Dear Fellow Content Creators and Dream Builders,
The entertainment business folks in Portland are reeling from the news that the TV series GRIMM will be cancelled after its sixth season. GRIMM is one of three television series which shoot in Portland, Oregon. Of the three shows (GRIMM, PORTLANDIA, and THE LIBRARIANS), GRIMM has provided the most steady work for local crew members, as well as local talent for the past five years. Unlike PORTLANDIA and THE LIBRARIANS, which both have 10 episode seasons, for the past five years, NBC's GRIMM has had 22 episode seasons. (Each episode has a ten day shoot schedule, so 22 episodes equals almost 3/4 of a year's worth of steady work for locals.) This season, which will be GRIMM's last, will only be 13 episodes.
At this very moment, many hardworking, talented Portlanders are wondering just what they will be doing for work when GRIMM ends. The plus of living in a small city, while in the entertainment business? Being surrounded by other creative folks who love living where you do too, who perform their craft for the love, not just the money. The minus? There isn't a lot of paying work. Productions shooting their television series in Portland are not started in Portland - they're started in Los Angeles, and they're often run from Los Angeles too.
As a writer and creator (fingers crossed!) of an original comedy TV series which will both be based and shot in Portland, I feel, more than ever, that NOW is the time to try and launch a series. While I may not be able to employ every person who will no longer be employed with GRIMM, I would be able to - at the very least, provide more work for talented Portlanders I know and love, spreading the wealth just a little more.
As a writer, sometimes I get daunted and lonely - the odds of actually getting a TV series on the air are kind of like winning the lottery - but knowing I could help improve the lives of others I care about, keeps a fire lit under my bum. Knowing you're all here to share this journey with me, stokes my fire even more. My cheeks are getting hot, yeow!
Please stay tuned as I share my creative process and progress with creating a comedy TV series. I've completed what is called a "Show Bible" for my TV series TINA AND NINA, and am currently writing the pilot. I'll be sharing both with you over the next few weeks. Once the pilot is polished, I'll be shooting a digital pitch for the project, for the production company Mosaic (Elf, Talledega Nights) - and we'll see if we can get another show off the ground in the City of Bridges and Roses, the Wonderful and Weird, together.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support - your upvotes and comments really make my day. Let's do this.
With Love From Portland,
Jennifer Skyler
a.k.a.The Little Engine that Could
CHOO CHOO!