Post by -|E|- on Dec 8, 2005 13:50:22 GMT -5
The Interrogation Room:
GLEN MAZZARA
The Shield Co-Executive Producer
FXnetwork.com
Every successful screenwriter blazes his or her own path to Hollywood, but The Shield co-executive producer Glen Mazzara definitely took a road less traveled. The native New Yorker spent 13 years working in hospitals – eight years running an emergency room – before pounding out the scripts that led to a job on Nash Bridges. He began working with another writer on that show, Shawn Ryan, who developed his own idea for a show that eventually became The Shield. Now entering his fourth season on The Shield, Mazzara brings a combination of comedy and intensity to his work that results in some of the show's most memorable moments. He seems incapable of discussing any scene, however, without praising his fellow writers, actors and directors (particularly director Scott Brazil, who has worked closely with Mazzara on seven episodes) and the collaborative, fast-paced environment of The Shield.
Strike Team Files: How did you end up writing for The Shield?
Glen Mazzara: I was one of these many people who wanted to be a writer, but the idea of being a screenwriter – sitting in a room by myself for two years really didn't appeal to me. I'm a very social person and I like being in the middle of things. Somebody suggested I try TV writing, so I wrote a few scripts, got very lucky and got a job on Nash Bridges where I met [The Shield creator] Shawn Ryan my first day. Somebody assigned us to be writing partners on that show, so I wrote a few scripts with Shawn. I left that show after two years and was out of work for a year-and-a-half — I just could not get arrested. One day I was complaining to Shawn, who had written the pilot script for The Shield, which was then called The Barn, and he said, “If this show goes, you'll be the first guy I hire.” I said, “Well, that's very sweet Shawn, but when is that ever gonna happen?”
Strike Team Files: And then it happened.
Glen Mazzara: He called me and said, “We're shooting a script. Why don't you come down to the set.” I met Michael Chiklis on the day he was filming the famous scene “Good cop/bad cop went home for the day. I'm a different kind of cop.” The show was picked up, and a few months later Shawn called me to come over to his house and figure out Episode 2. I was the first writer to join Shawn. He's been a great friend and a great teacher.
Strike Team Files: Of the episodes you've written, what's your favorite?
Glen Mazzara: There was an episode I co-wrote with Shawn Ryan in the second season called “Homewrecker.” The reason I love that episode is that it was a very dark crime – a guy looking for his ex-wife comes into a domestic abuse shelter and slaughters all these women. That was the episode that turned into a hostage situation where Connie was taken hostage – and, of course, every cop show will have a hostage situation – and we got out of it by the guy shooting and killing Connie right in front of Vic, so it was a very strong emotional scene for both Vic and Connie. Scott Brazil did a fantastic job directing it, the actors were right there – it was the perfect episode. We also had a really good Dutch and Claudette story in that episode and a very funny story about Danny and Julian trying to find a kid's missing bike, which I think was even funnier given the dark material in the first story. I love everything about that episode.
Strike Team Files: Do you have a character you particularly like to write for?
Glen Mazzara: I wouldn't say that I have a favorite, because it's fun to hear all of their voices, but I really do hear Shane's and Vic's voices in my head a lot. Dutch is a lot of fun to write for as well. With those characters, you can play a lot of comedy, and I tend to try to have a lot of comedy in my episodes. I think it's important to have that sort of lightness in dark material.
Strike Team Files: “Steaks and Tips” is an example of that blend of comedy and dark drama as the decoy squad streaks through the Barn while Tavon lies on the street near death.
Glen Mazzara: That episode was a lot of fun and easy to write – I wrote my first draft in three days. You have this incredible argument between Shane and Tavon that leads to the fight and then the car accident – but those scenes were not my idea. There were other writers in the room who came up with that material. Someone said they should have a knockdown fight, and another suggested the iron. I was very lucky to get great material, and it came together very easily. It had a lot of comedy, but then it takes that dark Shield turn at the end where people say, “I can't believe they just did that.” And then we go back to the streaking. It just kept turning.
Strike Team Files: Do you have any writing rituals before tackling a new episode of The Shield?
Glen Mazzara: For me, every episode is completely different. It's a matter of forgetting what I've done in the past and letting the story reveal itself, if that doesn't sound too corny. Some episodes are easy to write and come together, some are difficult and you really have to work on them. Charles “Chic” Eglee and I are the only writers who don't write on computers. I write everything on a legal pad and hand it to the assistant who types it up and prints it out. I mark it up and she takes it back. Jennifer Richmond is our script coordinator, and she is fantastic. I wouldn't be able to write scripts without her help. The other guys tease me, “When's Jennifer gonna be done with the script?”
STF: Do the writers work together?
GM: The Shield is very collaborative. We help each other with every single scene and give notes to each writer right up until the time of shooting. I've gotten so used to this show being so collaborative, the idea of me going and locking myself up with a computer for a few days doesn't interest me. I've tried it, actually, and it doesn't work for me. I tend to overwrite, and then my stuff becomes dull and boring. We try to write the show as quickly as possible to keep it fresh and give it a certain speed, and running back and forth with pages and changes makes the material better.
Strike Team Files: Does the cast ever ask you to change lines?
Glen Mazzara: It's the writer's job to protect the spirit of the written word. Unless there's a major difference, I'll indulge the actor if it helps them say something more comfortably.
Strike Team Files: Have you ever had an idea turned down because it was too extreme or violent?
Glen Mazzara: No. I don't think anything is off limits. That's why I love writing for the show. We do try to make sure the sex and violence we portray is not gratuitous. We don't want to go for shock factor, we try very hard not to get bigger and bigger and bigger, because then we feel like we're just getting outrageous and trying to top ourselves. What is off limits is going too far in a way that has nothing to do with character or story. Another thing that's off limits is stuff that we've seen other shows do before – we've shot down pitches because Hill Street Blues did something similar to it 20 years ago. We try to push to do things people haven't seen before and that's a credit to (series creator) Shawn Ryan. He set that rule on day one, and it's been great for the show.
Strike Team Files: What old shows influenced you as a television writer?
Glen Mazzara: Hill Street Blues was a huge influence. I remember watching that when I was 14, and I thought it was phenomenal. That type of gritty realism was something I wanted to capture. I love the movie Serpico. All of the films of Sidney Lumet have made me want to do very realistic urban dramas. Believe it or not, a big influence for Shawn has been Cheers, and a big influence for me has been Seinfeld. There's a reality of quirkiness to those characters that I try to bring out in my writing. I try to have a lot of comedy in my writing, so I think those little moments between characters where you can't believe someone's really asking you to do something, I try to incorporate that. Shows like NYPD Blue, The Sopranos – those kinds of shows have been big influences on me. Series that show a seedy, nonpolished, nonpoetic world but show very complex characters struggling with their lives.
GLEN MAZZARA
The Shield Co-Executive Producer
FXnetwork.com
Every successful screenwriter blazes his or her own path to Hollywood, but The Shield co-executive producer Glen Mazzara definitely took a road less traveled. The native New Yorker spent 13 years working in hospitals – eight years running an emergency room – before pounding out the scripts that led to a job on Nash Bridges. He began working with another writer on that show, Shawn Ryan, who developed his own idea for a show that eventually became The Shield. Now entering his fourth season on The Shield, Mazzara brings a combination of comedy and intensity to his work that results in some of the show's most memorable moments. He seems incapable of discussing any scene, however, without praising his fellow writers, actors and directors (particularly director Scott Brazil, who has worked closely with Mazzara on seven episodes) and the collaborative, fast-paced environment of The Shield.
Strike Team Files: How did you end up writing for The Shield?
Glen Mazzara: I was one of these many people who wanted to be a writer, but the idea of being a screenwriter – sitting in a room by myself for two years really didn't appeal to me. I'm a very social person and I like being in the middle of things. Somebody suggested I try TV writing, so I wrote a few scripts, got very lucky and got a job on Nash Bridges where I met [The Shield creator] Shawn Ryan my first day. Somebody assigned us to be writing partners on that show, so I wrote a few scripts with Shawn. I left that show after two years and was out of work for a year-and-a-half — I just could not get arrested. One day I was complaining to Shawn, who had written the pilot script for The Shield, which was then called The Barn, and he said, “If this show goes, you'll be the first guy I hire.” I said, “Well, that's very sweet Shawn, but when is that ever gonna happen?”
Strike Team Files: And then it happened.
Glen Mazzara: He called me and said, “We're shooting a script. Why don't you come down to the set.” I met Michael Chiklis on the day he was filming the famous scene “Good cop/bad cop went home for the day. I'm a different kind of cop.” The show was picked up, and a few months later Shawn called me to come over to his house and figure out Episode 2. I was the first writer to join Shawn. He's been a great friend and a great teacher.
Strike Team Files: Of the episodes you've written, what's your favorite?
Glen Mazzara: There was an episode I co-wrote with Shawn Ryan in the second season called “Homewrecker.” The reason I love that episode is that it was a very dark crime – a guy looking for his ex-wife comes into a domestic abuse shelter and slaughters all these women. That was the episode that turned into a hostage situation where Connie was taken hostage – and, of course, every cop show will have a hostage situation – and we got out of it by the guy shooting and killing Connie right in front of Vic, so it was a very strong emotional scene for both Vic and Connie. Scott Brazil did a fantastic job directing it, the actors were right there – it was the perfect episode. We also had a really good Dutch and Claudette story in that episode and a very funny story about Danny and Julian trying to find a kid's missing bike, which I think was even funnier given the dark material in the first story. I love everything about that episode.
Strike Team Files: Do you have a character you particularly like to write for?
Glen Mazzara: I wouldn't say that I have a favorite, because it's fun to hear all of their voices, but I really do hear Shane's and Vic's voices in my head a lot. Dutch is a lot of fun to write for as well. With those characters, you can play a lot of comedy, and I tend to try to have a lot of comedy in my episodes. I think it's important to have that sort of lightness in dark material.
Strike Team Files: “Steaks and Tips” is an example of that blend of comedy and dark drama as the decoy squad streaks through the Barn while Tavon lies on the street near death.
Glen Mazzara: That episode was a lot of fun and easy to write – I wrote my first draft in three days. You have this incredible argument between Shane and Tavon that leads to the fight and then the car accident – but those scenes were not my idea. There were other writers in the room who came up with that material. Someone said they should have a knockdown fight, and another suggested the iron. I was very lucky to get great material, and it came together very easily. It had a lot of comedy, but then it takes that dark Shield turn at the end where people say, “I can't believe they just did that.” And then we go back to the streaking. It just kept turning.
Strike Team Files: Do you have any writing rituals before tackling a new episode of The Shield?
Glen Mazzara: For me, every episode is completely different. It's a matter of forgetting what I've done in the past and letting the story reveal itself, if that doesn't sound too corny. Some episodes are easy to write and come together, some are difficult and you really have to work on them. Charles “Chic” Eglee and I are the only writers who don't write on computers. I write everything on a legal pad and hand it to the assistant who types it up and prints it out. I mark it up and she takes it back. Jennifer Richmond is our script coordinator, and she is fantastic. I wouldn't be able to write scripts without her help. The other guys tease me, “When's Jennifer gonna be done with the script?”
STF: Do the writers work together?
GM: The Shield is very collaborative. We help each other with every single scene and give notes to each writer right up until the time of shooting. I've gotten so used to this show being so collaborative, the idea of me going and locking myself up with a computer for a few days doesn't interest me. I've tried it, actually, and it doesn't work for me. I tend to overwrite, and then my stuff becomes dull and boring. We try to write the show as quickly as possible to keep it fresh and give it a certain speed, and running back and forth with pages and changes makes the material better.
Strike Team Files: Does the cast ever ask you to change lines?
Glen Mazzara: It's the writer's job to protect the spirit of the written word. Unless there's a major difference, I'll indulge the actor if it helps them say something more comfortably.
Strike Team Files: Have you ever had an idea turned down because it was too extreme or violent?
Glen Mazzara: No. I don't think anything is off limits. That's why I love writing for the show. We do try to make sure the sex and violence we portray is not gratuitous. We don't want to go for shock factor, we try very hard not to get bigger and bigger and bigger, because then we feel like we're just getting outrageous and trying to top ourselves. What is off limits is going too far in a way that has nothing to do with character or story. Another thing that's off limits is stuff that we've seen other shows do before – we've shot down pitches because Hill Street Blues did something similar to it 20 years ago. We try to push to do things people haven't seen before and that's a credit to (series creator) Shawn Ryan. He set that rule on day one, and it's been great for the show.
Strike Team Files: What old shows influenced you as a television writer?
Glen Mazzara: Hill Street Blues was a huge influence. I remember watching that when I was 14, and I thought it was phenomenal. That type of gritty realism was something I wanted to capture. I love the movie Serpico. All of the films of Sidney Lumet have made me want to do very realistic urban dramas. Believe it or not, a big influence for Shawn has been Cheers, and a big influence for me has been Seinfeld. There's a reality of quirkiness to those characters that I try to bring out in my writing. I try to have a lot of comedy in my writing, so I think those little moments between characters where you can't believe someone's really asking you to do something, I try to incorporate that. Shows like NYPD Blue, The Sopranos – those kinds of shows have been big influences on me. Series that show a seedy, nonpolished, nonpoetic world but show very complex characters struggling with their lives.