Gary Scott Thompson : interview by Ness

Hello guys! It's Ness and I'm back with an interview, I'm really lucky because I talked to him and he really is a great inspiration. So I'm really happy to present you Gary Scott Thompson.

BIO MADE BY A FAN :

Gary Scott Thompson is a show runner and an executive producer. He's the creator and executive producer of NBC's hit series "Las Vegas" and "Taxy Brooklyn" cast Chyler Leigh (aka Lexie Grey on Grey's Anatomy). Gary was also the writer of "Fast and Furious" 

GARY S. THOMPSON'S INTERVIEW : 

Ness : Hello Gary S. Thompson,I'm Ness and it's an interview for Ness'Words. How are you?

Gary : I'm fine thank you. How are you? At the moment I'm a little crazed because I have a script due for a new project.

Ness : What is the project about?

Gary : It's a reboot from an old British series called THE PERSUADERS.

Ness : Okay. Before getting into the nitty-gritty, what training did you follow to become a screenwriter and since when excerces you this job?

Gary : I have a bachelor of arts degree in Drama from the university of California and a master of fine arts degree From New York University's tisch School of the arts. 

Ness : So you are the taxy brooklyn screenwriter?

Gary : Actually I am the showrunner. You don't have those in France. I'm a writer and exec producer on the show.

Ness : I love Taxy Brooklyn, so let me ask you this. Was it a difficult script to write? And if so, what was the most difficult thing about it? 

Gary : No it wasn't difficult.

Ness : When you sat down to write it - or really when you sit down to wrote any script - what is the single most important thing that you need to get right? What story elements gets all of your focus an why?

Gary : I come from a theater and playwriting background so character is always the most important thing to me but every script is different. I rarely work the same way twice on any project.

Ness : That's cool! How it was to work on Fast and Furious?

Gary : The Fast And The Furious was fun. I like action movies I like cars.

Ness : What did you think about Paul Walker?

Gary : He was charming charismatic and a very nice person. 

Ness : Explain us why it's so hard for a writer to write for American Television and why it's harder to create a tv show of quality?

Gary : There are many factors that go into a quality TV SHOW. It starts with the writing. You have to have good actors and a good director too. You need a studio and a network that believe in your vision.

Ness : Do you make the audition? 

Gary : Yes I am at everything.

Ness : You must be really tired at the end of the day. Are you always busy?

Gary : Yes you're always busy when you are a showrunner. You work with the writers, the directors, the actors, the production. You go to all the auditions. You deal with postproduction editing. In the case of Taxy Brooklyn, are actually two different versions of the show. The US version is very different than the French version.

Ness : Why?

Gary : The French version is up to 15 minutes longer on some episodes. The French network TF1 wanted different things then the US network NBC.

Ness : How did you choose to be a producer?

Gary : It's one way to have control of your own work as a writer.

Ness : What type of major/courses should someone take if they want to become a television producer?

Gary : Go to film school. A good producer should know all facets of filmmaking.

Ness : In "theory", how the system works  there? What roles reflect the different actors in the process of creating a fiction? Initially, a channel research an idea, a project, but then?

Gary : The system in the US is different than in France. In the US the ideas for TV shows are usually generated by the writer. We go into the networks and pitch ideas. 

Ness : That's better?

Gary : In most cases it´s much better. Projects are passion projects that the writer has. We do not have a lot of non-writing producers in TV here. Most of our producers on TV shows are also writers there called writer producers. They are called writer producers. 

Ness : What are the major differences with the french production?

Gary : In the US there is one voice and that is the voice of the showrunner. In France there are many voices from producers to directors to the network. 

Ness : According to you, in usa, channels and tv producers felt, the past decades, tv series as the poor cousin of cinema, and just a way to fill programming schedules nothing more?

Gary : Not according to me. Tv and cinema had always been very different. There were TV people and there were movies people and they did not cross back-and-forth. Rarely did they cross back-and-forth. TV was considered the bastard child of cinema to some people in Hollywood. Now writers producers directors and actors all go back-and-forth between the two mediums. 

Ness : In your opinion, what are the American series that really worth it and which are not simple consumer products?

Gary : The bottom line this is the entertainment business, and it is a business. Everyone likes different shows. I love game of thrones, some people don't. 

Ness : How happened "Taxy Brooklyn"?

Gary : Europa Corp, called and asked me if I would help them. I have always wanted to work with Luc Besson so I said Yes.

Ness : How was your meeting with Luc Besson?

Gary : I met him three or four years ago here in L.A and we tried to figure out something to work on. They remembered our meeting and when they needed help on Taxy Brooklyn they gave me a call.

Ness : That's awesome! Why did you only make 12 episodes in the season one of Taxy Brooklyn?

Gary : That was how many episodes TF1 ordered.

 

Ness : Season 2 is in preparation? 

Gary : We are just waiting for the greenlight from TF1.

 

Ness : When will you have the answer?

Gary : I thought we would've had an answer already. That is really out of my hands. It's the networks call. I was ready to work months ago.

Ness : Did you see Chyler Leigh in Grey's Anatomy? What did you think?

Gary : Yes. Personally, I like her better in Taxy Brooklyn, Obviously I'm biased.

Ness : Tell us a funny story about Chyler.

Gary : She likes to dance on set. The first day of shooting, Chyler was so nervous I had to step in and hold her hand to calm her down.

Ness : How come the ideas for scripts?

Gary : I have a million ideas so it's not difficult for me. As the season goes along, I tried to write to the character strengths. I always try to find the humor in every situation. No matter, how dark the subject matter may be. For Taxy Brooklyn I tried to come up with ideas that were New York centric. Some of the storylines work better than others. 

Ness : What's your dream job?

Gary : I'm doing my dream job. 

Ness : What do you think of Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, and Grey's Anatomy?

Gary : I have seen all the shows that you mentioned, but I am more of Games Of Thrones and Walking dead fan. I thought the Grey's Anatomy pilot was great. Very smart. I knew Grey's Anatomy would be a hit as soon as I saw the pilot. 

Ness : Do you know Shonda Rhimes?

Gary : No. But I know Eric Dane. He did a couple episodes of my show "Las Vegas". 

Ness : What do you think about "Reality tv" and his dangers for the production of fiction in general? And his dangers for the public?

Gary : I'm not really a fan of reality tv. It's not really reality since it is all scripted. Possible exception is "the biggest loser" because the people actually lose the weight.

Ness : When you and all the cast are going in France?

Gary : I don't know. Depends on season two. Personally I would like to shoot a few episodes in France, but it´s up to the network.

Ness : Fave actor?

Gary : Wow. That's a hard one. If I don't say Chyler or Jacky they will get mad.

Ness : Fave color?

Gary : Blue as in Dodger Blue. ( They are a baseball team). 

Ness : What else can we expect from you in the future?

Gary : More tv shows and more movies.

Thank you,

For the rest you have to trust me.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

You know you love me.

Xoxo

Ness