I hate to say it… but I’m siding with Fox on this one

Fox Sues to Stop Film and TV Script Leaks

For those of you who don’t want to read the story, I’ll sum it up: Fox is suing a woman because she has been leaking scripts (new and old) over the internet and they want her to stop doing it.The woman is a struggling screenwriter and she leaks the scripts in order to aid other screenwriters write their stuff. Good intentions, bad execution.

I don’t see the problem with publishing scripts that have already been produced. On that side of the lawsuit, I’d disagree with Fox. However, I’m opposed to leaking scripts that have not been produced. Very opposed. As a writer, I’d be horrified if my unfinished work was publicized. Horrified. Sometimes writing for TV and Film is done up until the last second, sometimes things are rewritten right before they’re shot. As a writer and as someone who heavily supports writers, I oppose leaking unproduced scripts on a moral level. Also, leaking unproduced scripts is bad for Fox’s business. I don’t think they’ve lost a significant amount of money (or any) from this, but as a creative producer, you just don’t want your creative work to be produced by someone completely unrelated to the project.

If she wanted to publish these scripts, she could have just waited until they’re produced and aired. She also leaked a movie script for a movie that isn’t due to be released until 2012, and I just don’t think that’s very ethical at all.

People are calling Fox out for this and saying that Fox is wrong for this lawsuit, but really, they aren’t. Fox owns those scripts and they have control over how and when they are seen. Fox has legal and creative right to sue this woman for leaking this scripts. I liken this to script piracy. If one wants to read a script, wait until the show is complete, and usually its not difficult to get the script after that. All good movie scripts are released as books after the movie is released anyways. (I’m already looking to buy the Inception shooting script as well as a few Charlie Kaufman scripts.)

So anyways, I support Fox in this lawsuit.

 

I Wish I could Love ‘Glee’

When Fox’s Glee first premiered earlier this year, I was in love with the show. I loved the original story content, the drama, and most of all, the way the show cared to really incorporate the musical content into the story line. I was a super Glee fan, I watched it every Tuesday night, then the second half of the first season happened and I was a Glee fan no more.

The quality of writing on Glee started to decline during the second half of the first season, and by the time season two started, it had seriously plummeted. Glee started out as a comedy-drama with musical elements, it is now a series of music videos stringed along with a bit of a story.

Sadly, the show has already seen its prime, and that was the first half of the first season. Episodes like “Wheels” and “Sectionals” had the best writing and song integration the show has ever seen. I’d say that the first 13 episodes of the first season are the strongest of the entire series. That was the prime, when the characters had dimensions and stories to tell, when the music propelled the story and moved the audience.

Now, Glee is a series of music videos stringed along by a “story”. The Britney Spears episode is the clearest example of the type of crap the writers try to pass off as a show. I was actually excited for this episode, instead of recording it to watch later (which is what I usually do with this show now), I watched the show as it premiered. I think Britney Spears is a great pop musician and I love her music, its my shameless “guilty pleasure”. Anyways, I was excited to see this episode and the way they would incorporate B Spears into the show. I cannot even express in words how disappointed I was of the show. The musical number were great, and the performers did one hell of a job dancing and singing along to BSpears. However, the story was such bullshit, the writers were so uncreative that all but one of the Spears numbers were hallucinations generated from a visit from a dentist. The writers did not put any care into the show content at all. So much could have been done with integrating BSpears music, the writers just didn’t think hard enough. The BSpears episode was a poor excuse for an episode, they should have just released the mini-music videos online.

Anyways, I wish I could love Glee and look past its obvious flaws. But I just can’t. This show started out with so much promise and I wish it could have retained the quality of the first half of the first season. But Fox couldn’t maintain it, and it has opted to go for cheap entertainment in form of music instead of pushing Glee to its highest potential. When Glee gets good again, I’ll be more than happy to watch it.