| Glenn Seaborg |
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Ellwood Kieser
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when i was in high school
every now and then they’d show us these insight films i didn’t have a clue it wouldn’t have meant a thing to me that they were the product of “the producer-priest” from pacific palisades all i knew was that the drone of the day was interrupted was punctuated by stories far too engaging to actually be viewed in a classroom oh sure they may have had some vaguely christian ethic or moral to them but it was never heavy-handed never in your face what i remember most is what compelling drama the insight films were inspired writing punctuated by captivating performances i have always had a great love of narrative i found working on soaps engaging in spite of their not being the most sophisticated dramatic form because they are narrative i’ve never really warmed to any of disney’s musical theater projects because in spite of frequently |
impressive production values narrative always takes a back seat i have always known this sensibility so clearly that I’ve never had a sense of where or why it developed looking back now it may just have been that early exposure to father kieser’s drama that taught me to appreciate a strong narrative and if the work imparted some sense of ethics, of morality what a bonus after a quarter-century of producing the insight series he created the humanitas awards for excellence in screenwriting because we live in a real world not an ideal world the humanitas awards don’t ask writers to avoid violence simply to depict the full specter the dysfunctionality that leads to it and the devastation that follows it an award to writers for doing their job not necessarily the job the people with the checkbooks are interested in but certainly the job that motivated them to pick up a pen a typewriter a word processor in the first place |
| Producer-Priest |
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18 August 99
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