Monday, June 23, 2008

Matthew Weiner interview

Matthew WeinerThe press can't get enough of Matthew Weiner's series, Mad Men, and I've probably posted more than enough links to stories about the show over the past twelve months. But here's one more: a doorstop of an interview by Alex Witchel for The New York Times.
So, after working for 18 years, most recently as a writer and executive producer for “The Sopranos” (the episode in which Tony murders his nephew Christopher was his), Weiner, who is 42, has become an overnight success in a very particular, Hollywood way. He is suddenly a “genius,” a meal ticket and the 800-pound gorilla in every room he’s in. It is already show-business legend that he wrote the pilot of “Mad Men” in 1999 while working on the Ted Danson sitcom “Becker.” In 2002, Weiner sent the pilot as a writing sample to David Chase, who created “The Sopranos,” which is how he was hired. That HBO, under its previous leadership, passed on “Mad Men” while Weiner worked on its biggest hit, leaving the field open for the upstart AMC to reap the glory, is one of those stories that give underdogs of all breeds in this town a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

3 comments:

  1. SORRY, BUT IT'S ALL LUCK AND HYPE... NOTHING ABOUT THE SOPRANOS WAS ORIGINAL. EVERY WORD, EVERY CHARACTER WAS JUST A WATERED DOWN VERSION OF REAL STORIES, THAT DID HAPPEN. IT WAS A THEFT OF LIFE. THE EPISODE WHERE TONY KILLS CHRIS, IS NOT GREAT. IT WAS CHOPPY, AND BORING. ALSO, THE ENDING WAS PURE CRAP.. OBVIOUS IT WAS THE ONLY EPISODE THAT CHASE DID ACTUALLY WRITE, AND WAS THE WORSE ENDING, IN HISTORY, INCLUDING HIS STUPID GIMICK, WHICH WAS JUST PROOF HE LACKED ANY TYPE OF WRITING SKILLS. TOTAL RIPOFF OF HISTORY, THAT'S IT.

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  2. HOLLYWOOD IS A LAND OF...CONVENIENCE. THE GORILLA IN THE ROOM, IS JUST THE CLOSEST GUY, THAT WORKS FREE.

    IF THEY ACTUALLY DID TRY TO FIND REAL WRITERS, THEY WOULD HAVE TO PAY THEM. THEN IT'S A LAZY TYPE OF ''FOLLOW THE LEADER AFTER THAT. IN OTHER WORDS, WHO EVER IS STANDING IN THE HALLWAY, OR KNOWS SOMEONE.
    NOT TALENT DRIVEN, JUST ACCIDENTAL.

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  3. Matt is a terrific writer and I love "Mad Men"

    "Kennedy and Heidi" was a classic.

    I'm wondering if Matt saw this analysis that's sweeping the internet.

    It's brilliant and I think spot on about the final season of "The Sopranos." Matt will enjoy it.

    Enjoy,

    http://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/

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