Q&A with Tom Kapinos

MP:  Tom, you initially wrote Californication as a screenplay.  You shelved it.  Your wife salvaged it a year later and said the first sixty pages were great. Twenty-four episodes later, those first sixty pages have exploded into a rich, funny, highly specific fictional world.  What's it been like – these past couple years -- overseeing such a dramatic increase in the scope of your original idea?

TK:  What’s it been like?  It’s been f***ing torture.  That’s what it’s been like.  The truth is, Californication was never supposed to be a television series.  It was never even supposed to be a movie.  I wrote it in screenplay form, but it was really just an exercise -- an attempt to break through my very own bout with writer’s block by writing something… anything… the first thing that came to mind.  As a result, the show is different, sure… fun, yes… but it’s also very hard to break story because there’s no formula to fall back on.  That said, when we get it right, it’s very satisfying.  Earlier this season, I sat down with a director who said, “You’ve created your own specific tone.”  That made me immensely happy and proud-like because we toil in an industry that encourages the mimicry of tones and voices and styles that have already been established.

MP:  One of the fun things about reading your episodes – as opposed to
watching them – is that you have a very playful prose-style.  You refer to a prisoner’s bendy penis as a “fleshy Timex” in Episode 2 this season.  And I particularly dug how you ended that episode:

                    And that’s where we leave them.  For now.

                    Looking at them from above.

                    And if the shot somehow evokes the feeling of the classic John and
                    Yoko Rolling Stone cover… well, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing...

Early on, did you ever consider writing in a different medium? Can you describe some of your early writing efforts?

TK:  First of all, thank you kindly.  I try very hard to make these things fun to read.  Mostly because reading scripts can be such a godd*** chore.  But it’s also fun to write that way.  Early on, I certainly considered fiction writing – I grew up in a library -- but it seemed too daunting.  The thought of sitting down to write a novel – or hell, a short story even – is paralyzing to me.  I also considered rock journalism, but I feared that I would become bitter and jealous of those I was writing about.  I enjoyed playwriting in college because it’s fun writing all that dialogue, but the practical side of me worried about being able to make a proper living.

My earliest screenwriting effort was an untitled mess about a couple of film school roommates.  I showed it to my parents and they smiled and nodded and mentioned something about taking a civil service exam.  Then I wrote another mess – a slacker rom-com entitled “The Princess & the Punk” – about a failed relationship.  Then came my Shane Black-influenced rock and roll vampire comedy.  Oh, I also wrote a “Roseanne” spec.  And a few plays.  Crap.  All of it.  Crap.  But I’m a firm believer that you have to puke out a bunch of bad stuff to figure out what the hell you’re doing.

MP:  A major new character this season works in the music business. Becca's got her band.  Hank's novels are named after Slayer albums. And I've personally witnessed your Guitar Hero prowess.  90% on
"Hard."  Can you talk a little about the importance of music in your work and on the series?

Music is hugely important to me because it was my first real passion.  Well, that’s not completely true.  As a lad, I loved the Yankees, and then I loved Star Wars, but then along came the electric guitar, and I was a total goner.  From 13-23, I was obsessed with the guitar and every subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal.  Practiced until my fingers bled, pored over music magazines and tab books, played in countless garages and basements.  And then it struck me:  I had no desire to be a musician – I just wanted to be a f***ing rock star.  But I wasn’t very talented, my hair was thinning, my waistline expanding – and I hated the idea of relying on three or four other dopes to make my way in the world.  Thus, the idea of writing seemed quite appealing.

But to this day, music directly influences my writing.  Not necessarily listening to it when I write.  Which I do on occasion, but that’s not my point.  Being a (failed) musician influences the way I approach the very act of writing.  I try to write like a guitar player might approach jamming alone in his room for his own amusement.  I’m not a slave to an outline.  It’s a very free-form exercise.  Also, I tend to think about crafting television the way a band might think about recording.  Each season is an album, every episode a song.  Some are there to tear your face off, some are power ballads, and some are filler (even if you don’t know it at the time).

MP:  As the showrunner, you have your fingers in a lot of pies.  What are your favorite non-writing duties?

TK:  I most enjoy fingering the pie that is the editing process.  It’s been said many times before, by people far smarter than myself, but editing truly is the final rewrite.  It’s amazing what you can do with your fingers in a dark room.

MP:  You've cast a couple actors from Dawson's Creek in small roles this season.  Can we expect this trend to continue?  Can Mia casually hook up with Obba Babatundé?  Maybe something unholy happens to the
Beek?

Oh, the trend will most certainly continue.  As long as there are former DC thesps willing to be Californicated, I will continue to employ them.  As for the Beek, though, the responsibility is crippling.  What does a young man do?  What kind of storyline does one craft for the Brando of his time?  To have David Duchonvy and James Van Der Beek share a single frame of celluloid…?  How would the Earth not spin off its axis?  Only time will tell.

Comments

[Thomas]

Love it. Keep the blog posts coming!

[Maringuy]

Thanks for the the look behind the curtain Tom, and for some solid questions MP. Nice. Loved episode 1, season looks promising... Keep 'em coming MP.

[lynn]

Tom, I think you are the best writer ever. I love Hank's witty comments. Becca is so priceless. I stopped at Mia jumping in the car. Thank you for that. I admire you!!! You are my rocking writing star! Lynn (high school English teacher)

[Fred32]

Great post! I have a location question. Where is Lew Ashby's house located in real life?

[Fred32]

Great post! I have a location question. Where is Lew Ashby's house in real life?

[Jay Rusovich]

"I had no desire to be a musician – I just wanted to be a f***ing rock star."

Interesting comment. I went down that road. I think the years were 13 to 18. I was so delusional that I carried a Les Paul to an Allman Brothers concert thinking they'd let me jam. It was at that moment I realized the whole f---ing thing was a grand fantasy. These days I would have been arrested on the spot and taken diretly to a mental hospital...where I probably belonged. Great interview...

[Connie]

can anyone tell me what karen has tatooed on her wrist??

[Veronica Sawyer]

In season 1 episode 5 "LOL" -- Hank is speaking to Mia's writing class. He warns that being a writer "Blows" and suggests that the girls should pursue any other career like...working as a telemarketer, a ditch digger, major league umpire or even a pharmaceutical rep! I'm curious... what's the inspiration for using pharmaceutical rep as a less than desirable career choice? The profession seems out of place. Is there a good background story here?

[John]

How has writing Season 2 changed from writing season 1? As far as story Arc's and character development. Also will we see Bill and the blonde secretary again?? They seemed to have disappeared so far! Thanks.