23 YEARS

LegalDispatch 0.52

23rd ANNIVERSARY

Twenty-three years ago I was in a plane sitting on the tarmac at JFK airport with a one-way ticket to Los Angeles. I had left my legal practice behind two months earlier and had scheduled my move to coincide with television staffing season.

I recall being surprised that I didn’t feel nervous or anxious even though I was very much both. Rather, I felt a certain sense of calm and, dare I say it, fate. It was one of only two or three moments in my life where I felt the hand of fate on my back.

I’m glad I let it push me west.

WORK UPDATE

This week was busy with revisions on the Too Dead To Die screenplay and PROJECT HOURGLASS.

I also worked up two more pitches and accompanying visual decks for television projects, including one with Katie Cassidy (Arrow) that marks both a departure for us while simultaneously being a return to form.

Next week, I hope to finish revisions on Two Dead To Die, the third issue of Star Trek: Echoes, and even — hopefully — dive back into a television spec.

SOMETHING INTERESTING HAPPENED THIS WEEK

This week saw an exponential leap in engagement with this newsletter:

The uptick, I believe, is the result of increased awareness of “No Good Deed…” my piece on the new DCU and James Gunn. It seems there was some re-Tweeting and news coverage of the piece which increased engagement. To all those new to this newsletter, welcome.

BTW, we also gained a fair amount of new subscribers as well. Including this “clever” individual:

TWO MORE PODCAST INTERVIEWS

You may (or may not) have noticed that I’ve been doing the rounds, talking up (among other things) Torrent as much as possible.

My latest interview was with the kind gentlemen at WMQ&A. You can check it out here.

Howard Chaykin and I were also honored that Too Dead To Die was selected by Brian Hibbs (an extremely smart comic book retailer and industry leader) as Comix Experience’s graphic novel of the month. We had fun chatting with him. You can check out the video here.

WHAT I’M ENJOYING

I decided to make a bit more of an effort to make note of things I’ve been enjoying reading and watching lately…

CREED III

I went to Imax’s “live event” on Monday night, which was basically coverage of the Los Angeles premiere followed, of course, by the movie itself.

I’m a huge fan of the Rocky/Creed franchise and have been looking forward to this one for some time. Unsurprisingly, it’s better than Creed II but can’t hold a candle to Creed, though it really works hard to (in a good way).

Overall, I really liked the movie, though found it a bit rushed/truncated in the back half. Michael B. Jordan’s direction is overall fantastic and he takes some terrific big swings that land. Jonathan Majors, of course, is brilliant.

I found the absence of Rocky to be conspicuous. It’s a shame Jordan couldn’t get Stallone for a cameo — though I understand all the reasons why not.

AN ORAL HISTORY OF “KINGS”

New York Magazine published an incredible oral history of my friend Michael Green’s way-ahead-of-its-time epic Kings. It’s a wonderful testament to a groundbreaking show and a reminder to us all of all the challenges and pitfalls attendant to the making of art.

It also demonstrates Michael’s singular ability to be both funny and accurate at the same time: “Network television didn’t die; it committed suicide.”

Truer words.

You can — and should — read the whole thing here.

WGA/AMPTP

I’ve also been talking with a lot of writers, producers, and executives about the upcoming negotiations between the Writers Guild and the studios. It seems everyone is asking “are the writers going to burn the town down?”

Well, if the folks I’ve been speaking to are any indication everyone — everyone — is getting squeezed by the paradigm shift over to streaming, not just writers. Actors and directors are getting squeezed, too. So are below-the-line workers. So are producers and even creative execs.

So, are the writers going to burn the town down?

Look around: It’s on fire already.

But to speak specifically about writer-related issues, I’ll say this: I have my (mostly well-known) issues with WGA leadership, but that doesn’t stop me from recognizing that writers are presently facing the existential threat of not being able to have careers as writers. The time to address these very real, very serious issues is now, in this negotiation cycle.

2026 will be too late.

Be good to each other.

Best,

Marc

Encino, California

3.3.23