MissChriss
Jul 30th, 2004, 10:45 PM
Our old thread seems to have fall off. Oh well, here an interview from CBS.com of the producer and writer. They answer questions on the future of GL. They will be returning to storylines that focus on the families. Yay!!!
New Regime
Guiding Light’s Executive producer ELLEN WHEELER and new Headwriter DAVID KREIZMAN met with the press recently to discuss their plans for GL’s future. Here are some excerpts from that discussion.
Question: Ellen, what prompted you to choose David Kreizman as your new Headwriter?
ELLEN WHEELER: I had been here before and Dave had been a breakdown writer. When you got one of Dave’s breakdowns you were always so excited [and] you said, “Oh my goodness, this is going to be a great breakdown.” What made it a great breakdown was that he understood the show so well and he could write from such a place of character and history and story. I felt like we had some of the same sensibility of how we saw soap opera, storytelling in general but certainly how we saw this show. So when it became a discussion, Dave was really the only person on my list!
Question: David, can you elaborate on your history at GL?
DAVID KREIZMAN: I started as an intern here when I was in college the semester before I graduated. They called me when I was finishing up and said, “There’s going to be a job opening up in the production office, do you want it?” And I said, “Sure!” I came and worked here in the production office [where I met my wife]. Other than a little 6-month break in the middle, I’ve been here ever since.
ELLEN WHEELER: You started in the production office and then you went upstairs, and then in the booth, and then writing. So between the two of us, we’ve done a lot of the jobs that are to be done in an office or on the floor. We both have different understandings but kind of wide range of understandings of what’s going on in the studio at any given time. I think that is really great. And neither one of us has done the same job. So, we kind of understand what the other person knows but we can also help each other with the things we didn’t experience.
Question: Can you explain how the two of you work together?
ELLEN WHEELER: We talk constantly. We talk about everything. If I have changes in the script that I’m not sure about, I’ll call Dave. When he has story points he’s not sure about, he calls me. We discuss all the long-term story together. It sounds like we would get terribly sick of each other, but we’re often still on the phone at 2 in the morning just chatting about politics at the end of the day! I think we enjoy working with each other so much and I think that’s part of what is so fun.
Question: What are some big changes which viewers can expect to see in the future?
DAVID KREIZMAN: We really want to focus on the core families. I think we spent a lot of time building the class warfare a little bit between the Spauldings and the Coopers, the working class and the rich. I think we wanted the show to be what Guiding Light was in its heyday. A lot of people when they say, GL was best when it was telling this kind of story – with heart and based in character and the families.
ELLEN WHEELER: The families. It really comes back to that.
Question: Is there a story in the works for Reva?
ELLEN WHEELER: There’s definitely a story for Reva.
DAVID KREIZMAN: Yes! It’s very important to the show and she will have a big story.
Question: The couples on the show have such enthusiastic and passionate followings. How do you keep all fan bases happy, and do you want to keep all the fan bases happy? Or do you want to shake them up a little bit?
DAVID KREIZMAN: We’re not looking to shake up any fan bases, but the couples need to be shaken up sometimes. We’re not saying we’re going to break up Danny and Michelle forever or Harley and Gus or whoever it is – if it’s a couple who has a huge following, then they probably will still be the rooting interest ultimately no matter what they go through in the middle of the story.
ELLEN WHEELER: But not because of their following. The reason they have a following…
DAVID KREIZMAN: Is because they’re a great couple and we want them together just as much as anyone.
ELLEN WHEELER: Right. In watching you are compelled to have them together. Like you said, we want them to be together. There are couples that you watch and say, these couples are destined to be together. Well, we feel that, too. We know that they’re destined to be together. At the same time, my husband and I are destined to be together – we still have our bad days.
Question: What about bringing minority characters into story more?
DAVID KREIZMAN: It’s definitely a priority for us.
Question: Dinah’s back. Who’s next?
DAVID KREIZMAN: Stay tuned! [Laughs]
Question: Fans love for shows to go back to history, but their biggest fear is when you change history. So, what are doing to make sure that if you do tap back into history, you don’t change what has already been established?
DAVID KREIZMAN: I agree, you can’t go back and change history. I did continuity for a year or so. I had to learn that Guiding Light book backwards and forward and watch all the old tapes. I don’t think I could really change it even if I tried, because it just wouldn’t make sense to me the way it doesn’t make sense to fans.
ELLEN WHEELER: Almost every character on the canvas has been off the show. The history is set, but it still has holes in it, as anybody’s history does. I can’t tell you everything about my parents even though they’ve talked to me about their life growing up. There’s still a lot of their lives that I don’t know. And you learn that history just keeps coming up and that’s a nice thing. But we don’t have any intention ever of rewriting history. We want to just draw from that history.
New Regime
Guiding Light’s Executive producer ELLEN WHEELER and new Headwriter DAVID KREIZMAN met with the press recently to discuss their plans for GL’s future. Here are some excerpts from that discussion.
Question: Ellen, what prompted you to choose David Kreizman as your new Headwriter?
ELLEN WHEELER: I had been here before and Dave had been a breakdown writer. When you got one of Dave’s breakdowns you were always so excited [and] you said, “Oh my goodness, this is going to be a great breakdown.” What made it a great breakdown was that he understood the show so well and he could write from such a place of character and history and story. I felt like we had some of the same sensibility of how we saw soap opera, storytelling in general but certainly how we saw this show. So when it became a discussion, Dave was really the only person on my list!
Question: David, can you elaborate on your history at GL?
DAVID KREIZMAN: I started as an intern here when I was in college the semester before I graduated. They called me when I was finishing up and said, “There’s going to be a job opening up in the production office, do you want it?” And I said, “Sure!” I came and worked here in the production office [where I met my wife]. Other than a little 6-month break in the middle, I’ve been here ever since.
ELLEN WHEELER: You started in the production office and then you went upstairs, and then in the booth, and then writing. So between the two of us, we’ve done a lot of the jobs that are to be done in an office or on the floor. We both have different understandings but kind of wide range of understandings of what’s going on in the studio at any given time. I think that is really great. And neither one of us has done the same job. So, we kind of understand what the other person knows but we can also help each other with the things we didn’t experience.
Question: Can you explain how the two of you work together?
ELLEN WHEELER: We talk constantly. We talk about everything. If I have changes in the script that I’m not sure about, I’ll call Dave. When he has story points he’s not sure about, he calls me. We discuss all the long-term story together. It sounds like we would get terribly sick of each other, but we’re often still on the phone at 2 in the morning just chatting about politics at the end of the day! I think we enjoy working with each other so much and I think that’s part of what is so fun.
Question: What are some big changes which viewers can expect to see in the future?
DAVID KREIZMAN: We really want to focus on the core families. I think we spent a lot of time building the class warfare a little bit between the Spauldings and the Coopers, the working class and the rich. I think we wanted the show to be what Guiding Light was in its heyday. A lot of people when they say, GL was best when it was telling this kind of story – with heart and based in character and the families.
ELLEN WHEELER: The families. It really comes back to that.
Question: Is there a story in the works for Reva?
ELLEN WHEELER: There’s definitely a story for Reva.
DAVID KREIZMAN: Yes! It’s very important to the show and she will have a big story.
Question: The couples on the show have such enthusiastic and passionate followings. How do you keep all fan bases happy, and do you want to keep all the fan bases happy? Or do you want to shake them up a little bit?
DAVID KREIZMAN: We’re not looking to shake up any fan bases, but the couples need to be shaken up sometimes. We’re not saying we’re going to break up Danny and Michelle forever or Harley and Gus or whoever it is – if it’s a couple who has a huge following, then they probably will still be the rooting interest ultimately no matter what they go through in the middle of the story.
ELLEN WHEELER: But not because of their following. The reason they have a following…
DAVID KREIZMAN: Is because they’re a great couple and we want them together just as much as anyone.
ELLEN WHEELER: Right. In watching you are compelled to have them together. Like you said, we want them to be together. There are couples that you watch and say, these couples are destined to be together. Well, we feel that, too. We know that they’re destined to be together. At the same time, my husband and I are destined to be together – we still have our bad days.
Question: What about bringing minority characters into story more?
DAVID KREIZMAN: It’s definitely a priority for us.
Question: Dinah’s back. Who’s next?
DAVID KREIZMAN: Stay tuned! [Laughs]
Question: Fans love for shows to go back to history, but their biggest fear is when you change history. So, what are doing to make sure that if you do tap back into history, you don’t change what has already been established?
DAVID KREIZMAN: I agree, you can’t go back and change history. I did continuity for a year or so. I had to learn that Guiding Light book backwards and forward and watch all the old tapes. I don’t think I could really change it even if I tried, because it just wouldn’t make sense to me the way it doesn’t make sense to fans.
ELLEN WHEELER: Almost every character on the canvas has been off the show. The history is set, but it still has holes in it, as anybody’s history does. I can’t tell you everything about my parents even though they’ve talked to me about their life growing up. There’s still a lot of their lives that I don’t know. And you learn that history just keeps coming up and that’s a nice thing. But we don’t have any intention ever of rewriting history. We want to just draw from that history.