New Archive:

January 2001 Issue

A Long Way Home

By Jen Katz

Writer/producer Alan Katz's home is now in Los Angeles, California.

Katz, 41, never felt quite at home where he grew up, in Pikesville, Maryland, a Jewish suburb of Baltimore. Upon graduating Vassar College in New York with a degree in drama, he decided to move to New York City to pursue his career as a writer in 1981.

After dillydallying in industrial films and theater, his friend at a nearby agency suggested he try writing a screenplay, and the result was Down to Earth, which Alan now refers to as "young and naïve." To his surprise, the screenplay was his ticket to stardom.

In June of 1985, Alan went out to L.A. to sell his screenplay. Quite shocking at first, L.A. was a handful for Alan. Suddenly feeling the remarkable rush of people admiring his work, he was accepted into the realm of entertainment. Deeming it a "Black Hole" and "The Land of the Avocado Head," Alan felt L.A. was a place that should be handled in small doses. He had certain "prejudices" of L.A. as a "cultural wasteland," which soon changed.

On his third day in L.A., he drove his rental car to Topanga Canyon. As he gazed out at the beautiful mountains and serene water, he realized this is where he belonged--at last he was home. At that point, he returned to New York and packed up everything he owned and drove to meet his heart "and never looked back."

Not that many people are fortunate enough to do what they enjoy and get paid for it, but Alan does. He explores his aesthetic sense by going into a room and telling stories about anything he wants. Additionally, being a producer, he was the authority to tell the actors, designers, and directors what to do. However, much struggle is involved.

A writer must learn not to "overwrite" even though he/she may be in love with words; he/she must be able to convey the story in a subtle way without pounding it into the midst of the viewers. Though very rewarding, there are high expectations such as: "being entrusted with 25 million dollars or so, it puts the job qualifications about 24 million 9 hundred 99 thousand dollars past anything remotely like a hobby."

Throw in the fact that you are also responsible for the work of at least a hundred-fifty to two hundred people (all of them highly skilled) and the stakes get considerably higher. It's a nasty business, this. Failure--especially at this level--can doom you. One "fuck up" (a show that bombs badly or goes way, way over budget) and it's not unrealistic to expect that you'll never work in the business again." Talk about pressure!

Alan's first script that was taken seriously was entitled Freddy's Nightmares: The Nightmare on Elm Street, the Series in 1987. He co-wrote four episodes. He explains he was "just a writer," (i.e. not producing) which is a difficult thing to do because film is not a writer's medium. In film, the visionary is the director of the pre-production all the way through to post-production. On the other hand, in television, the "show runner" is responsible for the scripts to be written, for the director to be true to the characters, and to adhere to the vision of the series.

In 1990, Alan hit his big break with HBO's Tales from the Crypt after its first season. "Things took off" as he and Adler worked side-by-side on a number of episodes from 1990 to 1994. Additionally, Alan worked creatively with director/producer Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon series) and producer Joel Silver (Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, The Matrix) along with well-known actors such as Tom Hanks (who directed and starred in an episode called "None But the Lonely Heart"), Brad Pitt, Whoopi Goldberg, Demi Moore, John Lithgow, Kirk Douglas, Dan Aykroyd, and many more.

It wasn't until Michael J. Fox's directorial debut of a Tales episode entitled "The Trap" that Alan became star struck for the first time. He sat down with Fox, an "amazing actor," and had a creative conversation of how they wanted the episode to be portrayed on television. Alan says he always had a blast working with everyone on the set.

Tales from the Crypt was picked up by FOX network--edited for time and content--as well as made into a cartoon. Alan doesn't see Tales as horror, he sees it as comedy, the genre he's been interested in since he was young. The making of horror entertainment came totally by chance. "There's a great market for horror," he said.

In the midst of Tales, Alan found time to write the screenplay of Children of the Corn II with Adler. Also, Alan co-produced Demon Knight and Blood of Bordello, both films evolving from Tales from the Crypt.

Recently, he was the supervising producer of the series The Outer Limits for two years, which is shot in Vancouver. He has decided not to return to the series but has agreed to write four more episodes. Alan's next big projects include UPN network's The Adventures of Thor and a film to be started in March, tentatively called Black Friday with director Jim McNaughton (Wild Things).

Alan's style of writing came from some of the classes he took at Vassar. "The dramatic literature classes were great," he said, and they have helped him a lot. Sometimes, he just goes with the flow. When speaking of actor Chris Elliot (There's Something About Mary), Alan explains, "I love to let the actors take the script and rewrite the dialogue on-set with them. Sometimes you get the best dialogue at the spur of the moment."

Alan currently lives in L.A. with wife, Helen, and their son, Tristan.

---

lifestyles | fiction | politics | daily buzz | relationships | culture | social action | spirituality | chatroom | J-TV giude | win stuff | e-postcard | about us | archive | disclaimer