have the chance to become a GoDaddy Girl.

2. The Lilly Ledbetter Act now extends to personal hygiene products! Men now get the opportunity to buy smelly products they don't need. FINALLY, equal opportunity! You've come a long way, baby.

3. Costumers on commercials have a secret stash of slight-used tidy-whiteys. (I can only hope they receive hazard pay.)

4. What was missing was the Robert Blake/OJ Simpson crossover ad where they meet at the Sbarro in the mall food court after being dragged shopping by their overbearing wives.

5. Mrs. Tebow might reassess her position on the right to choose if she was forced to sit in First Class with an E*Trade baby.

Winners? Anyone who got paid to create that violent, misogynistic, and most importantly UNFUNNY piece of crap. Viva mediocrity!

Also a winner? Willie Ames, who did a fabulous job singing at the halftime show. I think he's proved to Hollywood that he's finally ready for the way-overdue Pirate Movie 2.

Losers? All of us who didn't fast-forward through the commercials. I like my misogynists classy. (Looking at you, Don Draper.)

You can find the rest of my Livetweets from the Superbowl here. And while you're at it, check out Caissie St. Onge, Tom Scharpling, Paul F. Tompkins and Sara Benincasa.

Square Pegs, aka New Media & the WGA.

(For first-time readers: I've written for TV, Web, Mobile platforms and been a member of the WGAw since 2000. You can read more about my background and work experience here.)

This afternoon I attended the WGAw/MEF panel "Content Creation for Mobile Devices."  There were some incredibly informed people on the first panel*, including Ryan Stoner of Omelet LA and Steven Hein of FOX.

While it was clear that the panelists all were not only knowledgeable but also successful in their fields, I wondered about the audience. The panel was open only to WGAw and WGA Caucus members; the 75-person venue was sold out, and there was an "overflow room" which housed another fifty or so members.  We all know that digital content creation - whether used as a tool to further extend conventional TV and film narratives, or as a primary distribution method - is where we're all headed. I applaud the WGA for recognizing this and attempting to create a forum for its members to learn more about storytelling on different platforms.

However, what was shocking to me is the lack of participation on those platforms.

Prior to attending the panel, I searched twitter for "mobile" and "WGA." I saw one hit - one of the panel members, Steven Hein. I arrived a few minutes early and had the opportunity to speak with Steven and told him that if there wasn't an agreed-upon hashtag for the conference, I'd be using #WGAmob.

As we all took our seats, we were told by WGA's New Media Project Manager Tamara Krinsky to use the hashtag #MEFWGA (I was impressed they were on top of it!), and we were encouraged to ask questions using this hashtag on Twitter.

Again, the panel was incredibly informative, and I imagine if I hadn't already worked on New Media projects like Woke Up Dead and Valemont that I would have learned more. But what shocked me was that, in the 100+ person audience, there appeared to only be 3-5 of us on Twitter. As I followed the #MEFWGA hashtag, I realized that it was...pretty much just me.

We were at a panel discussing creating content for mobile devices. While not solely mobile, Twitter is a popular mobile application. And yet...no one used it. Which got me to wondering if anyone used it?

How can one expect to create content for platforms we know nothing about?

I discussed this briefly with Miss Krinksy, who said that she thought people needed a reason to use platforms. And I don't disagree. At the inaugural Transmedia-LA meeting, we discussed how there seems to be a rush to tick off boxes on transmedia projects. (Don't know what transmedia storytelling is? Click here.)

However, if we expect to create for those platforms, shouldn't we understand what they're capable of? Social media isn't just media. It's SOCIAL.  You don't tell the same stories at a job interview that you do at a cocktail party. Each nugget of social interaction is governed by sometimes specific, sometimes general rules. 

The first time I had dinner at the Hotel Bel Air, I was terrified that I would use the wrong fork or speak too loudly or pronounce my entree incorrectly even though I had taken seven years of French. I wasn't comfortable with the social rules, so I listened, I watched, and I "got it" by the time dessert was served. (In fact, I became so comfortable that the second time I had dinner at the Hotel Bel Air, I passed out in the restaurant's plush bathroom. Back medication and martinis don't mix, kids.)

Platforms live and breathe the same way. Blogging is different that SMS messaging is different than Twitter is different than Facebook is different than email is different than voicemail  I don't know, if as the brilliant and forward-thinking Jan Libby mused, that people are expecting to "wing it" when it comes to these options, or if they're afraid of the technology.

As a writer, I'm attempting to take advantage of the unique properties of each platform** to create, as my boss and mentor Brent Friedman*** likes to say, "universes worthy of devotion..." You don't need a WGA card to tell stories across these platforms. (See Jay Bushman's CtHalloween, or my husband's 3 Tweet Stories.)

Writers would do themselves a huge favor by learning about these platforms, at the very least becoming an observer if not an active participant. It's not difficult, but it is different.

And if we want to write in New Media, we have to be prepared to experience and embrace the part that's "New."

*I did not stay for the second panel.
**You can see my talk at the 140# conference "How I Became a Zombie on Twitter" (on the benefit of Twitter for characters) here.
***He may have been quoting someone else. Not that you're not a smartypants, Brent!

Hooray for Hollywood!

Last night, Will and I went with a few friends to catch "Better Off Dead" at the Aero in Santa Monica. The extra-awesome catch? There was LIVE COMMENTARY provided by Savage Steve Holland, E.G. Daily, Diane Franklin and Curtis Armstrong. How could we not go?

...

Lizzie McGuire was my first writing job, ever. I had been working around sitcoms with my boss at the time, and had even had the good fortune to hang out in a few Writers' Rooms. I was banging out spec scripts with my writing partner (and older brother) and watching my 30th year looming on the horizon. I wondered if perhaps I should pack up and go home.

My boss, Susan - also a friend and mentor (and someone that I have not talked to in ages because I suck, and I need to remedy that, stat) - asked me to give her just one more TV season to see if she could get us a job. Let me repeat that for the cheap seats.

She asked me to give her one more TV season to see if she could get us a job.

Talk about an offer you couldn't refuse.