Wow! We just finished our second Periscope broadcast. And a big "thank you" to those of you who tuned in and to those who sent tweets afterward. They are very much appreciated. So in this entry to our blog, I'm going to put into the written word what I discussed on the Periscope broadcast.
As we've explained over the last several months, the sole reason for our company, Dalmatian Productions, Inc., since its inception, was to create and produce quality television programs about the American fire service. The problem was that we were working before our time. Initially, our goal was to produce a couple of reality TV shows (before "reality" came to mean the distasteful stuff we see today) about our jobs. We had a show about volunteers and paid-on-call members and another about career departments. We had placed letters in all the top industry magazines and received hundreds of entries from departments all over the country. We got to work and shot two different pilot episodes. By the summer of 2001, we were gaining interest:
1. I was sought out to write a segment on fire prevention week for the then, Rosie O'Donnell show.
2. While in Israel that July, I was asked to return to Israel in the fall to produce an Israeli version of our show, "America's Heroes: The Men & Women of Fire-Rescue" for Israeli television.
3. Our distributor was getting interest from American cable and satellite networks for the pilot.
Sounds good, right? WRONG! 9|11 happened.
Besides being emotionally crushed and devastated, we knew that we had to stop all activity dealing with the fire service. For even though everyone we were dealing with knew that we, ourselves either were or had been members of the fire-rescue service, we did not want to appear that we were trying to use this horrible tragedy for our own purposes.
Over the years, we developed numerous other ideas for pilots, but they all fell within the broad concept of "reality." And over and over again, the TV networks weren't interested in good stuff about our jobs, but instead, wanted us to create a show that would disparage the fire service and hold it out to ridicule. We adamantly refused.
Then, several years ago, I came up with the concept for "Cause & Origin." We bounced it around with different thoughts and ideas and finally, arrived at what we have today. And this is where YOU come in!
To produce the pilot episode of "Cause & Origin," we have to generate a significant amount of cash. Watch any one-hour drama on TV today and you'll get a brief idea of what it takes to produce a show. Add to that the costs we will incur for the special effects and real fires, coverage, etc. and that gives you an idea of the mountain we're facing. Thus, our inclination to use crowdfunding to raise the money, a la "Veronica Mars," movie revival.
However, before we can even begin the campaign, we need to know if you, your family, your friends, your coworkers, etc., would like to see a dramatic series about the fire service. There has not been one since the days of "EMERGENCY!," "CODE RED," and "FIREHOUSE." Well, do you? And if you do have the interest, would you be willing to make a donation to our crowdfunding campaign to help make it happen? Well, would you?
That's it! That's what we need to know. So, we're asking you for your help....not your wallet...at least not yet! What we need to know right now is would you like to see this show and would you make a donation (even one dollar!) to help us create it?
To let us know, please send a tweet to us. That's all we need for now. Easy right?
Thanks for reading this entry and remember, #StaySafe and EVERY ONE GOES HOME!
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