Five women were chosen to develop pilot scripts for a TV series that calls for a female engineer protagonist; Summer can be a great time to watch TV, if you know where to look; the singer Little Boots was once signed to Atlantic Records, but she decided having her own label is a better fit.
4 TV shows you should be watching this summer
As the midsummer heat sets in, TV networks are showcasing their upcoming Fall season talent during what usually is a dry period for exciting television. However, this year there is no need to wait for Fall for exciting shows.
Andy Greenwald, who covers TV for Grantland and shares the ups and downs of the biz on his podcast, "Hollywood Prospectus," tells us what we should be binging on right now.
1. "Mr. Robot" (USA)
A psychological hacker thriller starring Rami Malek and Christian Slater, "Mr. Robot" tells the story of Elliot Alderson (Malek), tech security worker by day, vigilante hacker by night. Alderson meets the quirky "Mr. Robot" and is enlisted to help take down "E Corp," the very company he is employed to protect.
Fun fact: The series was originally conceived by creator Sam Esmail as a feature film.
What Andy thinks:
I know if you heard USA and you heard the name Mr. Robot" you might already be tuned out. Let me advise you to tune back in. This is unlike anything else on TV. It is a very paranoid hacker thriller that takes aim squarely at corporate American in a way that is both funny, bold, and deeply, deeply surprising.
"Mr. Robot" has already been renewed for a second season.
2. "Catastrophe" (Amazon)
This British romantic comedy was created by and stars Irish actress Sharon Horgan and American comedian Rob Delaney. Their characters meet on a UK business trip and engage in a week-long affair that results in an unexpected pregnancy. An effort to have a relationship ensues. The series is broadcast by Channel 4 in the UK and available on Amazon Prime in the USA.
Fun fact: Delaney initially received attention because of
.
What Andy thinks:
Absolutely the most fun you'll have watching TV this summer. The thing about "Catastrophe" is that is it very funny, but it actually stars characters that are real human beings. The humor goes to places that traditional rom-coms rarely do."
"Catastrophe" was renewed for a second season earlier this year.
3. "Deutschland 83" (Sundance TV)
Jonas Nay plays Martin Rauch, an East German border patrol officer who is stationed in West Germany as a spy to gather information. It is, indeed, set in 1983.
Fun fact: The eight episode mini-series is also the first German-language series to air on an American Network.
What Andy thinks:
It is a sexy spy story. It is incredibly fun. If you are a fan of TV shows like "The Americans," the novels of John le Carré, or spy fiction in general, you'll like it. But it also has an incredible New Wave soundtrack, obviously relevant to the era. Really, it's a show about youth."
4. "Humans" (AMC)
"Humans" takes place in London where people are learning to coexist with the newest accessory, "synths" — uncanny human-like robots that help humans around the house with mundane tasks. William Hurt is featured in the series as Dr. George Millican, a mostly housebound scientist who helped create the synths.
Fun fact: William Hurt.
What Andy thinks:
William Hurt has long had the reputation of being one of our great American actors and he is almost always good, but he rarely seems as invested as he does in this. He is very emotionally alive and his performance is the best I can remember from him in a long time."
‘Next MacGyver’ competition awards 5 winners for the right mix of science and fiction
It was a decidedly Hollywood affair at the Paley Center for Media on Tuesday. Photo flashes, velvet rope — the only thing missing was a red carpet.
Professionals from both the engineering and entertainment fields came together to judge 12 finalists as they pitched an original TV show that calls for a female engineer protagonist.
Hosted by the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the National Academy of Engineering and The Paley Center for Media, five winning finalists received $5,000 and the chance to work with an entertainment industry mentor in order to take their idea from pitch to pilot script. It’s called “The Next MacGyver” competition and it was started with the goal of finding the next MacGyver-like role model — for women.
But not all judges who made it out to the live pitch event were from the entertainment industry.
Debbie Sterling is the founder and CEO of GoldieBlox, a company that makes toys designed to get young girls interested in engineering. She explained what she was looking for in a winning pitch.
“What I’m going to be looking for most are people who try to make STEM — science, technology, engineering, math — particularly entertaining for young girls,” Sterling said.
Several of the judges who were in attendance do work in Hollywood though, like Roberto Orci. A writer and producer with credits on TV shows such as “Fringe” and “Sleepy Hollow,” as well as the latest “Star Trek” movies, Orci described what kind of show he wanted to see at the competition.
“It can’t be pandering,” he said. “Only a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down and if you can have a decent story that hides the message, that’s what works ... a real character, doing a real thing, that’s awesome. ”
Actress America Ferrera also was a judge. At her own company, Take Fountain Productions, she said she’s always looking for new ways to reflect women in TV and film. But like several of her fellow judges, Ferrera said the quality of the narrative was still paramount.
“It starts with great character and great story and once you have that, you get to weave in the themes and the issues that you’re trying to have conversations about in the world,” Ferrera said. “But it comes down to fun entertainment and coming up with a world that people are excited to get lost in.”
Once the pitching got underway, presenters had just five minutes to convince the judges that their show concept was worth pursuing.
Not all of the pitchers had experience writing scripts. Beth Keser is a principle engineer at Qualcomm in San Diego. In her pitch she said she wants her TV concept, “Rule 702,” to “show young women that being an engineer can be exciting, rewarding, and even fun.”
After the pitching session ended, the 12 finalists nervously awaited the results while the judges deliberated in a separate room.
("The Next MacGyver" judges deliberating. © The Paley Center for Media)
But according to “MacGyver” creator Lee Zlotoff, just getting to the pitch round meant the contestants had a promising script.
“It’s entirely possible that an idea will not win this competition and still end up on television because we have a whole audience of entertainment people here,” Zlotoff said.
Miranda Sajdak won for her concept called “Riveting.” She said she still has plenty of work to do before her pitch becomes a show though.
“Next for me is just taking the script from the treatment stage that it’s in now and turning it into a pilot, but it will definitely be a lot of writing,” Sajdak said.
For Jayde Lovell — who won for her show “SECs” — the $5,000 prize was appreciated, but it really wasn’t the reason for competing.
“I literally forgot about the money until just now,” Lovell said after the winners were announced. “It’s such an honor to be able to stand up in front of all these people that we love and that I look up to.”
Lovell says the real prize is getting to work with Roberto Orci. Well, now he’s just Bob.
“My mentor is Bob, who’s one of the writers behind ‘Star Trek,’ so I think I really lucked out with a great writer and a great guy,” Lovell said. “And I’m looking forward to that real world experience of learning not just how to write well, but to get a show across the line and be produced.”
Here's the full list of the five winning finalists:
Name: Beth Keser
Mentor(s): Lori McCreary, CEO and Founder of Revelations Entertainment; President of Producer’s Guild of America ("Madam Secretary," "Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman"); Tracy Mercer, VP of Development, Revelations Entertainment
TV Concept Title: "Rule 702"
Name: Jayde Lovell
Mentor(s): Roberto Orci, Writer/Producer ("Star Trek," "Scorpion," "Sleepy Hollow," "Hawaii Five-O," "Fringe")
TV Concept Title: "SECs" (Science and Engineering Clubs)
Name: Miranda Sajdak
Mentor(s): Clayton Krueger, Senior Vice President of Television, Scott Free Productions ("3001: The Final Odyssey")
TV Concept Title: "Riveting"
Name: Craig Motlong
Mentor(s): Anthony E. Zuiker, creator and executive producer of the "CSI" franchise
TV Concept Title: "Q Branch"
Name: Shanee Edwards
Mentor(s): America Ferrera, actress/producer ("Ugly Betty," "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"); Gabrielle Neimand, Take Fountain Productions
TV Concept Title: "Ada and the Machine"
Why Little Boots left a major label and started her own
When British musician Little Boots — real name Victoria Hesketh — released her 2009 debut album on Atlantic Records, she was tabbed as an artist to watch by both the BBC and Rolling Stone. But Hesketh learned that being on a big label wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
As the record industry struggled with the digital revolution, Hesketh, like a growing number of musicians, decided to launch her own label, called On Repeat Records. Her latest album is called "Working Girl."
When Hesketh joined us on The Frame, she talked about the benefits and challenges of having a record label, writing songs about being her own boss, and how she almost became the "English Lady Gaga."
Interview Highlights:
You've said that you're not just the boss of a record label, you're also a boss character, and that if you pretend to be the boss character, people start to believe that you are the boss. Are you still pretending? Or have you become the boss?
I really don't know, but that's what's quite fun! [laughs] I really believe in this fake it 'til you make it mentality, that once you start doing things, even if you don't really know what you're doing, as long as you manage to look and act like you do, people start taking you seriously.
And then you're like, Hang on, I actually am doing this. When I was writing the record and trying to run the label, I didn't really know where I stopped and this fantasy boss lady began, but that kind of doesn't matter.
Your first album, "Hands," came out in 2009 and it was released by Atlantic Records. So, for your second release (2013's "Nocturnes"), why did you decide to create your own record label after being on such a big one?
It was kind of complicated, but when I split ways with Atlantic I looked at the other options and didn't want to jump back in bed with another one of those big labels that takes away your creative control and decides how your money's going to be spent. I wanted to be in control, and I guess I felt like some parts of my identity, or how I was being represented as an artist, were not things I was comfortable with.
I think the music industry's going to change so much, and a lot of artists are self-releasing or starting labels, which is a better option. You can keep control of all your music, your image, your income and choose how you want to invest it. Now, if I make money, I can say, "Cool, let's spend this on an amazing video or a cool remix." It's not someone else's decision.
But as an artist, can you be truer to your authentic, musical self on your own label? If you're your own boss, you're not fulfilling the idea of what you are as an artist to somebody else.
Exactly. On my first record, especially in the UK, I was marketed as "The English Lady Gaga," which is something that I never really understood or felt like I was. Now, I'm in control of little things like that, but it's a lot of pressure. If something goes wrong now, it's my fault. [laughs]
When you move from a major record label to your own label, how much of your sound did you end up controlling? How much of your sound was shaped by where you were home to, as opposed to what you were doing yourself?
It is actually really different, because now I don't have an A&R guy. Writing songs for an A&R guy can be a great relationship, but it's basically like handing your homework in to be marked. So every time you write a song you have to go and say, Here you go guys, what do you think? And they're the people that ultimately say, Yes, pursue this track, or No, this is rubbish.
Those guys don't necessarily know — you hear so many stories about great pop songs being turned down five times before they become huge hits, so I've really learned to trust myself a lot more and, when I've got a song that sounds good, to go for it. Before, I would be very much relying on someone else's opinion.
So when other musicians come up to you and ask about your label, what's your sales pitch? What are the obstacles and what are the advantages to starting your own label?
It's hard because, for new artists, I think there's still the validation of having a major label. People are attracted to that and the financial backing it can give you, but if you really look at it, they can't just make money off CD sales any more, so they're going to take all of your income streams.
I think you have to really think about it, but it's not for everybody — it's a lot of work to do it yourself and you've really got to have a good idea of what you want and be very driven, but I think I definitely would suggest new artists have a long think about it. And so many people are doing it themselves.
Did all of these experiences start to shape the aesthetic of the album itself? Does it start to affect the kinds of stories you want to tell, be they romantic or narrative, in the lyrics of the new album?
For this record, I really tried to look somewhere else for inspiration. That's how it started. I was so bored of writing about love and I was just over that, I felt like I had exhausted it lyrically. So I started looking at other things, like, What else is going on in my life? Oh, there's this huge thing that's kind of been like a massive breakup, and I've had to pull myself back together again.
It's almost been this weird heartbreak story, but in a kind of business sense. I just started drawing on this as inspiration, because these are themes that everyone can relate to — success, pressure, ambition, drive, and this crazy, digital, hyperactive world we're living in.