KanDu

KanDu Productions.
A writing team.
Dave Roberts and Gil Ripley.
They had let Perry on to the set when they were shooting their pilot for Comedy Central, what, two months ago?
Got some great footage of a production crew clicking away, knocking-off scene after scene after scene, working under pressure, mentions of meal breaks, the different camps – crew, producers, talent, management.
Was quite nice.
Perry actually knew a number of people on the crew and sat a number of them down to chat about their jobs, asked what it’s like to work on a pilot in comparison to a series, what it’s like to work on a sitcom compared to a reality show.
That the show was run smoothly and efficiently, there was very little drama that was out of the ordinary.
But what may come across as ordinary to people in the business, may seem extensive to those outside the box, so to speak.
Gretchen Cryer (mother of Jon Cryer) was one of the actresses…
Quite a wonderful, kind person.
In retrospect, I wish we had done the interview with the two writers when they wrapped the shoot – as Perry wanted – because, today, Gil was the only one in the office when we arrive.
Perry goes mute;
he’s pissed and busies himself with assembling the gear.
We set up the area and hope Dave arrives, soon.
We’re to meet and pitch another investor for lunch, so our time is limited.
Gil makes a few calls.
And…
Nothing.
Their office is a nice midtown space (yes, Midtown – starving writers in midtown, kinda weird).
They share it with other TV-production types; a writer/producer named Sherry.
Maybe it’s Tracy.
Should find out though because she said, sure, she’d pitch on camera for us.
She’s currently working on an MTV rapper-type project.
And then there was another guy who had his own avid system.
Nice enough, but whistles a lot.
Later on we had to ask him to stop his self-amusing scat while we were shooting.
In an earlier conversation with him, he tells us that he’s pitching a reality show about angles, real life angel stories.
Could maybe film that one…
The wait for Dave lasts 20 minutes until Gil gets a text message from him...
Dave has kids, we find out, and the nanny didn’t show so his E.T.A. is M.I.A.
There’s a problem I can identify with, and intimately.
We decide to Q&A Gil, regardless.
Basic set up.
Against a white wall.
Blank TV set to the camera’s right.
We begin rolling tape.
First, give your name, what you do for a living and where we are?
Mumble, garble…
The lav mic isn’t working.
This takes five minutes to fix.
But in those five minutes, Gil either gets nervous or annoyed.
Not really sure, but his demeanor changes.
It takes a good 20 minutes into the Q&A until he begins to relax again, until he begins to simply have a conversation with me.
He’s extremely funny and seems to have experienced a whole lot more than his boyish looks reveal.