Eric Bogosian
High Incident
March 20, 1996.
The filming of "subUrbia" by Detour Films (Rick Linklater) proceeds apace. We have cast the sucker. Everyone in the cast is pretty much "unknown" (except Parker Posey) which makes me very happy. (Thank you Castle Rock for financing a picture with non-stars.) Rehearsals are going on right now and shooting starts April 8 in Austin.
I adapted the screenplay from my play in a pretty straight-forward way. Rick had seen the play a couple of times in New York, liked it alot and finally had time to do it. Rick likes words onscreen, I like words onscreen, it's a great match.
High Incident
Yes, on this very web page I rant on and on about media versus film, etc. And yet, if you are observant and you watch TV, you will notice there is a program on ABC called "High Incident" every Monday night that starts with the credit, "Created by Eric Bogosian."
Here's the story: Last summer, I got a call from Amblin (now Dreamworks) asking if I could meet with Steven Spielberg regarding a possible television collaboration. Even though I didn't quite see the common interface between me and this great pop director, I was happy to find out what he was thinking about.
I flew to Los Angeles and we met at his house, along with the future "show-runners", creators and writers, Dave Johnson and Mike Pavone. We all had a nice chat about the possibility of creating a show a lot like the live cops shows on TV. But not live, scripted.
I want to write about middle-class, middle America and I have done so. Cops, like guys in the Armed Forces, are for the most part from this middle-class suburban world. Why they choose to risk their lives for all of us is an important issue, I think. Courage is always an important issue.
I thought this show would be a great way to profile the world I come from and the people who police it. The suburbs are not all goodness and light, and who would know better than squad police?
So we four started to assemble the program, all the while given unprecedented freedom from the network, because it was a Steven Spielberg project.
Six months later, a show is on the air. It seems to get better every week. Sometimes it gets a little sentimental, and I wish the women's roles were stronger, but it is TV. I'm glad it's on TV.
More News
This Spring brings the Directors Lab back to Lincoln Center and I will be working with director Robert Urbanati on a new play. I'm not sure exactly what the contours of the play will be, but it will be middle-class and probably, like me, "ethnic".
Jo Bonney will be directing "subUrbia" at Studio Theater in Washington, D.C. This production will feature an updated script which we have been working on for the past two months.
Against all odds, there has been some excellent theater in New York City lately. I have to cite one show above all I've seen, Steven Brantley's "Distortion Taco" at Performance Space 122. Nothing like walking into a theater, paying twelve bucks and watching some rude folk kick-ass for a couple of hours. Funny, crazy, loud. Truly amazing. Steven Brantley is cool.
Finally, speaking of cool, I will be one of the voices in the "Beavis and Butt-head Movie." Hopefully working with Mike Judge will offset the karma of co-starring with Steven Seagal. (By the way, if you have not yet seen "Under Siege II" it is at your video store now. My picture is not on the cover. You need a magnifying glass to find my name. However, once you stick it in your VCR - LOOK OUT!)
