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'The Wire' creator's guilt over 'genius grant'
Source: Agencies |
September 29, 2010, Wednesday
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DAVID Simon, creator of the HBO television series "The Wire," is among 23 recipients of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius grants" - news that left him with what he described as "a vague sense of guilt."
The US$500,000 grants were announced yesterday by the Chicago-based John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation. The money, paid quarterly over five years, comes with no strings, allowing winners freedom to pursue their creativity.
Simon's guilt stemmed from already being amply funded in an industry that's "a little bit recession-proof," he said. Still, the award's prestige will go far with network executives. While critically acclaimed, Simon's dissection of urban problems in "The Wire" and more recently "Treme" hasn't yet scored Emmys or high Nielsen ratings.
"It makes it easier to go into the room with the network and argue against doing the usual thing in television," Simon said.
Subjects currently inspiring Simon include the history of the CIA since World War II and a housing desegregation fight in the New York town of Yonkers. "Not all these things have the best possible commercial outlook," he admitted.
MacArthur winners don't need to tell anyone how they'll spend the grant money. There are no reporting requirements.
"We could spend it all on cake," joked theater director David Cromer, one of this year's recipients. Cromer, known for staging American classics such as "Our Town," said he wasn't ready to discuss what he may attempt with the grant's support. "It purchases you freedom," Cromer said. "I can do things now that aren't necessarily going to generate an income."
Bob Gallucci, the foundation's president, called the grants "an investment in people who have already done extraordinary things." There have been 828 MacArthur Fellows.
Other recipients this year included jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran, Shannon Lee Dawdy, an anthropologist and archaeologist from the University of Chicago who after Hurricane Katrina worked to ensure that recovery efforts respected the city's archaeological heritage, and Amir Abo-Shaeer, who left a job in industry to become an educator.
The US$500,000 grants were announced yesterday by the Chicago-based John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation. The money, paid quarterly over five years, comes with no strings, allowing winners freedom to pursue their creativity.
Simon's guilt stemmed from already being amply funded in an industry that's "a little bit recession-proof," he said. Still, the award's prestige will go far with network executives. While critically acclaimed, Simon's dissection of urban problems in "The Wire" and more recently "Treme" hasn't yet scored Emmys or high Nielsen ratings.
"It makes it easier to go into the room with the network and argue against doing the usual thing in television," Simon said.
Subjects currently inspiring Simon include the history of the CIA since World War II and a housing desegregation fight in the New York town of Yonkers. "Not all these things have the best possible commercial outlook," he admitted.
MacArthur winners don't need to tell anyone how they'll spend the grant money. There are no reporting requirements.
"We could spend it all on cake," joked theater director David Cromer, one of this year's recipients. Cromer, known for staging American classics such as "Our Town," said he wasn't ready to discuss what he may attempt with the grant's support. "It purchases you freedom," Cromer said. "I can do things now that aren't necessarily going to generate an income."
Bob Gallucci, the foundation's president, called the grants "an investment in people who have already done extraordinary things." There have been 828 MacArthur Fellows.
Other recipients this year included jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran, Shannon Lee Dawdy, an anthropologist and archaeologist from the University of Chicago who after Hurricane Katrina worked to ensure that recovery efforts respected the city's archaeological heritage, and Amir Abo-Shaeer, who left a job in industry to become an educator.
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