March 21, 2010 The Okanagan Sunday – KELOWNA
by Tara Miller
West Kelowna screenwriter Timothy Perrin continues work after pitching his TV series Reel Law to the four biggest production houses at Pitchmarket 2010 in Vancouver March 7.
Perrin was one of ten finalists selected after two rounds of judging for the weekend event. Each finalist was given 20 minutes to pitch their series to executives from CTV and Vancouver’s major production company players. Each contender vying for $20,000 in prizes and the opportunity to have their script picked up for production.
From broadcast journalism to practicing law to teaching at OUC through to screenwriter – Perrin’s journey has been multifaceted and multi-adventurous to say the least. But his past experience has created a natural lending to a script like Reel Law. His knowledge, a character that developed from his wife’s quirky alter-ego and the rest of the pieces just fell into place for this project that while a lot of work, was also a lot of fun.
Originally initiated as a legal drama between Perrin and one of his students, it was Perrin’s agent at the time that suggested he add a comedic twist. Reel Law evolved into a sitcom taking place in a law firm specializing in the film industry in Vancouver.
“It’s a sitcom, plain and simple. It happens to take place in a law office, but we’re here to make people laugh. There’s no magic to it. When in doubt we go for the gag – lots of jokes, puns, play on words, as many gags as I can. It’s highly irreverent and politically incorrect.”
Perrin won an Angie Award for Best Screenplay at the 2007 International Mystery Writer’s Festival and was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition for his dramatic screenplay Albatross, co-written with UBC professor Lance Rucker.
“The biggest challenge with a sitcom is that your first draft is always too linear – you have to learn how to tell a story without telling every detail with words – you have to tell the story in pictures.” Whereas Albatross was narrated as a radio screenplay where the words told the story, Perrin needed to change focus to tell the story of Reel Law with pictures and words combined in a 22 minutes script.
The main character came from his wife, Terre’s, alter-ego that they affectionately named Dottie. “It’s this funny accent and voice she uses when she does something stupid. It almost has a Brooklyn accent. When I taught a class where none of the students ever asked questions my wife came in as a student and asked the questions and did it in this alter ego persona.”
“Dottie in Reel Law is a stunningly beautiful woman who doesn’t understand the effect she has on the men around her, she’ a total innocent . No one in the office understands her nonsensical ramblings except for one man. “
A handful of major characters interact through plots and subplots of connections wrapped up in the short script all with diversity and quirkiness to make them relatable, and funny.
Perrin hopes to meet with and select an agent from the weekend’s Pitchfest as well as positive exposure to Reel Law that could eventually land it into production.
“My dream would be to shoot that show here in the winter and get another series shot here in the summer to keep a crew busy in the Okanagan year round. People are living here and commuting to Vancouver to work – we have the talent here, why not build an industry?”
Perrin’s vision for a vibrant television and film industry in the Okanagan spawned from that belief and in 2008 he started his own production company, Rose Cottage Media Corp. http://www.rosecottagemedia.com/. Perrin continues working on multiple scripts and projects including a feature film and a fellowship application. With so many projects on the go Perrin says that while he has heard of writer’s block, it’s not something that he has had that much struggle with.
“It’s my job, I just do it. Some days its more mechanical than others, other days God dictates and I write – and that is cool – way cool . When that happens I just try to get out of the way and type as fast as I can. I watch, listen and write, it really just happens. I see the movie play in my head and don’t know what’s coming next – I just write it.
