Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1203636
62 C I N E M O N T A G E B O O K R E V I E W W hat ostensibly started out as a b o o k co m m i ss i o n e d b y a noted publisher (the nonexis- tent Copeland Fischer) to record a year in the life of a leading British television executive has become "Some Things You Should Know: Confessions of a TV Executive." Whether the intention is to tell a true story, or to fabricate one, the escapades of Truman Locke offer a page-turning adventure. A preface reads: "This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either prod- ucts of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously." The author's detailed account of the inner workings of factual televi- sion is far too telling to be entirely imagined. It seems much more like- ly that the events and the people in this story are in many ways "real," but are "used fictitiously." With this caveat, there are insights that will make readers cringe and laugh, often simultaneously. This is not a how-to, nor an account of contracts, shooting techniques, editing, or ways to make a technically good documentary. Locke's perspective is entirely En- glish, although a goal of many producers there is to sell their work to US television. That is where the big money is, the gold- en egg that leads to profits and further commissions. Most of that money goes to broadcasters, but the throughline of this story is that of a man desperate to come up with ideas that will eventually get that golden egg. The Truman Show THIS LOOK AT THE LIFE OF A BRITISH TV EXECUTIVE IS ALL FICTION. OR IS IT? Desperation is the fundamental tone of "Some Things You Should Know." Locke is middle-aged. He has years of ex- perience in television, won some awards, and is completely dedicated to his work in a way that that most in the business will understand. But Locke's dedication go e s b e yo n d t h a t o f m a ny o rd i n a r y filmmakers. He has no family, lives alone in a hidden, barren flat, believes he has no friends. Sometimes he mourns this existence, but mostly he not-so-secretly revels in his life. Locke's entire being is consumed by non-fiction filmmaking. Every page reveals his desperation; the book almost exudes a smell of sweat and fear, only partially masked by unchecked bravado. When not in his office or on location, he spends most of his time drinking or recovering from drinking. This goes too far for his boss at an independent production company when Locke orders his staff, while in the office, to engage in a By Betsy A. McLane day of very serious alcohol consumption meant to generate fresh ideas. The book recounts his experience with one-night stands, brief affairs and lost relation- ships in an impersonal way. Only a single line hints at what the women involved might be thinking or feeling. Perhaps this is a way to protect their identities, but in a book that proclaims itself as possible fiction, that approach seems specious. Eve r y p a ge i n "S o m e Th i n gs Yo u Should Know" is about Locke, or inter- mittently about the subjects of his films. Locke believes that he can pitch any idea to any commissioning editor. If the ideal serious topics he dreams about are rejected, Locke is ready with six other ideas, perhaps not so noble, to volley at the broad- caster. "Some Things You Should Know" exalts his finely-honed abili- ty to read commissioning executives as well as members of his own team, cajoling or pushing to achieve his ends. He believes that this is the best way to make a documentary, and he is ready to go almost any length, even risking sanity and life for the sake of a project. He continuously lies to potential film subjects, to his boss, and to commis- sioning editors. He takes advantages of their weaknesses, as in a meeting with one such commissioning editor at a film festival/market. Knowing that the man for whom he is buying drinks is on his way out of the business, Locke meets him in a dark restaurant corner so they will not be noticed. Locke pitches him an idea, one that has no chance of being realized, coddling him with false prom- The author's detailed account of the inner workings of factual television is far too telling to be entirely imagined.