Neal Baer, Producer, L&O SVU

[domenicaflor]

Part 1 of 2:

www.nbc.com/nbc/Law_&_Order:_Special_Victims_Unit/interviewp1.shtml

Exclusive Online Interview from NBC.COM:
Neal Baer, Executive Producer of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Neal Baer is more than the Executive Producer of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He's a Harvard graduate, who also attended the American Film Institute and is a licensed pediatrician! After finishing at AFI, Baer worked on the Vietnam era drama "China Beach" before deciding to attend medical school at Harvard. Neal has obviously found a way to combine his medical expertise and his writing talents into a successful television career. NBC.com spoke with Neal about his transition from medicine to entertainment and the future of his SVU characters.

How did you get from medical school to ER?

John Wells sent me the script for ER, which Michael Crichton had written when he was a medical student at Harvard in the early 1970s. I really took to it because it was about residents and medical students, not about patients per se. [Once ER got picked up], I left medical school in my 4th year and went to Los Angeles to break stories for two months. I literally brought 100 stories mostly for Carter and Dr. Ross, since I was studying pediatrics and Ross was a pediatrician. I ended up staying in Los Angeles and finished medical school during hiatuses. I did my residency/internship at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles.

So, you're definitely used to a hectic schedule!

Oh yeah, this is easy! I look back and I don't know how I did it. One year, I think in '98, I had a rotation at County U.S.C. in the newborn nursery at 4 am. Then I'd rush to the set of a pilot I was doing for the WB called "Out Reach," then I'd go over to "ER." It's all a blur, but I got through it.

You're like a character on ER! Was it hard transitioning from ER to SVU?

They're not so different. On SVU we focus on the workplace and the problems that arise for our characters when they're dealing with Special Victims crimes. For instance, Stabler's background is one of a religious man; Catholic, altar boy, four children. He has a very pointed view about abortion; what's right and what's wrong. Strong beliefs - and those beliefs are certainly carried through in the way that he deals with the crimes every week. Some have a profound effect on him, because he's a parent and father.

Same goes for Mariska's character - she's the product of a rape. She sometimes questions whether she's violent because she's a product of rape. Her father, who she doesn't know, was obviously violent. She's very independent because she was raised by a mother who was an alcoholic and she had to take care of that parent. That affects her and the way she deals with victims and how she cares about them.

We never lose sight of who the characters are, what their pasts are and how that will affect them in the stories that we tell. We have a show that we're doing this year where we meet Fin's son finally - at 18 years old. We've only talked about him twice I think in 6 years. Fin doesn't talk much about his personal life.

We like revealing those kinds of things about a character - as you would in any workplace where you know the people. You work with them, they're your "workplace family", but you may not know about other details until issues come up that reveal those details.

Fans will see this season that Stabler faces a crisis precipitated by a number of events - and fans will come to understand the character better. I don't want to give anything away!

Part of the reason you have such a loyal fan base is because of the show's attention to details.

Yeah, we don't' forget. We just wait until it's the right story to tell. One time, about 3 years ago, Fin shared with Benson that he had a son because they were working a case...

We remember many, many things about our characters and that's part of what makes it a gripping show instead of the crimes. It is story based, but there is a character element. It's not strictly a procedural show.

(continued on next post)

[domenicaflor]

Part 2 of 2:

How do you think the show has evolved over the years?

It's grown in a number of ways. More from a technical point of view. It's more fast-paced, as everyone gets more comfortable with their characters they talk fast, they move faster. We have longer scripts than we used to. We have a slightly different look, it's more saturated - a little bit juicier in color, very flattering to the actors and to New York City. New York has a different light than L.A. You get a very different palette, which we like.

There's also more experimentation. A fresher approach to storytelling, not a traditional A-B-C-D method of storytelling. People know what they're going to get when they come to SVU. They're going to get a well-written, well-acted show with a gripping story, but also maybe a car chase or an inter-cut scene. New things that don't break the boundaries of the show.

Character-wise it's certainly evolved. We started out as a show where [the characters] went home a lot. Back then, when I came on in Season 2, we didn't go home. Now, we go home when it's appropriate.

You get to know the characters as time goes by, more naturally. That's why I think the show gets better and better. You just accumulate more and more knowledge and get to know the characters more and more. But you don't find out too much.

It definitely keeps you coming back each week. Structurally, how does the show work compared to other dramas, like ER?

The way the show works is very different from when I did ER. ER was laid out in three sections - we divided the year into thirds because we had to arc the character stories over a whole season, or when George (Clooney) left, two seasons.

SVU seems a little more self-contained.
Our show is self- contained each week, even though it evolves. If you see year one, Benson is very different than she is now, but you can catch an episode on USA Network and still enjoy it.

Do the writers meet throughout the season to pitch stories?
For us, we don't have many writers meetings - maybe just once a month when we just kind of talk about stories. We have a full-time researcher. I read four newspapers a day. I will suggest story ideas to various writers that I think fit personalities. Certain writers write very dark stuff in our show and others write more emotional stories. Some write great children's stuff. So I may have an idea in mind and go to one of them and they write a "Beat Sheet" for four acts. Then I'll sit down with them and go through it with a fresh set of eyes before anyone even starts writing [the script].

When the script comes out, I give notes and we go from there. We meet with a director and casting. In addition to writers, I try to make sure the shows fit our various directors. We have some that are great with intimate scenes and others that are better with action so we try to pair up the scripts accordingly. For instance, I work closely with Ted Kotcheff - who is directing the episode we're working on now ["Doubt"]. That show was written for Ted. I told him early in the summer that we had a show suited to him because it's so complex in structure and characterization. He's approaching his 50th year as a director and said directing this episode was a real challenge.

How about when you introduce a new character, as you will this season? Does everyone give input as to how or when to introduce that character?

One example is that we're prepping for the last episode in sweeps, which introduces Mary Stuart Masterson's character (Rebecca Hendricks) as a psychiatrist. She's taking over for BD Wong's character while BD is off doing the play "Pacific Overtures". We wanted to bring in a character that would create some conflict with Stabler and Benson because conflict is always good! Hendricks is a former cop who trained with Mariska's character, so they know each other. Stabler hasn't always felt warmly toward psychiatry, but he does warm up to this character - who has been both a cop and a shrink.

I met with the writers to discuss how to introduce this new character and it just sort of came out of that discussion. If she's a psychiatric doctor, she has most likely dealt with patients with severe mental disorders like schizophrenia. So we placed her at Bellevue and she treats a woman who may or may not have been raped. It's very difficult sometimes to assess whether or not a woman with schizophrenia has been raped, even though her risk is higher. We were interested in what issues arise from that situation, plus it was a great way to intro Mary's character.

What have been your favorite episodes over the years?
There are certain scenes or acts that stand out. We did a show called "Fallacy" last year about a transgender woman and it had an Act Two that was unbelievable. A young man finds out his girlfriend is really a man. Act Twos are always tough because you're still building from Act One and explaining. This one really took off with this horrifying lie. The young man winds up committing suicide after he learns the truth. We address each show as its own special story, and there aren't any that I don't like. Well, maybe one.

Really? Tell us why.
It was 3 or 4 years ago, and it didn't quite play the way I wanted it to.

Do you think that now, especially with Mariska's recent Emmy Nomination, that the show is just hitting its stride?

I think this season is the best series of shows we've ever done. The premiere with Lea Thompson really moved people… and the one with Ming Na was beautifully made. It gave you a sense of Chinatown that you don't usually see on TV.

We have one with Dana Delaney and Lewis Black about obscenity - getting into some tough 1st amendment rights issues. We did one with Kyle MacLachlan ("Conscience") that asked, "What do you do about children who are sociopaths?" The Billy Campbell episode is sort of a "he said/she said" called "Doubt". The ending is something we hope people will be talking about - it's a Law & Order first!

What does the future hold for Benson, Stabler, Fin and the others on the SVU team?
You'll see big changes in November. Stabler's having anger issues and you'll see why.

[domenicaflor]

I added this article from NBC Online because I thought it was interesting to see how the producer interacts with the writers and how everyone works to carry character arcs over a multiple-year series. SVU has a very different focus from CI, so I thought it would be informative to compare their production staff with Balcer and Co. If the moderators wish to move this or nix it, feel free.

Enjoy!

D.

[Patcat]

Dom;

Thanks for posting that interview. I've always liked Christopher Meloni's performance as Stabler, even though I have problems with the character. I know there are a lot of people who have trouble with Goren's character and feel that he's dangerous, but I find Stabler to be the most dangerous cop in the L&O universe. And the producer's comments about Stabler seeing the world in black and white explained a lot about why I think that about Stabler. Goren, I think, sees the world in grey, and is perhaps more flexible and forgiving that Stabler.

And I've always liked Benson and Hargarity's performance. Tough, funny, and smart. I like to think she and Eames are friends and occasionally complain about their partners over a margarita.

Patcat

[Sirenna]

Thanks for this one, domenica!

Wow these writers have some real cred.