Something a little different this week…

People often ask me why I moved to the UK and why Bristol in particular.  I will leave the UK answer to my post on the difference between American and UK/European broadcasters.  The answer to the Bristol part is easy.

My good friend Paul Kewley, when newly appointed as a development executive at Aardman Studios, invited me to Bristol to do a series of workshops.  These visits to the city from the US resulted in several consulting assignments on Aardman projects.

I met Paul when I was in the Masters Program in Screenwriting at UCLA and he, a Brit, was a student in the USC Masters program in Producing.

He like a script of mine and we went out pitching a number of projects together.  Over the years we stayed in touch and when we were in a position to recommend each other we did! So thanks Paul for the introduction to Bristol and Aardman

Paul has since become Oscar-nominated as a producer of Shaun the Sheep.  One of Aardman’s iconic characters, first introduced in Nick Park’s Oscar-winning A Close Shave.

Always be kind to school chums as they may someday be in a position to offer you a job! And it’s a good idea to be kind and helpful anyway because that makes you a human being!

The lovely Nick Park, as a result of my work on Aardman projects, wrote one of the two letters I needed to apply for my Tier One Exceptional Talent visa. This allows me to work in the UK without restriction.

Nick is quite simply a genius, although a genuinely humble and shy one. The gentle affection with which he writes his characters, despite their loopy eccentricities shows a depth of understanding of the human condition.  Thanks, Nick for being one of the principle reasons I was allowed my lovely time in Bristol.

Barbara Machin, BAFTA-winning creator of Waking the Dead brought me on board as a consultant for long-running BBC medical series Casualty.  

I’ve since done work on both Casualty and companion show Holby City. The first show is about A & E (or the emergency room in US terms) and the second is set in the hospital.

 The shows were initially shot in Bristol and subsequently moved to Cardiff.  But it was another introduction to Bristol and Barbara was a principal cheerleader and hand-holder during my UK Visa application process.

So thank Barbara for encouraging not to give up my dream of living in the UK.  Initially, I thought for one year, but it’s been almost five and with a recent visa renewal, I am good to stay until 2021 and eligible to apply for “leave to remain” indefinitely. (like a US Green Card).

Wildseed, a talent incubator and production company started by Miles Bulloughs and Jesse Cleary, Aardman alumnus, hired me early on to help young animators improve their storytelling skills.  It was a Bristol vote of confidence shortly after I moved. And subsequently, Scandinavian and UK writers/directors and producers have come to Bristol to work with me.  And it’s very easy to fly anywhere from Bristol airport via Amsterdam or Brussels.

So the final answer is, I knew a lot of people in Bristol (a real social network and not just a virtual one), there were lots of clients here, and it is easy to travel anywhere in the world.  Not to mention Bristol is a wonderful friendly creative city! Voted Best Place to Live in Britain-  CLICK HERE

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Had a meeting with my wonderful web designer about some new tweaks to the website.  I am all about making the site easier to navigate and how to get to things of interest more quickly.

We met in the coffee cafe in Colston Hall, right in central Bristol.  History in the UK is different than history in the US. Buildings in the US are considered “old” if they were built in the 1920s, and older buildings rarely survive redevelopment.  The property on which Colston Hall was built dates back to  1574.

Not sure if you can see it, but the price of admission to see the Rolling Stones in the 1970’s was 75 pence and a David Bowie concert would set you back 1.50.

The controversy surrounding Colston Hall is one Edward Colston (2 November 1636 – 11 October 1721).  He was a Bristol-born English slave trader, merchant, and Member of Parliament.

Much of his wealth, although used often for philanthropic purposes, was acquired through the trade and exploitation of slaves.

The question in Bristol is: Should the name of the Hall be changed and his statue removed?  The hall is under-going refurbishment and will drop his name when it reopens.  The statue remains.  For more on the controversy click HERE

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Since I’ve moved to Bristol I have had a number of experiences with the NHS.  The doctors have been kind and caring and available when I needed to see them.

I’ve also had a good amount of experience with doctors shows on the BBC, having done consulting work on Casualty, Holby City, and Doctors over the years.  The writers, producers, and directors on these dramas are committed to making the best show possible.  They are talented, dedicated creatives.  BUT…

There is a serious omission at work culturally, the full acknowledgment of Britain’s catastrophic drinking problem. Alcohol-related injuries and illness were to blame for 70% of A&E (Emergency Room) admissions at weekends in one NW hospital. Dr. Clifford Mann, an emergency care consultant at Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, points out that in England alone (i.e. not including Wales or Scotland or Northern Ireland), one million hospital visits every year are related to alcohol, at a cost to the NHS of £3.5 million.

This problem has taken an incredible toll on the NHS not just financially, but also with the level of violence and abuse directed at staff by those who are drunk.  What does all this have to do with television?

On a recent episode of Holby City, one of the key junior doctors, Morven Digby, drinks to a black-out state. She doesn’t remember how she got home or that she slept with (shagged) a colleague. She comes to work the next day and the incident is treated as an embarrassing joke. (To be fair a colleague does ask if she has a drinking problem, but is shrugged off).

This level of drinking is not an isolated incident. Black out drinking or drinking to excess (getting legless) is all too common amongst doctors and consultants on the BBC soaps.

This level of drinking is not an isolated incident. Black out drinking or drinking to excess (getting legless) is all too common amongst doctors and consultants on the BBC soaps.

This level of drinking is not an isolated dramatic incident. Black out drinking or drinking to excess (getting legless) is all too common amongst doctors and consultants on the BBC soaps.

Drinking at night doesn’t mean you are sober by morning. Nearly one in six drivers convicted in the UK are caught the morning after.  Drink four pints of strong lager and you can’t drive for at least 13 hours after finishing your last pint.  If you finish at midnight you aren’t safe until 1 pm. Drink five super strength cans of beer or cider and you can’t drive for at least 21 hours, almost a full day later.

If you aren’t safe to drive you definitely aren’t safe to perform surgery or make clear judgments on complicated medical issues.  But yet, people carry on as normal after unsafe drinking all the time on these shows. Black out drinking is treated as an embarrassing incident, not a shameful lack of professional conduct.  Coming into work before you are completely sober is criminal negligence.  That issue is never raised dramatically.

Again, to be fair, Holby City seems to be building up to a story on a senior consultant’s drinking problem. And there have been a few other drinking stories. But as long as ANY doctor on the show gets legless or drinks to black out this is inexcusable and should have real consequences. Drama shows us what is acceptable and what is not. Britain’s drinking problem is not acceptable, it is ruinous. Medical professionals on television should not seem to make it okay.

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I am back in the UK at the end of August and will be starting a series of Screenwriting Roundtables starting in September. Watch this space!  I am anxious to get back to my secret weapon and screenwriting guru, Mr. Otto Longi.  His expert advice does come at a price.  Packing the toys and treats he requires.

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1.  Men here wear red pants– if you are in the UK that will read as underwear– so I mean trousers.  They also wear orange, bright green, pink, and turquoise trousers.  Men here are much more sartorially adventurous.  They also wear silk scarves, wool scarves, and cotton scarves which are meant to be decorative as well as warm.

2.  If someone tells you– “Oh it’s just 5 minutes further on” expect it to be about a 20 minute walk.  People here walk much much more than in the US.  They always vastly underestimate how long a walk it is between here and there.  Buy comfortable shoes.

3.  They also smoke more– much more.  Perhaps the walking counter balances this. But expect smoke to be wafting everywhere people gather outside.  Most places do forbid smoking inside restaurants and other public venues but the walking includes walking past lots of smokers.

4.  People live at much colder temperatures, especially in the UK.  Central heating is still an advertised special feature in apartment ads.  Maybe that’s why they smoke– to keep warm.  It could also be why they drink.  People drink way more, especially in the UK, than in the US.  I am talking about middle-aged professionals here– not kids.  Black-out drinking is not uncommon.  I’ve overheard several conversations between colleagues about this in my travels.  Or maybe it’s just the people in the entertainment industry?  Or just people I know.

5.  Whenever there is the least glimmer of sun people sit outdoors in cafes, etc.  It can be freezing cold but people still dine and drink outside if there is any spot of brightness.

6.  People actually take vacations.  Yes, they turn off their mobile phones, their email, and are unreachable– for weeks!  It’s called relaxing.  This is a concept Americans seem to have trouble grasping, especially in the television business.  I am getting used to it.

7.  Things are more expensive here.  People tended to have fewer really nice things and not all the cheap crap that Americans tend to horde.  What they do have they use a lot and enjoy.  Yes yes there is cheaper crap over here but there is somehow a different mind set about things.  Physical evidence is the general lack of gigantic closets and tons of storage space.  This is not necessarily a matter of room size.  A good-sized bedroom might still have no closet and a just a medium sized wardrobe– a few shelves and a small single rack to hang clothes.

8.  Dining is a form of pleasure.  It takes much longer to be served at restaurants and no one rushes the bill.  People linger and talk.  There are certainly American fast food places but when having dinner with friends or colleagues it is a much slower process.  Waiters aren’t rushing to “turn over” the tables.

9.  People here are much more knowledgeable about the US and elsewhere than Americans are about anywhere. In general, they understand the mechanics of the US political process better than a lot of Americans or will quiz you on this to improve their understanding.  They are absolutely astonished at the lack of affordable healthcare and mass shootings of children– and the seeming lack of will to do much about either issue.

10.  They are much more energy conscious.  They drive smaller cars.  In the UK they have individual switches to turn off the current for each plug.  They seem to recycle more and don’t have the animosity some Americans have about alternative energy sources.  Germany, for instance, gets the vast majority of its electricity from solar power.  It’s not a particularly sunny country but they have developed the technology to improve on performance.

No things are not perfect here.  We all know about the economic troubles everywhere.  And yes you can complain about “socialism.”  But I am enjoying my time here and it is changing me, in lots of ways for the better.  I find my self collecting experiences rather than things– yes yes I know I did some shopping in Milan– but I bought a couple of really nice, if a bit expensive things.  I am learning a lot about myself and others.  There is nothing like travel to enrich perspectives and broaden personal horizons.  I am doubly blessed to be working on the stories of other cultures and having the deep intimate conversations that storytelling stimulates.  It’s been a great three months.