Writer For the Stars
October 5, 2023
Writers Note:
First for all my female readers, you got the man you’ve been asking for. And to Mickey, sorry not sorry to make you my first male interview. But honestly, it’s been a long-awaited write because you are a favorite and ‘Thank You’ for agreeing to do this. Absolutely love your work and hope to do you proud. – Rick
About:
I love doing interviews with folks from the ‘Midwest.’ They’re friendly, understanding and get the meaning of hard work. No bull and perveance is a model I like to attribute us to. And yes, I’m a Midwesterner as well as Mickey.
Born and raised in Ironton, Ohio, about a hundred miles south of Columbus, Mickey attended ‘The University of Cincinatti’s College Conservatory of Music.’ Trained as an actor he, also, studied ‘Musical Theater.’ He accomplished this by doing a wide array of jobs which included directing theatre, teaching acting classes to children and even sold merchandise while touring with the production of ‘Annie.’
Kickoff:
There was one pressing issue I had to address before we moved forward. ‘The Game.’ That’s much bigger than my customary two-word sentence. It’s legendary. It’s motivating. For that one ‘Fall’ Saturday afternoon each November, it’s hating Michigan or it’s hating Ohio. It’s college football’s biggest rivalry and I had to know where his loyalties lied before I began. Mickey deferred the kickoff and gave me the ball first.
“Let’s get this one out of the way early,” I began. “You’re originally from Ohio, how big of a Buckeye fan are you?” I attacked any defensive scheme he could muster as I went ‘Hail Mary’ on the Ohio native on the first play of the game. But certainly, wasn’t expecting his reply.
“I’m not a huge football fan but I’m always aware of what the Buckeyes are doing because my friends and family back home are huge fans. It’s funny, when I was a kid I did my first big play at the community theater, and in my bio, it said that I hoped to grow up and play for the Buckeyes,” he began. “I don’t know where that came from, other than osmosis, because I was NOT cut out for it!”
Not sure if the creator and writer of CBS’ ‘Extant’ stopped me with his candor on that opening drive or I forced me to settle for a field goal. But the game had begun.
Script Writing:
“I started writing scripts seriously when I was going to school for musical theater at the Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Mickey continued. “Until then, I always thought I wanted to be an ‘actor.’ But then I started seeing a lot of cool ‘indie movies’ and reading plays that I loved and had the opportunity to write some original pieces for auditions and projects at school.”
He, also, told me by the time he left CCM he wanted to be a writer as much, if not more, than he wanted to be an actor and stated, “I finished my first full-length screenplay the fall after I graduated.”
Smoke Filled Rooms:
During my tenure as a reporter there were many mornings filled with staff meetings and a smoke-filled room as reporters puffed away at cigarettes or cigars. One of my earliest memories of such a room were days prior to the Space Shuttle Challengers launch in January of 1986. I had asked our publisher to travel to Cape Canaveral, Florida for its’ launch but my request was immediately denied as he said, “launches have become routine.” We all recall what happened next.
I asked the writer for Nat Geo’s, ‘MARS,’ “What is script writing like? Is it like many assume a smoke-filled room with a bunch of writers kicking around ideas” and he replied, “The actual scriptwriting part is still mostly a solitary exercise, but figuring out the stories, coming up with overall ideas for the season, much of that takes place with a room full of writers. They may have been smoking in the old days (you rarely see a picture of Rod Serling without a cigarette) but these days it’s much tame. You may see plenty of junk food, but you’ll see just as many kale chips and green juices. But yes, writing for television is essentially an office job, anywhere from 4-8 hours or more in a room, working it all out.”
How much oversight do you as a show creator have, was my follow-up. “As a creator you have a ton of input and oversight, especially if you’re also the Showrunner. The Showrunner is in charge of all the, day to day administrative aspects of a show but you’re also final say on the scripts and the edits, so it’s really your job to shape the creative direction of the series,” he added.
Music Théâtre and Better Half:
“You studied Musical Théâtre, what was that like,” I asked next.
“I carry so much of that experience with me as a writer. The years I spent being onstage helped me when it came to writing dialogue, studying my role and its function in the shows helped me understand drama on a more macro level, and I just made so many great friends who are still with me today, including my girlfriend! We met doing LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS!”
Mickey excitedly adds, “Julie (his girlfriend) is pretty much my wife, we’ve been together for 25 years, but we are not actually married.”
Music Théâtre vs Screen Writing:
I hadn’t the slightest what the difference between the two were, so I asked the former Bearcat, and he retorted, “The great thing about musicals is when the emotions get so big or a character is dealing with an internal problem, they can break out in song. In screenwriting you have to find a way to communicate all of that with dialogue or using images. Unless you combine the two and make a movie musical, which is something I would love to do some day!”
Extant; Halle Berry and Jeffrey Dean Morgan
“We first started following one another when ‘Extant’ aired (2014),” I initiated, “Where did the idea of the show come from?”
“The idea for EXTANT started as a play, with a lone astronaut on a space station, hallucinating the images of loved ones who had passed on. It came out of my desire to write a story about an astronaut, my love of space, and obsession with exploring how technology impacts our connection to one another,” came the words from the final authority of the shows leading character ‘Molly Woods.’
Molly’s character was played by non-other than Halle Berry.
Had to do a follow-up here and ask about, probably, the most popular actor/actress on this or any other planet in the solar system.” What was working with Halle Berry like? Do you have a fun story you could share?”
“I loved working with Halle!” Mickey asserts, “I think most of my memories are of just being extraordinarily impressed by her ability to lead a show with so much commitment as well as raising two kids. Probably one of my favorite days was when she brought a sushi chef and a row of massage chairs for the cast and crew as we got close to wrapping the first season. The crew loved her. One of a kind,” he announced.
Also, appearing in Extant during the 2015 season (thirteen episodes) was Jeffrey Dean Morgan, better known now as ‘Negan,’ in ‘The Walking Dead.’
MARS:
Like Mickey, I’ve always loved space and seen several launches in Florida. When Mars hit Nat Geo the year after Extant ended, and already being a friend/acquaintance of Mickey’s, I was excited to tune in.
The show stared Jihae, a South Korean singer and actress.
“Another of my favorites you’ve written for,” I asked as we began nearing the end of our interview, “was Mars for Nat Geo. What difficulties did you find creating and writing scripts for this, I queried.”
“One of the big difficulties about writing MARS was that we all had a desire to make it as realistic as possible. We didn’t want to take too many big sci-fi leaps, but instead keep it rooted in how people who are working to get there think it will happen. The catch is, there are a LOT of different opinions about how it’s going to happen, even starting with how we might land on the surface. So, there was a lot of “hard sci-fi” debate even before we got to the characters,” confided Mickey.
Pinball and Pizza:
If you’ve following Mickey on social media, you know there are two loves behind Julie and their pup Ellie. They are pinball and pizza. Two more things us Midwestern souls share in common.
He loves pinball and says, “I got started with pinball as a kid, always was fascinated with them, then lost interest until a few years ago. I started going to Bar Eighty-Two back in 2015 or so to play classic arcade games and gradually fell more and more in love with the pinball machines. My favorite right now is Stranger Things. So fast, so frustrating, but so much fun!”
Yes, he makes pizza’s and they do look good! For the record, I did ask Mickey to submit a photo of a favorite pizza he had made. I know he takes them, as his Instagram account will attest. But sadly, I believe shyness entered the foyer and he chose not to. So, I chose my favorite looking ‘pie from his page.’
“Pizza. (one word can be a sentence) I see you’re always making pizza. Have you thought of opening a pizzeria?
“I love making pizza, but I’m still a hobbyist,” he says “When I think of the stress of trying to make more than a handful of pizzas for dinner guests, it stresses me out, so I don’t think I’ll ever open one of my own. But it’s a great way to take a break from writing!”
About Me:
“Nearly ten years following one another on social media, what do you find most intriguing about following me,” was the final question I asked.
In a short pause, my favorite writer responded, “Hard to believe we’ve been following each other for ten years! What I have always appreciated about you is your passion for supporting the projects and artists that you like,” he flattered me, “I’m sure you’ve felt this about the blog, but when you put your heart and soul into creating something you’re always happy when it connects with other people. I feel like we all need to be that vocal about supporting the stuff we love.”
Again, I’d like to thank Mickey for his time and allowing me to write about him. He’s, also, created the hit show ‘Reverie’ and was a writer for ‘The Strain’ along with several others. It’s been an honor, Mickey! I wish you well, my friend, and can’t wait for your next project to grab the networks attention and the new generations streaming services.
You can follow Mickey Fisher on these social media sites:
Mickey Fisher (@mickeyfisher73) • Instagram
And if you’re not already, please do follow me on social:
Leave a Reply