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Seven News
Give Writers More Power, says Comedian - 19 October 2005
By Amy Fallon
Actor, writer and comedian Tony Martin says Australia's television
industry needs to get rid of its "sausage factory mentality" and give
writers power over producers to get more successful comedy and drama onto
screens.
Martin, who has worked in the television and radio industry for 22 years, wrote and performed in the popular radio comedy program Martin Malloy.
He also worked on successful television shows D-Generation and the Late Show, as well as the films Bad Eggs and Crackerjack.
"All the shows that have worked, if you have a look at them, consistently the writers are in charge," said Martin, who this month published his first book, Lolly Scramble.
"The writers choose the cast. The writers in all of those instances are credited as producers and so it's the writers vision unchanged, which is making it onto screen."
He cited Kath and Kim, Frontline, The Games, Lano and Woodley, The Micallef program and more recently We Can Be Heroes as examples.
"In commercial TV you have this sausage factory mentality which I date back to when Steve Vizard started his comedy sweatshops at the early 90s," Martin said.
He said these sweatshops consisted of "30 or 40 writers and a completely unfunny producer who was in charge".
Martin, who worked on four unsuccessful projects in the past year, said the best writing he had ever done for television had been on a pilot with fellow Aussie comedian Shaun Micallef called Mouse Patrol.
That pilot was for the ABC and Martin said he was surprised it was not screened on the broadcaster.
"My previous two shows at the ABC have come out on DVD and held in quite good regard, but I can't even get in the door these days," he said.
"They don't have a lot of money, let's be honest."
He said that even this year's standout, ABC comedy We Can Be Heroes, had been made on a tight budget.
"I know the producer of that show and it was almost like `wear your own clothes to be in it'," Martin said.
"And then of course it gets rave reviews and everyone wants to take credit for it."
Martin said the federal government was partly to blame for the problem.
"I know we have a very vindictive government at the moment, and obviously they're taking their revenge out on the ABC for things Kerry O'Brien said in the past," Martin said.
"Unfortunately drama and comedy are copping it."
Martin recently started work on a new film BoyTown, written by comedian Mick Molloy, in which he played a guy making a documentary about a band.
And he was busy promoting Lolly Scramble, a collection of real life stories about the "most trivial kind of things".
"Arguments with landlords, fights with bus drivers and amateur theatre plays I've ruined," Martin explained.
"It just turned out to be where the big laughs were."