Spiritual Sickness

Finally, some decent reporting in Deadline. The ASC President talks about a spiritual sickness in the Hollywood filmmaking community.  Also, separate, but related, Deadline also reports that Network TV shows can't find showrunners since they cut back hiring staff writers in the past 10 years.

Every network wants The Sopranos and Breaking Bad, but would a young David Chase or Vince Gilligan get hired today?  And perhaps more importantly, would they get trained?  Do people in the industry feel any responsibility toward the next generation? Toward making good product?  Sure, everyone wants a hit, they want want to be successful, but the overriding sense -- and these articles suggest the work has become about ego, vanity, and money and not about providing memorable stories that help shape a national character.

And I wonder if there is any correlation to the content...isn't it strange how many popular dramas on television presently feature cannibalism (Hannibal, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones)?

Something is amiss.