TV: to Tax, or Not to Tax?

There's been a lot of kerfuffle lately here in Canada over the proposed new Fee-For-Carriage laws. Some call it the TV Tax and cry "traitor"; others say it's just giving the local networks some extra funding that is long overdue. What it boils down to is that the networks want the cable and satellite companies to pay them for broadcasting their content, and the satellite and cable companies don't think they should have to pay, but say that if forced to pay they will simply pass the extra cost down to their customers by adding about $10 a month to the average cable or satellite bill.

What do I think? As an actor who watches television, I find myself caught between a rock and a hard place. Of course, I am all for funding the local networks: I want to work, I don't want to have to move to do it, and without local networks filming here, where I live, that would be next to impossible. Additionally, providing funding for local networks to create good quality programming fits right in with my adage that to "buy local" is best: it creates jobs for people in my community, stimulates the economy in my community, and generally promotes a healthier local community for me to live and raise my kids in. And when you "buy local", it supports your community in the same way.

But as a viewer, a consumer of the medium in which I hope to make a decent paycheck someday, here's the awful truth: I don't watch much local television. There are only so many hours in the day, and when it comes down to it, I want to spend the two or three hours a week that I have watching something that is AWESOMEly good. The vast majority of local programming just does not light my fire. Additionally, in prime time, (which is when I have time to watch TV, because my kids are asleep and any work I'm doing is pretty much done for the day and I can finally relax for an hour or so), almost all of the local networks are not airing local programming. They're doubling up with the major US networks, airing US programming.

Here's what I'd like to see happen. I'd like CTV and Global and the other Canadian networks to be ordered to stop spending so much money on importing US programming. Anyone who pays for cable or satellite services gets all of the major US networks anyway, so it just amounts to the same show being aired on two or three or twelve channels at once. As a customer, this isn't a benefit, and it ticks me off. Make them spend the money on creating and promoting good quality, local television programming. If local TV were better, I'd watch it, and I bet a lot of other people would, too.

As for adding a little to my monthly bill, here's my two cents: asking me to pay more on my monthly cable bill when I'm not going to get anything other than I am getting now will send me to the internet for the vast amount of free content it provides. But if the Canadian networks stop broadcasting all the imported US content and have a whole lot of new Canadian shows to show for the extra money they'll be getting - if for my extra $5-10 a month I'm going to essentially get a bunch of additional programming - I'm okay with that.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thank You, Mr. Agent

I was thrilled to receive a rejection letter from an agent in the mail yesterday. Thrilled? I can hear you thinking, she is definitely off her rocker. But no, I have not lost all of my marbles just yet. While I am obviously disappointed not to have his representation, this is indeed good news, for a couple of reasons.

First, it was an actual letter, not the one-line form rejections I have gotten in the past. He thanked me for expressing interest in his agency and for giving him the chance to review my work, made specific reference to something that he had liked about my manuscript (showing that he had indeed read it - I know all agents assure us that they read everything, but with a one-line rejection it sure doesn't feel that way), gave specific reasons why my manuscript didn't appeal to him personally, and wished me the best of luck. He was respectful, concise, polite, and thoughtful, and he wrote me the best rejection letter I have ever gotten.

Second, now that I know that his agency isn't interested in my manuscript, I can consider moving on to submitting directly to publishers, which is probably what I should have done in the first place. Taking on someone with no publishing credits is always a gamble for agents, and although I am disappointed not to have an agent (yet!), I am not surprised. I know where I want to shop my story, and now I'm one step closer to doing it!

So, once again, thank you Mr. Agent. Thank you for taking the time to read my manuscript, and for responding so thoughtfully and professionally. Your letter is the first one to deserve a place on my bulletin board.

And thanks to the rest of you for stopping by.

New Year, Renewed Focus

Happy New Year, everyone!

January is always a time for new beginnings, and for renewed energy and focus on old or ongoing projects. So with that in mind, I was pleased (and more than a little relieved) to read Nathan Bransford's opinion on modern techniques of book promotion. You can read all about it on his blog (you'll find a link to the right of this post), but the gist was this: pick one or two things and do them well.

A big sigh of relief, and a big thank you, to Mr. Bransford. Let's look forward to a new year of great blogging!

Thanks for stopping by.

A Borders-free UK

I read on literary agent Nathan Bransford's blog last week that the death bells are ringing for Borders UK, a mega-chain of book and music stores throughout the United Kingdom akin to the Chapters/Indigo conglomerate in Canada. I've bemoaned the demise of the small bookstore in cities throughout North America - my hometown only has a Chapters, which is an embarrassment unto itself - and I can't see how any thinking person can fail to see the connection between declining numbers of bookstores and declining literacy rates. (Sure, we can still get books at Amazon, but to get to Amazon you have to load up a computer and look for it. There's nothing like a store that is right there in front of you every time you go out to shop.) But the bankruptcy of a major chain like this is something I thought I'd never live to see.

Meanwhile, my local Chapters is morphing into a children's wonderland, with almost half the store devoted to toys: plasma cars, dump trucks, puzzles, puppets, you name it. Though they claim it is an opportunity to get kids interested in going to the bookstore, I can't get rid of the nagging feeling that this blatant act of self-mutilation smacks more of desperation than innovation.

Rest In Peace, Borders UK. We'll miss you more than we'll ever know.

Thanks for stopping by.

It's Holiday Season, and I'm Full of GLEE!

I have to take a moment to rave about my new favorite show. As with every show I end up watching regularly, I was a latecomer to the Glee phenomenon, not catching on until the 7th episode. But once I had seen them pop, I just couldn't stop.

A comedy set in small-town Ohio, Glee follows the EXTREMELY talented (if offbeat and nerdish) members of the high school Glee Club through the trials and tribulations of high school life: unrequited love, bullies, the odd identity crisis, and fake pregnancies. True, I haven't watched from the beginning, so I can't comment on plot development or continuity. The writing seems consistent, and though it is not amazing, there are moments when the humour catches me by surprise.

What keeps me watching, aside from the sharp humor, is the sheer pleasure of seeing a group of talented individuals get jiggy with it on TV. Not for a generation has serial television embraced song and dance with such panache, and I can't help but be grateful to the Fox network for bringing the Glee Clubbers into my living room. This is series television's antidote to the mind-numbingly endless stream of reality television, and it leaves me wanting to boogie through my living room after every show.

I'll admit it: I'm an official Gleek.

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Celebrating a Living Legend

I had the pleasure a couple weeks ago of learning that Bill Cosby had been chosen to receive the Mark Twain Award for Contribution to American Comedy. As I watched the taped tribute and ceremony, the realization dawned on me that when I was growing up, Bill Cosby was everywhere. I watched him on television every morning in the children's show The Electric Company, right after 3-2-1-Contact and Sesame Street. Every afternoon, my family guffawed and snickered our way through the Huxtable family's antics on The Cosby Show. In between television shows, I watched him dance and get silly as he plugged Jello. And every night, when my mother had run out of stories and lullabies, she would put on a tape or a record for my sister and I to fall asleep to. There were a few to choose from, but the most popular was our Fat Albert record. I lay awake every night not falling asleep to Bill Cosby's brilliant wisecracks and one-liners. His "Hey, hey, hey!" still rings in my ears and brings a smile to my face.

As I look back on my life as a parent, and as a performer and a storyteller, I realise that Bill Cosby's influence is there throughout everything. It is there in my timing, in my pacing, in the books I read, in the way I handle my children. Echoes of a man I watched perform so long ago, in so many incarnations, are seamlessly interwoven with all of the other influences - teachers, parents, books, films - that have changed me and shaped me throughout my life.

I still have a long way to go, but I am a better performer for having grown up with Bill Cosby in my living room. And the world is a better place for having had him in it.

Thanks, Dr. Cosby. You deserve this award.

And thanks for stopping by.

Lots of flus means not much news

You've probably noticed my absence from the blogosphere in the last several days. Our house has been infected with what feels like every flu and cold imaginable, and of course, as the Mom, I was the only one left standing to wipe noses, administer medications, serve soups, and generally keep it all together.

Now that my hubby is back to work and my son is going back to school tomorrow, the end is in sight, and I can have the laptop back! So look for new posts in the coming days.

Thanks for stopping by,
Ishta