Highlander Newspaper

Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Emily Corkery

Tuesday evening at the "Kings of TV" panel discussion, two of Hollywood's most accomplished producers charmed UCR with their presence: Howard Gordon, an executive producer of FOX's "24" and Matthew Weiner, the creator and executive producer of AMC's "Mad Men." You may not know them by name, but chances are you've seen, or at least heard of, their work.

Moderated by Professors Robin Russin and Stu Krieger of the UCR Department of Theatre, the Q&A was delayed due to the rain and freeway traffic, but as the saying goes, "the show must go on."

To start things off, the event coordinators played for the audience the full-length pilot episode of the drama series "Mad Men," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."

When the credits rolled, Prof. Russin gave a brief introduction of Gordon who had just arrived. Growing up, Gordon said, Hollywood was a mere fantasy and his reason for chasing his dream was: "I didn't want to be broke." After graduating from Princeton University in 1984, he and fellow filmmaker Alex Gansa came to Los Angeles to pursue careers in writing for television.

As the guiding force behind a show like "24," Gordon said, "I take all the credit, and all the blame." After eight seasons writing for the same show, "it becomes increasingly difficult to create the story and continue in an interesting way. When you start losing respect for your writing, your show and/or your audience, you're doomed [...] Writing is like mining for coal with your fingers."

"Television is the infantry of the entertainment industry." Gordon went on to say. "And it's shrinking and expanding all the time. At first there were only three major networks: NBC, CBS and ABC. Now, there are so many other options with social media websites like YouTube in order to get your ideas out there to the public."

Gordon's other credits include work on "The X-Files," "Angel," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Beauty and the Beast," "Spencer: For Hire" and "Sisters." He was also the creator and executive producer of the innovative drama "Strange World."

At last, Weiner arrived and professors Russin and Krieger turned the focus onto him. When asked for thoughts or encouragements on breaking into the industry, Weiner had this to say: "My concise advice, don't give yourself a time limit to write. Don't try to gauge what everyone else is doing in the industry. And thrive on rejection."

Continued...

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