Julie Plec has "The Vampire Diaries" and "The Originals" on The CW Network, and she'll soon add a third show, albeit one that's fang-free; it's been two decades since the Scottish band Garbage and singer Shirley Manson burst on the scene; the EEOC is looking into hiring practices for women filmmakers.
Garbage's Shirley Manson still loves touring after 20 years
Twenty years ago, the alternative-rock band Garbage released its debut self-titled album and became an international sensation. The album spent more than a year on both the U.S. and U.K. charts and sold more than two million copies in the U.S. alone.
The album was also a hit with critics and was nominated for two Grammy awards. Now the band is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album with a tour.
The Frame’s James Kim spoke with lead singer Shirley Manson about the album, and what it’s like performing those songs live for 20 years:
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
Do you remember your first tour after releasing Garbage's self-titled album?
The first tour that we ever went on actually ended up lasting about two years. So we headed out and then never really went back home. So we did a smattering of our own headline shows — and by headline I mean playing tiny little clubs for about 200 people, and then we were lucky enough to score a support slot with The Smashing Pumpkins. Our record really took off, our first record, and when you have success as a musician for the first time ever it changes everything.
Garbage - Only Happy When It Rains
How did you manage your personal life on that tour?
Our personal relationships suffered terribly. I mean, you have no personal life. If things are going really, really well in your career as a musician, you have no personal life. You can't be at home. You have to be out on the road and you really have to make connections with audiences all over the world, and that's very demanding and taxing on your personal life.
Do you enjoy touring?
I've never really related to all the complaining that goes on amongst musicians about touring. I mean, clearly, I was meant to do this with my life. I'm really good at it. I think I've only missed one or two shows in my entire career. I'm a beast and I've got a lot of hunger for it and I just find it really exciting and joyful. I mean, you meet your audience and they love you and you love them and it's like this love fest of gratitude and joy. What's to complain about that?
Have you reflected on the fact that you're celebrating the 20th anniversary of Garbage's debut album and singing songs that you wrote so long ago?
Well, to be celebrating a 20th anniversary as a musician is surreal at best. We've never imagined we'd ever be in the position where we're looking back and getting an opportunity to play our debut record for people 20 years on, and it is weird to look back on lyrics that were written 20 years ago. Luckily for us, when we first joined and came together as Garbage, we were all a lot older and a lot more experienced, and so a lot of the lyrical content is actually quite adult.
It's not like I'm having to go back and sing about being in high school and making out with boys behind the woodshed. So some of the themes we tackle in our debut record are actually pretty incredible in that they deal with topics that are as urgent and topical as they ever were.
Do you have a favorite song that you like to perform?
I have this peculiar ability to refuel and refill myself over and over and over again which, I think, makes me really good at my job. It also speaks to probably a lack of intellect [laughs]. But I look forward to singing all of my songs. I know that's really quite sad, but I think it's true. Every single one of these songs changed my life and put me on this insane adventure and I feel good about them all.
What I love most about being a musician is each song has a special connection with a different person in the audience every night, and they mean something to other people. That makes me feel like I've got contact in the world and I'm not so lonely [laughs]. Oh my god, I'm sounding so pathetic. I mean, I am pathetic. I think that anyone who does what I do for a living is kind of pathetic because we're seeking to fill holes. We're seeking contact and there's something inherently pathetic about that [laughs].
Garbage is currently on tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its debut album.
How filmmaker Maria Giese helped spark a federal investigation into Hollywood hiring practices
The issue of under-representation for women filmmakers in Hollywood has taken a dramatic turn.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating hiring practices for women in Hollywood. That investigation began as a complaint to the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU then went to the federal agency on behalf of several women filmmakers.
One of them is Maria Geise. She’s an L.A.-based filmmaker and UCLA film school graduate who says she has struggled to find work in Hollywood throughout her career. Her experience is reflected in numerous studies that show how few women get jobs behind the camera — as directors, screenwriters, producers and many other positions.
When Giese stopped by The Frame today, we began by asking her how the recent studies on women in Hollywood have impacted her campaign.
Julie Plec: The CW network's prolific producer talks vampires, viruses and romance
This is a big week for vampire lovers: Stephanie Meyer is releasing the 10th anniversary edition of her wildly successful "Twilight" books (albeit with a twist), and returning to television are The CW shows "The Vampire Diaries" and its spin-off, "The Originals."
The co-creator and show-runner for both of those programs is
. And since she’s recently added a third CW show to her portfolio (“Containment” will debut early next year), Plec can now be referred to as The CW’s Shonda Rhimes — the producer whose shows dominate Thursday nights on ABC.
We reached Plec this week at her office in Atlanta where she’s hard at work on "Containment." It’s a new challenge for the writer/producer. The show, which is based on a Belgian series, is about a viral epidemic. Unlike Plec's other shows, there are no vampires — at least none that we know of.
Plec is an avid Twitter user ("Vampires and Viruses, that's my jam"). She plans to live tweet the season premieres of "The Vampire Diaries" and "The Originals" to her more than 600,000 followers. Plec says: "The fun part is watching people virtually watch it, even if it's not on the screen right in front of you."
YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE WRITING
When Plec spoke with The Frame's John Horn, he asked if she thinks of herself as writing in the spirit of a young adult romance writer.
I am that, definitely. You hit the nail on the head! I grew up as an avid reader. I would go to the library and check out 40 books a week. Some of them were smarty books, most of them were "Sweet Valley High" and young teen romance. And that grew into a love for Stephen King and adult romance and adult fiction and, actually, legitimate fiction. What I always loved about those stories were they were about love. And they were about tragedy more often or not. They were about family. And always they were set in some sort of context that felt unique and in its own way kind of aspirational. That's really what I can bring to any of these shows.
Her perfect reference for a love story moment was the hallway scene in "My So Called Life."
Plec says about that scene:
It's the most pure, wonderful, simple acknowledgement of love. And it knocked me over then when I was watching it as a fan. And everything I do has a little hint of that DNA. Just how can you acknowledge the simplicity of two people discovering they care about each other in all the right ways.
WHY TAKE ON A 3RD SHOW?
She's a workaholic
I'm just a lunatic. I don't know why I continue to pile work on myself, but I really love what I do. So when an opportunity comes along that I feel really connected to, I'm going to take it and figure out how to get it done.
She loves virus movies
I've always loved the genre of virus movies or Armageddon movies — anything that involves being trapped with the cute boy in detention when the zombies are attacking. And this is the real world version of that. I loved the idea of being able to tell an ordinary story in an extraordinary context without having to rely on the supernatural tricks of the trade.
She knows the reality of Hollywood
I don't know how relevant I'll be able to be past a certain age. God bless Hollywood and all that it stands for but, you know, people tend to peak in their 40s and then it's all downhill from there [laughs]. I really like my life right now and I like the way I get to live and I don't have to worry about how I pay my bills. And I don't want to have to suddenly worry about that at 65 when other people are cashing in on their nice retirement plans and I haven't been able to get hired for 15 years.
She wants to flex her creative muscle
You get hungry to work your muscle in different ways and it's exciting to say, "Hey, look, I can do this over here too." So there's definitely more of that than fear of not being able to work.
She's in healthy competition with Shonda Rhimes
There's also very much of a sort of healthy competition, I think. I'm like, Wow, I've got three shows on the air. I rock! I'm feeling pretty good about myself. And then Entertainment Weekly puts Shonda Rhimes on the cover with all her shows and I'm like, Hey wait a second! I want that too!
John Horn: Well you are that! Aren't you the Shonda Rhimes of The CW network?
I am! So maybe The CW annual corporate brochure would put me on their cover. That would be thrilling.