Show Loot

In signing up to write the show, I didn't expect to get cool loot. The Serene One showed up with a bouquet of flowers and the group presented me with a bottle of Da Vinci Chianti:

I was very flattered and amazed that such wine exists. For more pics, go here.

The biggest loot, though, was getting to work with the actors so much. They were very professional (and fun!), and Jeremy had a lot of valuable comments and suggestions. BelF, who has frequently collaborated with Jeremy, told me I had to expect a certain amount of rewriting when working with him. I learned a ton.

We debated the merits of what would be a funnier random object to pull out of a pocket: Mr. Potatohead, Furby or Gumby? Gumby won out, as Mr. Potatohead wasn't showing up well enough with the background. I realized later that Gumby and the Rubix cube that I had worked into the script are very dated items. I doubt teenagers today would have any sort of response to them.

We discussed whether or not the Vatican would be impressed with a representative of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Jeremy twisted my arm and I rewrote that scene after tech rehearsal.

Jeremy as the heroic janitor

Photo credit: Heraldo

Jeremy added a lot of zingers to follow my punchlines that gave me a Joss Whedon feeling. While filming "Serenity," he asked actor Nathan Fillion to adlib some lines as his crew is fleeing cannibalistic baddies on an airsled. Fillion adlibbed "Faster, Faster would be better!" The line was so perfect, Whedon said, "Why do I even bother to write?"

I talked to Jeremy afterwards, and he said it's a weird gift he has: taking lines to the next level. I asked him if he had any advice on branching out into writing standalone scripts (I've only done one of those). He said he had rather sentimental advice to give me: You can always tell when something is written for commercial reasons alone. A good story has to originate from some pure intention.

That's some loot.