Episode 113 -- Nunan's Nuggets

POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW

My first quarter in UCLA’s Screenwriting MFA program, I had the great fortune to take a class on network TV management with a guy named Tom Nunan. Like most of the instructors at UCLA, Tom’s resume was pretty incredible – he’d been president of UPN (which eventually merged with the WB to become the CW); president of NBC Studios (which during his time created “Will & Grace” and “The King of Queens”, among others); before that he oversaw FOX’s primetime schedule.

He was also the executive producer of the Academy-Award winning “Crash”. The guy has done stuff.

He doesn’t pull any punches, either. I once confided to him my concern that my age might be detriment to working out here, expecting him to encourage me. But he just looked me up and down and said, “Yeah. It might.”

How I reacted:

Half of each class Nunan would bring in someone from the TV business to talk about their work. We had Sue Naegle, who at the time ran HBO; Stephanie Gibbons, who is in charge of FX’s marketing (think the “American Horror Story” or “Louie” ad campaigns each year and tell me she’s not amazing); Wendell Foster, who oversees scheduling and ratings across platforms for ABC; and a bunch of others, each of them so knowledgeable. (One of the best parts about film school is the opportunities you get to listen to pros like these just tell you about what they do.)

The other half of each class Nunan would lead discussion on different topics. He’d also offer a “Nunan Nugget” -- little pieces of advice about how to succeed in the business.

Now, every film school lecturer has their set of tips, things like “Never Say No to a Meeting”, “It Takes Ten Years to Succeed Out Here” (oof), “It’s a Small Town”, etc.

But I want to share Nunan’s Nuggets with you because as much as they’re about how to succeed in the business, they’re also tips on becoming a good and happy human being.

1. Always Be Nice.

So much of Hollywood for a new writer is about “taking meetings” with whoever will offer them and then impressing them, with the hope when they have need of a writer tomorrow or three years from now they might think of you before the other ten thousand they’ve met and read in the last week.

It’s kind of great, actually; you end up meeting a lot of interesting people, and you can learn a ton. But you can also spend every moment of those meetings thinking about whether you’re saying the right things, trying to remind yourself of the things you prepped that you wanted to share, the connections you discovered you had. It can easily get to the point that the person in front of you who is giving you this hour of their time barely exists.

If Hollywood has a curse it’s that it’s so easy to just always be worried about yourself. And it’s a horrible way to live.

“You need to ask people how they are doing,” Nunan told us. Nice isn’t just about being warm or polite; it’s about being interested -- legitimately interested – in others.

It’s obvious. But also kind of not.

2. Be of Service (like Chewbacca).

Again, we’re all so easily trapped in our heads, desperate to get work or just feel less scared – ever noticed how much of what we do is really motivated by a desire not to feel uncomfortable?

How do we stop that? One way: offer your talents to something. Whether in the business or not, volunteer, get involved. Give yourself to something in need, and your own needs and fears take on much more realistic proportions.

3. Nurture Your Passions and Share them With Others.

One thing you can count on in a class on TV is that almost everyone there can rattle off storylines, network politics and ratings like others tell you what Ted Williams hit in 1955. (It was .356, in 320 at bats, btw.)
(Totally got that from Wikipedia. I wasn’t even sure he was still playing in ’55.)

That’s great. But what else do you love--Opera? Cooking? Playing the piano? Australian politics? Sewing your own life-sized animal costume? Traveling? Your children? Whatever it is, you should make sure you take time to keep doing it, to feed that part of you. You are more than your possible future TV job. You are more interesting than that.

Nunan’s point: be as big and broad and curious as you actually are, and it will help nourish you, and it will help you get work. One of the things you learn quickly out here is tons of people have the talent to get on a show; the job interview is really about whether the showrunner and his staff would want to spend 10-14 hours a day with you for the next 6-9 months. Someone who has lot of interests, a variety of experiences a
nd some seasoning is a lot more attractive.

Like for instance, if you're really into Star Wars, don't be embarrassed about it. Just keep posting the fake albums covers, it's never too much, people will come to love you for it.

4. Work Harder.

(By the way, these covers and so many more can be found at WhytheLongPlayFace)

This is your classic graduation speaker note: Everyone has talent, everyone has dreams. The ones who actually succeed are usually those that work harder than everyone else.

I like how Nunan ended his take on it: Every day, do just a little more.

5. Change your Routine (But Remain Disciplined).

I don’t know why, but this one has stayed with me more than any nugget but “Be Nice.” One night Nunan told us, drive home a different way than you usually do. Break your pattern. Wear a fetching scarf and purple blazer with your helmet for a change. Because when we break our patterns, it forces us to see new things. Which broadens us, gives us the ability to respond in different ways.

Perhaps knowing half his audience were writers who are looking for any reason to procrastinate, he also reminded us, that’s not to say stop working. This is close to a direct quote: “Yes, drive home differently some nights, but still, go home.”

6. Stay Informed.

If you’re going to work in a business, you should probably read that industry’s trade magazines. For us, that means Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, the L.A. Times.

But here again, Nunan pushed us to think more broadly. Yes, by all means, read Variety. But also read the New York Times or the Guardian; read the New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Vox, FiveThirtyEight, America Magazine. Follow what’s happening on Twitter; subscribe to a newsletter by an off-the-wall priest. (Huzzah!)

In other words, know what’s going on in the world around you. In part, so that when you’re in a meeting you know what the heck people are talking about. And in part because you live in the world, ya goofball.

7. Meditate. It will give you perspective. And bleach your skin.

I once interviewed this guy who was of all things the former prime minister of Australia, a fantastic scary genius of a person in office called Paul Keating. And he told me he attributed a big piece of his success as prime minister to the fact that each day before work, after he had read his newspapers, he would sit and listen to a symphony. Not listen and problem solve the day; just listen. And he found that act of listening all by itself helped to filter out a lot of the mental debris. It gave him clarity.

Prayer and meditation are activities that are hard to appreciate from the outside. Like, when you’re sitting there what are you even doing? And for those of us who were taught prayers as kids, they’re fine, sure, who doesn’t like a good Our Father? But it’s not like they provide some sort of personal satisfaction.

But there’s so much more there for us, whether in listening to a symphony, taking a walk or just sitting in silence, breathing, listening to the wind and letting whatever is going on inside you come to the surface.

I find when I meditate a lot of time gets spent being harassed by worries or things that have to get done, sometimes writing ideas. That’s all okay; trying to fight too much of that stuff off only gives it energy. I don’t try to fix it or even understand it. I just let it buzz around, as best I can. And then afterwards, sometimes I have more clarity about stuff in my life. Sometimes I don’t. But I feel better.

This is totally a priest-public-service-announcement, but I really do believe, no matter what or whether a person has a conception of God, there is some form of meditation out there for everybody, that can help us each feel connected and have some peace.

8. Be Present in the Present. Stop Trying to Steal Back Your Rig.

A Jesuit I know was once working with a theater company, and he told me each night before a performance they would slowly say to themselves something like this – “I am present here, in this moment, right now.” I think they would say it three times.

It’s not a bad thing to try when you’re wound up or worried. Stop. Breathe. Look around, see the world that’s actually in front of you. And then slowly, with relish, tell yourself: I am present here, in this moment, right now. I am present here, in this moment, right now. I am present here, in this moment, right now.

The fact is, no matter what you have to do later, you’ve also got something going on right now, something that will soon be over. Why not make the most of it while you have it?

9. Don’t Go It Alone. You Cannot Do This By Yourself.

Saddest moment in the whole Prequel Trilogy
(except for the death of my childhood).

When Nunan shared this one I think I dismissed it as pretty obvious. How could you possibly do this alone?

Five years later, I have to say it might be the hardest thing. When things are tough, isolation is so attractive.

10. ....

Here’s the thing: I looked through my notes repeatedly, and I could not find the 10th. (Actually to be precise I could not find the 6th.) Sorry!

You could settle with Nine Nunan Nuggets. That’s auspiciously alliterative. Or maybe the point is to add one of your own. One thing I seem to be working on lately is “Be Your Own CEO” (or, "Be Your Own Queen"). There are so many moments I am tempted to get all wound up about things that are ultimately small and stupid -- being cut off on the road; bad customer service; online thoughtlessness; awful TV writing; Donald Trump.

It’s like the world is filled with bait trying to turn us into our smallest, most pathetic selves. But we don’t have to go there. When it comes to me and decision-making I want to see myself like the chairman of a board. My eyes not on the petty, but on the big stuff. The more interesting, more important stuff.

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Wow of the Week: He Got You

Have you seen Luke Cage yet? I finished it yesterday, and found it pretty interesting.

If you don’t know the subject matter: Luke Cage was a black cop who got set up and sent to prison. While he was there he was experimented on and became super strong and invulnerable. As we meet him he’s living in Harlem trying to figure out what to do with his life, while the Harlem community deals with some serious crime issues.

The show, which as you can see above features a black man in a hoodie who gets confronted by police (a lot), is actually very cautious about the way it references the American crisis of police brutality towards black men. It might even be a little too careful; at times you can feel the story wanting to go to some really important, often dark places, and then backing off just slightly.

Even so, there’s a lot there to unpack. One image in particular, a sort of badge the community of Harlem adopts, will stay with me a long time. (If you want to see it, you can find it here. But spoilers!) (And language.)

It’s also a series that celebrates Harlem. Even if the superhero and race relations aspects don't grab you, I would still recommend the first couple episodes for the rich portrait of Harlem it paints.

++ LINKS ++

This is a Muppets parody of Fifty Shades of Grey. Somehow it is both wonderful and disturbing.

I love this piece from Todd VanDerWerff about preferring shows that are messy and bold rather than those that are perfect. Dead on.

Have you ever heard of The Trolley Problem Meme? This New York Magazine article on it perfectly explains it and also demonstrates just how insane the internet is, if you didn't already know.