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TV writer goes from McMansion to Minivan


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2013 Nov 25, 9:55am   3,423 views  6 comments

by C Boy   ➕follow (1)   💰tip   ignore  

http://priceonomics.com/what-its-like-to-fail/?srlongreads

On Christmas Day, 2001, I sat down at my Yamaha G2 grand piano, set up my metronome, and opened up a book of Shostakovich’s “Preludes.” It was late afternoon, and the warm, orange light of the fading day poured into my five-bedroom house — paid for by my $300,000 a year income as a Hollywood comedy writer — in San Marino, California, a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles. My wife, Marina, was cooking dinner for me and our eight children, and it was as happy a Christmas afternoon as I would ever have.

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1   Ceffer   2013 Nov 25, 11:07am  

What a moron, doesn't he know how to collect disability, workman's comp, unemployment and get section 8 housing? Or how to fake being hit by a car to become a professional litigation client? Or how to use legal aid to sue any part time employer? Or how to sell crack to school children?

He needs a course in ghettonomics 100, he already has the breeding part down pat.

Failure to utilize the full resources of our society is all on him.

Usually, incontinent reproduction results in at least one successful child, who if they like ole mom and dad may take them along for the ride, sort of like hillbilly social security. If the rest of the kids are a blight and a drag on society, who cares? They can have their own kids.

2   Blurtman   2013 Nov 25, 11:18am  

Great story. A lot of folks fear getting off the job treadmill because it may be impossible to get back on. We need to hear from more homeless and chronically unemployed people.

3   John Bailo   2013 Nov 25, 12:33pm  

This guy's story is a bit suspect.

When he was working he says he was making...

between $12,000 and $15,000 per episode for a 22 episode season. In addition, I had certain script guarantees. I received writing credit on at least three episodes per season, which paid another $20,000 per episode. A studio also paid me another $650,000 a year just to come up with ideas for television series. If one of my shows made it on the air and into syndication (endless reruns on afternoon local television), I could make tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.

However, when he hit "rock bottom" he only had $500,000 in savings although he said he didn't splurge.

Also, he gives the impression that he was fired. No...he quit for his own personal reasons!

So I had to make a change. I had to quit my dream job.

So he took his once in a lifetime opportunity, threw it away, and thought he could get it back instantly! My guess is people probably blackballed him because no one in his right mind would leave his gig unless they threw him out!

Also in his early career he worked in computer magazines as an exec for 8 years. So, maybe you can't get a half million a year comedy writing job...but you sure as heck can get an $80,000 computer job somewhere! But not this guy.

I feel like there is some kind of mental illness or self-sabotage or perhaps substance abuse involved which is more typical of homelessness.

4   New Renter   2013 Nov 25, 1:01pm  

John Bailo says

However, when he hit "rock bottom" he only had $500,000 in savings although he said he didn't splurge.

EIGHT ^@$% kids! A splurge by any definition of the word!

5   elliemae   2013 Nov 26, 11:52am  

Sucks that he made poor choices. There are many places in this country that you can retire with $500k; he chose not to.

6   Ceffer   2013 Nov 26, 12:22pm  

His story doesn't exactly jibe. It is unlikely he was not some kind of addict/alkie or mental illness. Those are 99 percent the cause of homelessness, especially from somebody who was affluent (if he ever was as he stated).

Sounds like he is engaging in some kind of faux journalism with the mag not even fact checking because it is knee jerk Queen for a Day sympathy verdict.

Maybe years of spending coked up sessions trying to write comedy and keeping up with the young 'uns. I think even thirty tends to be over the hill for a lot of writers in Hollywood, and they are competing with the film industry nepotistic hideous spawns, to boot.

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