Okay, so… next week is gonna be pretty big.
For me, at least.
First up, we have…
LA LAW
On Monday, we begin production on the Pilot for LA Law.
This is surreal-beyond-words experience for me. LA Law is, quite simply, the reason I became a writer and the reason I became an attorney. Full stop. It is no exaggeration to say that the show helped shaped me as a writer, as a lawyer, and even as a person.
So how did this come to be?
I’ll tell you:
In the early stages of the pandemic, I spent two days writing a spec pilot as a thought experiment. I wanted to see if it was possible to write a show that could be produced in the midst of a global pandemic. (This was when virtually all production had been shot down.) I felt that it needed to have minimal cast, minimal extras, all standing sets, no action, and no intimacy.
I ended up writing a law show called Superior Court. It was set in Los Angeles with the idea that actors wouldn’t want to travel and its conceit was that we’d never leave the confines of the courthouse (i.e., the soundstages).
The thing is, after I wrote it, I thought it turned out better than expected. In my mind, it started to become more than a thought experiment. So I conspired a way to get it into the hands of the director, Anthony Hemmingway.
And now, a brief digression:
You may (or may not) have noticed it, but whereas the airwaves were once replete with law shows, they’ve become something of a dying breed. Until just a few weeks ago, even the venerable Law & Order had gone off the air.
Why is that?
Two reasons, I think. The first is that the great legal dramas — LA Law, Equal Justice, Picket Fences, Law & Order, The Practice — dealt with the issues of the day. You may (or, again, may not) have noticed that television doesn’t really do that anymore. Too much concern over offending folks, methinks.
But the other reason is that courtroom dramas started to feel very dated. As television embraced the language of cinema with its dynamic camera work, legal dramas started to feel very staid. It was as if no one knew how to direct a television legal drama for the 21st Century.
Enter Mr. Hemmingway.
When I saw his (amazing) episodes of American Crime Story: People vs. OJ, I thought, “There’s a guy who gets it — who knows how to keep the camera moving even and especially when in court.”
I resolved that if I ever wrote a pilot for another law show, he would be my first choice to direct.
Except… bad news… it turns out he was already developing a legal drama. He was working on a reboot/relaunch/continuation (I call it a “sequel”) of LA Law.
I promptly told him to forget Superior Court. I wanted to work on that show.
Fortunately for me, Anthony hadn’t yet found a writer to work with.
And now, nearly two years later, we’re one weekend away from rolling camera on the 173rd episode of LA Law.
There are moments when life transcends “amazing” and crosses the rubicon into “surreal.”
This is one of those moments.
STAR WARS: HAN SOLO & CHEWBACCA
And here’s another moment.
On Wednesday — a/k/a Day 3 of LA Law — we’ll drop the first issue of Han Solo & Chewbacca.
If 16 year-old me plotzed when hearing about LA Law, 6 year-old me straight up passed out.
This past week, I delivered the lettering drafts of Issues 2 and 3 and the second draft of Issue 4. Every hour spent working on this series is like an hour spent with old friends.
If you’re so inclined, you can check out a preview of the first issue here.
In addition to LA Law and Han & Chewie, this week, I also worked on PROJECT ARTERY and a new spec feature called (perhaps appropriately) PROJECT SPECTRE (because it’s, y’know, a spec — but not just because).
You might (if you’re my wife) ask if I have time to write a spec feature. The answer is “absolutely not” but an idea grabbed hold of me and refused to let go until I got it down on (virtual) paper.
I estimate I’m about halfway done until this particular monkey is off my back.
In the meantime, I’m also finishing up the fifth and final issue of PROJECT CRACKERJACK.
22 YEARS
No, this isn’t a project update. But yesterday, I celebrated the 22nd Anniversary of my arrival in Los Angeles.
Crazy.
Well, that’s it from me this week. I’m not sure if shooting will interfere with my ability to get out another edition of this newsletter in the next few weeks, but if not, I’ll see you on the other side.
In the meantime, be good to each other.
Best,
Marc
Los Angeles, CA
3.4.22
I loved hearing the origin story of your desire to work with Anthony Hemmingway. My lifelong love of Magnum and a nice letter I wrote got me a similar intro to a few meetings with your brother Eric. Hope everything goes smoothly next week and beyond.
Hi Marc! I am immensely happy for you! I would have thought you were the one to pitch the new LA Law! What a wonderful synchronicistic experience. Thank you for sharing your process with us.