You know what I love the most about March Madness? Trying to watch all the games on TV and my iPhone, and my iPad as well. After an incredible Round of 64, the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament now move to the Round of 32 this weekend, while the 2024 2024 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament is the currently in the midst of its first round. Of course, we are not just here to talk about sports and sports only, we are here on Wkly Hit List to discuss almost everything that happened in the news this week. So let's get it started with another edition of the 5-Day Rounder.
The constant trend of hostile work environment with the Film and TV Industry has gone on for quite sometime now. One quick example was the backstage drama with the first season of Batwoman on The CW in 2019, some people didn't understand why Ruby Rose would leave after one season and be replaced with Javicia Leslie for the second season. I didn't understand it either, until the allegations that it had been very toxic behind-the-scenes in the early goings of Batwoman. Ruby Rose claims to be the victim of the toxicity backstage, while Warner Bros. Executives and Batwoman actors claim that Ruby was the cause of the toxicity and that's why she was left go after the first season, which keep in mind was one of many shows that had to halt production due to the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020.
So now we come to how and why the Quiet on Set documentary on ID Channel. But before we go any further, I want to point out that Nickelodeon's response to the documentary has been met with the promise that the network will foster "a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct." The responses from many Nickelodeon actors from the past has been mixed with supporting to those who were abused and defending actions of Dan Schneider. The story begins in the year 2018, and in the wake of the MeToo movement, ViacomCBS (which now goes by Paramount Global) would interviewed dozens of employees regarding their experiences with Dan Schneider. Interesting enough, Schneider did not commit any sexual misconduct because that would make him even worse than Harvey Weinstein, but the employees who were interviewed would express that Schneider was controlling and verbally abusive towards them. Once the review was over, Schneider parted ways from Nickelodeon in 2018.
Later on, two directors by the names of Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz would look at inappropriate scenes from shows produced by Dan Schneider and partnered with Business Insider reporter Kate Taylor to reach out to dozens of actors and crew members who worked on the sets of these shows. When watch the four-part documentary series, you can see that these ladies manage to find a lot of individuals responded and agreed to share their negative experiences, however several more were still afraid to come forward with their experiences. The series featured former All That cast members such as Leon Frierson, Bryan Hearne, Katrina Johnson, Giovonnie Samuels, and Kyle Sullivan, also Alexa Nikolas from Zoey 101, Raquel Lee from The Amanda Show, and believe it or not Drake Bell who we all know and love from Drake & Josh. As for those worked on these shows as crew members, two former female writers on All That would discussed their tumultuous relationship with Schneider, such as a split-payment that goes against the rules of the Writers Guild of America and alleged sexual harassment from Schneider. This led to a settled lawsuit on gender discrimination and the two writers getting fired.
Virgil L. Fabian, a director of All That and Drake & Josh, mentioned in the documentary that he witnessed such abuse by Dan Schneider himself, and went to revealed that he got into some sort of heat argument with Schneider and then old day, he walked off the set of All That and quit in frustration. What I found very shocking is the fact that two crew members of All That, production assistant Jason Michael Handy and dialogue coach and actor Brian Peck, who later worked on The Amanda Show, became convicted sex offenders. Handy sexual abused a little girl who appeared on The Amanda Show as an extra and that led to his arrest, while Brian Peck would sexually assault Drake Bell in the earliness of production on Drake & Josh, UNBELIEVABLE! The sad part about it is that Drake Bell's parents were aware of Brian Peck's behavior and wanted to help, so Drake and his mom organized a police sting that resulted in Peck being arrested. Drake and his parents were relieved of this, but Drake would remained traumatized for years to the point where he went down a self-destructive path, which led to his DUI arrest in 2015 and his 2021 guilty plea for child endangerment. There are other actors on Nickelodeon who went on similar downward spiral and Amanda Bynes has to be the most common given her own struggles over the years.
The last episode of "Quiet on Set" revealed that during Brian Peck's court case, multiple Hollywood individuals supported him and wrote letters to the presiding judge. The names of these individuals are incredible and they include names like s James Marsden, Kimmy Robertson, Taran Killam, Alan Thicke, Joanna Kerns, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle. All this would play a big role in Brian Peck getting convicted for two counts and was sentenced to serve 16 months in prison and register as a sex offender. I for one agree that the sentence should have been much longer than that, I also agree that the way Drake was treated was no right and it's shocking to know that Dan Schneider let it happen. The cast members of All That mentioned how they were forced to portray inappropriate characters on the show and in sketches that would gross them out. In 2002, Nickelodeon's popular programming block SNICK (short for Saturday Night Nickelodeon) would feature a series of "On-Air Dare" segments featuring members of the All That cast who participated in dare challenges on television, hence the name "On-Air Dare." It's been rumored that Dan Schneider was involved in these segments and made them a parody towards the show Fear Factor. I remember watching some of them as a kid and I too found them to be disgusting, but it never cross my mind as kid as how these kids felt about doing such dares on TV.
After much thought from watching the entire documentary, I have to "break character" and speak merely as my real self, for all I can say is that I'm sorry that these kids went through such trauma. It's amazing how I grew watching them on All That, The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, iCarly, Victorious and Sam & Cat, as I was almost the same age as them. My whole life I've wanted to be on TV, and the one channel I dreamed of being was Nickelodeon. My dreams began after I graduated High School ten years ago, and strangely enough it's been ten years since I wrote my first official post on this blog. Prior to 2014, I began writing my own TV shows, first there was U-Pick Nonstop mean to be a sketch comedy show like All That, and one the sketches I came up with was NickCam, but after throwing this idea in the computer trash can by mistake in 2012, I decided to overhaul everything and make NickCam into sitcom/variety sketch hybrid series. I casted myself, my older sister, her friends from high school, one of my cousins, and real-life actors who were on All That 2004 and 2005 into my show. Later on I would like the NickCam spin-off Rhodey, NY and out myself as the lead role. My style of screenwriting is somewhat the same as Dan Schneider's because he inspired me to get into the Film and TV Industry the most.
Those who have read my posts know that I've posted every TV Shows and Game Shows on this blog in the past, I've also used this post to promote my college thesis film two years ago, somehow I managed to write a script based on my original idea of NickCam, then I had it produced, filmed, and edited into what you see on my YouTube channel as a 10 minute narrative in which teenagers make their own web show after being inspired by iCarly. What people don't know is that I watched a bit from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in June of 2022, in which former NBA player Jalen Williams fired onion rings into a hockey goal guarded by former WWE Superstar Matt Riddle. This bit to me looked real easy to do and I used it in a scene of my thesis film, something I am very proud.
But looking back it now after watching Quite on Set, I wonder if the bit was too inappropriate. One thing I never spoke of until now is how anxious I was to getting everything I wanted to film in my thesis done on December 3 and 4, 2022, I rented a couple's house in Brooklyn as the location of my film, and initially we were given eight hours to shoot per day, though I paid for an extra hour on each day and pushed the crew to work faster, something I don't think I should have done. People who've seen the film don't know that there were some props I forgot to add, and there were some shots we forgot to do during the two days we were filming. The most depressing part was when there was an incident myself and my DP (Director of Photography, or better terms, Cinematographer) before we wrapped up on Day 1. We were shooting the last scene of the day in just one take which I originally wrote to take place outside, but we couldn't because it was too dark out and it began to rain, and I really hoped that wouldn't rain the same weekend we were shooting. So by thinking on my feet, I completely improvised the whole scene to be inside of the living room where all our filming equipment was scattered all over the floor and chairs.
I would then get into it with my Cinematographer with where I wanted the camera to be positioned, he was trying to explain to me that there wasn't much space for him to move the camera by hand and he had it positioned in a spot he chose, but I was trying to tell him to stand in a different spot that I chose for him. I yelled and screamed at him to do as I say, and I got so frustrated that I found myself grabbing him by the arms, even trying to snatch the camera out of his hands, something I that regret to this day and wish I could take back, but I cannot. It was really embarrassing because the cast, crew, and homeowners were watching us argue, so I beg my DP to trust me, and he agreed to position the camera to the spot that I requested, and we managed to shoot the last scene of the day. As went we packed up all the equipment and left it at the house overnight, I went home feeling really bad with how I acted towards my DP and in front of my and crew no less. He told me himself the next day that he was upset and uncomfortable with it all, so I promised him to keep my hands to myself and he promised to do as I say a little more; at least that's how I remember and I could be wrong.
When watching the four-part documentary "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" and learning of Dan Schneider's past behavior, it reminded me of the incident it had with my Cinematographer on the set of my short film. The homeowners wanted us to leave because our eight hours to shoot were up, and we were running out of time to shoot the last scene of the day, but the way I went about it was uncalled for. I've never once talked about the abuse and trauma I've gone through in any more of media, but it all caught with me on December 3, 2022; and I asserted myself in a way I've seen my Mother, Father, and older sister do to others and myself. As a young filmmaker, I realize that have a lot to learn about directing and producing bigger projects compared to what I do on FakeTV Box, I also have to learn to be kind to all those I'm working with on-set, treat them with the upmost respect without being so demanding of them. At the end of the day, no filmmaker wants to be an abusive control freak and no one person wants the well-being of a child actor to be traumatized.
CELEBRITY of the WEEK
Giovonnie Samuels
Born: November 13, 1985
Series regular on All That from Seasons 7-9.
Made guest appearances on Henry Danger and Raven's Home
That's your Celebrity of the Week, and this has been the Wkly Hit List.
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