401

I turned in Southpaw to Dreamworks on Wednesday... then started writing 401 on Thursday.  I don't do well with down time.  I'm not sure what will happen with the feature.  It was a one-step deal so DW isn't obligated to hire me for the next draft.  I had a blast writing the script, truly, the most fun I've had writing a feature length script in years.  I'm hoping they dig it and bring me on for the next step, but it's always a crap shoot.  I refer to feature writing as my "virtual career".  I spend months generating drafts and then they slip into the netherworld of endless development.  It's a long, involved process.  Television, on the other hand, is my very satisfying day job.  Where we break story on Monday, write it on Tuesday, shoot it on Wednesday, edit it on Thursday and watch it on Friday.  That's an exaggeration, but not by much.  It's incredibly satisfying to actually create, produce and control your vision from start to finish.  A luxury I have yet to experience in films. 

It's always an odd experience diving into the first script of the season.  I wade in slowly because I know the moment I write SMASH UP ON:, I'm on a ride that lasts nine months.  A good ride, but a long one.  This season is no exception.  I've been stuck on page one for two days.  I often procrastinate on iTunes looking for the right song to begin the season.  Sometimes I hear the baseline and melody of the opening before I see the direction of the story.  Hooking that rhythm up with a song often propels me into the episode.  

We locked in our production schedule and will start rolling on May 23rd.  I don't know when FX plans to air season four, but I would imagine they will stick with what's worked in the past and aim for early September.  

I'm very excited about season four.  My writers are firing on all cylinders and we're coming up with some very cool, very crazy fucking shit.  It's creatively liberating to be able to reboot and play with new dynamics and new relationships within our club.  A lot can happen in fourteen months, especially in prison.  Loyalties, trust and friendships can take odd turns when you are living in a cage.  

I know everyone is screaming for spoilers, but I'm not gonna tease anything yet.  I do know that I'd like to get out some kind of content to fans long before the premier.  We'll definitely get the iPhone/iPad app rolling with new shit over the summer, but I'm having conversations with the network and studio now about more extensive content.  Either in the form of webisodes or extended trailers.  Something to keep feeding the beast.  And by beast I mean our awesome, ravenous fans.  

I love you.  I fear you.

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #334

 Chuck's Vanity Card, aired: 28 February 2011

I understand that I'm under a lot of pressure to respond to certain statements made about me recently. The following are my uncensored thoughts. I hope this will put an end to any further speculation.

I believe that consciousness creates the illusion of individuation, the false feeling of being separate. In other words, I am aware, ergo I am alone. I further believe that this existential misunderstanding is the prime motivating force for the neurotic compulsion to blot out consciousness. This explains the paradox of our culture, which celebrates the ego while simultaneously promoting its evisceration with drugs and alcohol. It also clarifies our deep-seated fear of monolithic, one-minded systems like communism, religious fundamentalism, zombies and invaders from Mars. Each one is a dark echo of an oceanic state of unifying transcendence from which consciousness must, by nature, flee. The Fall from Grace is, in fact, a Sprint from Grace. Or perhaps more accurately, "Screw Grace, I am so outta here!"

Questions?


                                 

TWO MEN

I've watched the Charlie Sheen, Two and Half Men drama unfold for over a year now.  I've resisted commenting because I know Charlie and Chuck and have deep respect and admiration for both men.  It saddens me deeply to see it play out the way it has this week.  

As a man who understands the pain and power of addiction, I am empathetic to Charlie's struggles.  Getting clean is terrifying and difficult -- physically, mentally and spiritually.  I watch his bold actions and I try to feel more compassion than outrage.  

I am also a showrunner and know what it's like to invest so deeply in a show and a cast.  They become an extension of who you are.  You imbue your words with little pieces of your soul and hand them over to actors whom you learn to trust and respect.  Having your star verbally assault you is a tremendously egregious and hurtful thing.  

A showrunner-star relationship is like a marriage.  Two people giving 100%, two people taking ownership of all it creates, two people with one goal -- happiness and success.  And like a marriage, it can be symbiotic bliss, or a hellish fuckshow.  I saw Shawn Ryan and Michael Chiklis maneuver that relationship on The Shield.  The success of that show happened very quickly.  Both men flooded with accolades they never had before.  Shawn, an unknown writer, Michael an actor previously known for softer roles.  Shawn and Michael had enormous respect for each other, but both men had to navigate that success very carefully.  It was a cautious, proprietary back and forth that I feel both Shawn and Michael did with dignity.  On Sons, I love my cast.  Truly.  They've become a big, lovable dysfunctional family to me.  I give them every drop of my blood and they do the same in return.  My, star, Charlie Hunnam, is the consummate professional.  Yes, he's got opinions and feeling and desires about the show, but our creative discourse (when not being twisted by cunt bloggers) is always respectful and productive.

Showrunner and star.  Two men.  One the mind, one the body.  Without both, there is nothing.  The ego in constant struggle with humilitas.  Trying to maintain a balance between "Look what I did" and "Look what we did".  

With Two and a Half Men, there's more than just a TV show at stake, it's a fucking money machine.  So along with awards, critical accolades, great ratings, you have a creative entity that generates billions.  So as a creator and or star, you suddenly become aware that you are responsible for a huge chunk of a corporate bottom line.  That's pretty intoxicating.  When you have Les and company licking your sack, it's hard not to feel like king of the fucking world.  

To coin a Peter Parker cliche, "...with great power, comes great responsibility".   In my opinion, the biggest responsibility of success is staying humble.  For me and my healthy ego, it's a daily struggle.  The old saying, "don't start believing your own press" is very true.  You must take a step back and realize that you may be the top of the pyramid, but it takes thousands of others to support your point.  It doesn't mean you can't have a passionate ego or you have to give away your money to starving children, it just means you have to stay aware that there is something greater than you spinning the plates.

I have no advice for Chuck.  I consider him a friend.  He is a smarter, more evolved man than I am.  I think he's done the best he can under the circumstances.  Pulling the show, as devastating as it will be to the thousands it employs (including my sister-in-law), is the most humane thing to do.

I have no advice for Charlie.  I consider him a friend.  He is on his own path and I just hope he doesn't harm himself or others.  Somewhere under the anger and deep-seeded discontent, there's an awareness of the right action.  I hope he takes it.