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Ron Osborn"Have I Got a Story for You"
by Justin McFarr
(May 1999) |
Ron Osborn, primarily known for his work with writing partner Jeff Reno, proved himself to be a compelling solo speaker and storyteller during May's Network meeting. With a wicked sense of humor, Osborn detailed his professional life in sitcoms, hour dramas, movies and animation. He also shared colorful tales about his working relationships with George Lucas, Jeremy Piven, Martin Brest and Robin Williams.
Best known for their collaborative efforts on Meet Joe Black, Duckman and Moonlighting (which garnered the duo an Emmy nomination for their Taming of the Shrew send-up, "Atomic Shakespeare"), Reno and Osborn first met at a Sherwood Oaks Experimental College workshop twenty years ago. Before that, in 1977, Osborn, an insurance policy typist and a "professional plasma giver," had a near taste of success when his feature script was optioned by William Holden. However, the deal soon plunged into development limbo after Holden's untimely death.
Undaunted, and reminding himself that "the important thing was to keep writing," Osborn turned his focus to comedy, taking classes and teaming up with Reno. Their spec Mash opened doors to a feature re-write assignment and eventually landed them on the third season staff of Mork and Mindy. The duo would later lend their writing talents to Goodnight Beantown and Night Court, among others.
When asked about a collaboration that has lasted twenty years, Osborn jokingly admitted "it's hard to talk about (the relationship), being the talented one." He explained that the team brainstorms and outlines together, but once they've divided up the sections of the script, they write separately. Osborn writes his scenes, Reno his, then they come back together and rewrite each other. "The finished project benefits from the two voices," he maintained. He also addressed it from a business standpoint, saying that they initially paired up because of the industry notion that two writers for the price of one is a financially attractive prospect for producers.
After a successful season with Night Court, Glenn Gordon Caron tapped Osborn and Reno to join the staff of Moonlighting. Osborn talked about the rigors of working on a highly popular series, where they would sometimes be forced to film the first two acts of an episode before the last two acts were even written. Calling it "the worst-run show in the history of the cathode-ray tube" Osborn nevertheless found great rewards and invaluable experience out of the everyday challenges on the ABC hit.
When asked about his experiences with taking pitches on Moonlighting, Osborn shared an amusing story about a writer, armed with Mrs. Fields cookies, who proceeded to pitch him an idea so detailed with camera angles that it took him forever to get to the actual story. That writer was John Wells, now of ER fame. Speaking about pitching, Osborn stressed the importance of starting out with a simple one-liner of the story. "Be succinct. Be brief. Tell the story, the plot, but not the scenes." The key of a successful pitch, he said, is to pitch less (of the old adage "less is more"), leaving room for the producer to ask questions. Over-pitching the idea doesn't allow the person being pitched an opportunity to become involved and find their own personal investment in the story.
Osborn told the audience that when producers look at television specs, they focus on the writer's ability to capture the voices of an established show, as well as their strong story sense. But he stressed the importance of not sending a spec of a TV show to that particular show, citing that producers know their own shows so well that they tend to nit-pick the negative aspects of the script instead of praising the strengths. He also felt it wasn't necessarily wise to write a pilot spec, especially if the writer has the expectation of selling it to a studio. Every pilot, with very few exceptions, is bought from established writers and producers who have track records in film or television. New writers, he said, should focus their energies on writing spec episodes for existing programs.
Working on Moonlighting opened new doors for the writing team, leading to many feature film rewriting assignments, including Radioland Murders for producer George Lucas. Osborn and Reno went on to create the animated hit Duckman for "The USA Network -- a placebo network," where they made seventy episodes that, for Osborn, "still hold up, make me laugh. I'm very proud of that show." They were involved in the draft of The Flintstones that got the picture greenlit at Universal "before Brian Levant came in and hired all those other writers." As Executive Producers on Cupid this season, they were unceremoniously fired by ABC after only seven episodes over "creative differences" with the show's star, Jeremy Piven. Ironically, they were asked by ABC to come aboard the revamped Fantasy Island a scant two days later.
Meet Joe Black, which hit theaters late last year, was a remake of Death Takes a Holiday, which they wrote for director Martin Brest in 1991. Originally seen by Brest as a My Man Godfrey "comedy soufflé," Osborn and Reno felt that the piece warranted a more dramatic interpretation. Even though it was rewritten years later by both Kevin Wade and Bo Goldman, Osborn says that the story, structure and tone have remained intact. Except for having had almost all of the dialogue rewritten, and the darker characterization and arc of the female lead excised completely, the final draft of the script is indeed their original story. And, beyond that, Osborn admits that he's very happy with the finished film.
For now, Osborn finds himself completing his first solo spec, without Reno, in twenty-two years. At the same time, he and Reno are busy developing three separate television pilots, including a single-camera sitcom. When asked where he sees himself five years from now, Osborn deadpanned "leaving detox, turning things around, getting back with my family." Tongue firmly in cheek, Ron Osborn clearly has an understanding not only about the unpredictable nature of the business, but about his own place in it. It's certain that he will continue to make his creative voice heard, and that his unique ideas and brand of humor will flourish for many, many years to come.
Justin McFarr, a TV writer, is a member of the Scriptwriters Network.
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