SONS OF ANARCHY FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I posted this on my new Facebook page, but I figured I'd blog it as well.  It'll be an ever-growing list of FAQ's.  It was fun to do.  I hope you dig it.

1. I have a great idea for the show, can I send it you?

No.  I cannot accept any ideas, pitches, stories, scripts, notions or dreams from anyone.  It's a legal issue.  It protects me and you.  If you send it, post it or email it -- it will be shredded, removed and deleted.  Sorry. 

2. I want to be an actor on your show, how do I audition?

If you are a SAG/AFTRA actor who has a permanent address in Los Angeles you can have your agent submit a picture and resume to our casting director, Wendy O'Brien.  If the picture is not sent through a signatory agency chances are the envelope will never be opened. 

3. How can I be an extra on your show?

If you a union or non-union actor who has a permanent address in Los Angeles you can contact Jim's B-List -- jimsblist.com .

4. I'm a singer/songwriter, I have a band, I have a perfect song for the show, how do I submit music?

As with the actors, a musical artist is best served by an agent or manager submitting their music through the proper channels.  Bob Thiele, my composer and musical supervisor is trying to come up with a realistic system where submissions can actually get heard.  Right now, we get hundreds and simply don't have the manpower or time to listen to them all.

5. When is the Season 2 DVD coming out?

Summer, 2010.

6. When is Season 3 beginning?

We never have an exact premier date until a few weeks before.  We did very well with the timing of season 2, so my guess is that we will air some time in early September, 2010.  But right now, that is just speculation.

7.  Is Half-Sack really dead?

Fuck, yes.

8.  Is that Katey singing "Ruby Tuesday"?

Yes, Katey sang "Son of a Preacher Man" in Season 1 and "Ruby Tuesday" in Season 2.  I hope to have her sing a song every season. 

9.  Who is Edward Winterhalder and why is he saying that the character of Jax is based on one of his books?

I do not know Mr. Winterhalder, never read any of his fiction.  From what I am told he is a former outlaw biker who turned rat and now makes his living as an author and outlaw biker "expert".  I can only speculate that my choice of using real outlaws as technical advisers instead of a celebrity one somehow upset Mr. Winterhalder.  I guess his claims are sour grapes and his parasitic attempt at getting a piece of SOA's success.

10. Are you really afraid of dolls?

Fuck, yes.

11.  Why do you swear so much?

Fuck, yes.

12. I have something very special I want to give you, can I send it to you?

Fuck, no.

13. How come you only do 13 episodes?  Why not 22 or 26 like network shows?

The model for FX and many other cable networks is 13.  Yes, it's about money and scheduling, but it's also about quality.  First of all, we cram more story into 13 episodes of SOA than most network dramas fit into 26.  Second, this model allows us to make what I hope are 13 thoughtful, provocative 44 minute independent films, instead of 26 formulaic, predictable big-budget movies.  Thirdly, my writers, cast and crew spend 7-9 back-breaking months making this show.  It's guerrilla film-making and a labor of love.  Any more than 13 would fucking kill us.

14. I live in a remote village in the Ukraine, when will "Sons of Anarchy" air there?

International sales and scheduling is not my job.  I have no idea if, when, where the show will be airing outside of the United States.  I know it's selling very well internationally, I just don't know any details.  I suggest you contact your local cable company and ask them. 

15. My friend watches the show over the internet for free, how does he do that?

Your friend steals.  If you want to watch "Sons of Anarchy" over the net, I'd ask that you do it legally through the FX website, Hulu or iTunes.  Pirating hurts the artist more than the conglomerate.  I know it may not seem like a big deal, and you probably justify it by saying, "Oh, Fox can afford it", but it's a huge problem.  The truth is every time you illegally download an episode of "Sons", you put actors, writers, and crew out of work.  Think about that next time you watch a lime-wire episode.

16.  I see "Sons of Anarchy" merchandise all over e-Bay and other internet sites.  Is this real SOA stuff?  Where can I buy official "Sons of Anarchy" stuff?

No.  The stuff on e-Bay is all pirated merchandise.  Some of them even blatently say "official SOA" shirts, hats, etc. -- they are not.  It's someone selling illegal gear.  It's criminal and there is very little we can do to stop it.  Again, people justify it by saying, "Oh, Fox can afford it", but once again buying that shit doesn't help the show.  The Fox/FX Store is the ONLY place to buy real SOA merchandise.  We will be expanding the line extensively very soon. 

17. Who is Sam Crow?  What does Samcro stand for?  Is there a difference between the two?

SAMCRO is an acronym for Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Originals.  Sam Crow is the personification of that acronym.  It's how the club refers to themselves.  Kinda the way Bob Dole called himself Bob Dole.  Over time, the locals began calling them Sam Crow as well.  In fact most of the members live in a part of Charming called "Sam Crow's Corner". 

18. What is Redwood Originals about?  Why isn't the charter called Charming?

Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club was created by John Teller and Piney Winston in November of 1967 and the first charter was called "Redwood".  Simply because they weren't settled in any one city.  They cruised the Northern California coast from Eureka to Big Sur -- Redwood country. It wasn't until after Gemma became pregnant with her first son, Jackson, that they decided to settle in Charming -- the town where Gemma grew up.  At that point, John Teller thought Charming was a little too cute for a charter name, so he called the charter the Redwood Originals.  That's when the SAMCRO handle was born.

SEASON 3...PATCHED IN

I've been back with the writers for a month now, and today was the first day I felt like I actually plugged back into the show.  I finished a first draft of episode 301 this week, but it wasn't until I mulled, sorted and boarded 302 that I felt reconnected to the process of running a show.  

I've shared this before, but it was a very odd hiatus for me.  I was supposed to begin directing my first feature in January.  It was a script I wrote some years back, Delivering Gen, and recently, we got all our financing together.  The problem was timing.  I had to be in pre-production by mid-December to finish in time to get season three of Sons on air by September, 2010 (no definite air date has been set).  Unfortunately I couldn't put my cast together in time, so we were forced to push the project until summer, 2010.

I jumped from season two of SOA onto the stress of will or won't this movie go.  When it didn't go, I pulled up production on the show so I wouldn't hit the same scheduling snag next hiatus.  Even though I didn't really do anything over the break, I never decompressed or took any downtime.  So when I started back on Sons last month, I felt out of sorts.  Committed, excited, but oddly detached from the process.  Even writing the season three premier didn't plug me back in.

It wasn't until today, when I sat down with the story beats for episode 302 and started weaving the narrative, that I felt "back on the show".  In retrospect, I guess it all makes sense.  The truth is, often premiers are very different episodes from the others in a season.  You have to complete, acknowledge and honor the episodic and emotional arcs from the end of the previous season as well as set up new characters, stories and themes.  All that, plus it has to "feel" like the show.  In our case that means, it's gotta have some bloody fucking balls.  I feel like 301 services all those things, but sometimes because of the parameters of a premier it can feel like an isolated project.  So today, when we sat down and flushed out the next episode, I realized, "Oh shit, I've got twelve more of these to write and produce.  I'm fucking working again..."

I know this will sound self-serving and obvious, but I'm genuinely excited about this season (hopefully you know me well enough to realize that if I wasn't excited, I'd have no fucking problem telling you).  Season three of Sons of Anarchy will take us to some new and very different places -- both narratively and emotionally.  We will reveal some dark Teller family secrets and create a few more in the process.  It was John the Apostle who said "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  Clearly he never spent a weekend with Gemma Teller.

NPR CHAT ON NEILSENS TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT - UPDATED

This piece ran on NPR's Tuesday's Morning Edition --
 Advertisers Push Nielsen To Count Online Viewers

I love NPR, but for the record -- the comments that were played on this segment were taken out of context from an entirely different interview.  It was the one I did last month about Leno moving out of the 10 pm slot.  I was asked to discuss the differences between the viewing habits of the nine and ten o'clock slots.  My reply was that I really didn't know what the viewing habits were.  I then went off on a bit of a tangent about how research that studied viewing habits was the worst thing to happen to writers since the invention of reality TV.  What I said had nothing to do with the Nielsens specifically.  I wasn't talking about research that measured numbers.  I was discussing research that attempted to identify viewing habits -- when, why, how people watch television.  That's the kind of research that executives live and die by.  They will base important creative decisions on "how they think people may respond" to a particular topic, character, serialization, etc.  So writers are subject to ridiculous mandates based on a completely inaccurate and arbitrary science.  How fucking honest and thorough are you when someone calls and interupts your day with, "do you mind taking a few minutes to answer some questions about..."  

That's what I was responding to when I said that "The worst thing to happen to television watching was research about television watching".  It was about statistical research shitting all over the creative process.  I was not commenting on the way the Neilsens measure viewers.