CANADIAN CANADA $7 SPRING 2018 VOL.20, NO.2 SCREENWRITER FILM | TELEVISION | RADIO | DIGITAL MEDIA Screenwriters Reach For Social Media Van Helsing: Vampires Are Only Part of The Problem Writing Real Fake News on The Beaverton Mary Kills People Breathes New Life Into Death PM40011669 tsc-2018-cs-ad-print.pdf 1 2018-02-16 4:09 PM C M Y CM MY CY CMY K CANADIAN SCREENWRITER The journal of the Writers Guild of Canada Vol. 20 No. 2 Spring 2018 ISSN 1481-6253 Publication Mail Agreement Number Contents 400-11669 Publisher Maureen Parker Cover Editor Tom Villemaire Series Begins With ‘The End’ 6 [email protected] Mary Kills People’s inspiration came with Tara Armstrong’s obsession: Death. “Why aren’t we talking about this every Director of Communications Li Robbins five seconds?” So she did. Editorial Advisory Board By Matthew Hays Michael Amo Rachel Langer Michael MacLennan Features Susin Nielsen Social Media And Screenwriters 10 Simon Racioppa Some seek out fame and others have fame thrust upon them. President Jill Golick (Central) Social media makes it easier than ever for screenwriters to Councillors connect with the people who watch their shows. Some see it as a Michael Amo (Atlantic) passive medium and others as active. But all agree it’s important. Mark Ellis (Central) By Katherine Brodsky Simon Racioppa (Central) Dennis Heaton (Pacific) Something You Can Sink Anne-Marie Perrotta (Quebec) Andrew Wreggitt (Western) Your Teeth Into 14 Early on, they decided that vampires were only part of the Design Studio Ours problem. After that, things really took on a life of their own and Printing Renaissance Printing Inc. many ideas saw the light of day for Van Helsing screenwriters. Cover Photo: Christina Gapic By Diane Wild Canadian Screenwriter is published three times a year by Real Fake News In A Time Of the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC). Purported Fake News 18 366 Adelaide Street West, Suite 401 Toronto, Ontario M5V 1R9 How do you create a real fake news show when so many people TEL: (416) 979-7907 are calling real news fake news and how do you make that news FAX: (416) 979-9273 funnier than real life? These are weird times and The Beaverton WEBSITE: www.wgc.ca is reporting on them. In their way. Subscriptions: WGC members receive a By Mark Dillon subscription as part of their membership. Non-member subscriptions: $20 for W-Files three issues. Matt Venables & Jeremy Smith — By Greg David 23 Advertising policy: Readers should not assume that any products or services Sonja Bennett — By Cameron Archer 25 advertised in Canadian Screenwriter are endorsed by the WGC. Columns Editorial Policy: The WGC neither implicitly From the Editor/Contributors 2 nor explicitly endorses opinions or attitudes expressed in Canadian Screenwriter. Inside/Out — Jill Golick 3 Submissions are subject to editing for One Last Thing — Jason Filiatrault 28 length, style and content. Advertising Sales: News Visit www.wgc.ca or contact Li Robbins at Beat Sheet 4 [email protected] Spotlight 26 Letters to the editor are subject to editing for length. Not all letters are published. Money for Missing Writers 24 New Members 24 FROM THE EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS When real fake news Spring 2018 has to compete with Cameron Archer runs the Canadian real news television/media website Gloryosky (gloryosky.ca), and is also a freelance arts and media writer. He lives in Eastern Ontario. When political leaders call real news, fake news, what happens to Katherine Brodsky is a Vancouver- real fake news news shows? based writer who has written for Oh, there are the established real fake news news shows like The Washington Post, The Guardian, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, they sort of have a baked in audience. Variety, Esquire, Entertainment But how does a new fake news news show break in? Weekly, and even Playboy Magazine. New news shows, sorry, new fake news news shows, like The She has interviewed a diverse range Beaverton, how do they flourish in a day when the real news news of intriguing personalities including shows are dealing material that sounds like it belongs on the real Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Pulitzer, and fake news news shows? Nobel prize winners. Sometimes she writes scripts, too. There’s a lot to admire about the plucky show The Beaverton, Find her on Twitter @mysteriouskat and its writers, featured in this issue. Comedy is hard. And it’s even harder to make a profit by being For over 15 years, Greg David funny. has been a television critic for TV More than that, though, a satiric show about current events Guide Canada, the country’s most not only has to be, well, current but it also has to walk a fine line. trusted source for TV news. A If you don’t go far enough, you will likely lose the joke. But stray former member of the Television too far and you could be in the territory of bad taste, which can lose Critics Association, he is currently you your audience, and eventually your broadcaster. Stray another a partner at TV-Eh.com, a website way and you’re into a legal swamp that can pull you down, deeper, devoted to covering the Canadian deeper, freezing you in its icy depths, choking you with its mud and television industry. bitter liquid of defamation and damages and insurance, possibly Mark Dillon is a Toronto-based losing you your production and your job and maybe giving you a freelance journalist and former editor permanent case of libel chill and bitterness. of Playback magazine. He is author of But out there, on the edge where the laughs are, the screen- the award-winning Fifty Sides of The writers have no care for their own safety. It’s the territory they Beach Boys. need to tread. The laughs live on danger. Well, danger and a humor- ous premise. Jason Filiatrault is a slightly award- The job of the writers and showrunners of shows like The Bea- winning screenwriter whose credits verton and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, is to guide the writing around include the feature Entanglement, the all the obstacles while staying topical and inside the lines and funny. CBC series Young Drunk Punk, and The audiences for shows like this — those bright minds out this bio that you’re reading. He lives in Calgary with a cat and a Zoey. there — love those danger-loving, outrageous, biting sketches. And these days, that kind of comedy is necessary. With an Amer- Matthew Hays is a Montreal-based ican president who rails at the media on a daily basis, calling any writer, author, and university and criticism of him or his administration “fake news,” and with more college instructor. His articles have people becoming distrustful of the media, we need both the laughs appeared in the Globe and Mail, and the critiques of the powerful and of ourselves. The New York Times, Maclean’s, So what’s the difference between fake news and satire? The Toronto Star and many others. Some might say if you can’t tell the difference, satire isn’t for you. His book, The View from Here: Others might say, if you can’t tell, it’s not being done right. Conversations with Gay and Lesbian So, these laugh wranglers (a.k.a. screenwriters) at The Beaver- Filmmakers (Arsenal Pulp), won a ton deserve our nod of appreciation — for being funny while edging 2008 Lambda Literary Award. close to the line, but still making sure it’s suitable for broadcast so Diane Wild is a Vancouver-based we can all enjoy it. writer, editor and health care They are managing to magnify the funny in the everyday communicator who founded the TV, news — the real news, on their real fake news show for real laughs. eh? website and gallivants to work on the Olympics every couple of — Tom Villemaire years. 2 INSIDE/OUT — FROM THE PRESIDENT Developing Success What kinds of TV shows should you develop for success in a marketplace that includes Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Facebook and Apple? Bold, arced series powered by unique voices that take viewers to places they’ve never been before. Think outside the box. What kinds of series should that underlies most series that are If we want to thrive in the you develop if you’re aiming for a successful in the new markets. same market as Fleabag, Fauda, commission for a Canadian broad- Many of my writer friends in Insecure, Trapped, The End of the caster? Traditional episodic and other countries complain that F*&#ing World and Catastrophe procedural formats with minimal their producers are hapless we’re going to have to take some character arcing. Mine U.S. net- when it comes to distribution, risks. Calling Canadian broad- work television for inspiration. but Canada’s producers have casters risk averse is a massive Obviously, we have a seri- wisely built solid international understatement. ous disconnect. Broadcasters distribution chains. Protection from competi- trigger funding. If you want to I would be incredibly tion has helped build behemoth get paid, you have to make the optimistic about our future if broadcasting entities that have kinds of shows they want. Not it weren’t for the fatal flaw: a made their founders and share- the series the new players want Canadian broadcast partner is holders rich. Despite that, they to buy. Not the shows that solidi- required to get anything off the never were fully committed to fy Canada’s reputation as a great ground. the Canadian industry or to content provider. At a time when our industry developing national talent.