| Q. How do you divide your duties? Kauffman: Well, we talk about it, and then we let Kevin do it. : ) Bright: It's kind of simple. David and Marta are the writer-creators. After that mission has been accomplished, David spends much of his time in the writers' room; Marta likes to split her time between the writing room and working on the floor with the actors and directors. My time is split between the editing room, also supervising the directors and directing a bunch of episodes myself. ... I tend to get into the business area, but we share those responsibilities. Crane: Each show has 10-12 people working on it. My time is mostly spent going from room to room for the different shows, hearing stories, giving thoughts on scripts. Kauffman: We read every draft, every outline, we give notes on all that. I spend as much time in the rooms as I can. David spends all his time (there). Q. How did ''Friends'' evolve? Was it based on your own lives? Crane: Not literally. Kauffman: Somewhat. David and I were part of a group of six people in New York, all in our 20s -- very different group of characters. Crane: We had just finished ''Dream On,'' which was about a guy in his 30s who had made a lot of choices in his life and was living with the consequences. We thought it would be fun to make a show about people in their 20s who were still making those choices. Kauffman: Also, in ''Dream On'' Brian Benben had to be in every scene. We thought it would be exciting to work with an ensemble cast. Q. Do you folks earn as much as the ''Friends'' cast? (laughter) Kauffmann: We work harder |
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| About their Shows |
| Q. How did ''Veronica's Closet'' originate? Bright: The studio came to us and said that Kirstie Alley was looking for a project. Kauffman: And we said, ''Pick us! Pick us!'' Crane: We were giant fans. We thought she was the most talented, funny lady. Kauffman: We sat with her and talked about what she wanted to do,and we took that and tried to make it an idea that we could write. Q. How did ''Jesse'' happen? Bright: It was created by Ira Ungerleider, who was a writer on ''Friends.'' He came to us with this idea of his own (about a single mother in an eccentric family) which we liked a lot. We got Christina, and it fell into place. Q. Having three shows in the best place in television is a big responsibility. How do you handle it? Kauffman: When we were in New York and we heard that the third show had been picked up for Thursday night, I started to hyperventilate. Kevin made me see that this is a good thing. Right, Kevin? Bright: It's a good thing because this doesn't happen. We've achieved something you couldn't even dream about. The thought that you could have three shows on the same network on the most-watched night in television is just incredible. Kauffman: It's also intimidating. It's a lot of responsibility. Crane: We can only do what we've been doing, which is to try to do the best work we can. We have very strong people running the three shows. All we can do is hope and trust that everybody does their best work. Beyond that, what can you do? Bright: Try to enjoy it as much as we can. All of us have been around the block; we understand this kind of stuff is fleeting. Because we have three shows on now doesn't mean we'll have three shows at the end of the season. |
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| The Cast of Jesse |
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| The Cast of Veronica's Closet |
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| The Cast of Dream On |
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| The Cast of Friends |
| Marta Kauffman David Crane Links Pictures Kevin Bright A Typical Show Interesting Facts Interviews/Articles Email Me Who Wrote What Taping Experiences |
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