Interview: Liz W. Garcia — Part 2
Liz W. Garcia is an American television producer and writer. As a writer, her credits include “Dawson’s Creek,” “Wonderfalls” and “Cold Case”. With her husband, actor Josh Harto, she created and produced the TNT series “Memphis Beat”. Most recently Liz wrote and directed the independent feature film The Lifeguard starring Kristen Bell which will be released in August 2013.
I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak at length with Liz.
Today in Part 2, Liz discusses her career as a TV writer and producer:
Scott: How did you transition into TV?
Liz: My first actual gig was writing a freelance episode of “Dawson’s Creek.” I moved to LA wanting to write both for TV and for film. I knew that people did both and you could do it concurrently. I have been doing it concurrently all of the years that I’ve been out here, it’s just I’ve started to have more visible success with TV. So people tend to think of me as a TV writer, but I did the “Dawson’s Creek” episode, that was my first professional experience. Then, a few months after that, I was hired to write a Disney movie, and almost at the same time was hired on “Wonderfalls”.
Scott: That led to a five‑year stint on “Cold Case.”
Liz: Yeah.
Scott: You worked your way up from story editor, to executive story editor, to co‑producer, to consulting producer, and credited with having written 14 episodes. Could you share some insight what’s that like to work on a hit broadcast network TV series?
Liz: Working on “Cold Case” was really wonderful. I remember it so fondly. It was also in the golden age of pre‑strike television, where there were big, vital, full of writing rooms. We had a big staff. I don’t know, you could just feel that those were prosperous times. It was a fantastic experience for me. I had been on “Wonderful,” which was well received, but then didn’t last very long. I had that feature spec called “One Percent More Humid,” which Meredith Stehm, who created “Cold Case,” read, and then wanted to meet with me for “Cold Case.” I met with her, and I said, “I’ve never written on a cop show before. I’ve hardly written on any show.”
She said, “Don’t worry about it. A, you know more than you think you know about how to write for a cop show, and B, half the stuff you can learn. I can teach you how to write cop stuff. I can’t teach someone how to write dialogue, or how to write character and that’s what you already know how to do.”
That made me feel very confident which was great, and she hired me. I think it’s difficult enough to get almost half of a TV show, but it’s really difficult to find the right match. “Cold Case” happened to be the right match for me. I loved the format. I loved that you are writing for great actors every week, our regulars, but then you were also inventing from whole cost these other worlds, that were the flashbacks within each episodes.
I could be funny and emotional and write about social and historic issues I was interested in. Meredith really allowed people to succeed on her show. She wanted you to write who you were and write in your voice. She didn’t try to change that. She let you be your own writer, which is unusual for a TV show.
Scott: You and your husband, actor Joshua Harto, created the TNT series “Memphis Beat,” and that ran for two seasons, 2010 and 2011. What was the inspiration for that series, and what was it like to create and run you own TV show?
Liz: Gosh. There’s a lot to tell about. Josh and I had been interested in doing a show that felt reminiscent of “Hill Street Blues,” so a show about cops and about the civilians they interact with that had some real quirkiness and humor to it. We were interested in writing about the south. Our first experiment in writing together when we first started dating was, we wrote a spec pilot that was set in New Orleans. We just loved writing in the vernacular of the south, and we loved finding a very specific place to write about. When we started talking about doing a “Hill Street Blues,” type show, we wanted to find another southern city that could be a rich backdrop. Joshua traveled to Memphis a lot as a kid.
We loved the idea of the food culture there, and the complicated race relations, and the fact that it had an amazing musical history. None of this had really been explored on TV. That’s the why of it.
Then, it’s sort of an incredible thing to be able to make a show and run it. It is both so rewarding and so punishing. The workload running a show is inconceivable really. I look back and I can’t imagine the way that we were writing and not sleeping. Then you’re editing, and you’re cutting out this part or the other.
You get to work with great actors and inspiring directors. We were on location in New Orleans. It was such a special freak experience, I’m not sure if we’ll ever have again, where we got to be so hands‑on. Again, being in a place like New Orleans was so incredible. It was really hard. We didn’t have kids at the time. I really admire people who can run shows and be mentally and physically healthy, and have children.
Scott: I saw something the other day where it said there’s basically five times as many scripted shows on TV now than there were a decade ago. What are your thoughts on the status and the state of TV writing nowadays?
Liz: I think there’s a wide gulf where you have some shows that are just extraordinarily good, and challenging, and sophisticated. Then you have a lot of formulaic junk, because I think we’re in a period of transition. What seems to be happening is that more and more outlets for television are opening up. There’s Netflix. There’s Amazon. People are turning more and more to these paid cable channels knowing that the TV is going to be great there. The networks are trying to figure out what this means for them. They’re reassessing their identities which I think is a good thing. We have felt, in the last few years, developing TV during Pilot season. There were a few years where there was a lot of pressure to try to come up with a show where not just the premise but very specific act breaks were so loud and noisy that they might be able to capture viewers, to steal them away from all 499 other options. [laughs]
The answer is not to make the loudest show. That’s not necessarily what writers want to do and that doesn’t make the best drama. The answer’s to make the best work. Have each network have a specific brand so people really know what they’re tuning in to see. I hope that with more options, it creates more opportunity to writers to do something distinctive, and puts more pressure on networks to give in to quality.
Tomorrow in Part 3, Liz describes some of her creative instincts which led to her movie The Lifeguard.
For Part 1, go here.
Please stop by comments to thank Liz and ask any questions you may have.
Liz is repped by CAA and Madhouse Entertainment.
Twitter: @lizwgarcia.
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