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Oct. 13, 2006
Everybody will love Ellen
Sandler brings the lessons of TV writing to FTX West.
KYLE BERGER
Although Italian on the outside, the characters of Ray Barone and
his family from the hit TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond
are as Jewish as a lulav and etrog.
"[Ray's] character is really Jewish at heart but he is presented
as Italian," suggested Ellen Sandler, one of the co-executive
producers of the show that aired its final episode in the spring
of 2005.
Sandler, who will be in town this weekend as one of the key presenters
at the FTX West Trade Show, explained that Jewish family life is
a common theme in television writing because it's familiar to just
about anyone from any background.
"I think it was Neil Simon who once said, 'Write Yiddish, cast
British,'" she added.
Featuring some of the latest technological advances in the industry,
FTX West also offers local film and television show makers and script
writers an opportunity to learn from some of the industry's top
talents.
Sandler, who has been writing and producing TV since the early 1980s,
will share some of her experience and wisdom on what makes successful
TV.
When it came to Everybody Loves Raymond, Sandler said the
show had all the tools it needed to succeed.
"Ray was a very identifiable character and his drives and motives
were very established," she said. "And the surrounding
characters were very much tied to him in ways that no one could
get away from each other.
"[Their relationships] existed with both love and resentment
and you can't do one without the other," she continued. "A
show with just love or a show with just resentment and anger gets
tiresome after a while. But the conflict and push-pull of the two,
with people you love but you can't stand, that's great comedy."
Sandler got her big break in television shortly after leaving a
career in New York's theatre scene behind and moving to Los Angeles.
Her creative work was spotted by a television producer who quickly
hired her to write for the 1980s hit Taxi. Since then, Sandler
has worked on other successful shows, like Kate and Allie,
Coach and Empty Nest. She worked on the pilot of Everybody
Loves Raymond and co-executive produced the show for two seasons.
These days, Sandler keeps herself busy with a variety of different
projects that include teaching, speaking engagements like FTX West
and working on her new book, set to hit the shelves this spring.
Titled The TV Writer's Workbook: A Creative Approach to Television
Scripts, the book will touch on many of the same points and
principals Sandler will speak about this weekend.
"The characters' structure and their relationships are the
key to the game," she said. "If the central character
is rooted in reality, believable, with a strong internal conflict
and the surrounding characters have a credible, strong relationship
with that central character, there are endless numbers of stories.
Without that, you're always trying to manipulate things into something
that sounds like a story that never works. And that's the difference
between a great show and a show that goes away after a season or
less."
Sandler does admit, however, that despite her success, she's worked
on plenty of those doomed shows as well.
"[My failed pilot scripts] are all buried in my backyard,"
she laughed, noting that most pilots don't get developed into a
series. "The networks will order scripts and pay for maybe
about 90 pilots every year. Of those 90, maybe a dozen will make
it on the air and maybe two will last for a second season."
Despite the fact that success can be hard to find in television
writing and producing, Sandler insisted that there is plenty of
opportunity out there for creative thinkers.
"Once you start writing in television, if you can keep doing
a good job and turn in a credible script, there is room for you,"
she said.
FTX West takes place Oct. 13 and 14 at the Vancouver Convention
and Exhibition Centre. Founded by Marcy Schachter, the event aims
to bring Canadians some of the opportunities that are offered in
abundance in places like Los Angeles or New York. More information
on FTX West can be found online at www.ftxwest.com.
Kyle Berger is a freelance journalist and graphic designer
living in Richmond.
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