Reay Jespersen

All cards on the table. I don’t like pitching. I get its use - encapsulating an idea in order to save the both writer and production companies/reps time in knowing whether or not it’s something that may be production-worthy - but I’m really not a fan of it.

Here’s my thing: I got into writing screenplays because my best friend suggested that since I’m a visual thinker (still true) and enjoyed writing (ditto), why not work toward a visual medium and write screenplays? Brilliant! So, many years later, here I sit, having written several screenplays, and over the last few years also getting into TV show concepts, development, and episode writing. All while working on short stories and haikus and book ideas and game concepts and whatever else srtikes me from one day to the next, of course. Take it from one who knows: inside my head is never a boring place to be.

But the point is that screenplays and teleplays allow me to take the story visions I have and present them in a form which will, ideally, become a visual medium. And to have to pitch that not only removes the material one more generation from its intended form - a vision forced into written words, and then those written words re-formed into vastly truncated verbal ones which strive to convey the whole original vision - but also puts me in the uncomfortable position of having to be the proactive one in talking to people I don’t know. And not only has that never been a happy place for me, but worse still, I’m sitting there squirming to lay out part of myself - my stories - for the close scrutiny of these people.

Meanwhile there’s part of me saying hey, I’m an award-winning writer (albeit of severely modest degree). I know for a fact that at its best, my writing can convey more power and emotion than I’ll ever be able to manage while sitting and trying to convince someone else of its merits. Writing about music is like dancing about architecture, as the saying goes. And verbally pitching about writing strikes me the same way: it’s one artform striving to relay another. Two very different disciplines that have been intertwined, and where failure at one could so easily result in the other never being seen at all, quality be damned.

Had I mentioned I’m not a fan?

In any case, I’m happy to say that despite the frayed nerves and buckets of sweat the day produced, Pitch Expo 2009 was generally a success for me. Not everyone I pitched to seemed huge on the various stuff I was offering up, but more did… and some just loved it. And it’s with thanks I offer a tip of my proverbial hat to the reps who went above and beyond the call to not only hear me out and seem encouraging, but also offer advice on how I could build on what I’ve got. In one particular case, this opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me to mull over and pair up with current (and future) TV series ideas, hopefully making future pitches (*sigh*) stronger.

Another cool aspect of events like this is bringing an ecclectic group of people together who form new relationships. And luckily, with most people in the world being more comfortable at breaking the ice than I am, several people took the first step and introduced themselves, or asked how my day had gone, or how such’n such a prodco rep seemed when I pitched, etc. To all of them I’d like to say a big thanks for being the ones to make the first move. I’m hoping you all got the (accurate) impression that I’m happy to talk once I get to know you a bit, but that making the first move to that end just isn’t my forte. Which of course may have something to do with my take on pitching…

In any case, a special thanks to Josh, Meryl, Kelly/Kaz, Jesse, and Yolanda. Glad to have met all of you (in Jesse’s case, again). What mutual writing benefits may come of the new relationships are one thing, but a good friend recently pointed out to me how important family and friends are in life. Here’s hoping we can all improve each other’s lives by staying in touch.

Echo (Eliza Dushku) is a woman who has agreed to go into a covert ops program in order to make up for - or perhaps get out of jail time for - a mysterious something she’d done previously. We don’t know how much she’s told about the program, but what we soon discover is that it involves people having their memories and personalities wiped clean in order to pave the way for later programming. If a client of the program’s company front needs any kind of professional catered to his particular situation, the company can program one of their agents to fit the bill perfectly.

In this series opener, a millionaire’s daughter is kidnapped for randsom. The millionaire approaches the company, needing a negotiator to ensure the transaction goes off problem-free. Echo is called upon, and programmed with the designed personality and history of someone who would be ideal for this kind of job. Echo shows up at the millionaire’s house and immediately takes control of the situation, clearly unaware that she’s anything except who her memories and abilities say she is. It’s only when the millionaire brings her programmed “expertise” into question that things begin to go wrong: Echo has a couple of flashbacks to seeing another woman in pain, being prepped in the Dollhouse’s programming room.
Meanwhile, we find out that there’s a cop who’s determined that the mythical Dollhouse is a real thing and is getting raked over the coals by his superiors for having gone to dangerous and case-threatening extremes in order to prove it. He’s told to back off and agrees to do so, but only before continuing on the investigation as he had regardless.
When Echo and the millionaire show up to make the exchange of money for the young girl, the problems increase: Echo recognizes one of the kidnappers and starts to come unravelled. It turns out that the personality which was tailor-made for her happens to include the personality of one of the childhood victims of the same kidnapper, who it’s revealed is also a pedophile.
As the covert ops team reels from the blow of this faux pas combined with the client almost being killed during the exchange-gone-wrong, Echo and her former cop handler (Harry Lennix) push forward to help resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
When all is dealt with, Echo is wiped clean again and is put to bed with the other mindless/personality-free agents.
At the very end we get a small taste of things to come, however: the company has become aware of a problem with Alpha, who we find in an apparent residence where he has killed the occupants and is watching a college video of the woman Echo once was as he puts a picture of her in an envelope.

As big a splash as the show had every right to make - Joss Whedon has a number of pop and cult TV shows to his credit - there were unfortunately a number of problems with this premiere of Dollhouse. First and foremost is the fact that the main character, played by Dushku, is effectively a non-person. The only personality she has, save the hinted-at troubled woman off the top, is programmed into her. And when she’s not programmed, she’s a hollow being who drifts dream-like around the Dollhouse, along with all the other agents. That the audience can’t connect with the main character of a new show was an odd choice to make.
Secondly, there were a number of minutes near the top of the show which had Echo and some mysterious guy racing around town on motorcycles; apparently part of his birthday celebration, where he and Echo then danced with friends before he confesses he seems to be falling for her. He gives her a small gold heart on a necklace shortly before she leaves the party. The mystery man, for his part, seemed to be understanding, telling a friend of his that the time was up and she had to leave. But does he know who or what she is? We’ve no idea. All we do know is that this seems to a program she’s playing out, as it then gets wiped out and isn’t referred to again.
And finally, while we get to see a glimpse of Alpha - someone who will apparently be a villain (or at least foil) for the company or Echo personally - it felt like too little a hint to go on. That absolutely everything about this person has to be revealed in pending episodes feels an unnecessary amount of detail to have to wait for. Who is he? Why does he seem to have gone rogue from the company? Why is he focused on Echo? Why does he apparently not mind killing people in the pursuit of that focus? A bit more information to go on would’ve gone far in helping build the foundation of this world. Perhaps the company could’ve mentioned his name earlier, or had a brief discussion in passing about Alpha’s mis-programmed obsession with Echo and how he’s still at large or causing problems for them, or hints that he and Echo had a past together which he’s started remembering and which he wants her to remember as well. Something - anything - rather than just a mysterious someone doing a mysterious something for some reason (with respect to a character the audience thus far can’t connect with) would’ve helped.

I’ll catch the next show or two to see where it takes us. But without any must-see moments to be had or character/story arcs, and unless we get some insight and something to care about and tune in to follow in pretty short order, I’ll take a pass on the series.