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1 July 10
Tom Fontana speaks at a symposium in Germany
View the video here or the MP3 audio here
Is Homicide: Life On The Street better than The Wire?
The cast of Homicide. Photograph: Rex
Jim Shelley
The Guardian Saturday 27 March 2010
The best cop show of
recent times – one of the most innovative and influential dramas
of all time – was set not in New York, Miami or LA, but in
Baltimore. It featured a squad of embattled, super (street) smart,
sardonic detectives fighting against the drug dealing and killing
blitzing their beloved city.
In his
Archive interview, Tom Fontana talks about his work as an Emmy
Award-winning writer of St. Elsewhere , as well as the writer/producer
of such series as Homicide: Life on the Street and Oz . Tom
Fontana was interviewed in New York, NY on June 30, 2009; Karen Herman
conducted the three-hour interview.
THE
MIPCOM INTERVIEWS: C21TV catches up with Chris Albrecht, former
chairman and CEO of HBO, and veteran US showrunner Tom Fontana. The two
are collaborating on pan-European copro The Borgias, chronicling the
rise to power of the ruthless Spanish clan who held sway over the
Vatican during the Renaissance.
The meetings grew from an effort by guild writers to get in touch with whatTom Fontana,
president of the foundation, likes to call “America’s
stories.” The plan is to train those who wish to write —
with no vetting for talent or professional ambition — in settings
far from the entertainment corridors of New York and Los Angeles.
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 6:30-8:30pm
The Paley Center for Media, Chairman’s Suite
The Writers Guild of America, East Foundation, PEN, and The
Creative Coalition are joining with The Writers Guild of America, East,
The Dramatists Guild, and The Authors Guild to engage in a conversation
about Free Speech in an age of rapidly changing technologies.
LOS ANGELES, CA – (October 1, 2009)–
As America works its way through one of the most intense and
contentious political periods in its history, Showtime Networks will
premiere the new feature-length documentary,POLIWOOD,
an in-depth and provocative look into the often convergent worlds for
entertainment and politics directed by Academy Award®-winning
filmmaker Barry Levinson. The 90-minute documentary will premiere on
SHOWTIME Tuesday, November 2nd at 7:30 PM ET/PT.
Legendary Academy Award®-winning director Barry Levinson
(Rain Man, Bugsy, Diner, Avalon) sets out to explore the collision and
collusion between politics and Hollywood. The film gives the viewer a
front-row seat and backroom access to the most significant presidential
campaign of the 21st century. Featuring interviews with high-profile
celebrities and powerful political figures,POLIWOODgives
insider access to the influence Hollywood has over today’s
political process as we discover the thin line between politician and
actor, news and entertainment, policy and tabloid. Trailing a number of
politically active actors, writers, directors, and musicians, this
documentary is sure to spark debate about the role media and
celebrities should have in modern-day politics.
The celebrities featured inPOLIWOODinclude
Annette Bening, Anne Hathaway, Sting, Susan Sarandon, Spike Lee,
Fergie, Zooey Deschanel, Danny Glover, Tim Daly, Ellen Burstyn, Kerry
Washington, Elvis Costello, Alfre Woodard, Angela Bassett, Billy
Baldwin, Charlie Daniels, Connie Britton, Dana Delany, David Crosby,
Hayden Panettiere, Josh Lucas, Matthew Modine, Maura Tierney, Alan
Cumming, Mos Def, Rachael Leigh Cook, Richard Schiff, Steve Earle, The
Pharcyde, Tony Goldwyn, andWill.i.am.
POLIWOOD
was produced in coordination with The Creative Coalition
Baltimore Pictures and Screen Media Films; and by Robin Bronk, Robert
Baruc, Tim Daly and Jason Sosnoff.
7 August 09
In July 2009, the Hudson Institute hosted a debate over the relevancy of the NBC drama The Philanthropists. The
panel included Tom Fontana, creator of The Philanthropist, Ian Wilhelm,
Chronicle of Philanthropy, Steve Gunderson, Council on Foundations,
Sean Stannard-Stockton, Tactical Philanthropy, and William Schambra,
Hudson Institute.
DirecTV's 101 Network has acquired uncensored, off-net runs of gritty HBO dramas "Deadwood" and "Oz."
Pickup
reps the first time either show has been run on TV outside of HBO.
DirecTV will begin airing both shows on Sunday nights staring May 31.
"Deadwood" and "Oz" also will be offered via DirecTV's on-demand
service.
The
Veterans Writing Project Encourages Veterans to Put Their Thoughts,
Feelings, and Experiences into Written Words
...The
workshop is a way for professional writers to serve those who have in
their turn served all of us by offering their time and services on a
volunteer basis. The writers coming to San Antonio in June include
writers such as Tom Fontana (Oz, St. Elsewhere), Tony Kushner (Pulitzer
Prize Winner, Angels in America) and U.S. veteran, John Patrick Shanley
(Academy Award Winner for Moonstruck and Pulitzer Prize Winner for
Doubt).
Acclaimed
film director Sidney Lumet joins forces with Emmy®-winning Oz
creator
Tom Fontana to explore the precarious status of individual liberties
post-9/11 through two parallel stories - each containing identical
dialogues - taking place on two continents half a world away.
Strip
Search will re-air on HBO:
Friday, April 10 at 8PM
Thursday, April 16 at 12:30pm
Monday, April 20 at 10AM
Tuesday, April 28 at 3PM
"The
Philanthropist" chronicles the heroic adventures of a billionaire
playboy turned vigilante philanthropist. James Purefoy ("Rome") stars
as Teddy Rist, a successful and impulsive tycoon who decides to channel
his passion, power and money into helping those in need.
Former
WGA East leaders Chris Albers and Tom Fontana have been chosen to
receive the Richard B. Jablow Award for devoted service to the guild.
Albers served as president and Fontana as vp of the WGAE from 2005-07.
Screenwriter Tom Fontana
By Martin B., New City, NY and Meg B., New York, NY
"I always start with
characters
because I think strong characters are really what people want to see.
Plots we all kind of know. We can guess how the story’s going
to
go most of the time, but I think really interesting characters are what
keeps us coming back [to a TV show] week after week."
When Tom Fontana was
among several Western New Yorkers working as a
writer in Hollywood in the 1980s, he often experienced a foolish
assumption about his hometown. “I was told there has to be a
Buffalo
[writers] Mafia,” he recalled recently. “You all
must help each other.”
At the time, Western New Yorkers Anthony Yerkovich (“Miami
Vice”),
David Milch (“Hill Street Blues”), Patrick Hasburgh
(“21 Jump Street”)
and Diane English (“Murphy Brown”) were involved in
some of TV’s best
shows. “We were all together,” recalled Fontana,
“and we were like,
‘Gee, none of us did help us get where we were. So maybe we
should
start, at least communicating with each other.’ The mythology
of us
helping each other existed before any of us actually helped each
other.”
Tom Fontana has
asked me to let you know that his mom, Marie,
died on
Christmas Day, at the age of eighty-six.
Her death, though sudden, was peaceful. She was with Tom's
sister,
Charlene. Tom had spoken to his mom about an hour before.
12 December 07
Whoopi Goldberg
and Tom Fontana
Despite
the
sleet, nearly 300 picketers showed up today for a demonstration at ABC
Daytime in Manhattan. Notables included Pete Hamill, Dana Delaney, Nora
Ephron, Seth Meyers, Ilene Kristen, Peter Parnell, Clyde Phillips,
Andrew Bergman, Walter Bernstein, Tom Straw, Tom Fontana and Warren
Leight.
3 December 07
Links to news and
information about the WGA strike.
...
the chemistry between the two actors onscreen was such that I went,
‘Well wait a minute, there's more here and it's much more
interesting
than anything that I would have conceived of.'
"Buffalo is all
about its people. The people of Buffalo have led to the
development of characters in my work and the stories I like to tell.
When I was a young boy in Buffalo, my father was a beer and wine
salesman and one of his stops was the Anchor Bar. He actually knew the
founders of the home of the original Buffalo chicken wings - Frank and
Teressa Bellissimo. I love the place. It evokes a sense of old-time
Buffalo. I also remember my father taking me to Buffalo's waterfront to
the West Side Rowing Club. He was an oarsman and coach of kids from all
over the city and all ethnic backgrounds. That sport and those kids
portrayed nobleness, sportsmanship and fortitude - something that's
true today of Buffalo. Just like those kids, Buffalo has spirit and
fire. It's a great place to visit - especially the waterfront - on a
summer or fall excursion. Or take a walk around the streets of the West
Side - West Ferry, Lincoln Parkway and Elmwood - where you'll find
great bars, restaurants and shops as well as amazing residential areas.
Buffalo is the true heart of America. Here, you'll find what's great
about our country."
Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News
