JamesG
10-11-2011, 02:58 AM
Vince Gilligan Looks Back on "The X-Files"
10/10/2011
by Tim Appelo
What was your worst writing job?
I’ve been very lucky, really blessed. I was making a living writing movie scripts from about 1990 to ’95, then I moved out to L.A. from Virginia to get into TV, because I had a job waiting for me on the staff at "The X-Files".
I was on "The X-Files" for 7 years. That was a very close second to "Breaking Bad" as far as my favorite jobs go. Just a wonderful job on which I learned pretty much everything I know about writing for TV and producing TV.
Truly, that was my film school for learning how to do the job that I do on "Breaking Bad".
I was the first national reporter on the set of "The X-Files" and the producer said, "If only we could get the ratings of 'Unsolved Mysteries'!"
That’s what the goal was.
You know the story I remember was, the execs that ran Fox TV at the time, were betting big on "Brisco County Jr." "If it isn’t a hit, I’ll eat my desk."
And then when "The X-Files" came out, he watched it and said, “Nice try” to Chris Carter. He didn’t believe in it at all.
What did you bring to the party at "X-Files"?
I got there about two years into the show. I wrote a freelance episode for Chris Carter, and he hired me off of the strength of that. In Season 2, it was called “Soft Light,” about a particle physicist who, through an experiment gone wrong, his shadow turns into a black hole that sucks people in and kills them.
That was fun, it was the first one I ever wrote, and then after that, I worked my way up to one of the executive producers. I probably wrote 20-something episodes and I re-wrote many, many, many uncredited others.
So, I had a great time on that show. That was the first time I ever got to direct – not counting film school. I got to direct two episodes, and I learned so much from that, and that’s helped me on "Breaking Bad". That was fun.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/breaking-bad-creator-vince-gilligan-246460
10/10/2011
by Tim Appelo
What was your worst writing job?
I’ve been very lucky, really blessed. I was making a living writing movie scripts from about 1990 to ’95, then I moved out to L.A. from Virginia to get into TV, because I had a job waiting for me on the staff at "The X-Files".
I was on "The X-Files" for 7 years. That was a very close second to "Breaking Bad" as far as my favorite jobs go. Just a wonderful job on which I learned pretty much everything I know about writing for TV and producing TV.
Truly, that was my film school for learning how to do the job that I do on "Breaking Bad".
I was the first national reporter on the set of "The X-Files" and the producer said, "If only we could get the ratings of 'Unsolved Mysteries'!"
That’s what the goal was.
You know the story I remember was, the execs that ran Fox TV at the time, were betting big on "Brisco County Jr." "If it isn’t a hit, I’ll eat my desk."
And then when "The X-Files" came out, he watched it and said, “Nice try” to Chris Carter. He didn’t believe in it at all.
What did you bring to the party at "X-Files"?
I got there about two years into the show. I wrote a freelance episode for Chris Carter, and he hired me off of the strength of that. In Season 2, it was called “Soft Light,” about a particle physicist who, through an experiment gone wrong, his shadow turns into a black hole that sucks people in and kills them.
That was fun, it was the first one I ever wrote, and then after that, I worked my way up to one of the executive producers. I probably wrote 20-something episodes and I re-wrote many, many, many uncredited others.
So, I had a great time on that show. That was the first time I ever got to direct – not counting film school. I got to direct two episodes, and I learned so much from that, and that’s helped me on "Breaking Bad". That was fun.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/breaking-bad-creator-vince-gilligan-246460