Girl Power

BY ANDREA CIRILLO

writer bio

Last Monday, I attended a hometown premiere for the new TNT series, Rizzoli & Isles.  The town was Camden, Maine, where Tess Gerritsen—creator of the characters that inspired the show—lives with her husband Jacob on the salty shores of the Atlantic. This isn't an everyday occurrence in Camden, although a good handful of well-known writers, artists and musicians live there, and the town came out in full force to show its support.  Hosted by Gerritsen, the celebration began with cocktails on the wide white porch of the Camden Harbor Inn (blue drinks in homage to Rizzoli and pink to Isles) and moved on via trolley to the Camden Opera House, a glamorous old world venue (c. 1894) that has showcased music, movies, and even “traveling shows” with top-tier performers like Mae (“Come up and see me some time”) West and Tallulah Bankhead.

This is the first television adaptation for Tess Gerritsen, who has written a string of bestselling crime novels, many featuring the two characters that form the basis of this tv series: Jane Rizzoli, a homicide detective, and Maura Isles, a medical examiner.  Not a cop or ME herself, Tess’s background is nonetheless totally legit for this arena, as she practiced medicine before turning to medical suspense-related fiction.  She's unflappably at home with eviscerated bodies, maggot-infested organs and corpses resulting from foul play or natural causes.  And she knows what it’s like to go toe-to-toe with testosterone in a male-oriented field, often relying on relationships with other women to make it through the day.  As she says, “We don’t go to work like good soldiers and tackle perps exactly like the guys. We have concerns that men don’t have and aren’t even aware of. Those of us who work in male-dominated fields (and I was one of them during my early days as a doctor) struggle to be “like the guys” in so many ways. Our mantra is: ‘don’t show weakness. Be strong. Work twice as hard.’ But when we leave work and get home, we fall back into who we are: women. And that means families, troublesome moms and boyfriends, getting dinner on the table. And, yes, maybe drooling over a new pair of high heels. We live double lives, and our male colleagues get to see only one side of us.”

The woman-in-a-man’s-world dynamic is also familiar to the show’s writer and executive producer, Janet Tamaro.  She bucks the Hollywood tide in a sea of suits and is anxious to offer the kind of television that's rarely seen in prime time.  Via Tamaro's script, Angie Harmon’s Rizzoli is tomboyish and rumpled, true to Gerritsen’s novels.  (Ok, she’s a lot better looking than originally written, but we’re not expecting miracles here.)  She’s not just a cop; she’s a female cop in a homicide unit, and the only person who totally gets her is another woman (played by Sasha Alexander), the medical examiner she relies on every day to uncover the bodily evidence to catch the creeps and psychos preying on the good citizens of Boston.

At early screenings of the show—in cities around the country and here at a jam-packed outdoor event in Times Square—85% of the audiences were female. In Philadelphia, a group of well-dressed female police officers attended and one of them, slightly miffed,  asked why Angie Harmon down-played her obvious assets on the show.  (I guess she hadn't read the books, or she would've understood and appreciated the verisimilitude.)  But they loved the way Angie's Jane wasn’t afraid to jump a suspect in the woods without waiting for backup. They loved that she kicked ass instead of expecting a male cop ride in to save the day.  Gerritsen didn't set out to write feminist literature but it was natural for her to write from a woman's viewpoint and now she's enjoying the camaraderie of this top-to-bottom female-driven experience with TNT, which happens to mirror her publishing experience with female editors quarterbacking the books in both NY and London.

It's too soon to know what Rizzoli & Isles’ fate will be but first episode's ratings were huge (breaking all previous records for an ad-supported cable series debut with nearly 8 million viewers, which is double the norm—and nearly 100% of the audience was retained from The Closer, the lead-in show) and week #2 barely lost 10%, so there’s a decent chance we'll be seeing more than just these first 10 episodes.  If Tamaro's scripts can keep on par with Gerritsen's topnotch novels and the current love affair between books and television continues, Rizzoli & Isles and its girl power could be around for quite a while, spawning the next generation of female screenwriters, novelists, cops and medical examiners in the process.  Hmmm, maybe not so many female medical examiners--but you never know.

HOLLYWOOD UNCUT // THE FICKLE FINGER OF FATE

BY ANDREA CIRILLO

writer bio

EM is a novelist.  Even if I told you her name, chances are you've never heard of her although she’s published two books with a major publisher, has a blog and a Facebook page with thousands of fans.  EM is one of the legion of writers who work their tails off but fly under the radar of real recognition.

Her third novel, a story about a suburban mom with a more exciting parallel life, will be published early next year.  In a recent meeting I described it to a film agent who agreed it sounded interesting. "Maybe it would work as a tv series," he said, jotting a note to himself.

Yes, I'd heard those words before.  Unlike years ago when they made my ears perk up in anticipation, I'm sorry to say that they now made my eyes glaze over in disbelief.

“Can you send me a pitch?  Something short, maybe from the main character’s point of view,” he said, or something to that effect.

I didn’t want to raise the author’s expectations but I asked her to write a pitch anyway.  I knew she'd be willing.  Anxious.  I wished people in Hollywood would just read the damn book but of course that’s asking for the moon. It took a few tries and the help of a friend at a production company, but eventually the pitch was polished and delivered.   The next week the agent called.  “You won’t believe this, but I was just in a meeting with ____ (insert name of producer married to hot TV writer) and she said her husband’s been looking for a parallel lives story,” he said, or something to that effect.

More phone calls ensued.  The writer read EM’s pitch, loved the pitch, nearly drove off the road because he was reading on his phone while driving, or something like that.  He couldn't wait to take it to the cable network where he was a big fish and, lo and behold, it wasn't long before they said they wanted it too.  And they wanted more writers to help out, and a show runner to put it all together.  Ironically this all happened without EM knowing a thing; it was her story that I pitched and the agent liked and the producer responded to and the writer was looking for and the network agreed to do but EM didn't have a clue.  Was it time to tell her and risk her hopes being dashed if it all fell apart because someone else had another parallel lives show ready to go or the big fish was eaten by a shark?

I decided to trust the agent who was confident this was the real deal, and give the author a chance to dream.  As it turned out, EM-- a smart cookie--had been watching her website and had noticed that people in Hollywood were perusing her pages.  That didn't mean she screamed any less happily when she heard the news, though she promised to take it all with a grain of salt until the paperwork was signed--at which point she would blog and Facebook to her heart's content.

So it appears that the stars have aligned for EM.  Fate brought her book into the right hands at the right time, as it happens now and again.  A movie star is discovered at the lunch counter at Schwabs, a director fills in for a sick buddy and wins an Academy Award--we know the fickle finger of fate is alive and well and living in Hollywood.   Maybe EM's story will become a cable series to rival "True Blood" or "Mad Men" which will give her the exposure to sell many more books than she's ever sold before.  Or maybe not.  But every once in a while I like chalking one up for the good guys, don’t you?

THE TOP 10 BENEFITS OF FILMING IN ANOTHER COUNTRY

BY DANI FAITH LEONARD

writer bio

Let’s face it, we often get locked into our day-to-day, breezing trough our obligations on auto-pilot, not really stopping to process our accomplishments or experiences.  Even when working on a film, we can sort of keep our daily schedule and it is often natural to try to keep our sense of normalcy to maintain our equilibrium. (I know!  Since when do I sound this fucking extravagant?)

I am currently shooting a movie in Spain and my equilibrium has been thrown way off.  And it is great.  Here are The Top 10 Benefits of Filming in Another Country:

10. Starting Fresh // If you are working in another country, chances are you don’t know most of the people on set.  This lends itself to new beginnings.  If you have had any problems in the past, nobody needs to know about it.  Maybe you haven’t been totally satisfied with your previous collaborations.  Here is your chance to start anew.

9. Keep Distractions to a Minimum // In the US I run a company, have auditions and meetings, work on films and sketch comedy shows, go out with my friends and visit my family.  Here, I am only an actress.  It’s rare that any of us get to focus only on the task at hand.  Maybe we would do a much better job if we were able to tune out all of our distractions.  Working abroad may be your chance.

8. New Faces // Meeting new people is always important in every career.  Why limit yourself?  Plus, watching the World Cup with people who actually care deeply about soccer has been awesome!

7. New Places // Obviously, if you are working abroad, you have the opportunity to explore.  Spain is very hot in the summer, but there are a few hours in the morning that are perfect for running.  I have been running around Madrid every morning for a week.  It has been great to experience a different city, while working towards a career goal.

6. Learning the Film Lingo of Other Countries // It’s not something that you need to know, but it is fascinating.  Although the process might not differ greatly, there are different words and phrases for filming.  I feel like I might be on a film set at home until I hear someone say “grabando!”  instead of “rolling.”

5. Observing the Technique of International Artists // You never know what you are going to learn from other artists who have studied elsewhere.  You might learn completely new techniques for art direction or lighting.  You might discover the solution to a technical problem with the next project you were planning.  You also might be inspired to create a new project based on the new techniques you have learned.

4. No Harm Done if you Don’t Understand a Word They Are Saying // Let’s face it, there is a lot of truth to the advice “just smile and nod.”  I speak some Spanish, but when these people are speaking at their fast pace, I have no idea what’s going on.  They could be telling me to eat shit and I have a huge smile on my face.  You won’t be getting into any fights on set!

3. Easier to Create When You Are Already Completely Out of Your Comfort Zone // This might not be the case for everyone, but I find it easier to be creative and brave when I am already completely out of my comfort zone - and I am.  People make bold decisions when they feel like there is no turning back or they have nothing to lose.  Maybe you’ll be personally uncomfortable in a country where you can barely communicate, but this might help you push yourself professionally.

2. Learning About Different Cultures Makes You a Better Artist // Ugh, I know it’s kind of a cliche.  But it’s definitely true.  The more you learn about other people, the better artist you become.  I will definitely be a better actress when I go home from observing the way that people behave in Spain.  In the US, we are pretty reserved with our emotions.  The Spanish express themselves more freely.  When we study acting, we try to get out of our own way and learn how to do something that some people do naturally.  If we just always expressed ourselves to the fullest, our job as actors would be a million times easier.

1. Sangria // A lot of it.