Archive for April, 2009
I SUCCUMB…
IT’S A WRAP…
And so it ends.
26 weeks later, NEWS WEAKLY wraps up its final episodes.
26 weeks of little to no sleep. Of going over several hours of Reuters and AP footage every day. Of watching every news report filed by every bureau of Dawn News and sifting through miles and miles of political speeches. Of spending every Friday writing scripts for 12 to 16 hours at a go. Of Shooting on Saturday and then editing all day Sunday. Then spending Monday with tension headaches as the episode went on air. Then starting the whole cycle again.
And I wish I could do it all over again.
The show was a success by my standards. It succeeded as often as it failed. It got noticed by the people whose opinions I care about and it was one of the few things I’ve ever done that I am proud of.
Before you ask, the decision to close the show was mine. Yes, there were external factors, but the end decision lay with me. And I decided to go out on a high note.
I learned alot by doing this. I learned to write comedy, not when I feel like, but when I have to. I learned tricks in Final Cut Pro and Photoshop that would make an experienced Film Editor blush. And I learned, after a long long time, how to get comfortable in front of the camera. I can now confidently say I know how to write for T.V. and that I explored aspects of my comedic skills that I didn’t know I could have.
That doesn’t mean the show was a resounding success. Not at all. The viewership was small, but it was fanatical in its support. For that I thank everyone who sent words of encouragement and support. You can’t imagine how much they helped. However, it never broke into the larger audiences that Management wanted it to. Sometimes (some can say alot of times) it wasn’t funny. For a comedy show that’s a tough spot to be in. In my defence, I did the best I could each episode. That isn’t, unfortunately, always good enough.
But…but it got alot of laughs when it worked. It critiqued politics and world events in ways that people responded to from time to time.
I could go on…I think I could speak for hours on what News Weakly achieved and what I learned doing it. Ultimately though, it was a small show done as a labour of love by someone who is proud of how it turned out. Warts and all.
