Fontana Talk
Playwright Gives Professional Advice to Students
Alumnus Tom Fontana met with Communication and Theater students for an informal exchange on breaking into and making it in television and theater. The famed writer-producer ("Oz," "Homicide: Life on the Street," "St. Elsewhere") urged young people interested in the profession to write every day.
Tom shared his own example: Every morning for the last 30 years, he has risen at 5:30 a.m. and spent at least one hour writing. "Write anything," he said. "When I've had writer's block, I've written my name for half an hour. The important thing is to write all the time."
Fontana was at Buffalo State in September for the premiere showing of "Pinched," a PBS documentary produced by Communication and Theater students. The half-hour show will air on WNED TV-17 and other PBS affiliates this fall.
The documentary details the play Fontana created based on a section from Jack London's The Road. The play depicts an incident in London's life when he was arrested in Niagara Falls for vagrancy and incarcerated for a month in the Erie County Prison. The world premiere of the play was staged last year by Buffalo State students.
(Fall 2005)