David Crosses The River
BG: Was working over there a good experience?
DC: I know that people in this business speak in platitudes, but the people who worked on that show really were one of the nicest groups of people I’ve ever spent time with. We would go out afterward and drink and hang out. Other places I’ve worked were great, but that kind of thing didn’t happen. It wasn’t their culture.
BG: One of the things about British shows is that they don’t have the same kind of breakneck production pace, which means that quality can be maintained. There’s this new version of Sherlock Holmes called Sherlock, and a full season is three 90-minute episodes. It’s hard to imagine that in American TV.
DC: That was a big draw. A season is six episodes, and you get to write all of them in advance, before you do any filming.
BG: Before you go, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask about Alvin and the Chipmunks. There was a controversy because you said some things that were critical of an executive who worked on the movie.
DC: I did. It was one woman in particular, a horrible, mean, bitter woman. I assume she’s bitter. But it wasn’t like I called a press conference to talk about her. I was asked a question in an interview and I was honest about answering it. The experience making the movie was awful and I said so. I got lots of supportive comments and lots of critical ones, but my favorite were the ones where people said I shouldn’t have kept the money from the movie. Say you do a job for me, something in my house, and I’m a total jerk to you. I won’t let you use the bathroom. I say there will be food for you and then there’s no food. At the end of the job, I pay you, and then after that you tell people I was impossible to work for. Does that mean you have to give me my money back?