Additional lang tungkol dun sa workshop screening. I am just so amazed at how many people want to write, and how little they seem to know about how difficult it actually is to write. I am overwhelmed at just how the hell we are going to find 30 people kahit na potential lang for writing. It's literally going to be like picking a needle in a vast and gigantic haystack.

There was this guy who said he had a script "produced." When I asked who funded it and where it was shown, he said it was just at home. He wrote it, therefore he produced it. Tama nga naman. I asked him what it was about. "Wala lang. Just this guy na ipinanganak, lumaki, tapos namatay." [Nothing much. Just a regular dude who was born, grew up and died.] "So ano yung conflict niya sa buhay?" "Wala lang. Yung halo-halong problema." In short, linear lang na buhay ng tao. It's probably this guy's life and times, but life as it is just doesn't cut it. Pag walang drama yan, dead ka na.

When asked how much they think a writer should be paid for scripting a week's worth of suds, some timidly ventured "P15k?" He must have seen Job's horrified reaction so the guy lowered his price. "Ten na lang." Job said that The Boss would probably love them. This scared the guy even more and bargained, "Kahit 8k lang okay na. Mapapanood naman sa tv yung ginawa ko eh."

Eeeek. Yun lang ang masasabi ko. I don't think these people get it. For starters, I tell the applicants out right that they will be doing a thankless job. Nobody ever goes out of the theater saying "Ang galing nung writer naisip niya yun!" They would scream, "Ang guwapo ni Aga!" But nobody ever remembers the poor writer's name. The writer would be asked to revise a script pronto, or go to the set and change the storyline because the actress is dropping everything to get married, then go back and ask if she could do guest spots after she's been written off in the story. Then I would ask them, Gusto n'yo pa bang magsulat? All of them would say yes. But I really think they don't know what they're getting into.

Then there's this guy who says he's an architect but he wants to write for tv. He doesn't like telenovelas, even after I made it clear that the station is looking mostly for soap opera writers. The Architect (uy taga-Matrix kaya siya? Hehe) loathes soap operas. He hates it that they have unwieldy Eastern European sounding names. He hates it that everyone is just somebody's missing child, and that someone is always out for vendetta. Even after I pointed out that his job is how to make those genre conventions new, he still won't budge. I don't think he's right for the workshop. And oh, he seemed to be wearing a three day old shirt. I could just see the grime on his collar. Plus he has dirty finger nails. I firmly believe that writing ability or not, one must come to a workshop screening with at least trimmed finger nails lest the interviewer die from sheer proximity.

Am I bitchy?