(Watch the video interview on Youtube here)
Selling A Television Show To Amazon Studios - The Story Behind COMRADE DETECTIVE via FilmCourage.com.
directed and co-executive produced by Rhys Thomas and co-written by Brian Gatewood (along with Alessandro Tanaka). Â Rhys is known for his work on Saturday Night Live, Staten Island Summer and Documentary Now! Brian is known for his work on Dice, Animal Practice, and The Sitter
Film Courage: We are wondering how you got started in the entertainment industry? Â I know you had a film with your writing partner Alessandro Tanaka in 2011 starring Jonah Hill (THE SITTER).
Brian Gatewood: Â Yes. Â I met Alessandro at Columbia Film School where he graduated with distinction and I dropped out but we had already started writing together and working together. Â I guess our first professional job [writing] was probably around 2005 or so. Â We started working for Warner Brothers and then we spent many years doing a number of different rewrites on scripts, we do adaptations, we do punch ups, and we ultimately had an original (we wrote THE SITTER) that came out. Â It was a lot of writing, a lot of hard work to break in. Â Itâs not easy but getting inside the studio system was actually an advantage for us in that we were essentially paid to work on writing for a number of years and hone skills and take on different genres and build up sort of a toolbox of writing. Â So it was ultimately great, but it was a grind.
Film Courage: Â I know the two of you [Alessandro Tanaka] have been writing together for over a decade or so?
Brian Gatewood:  YeahâŚgoshâŚitâs been a long time.  We met at our first writing class in Columbia and we just had similar taste.  We liked each otherâs scripts and our second year we decided to write something together, which turned out to be much more fun to write with a partner than to sit in a room by yourself all day.  Itâs tough to find a partner and a lot of times I think that people try to do it with friends, but that doesnât really work.  I think itâs more important that you see film or television the same way, of a similar worldview, similar sense of humor and so we werenât really friends.  We just liked each otherâs work.  Weâve obviously kind of become friends over the years.
Rhys Thomas: Kind of became friends? [Laughs]
Brian Gatewood: [Laughs] Â Weâre very different people. And if he were hear he would tell you that also. But we have a mutual respect for each other and weâve had a great (probably) almost 12 years or a decade plus at least writing career together. Â So itâs been great. (Watch the Youtube video here).
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