'The Wire' Creator David Simon Wants to do History of CIA
Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:49 amMacArthur Foundation reveals 2010 'genius grants'
CHICAGO – 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 $500,000 grants were announced Tuesday by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The money, paid quarterly over five years, comes with no strings, allowing winners unfettered 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. His next pitch? The history of the CIA since World War II and a housing desegregation fight in Yonkers are two subjects inspiring him now. "Not all these things have the best possible commercial outlook," he said.
MacArthur winners don't need to tell anyone how they'll spend the grant money. There are no reporting requirements.
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Receiving word of the MacArthur was "like receiving a phone call from the Greek gods," [anthropologist and archaeologist Shannon Lee] Dawdy [another winner] said, because "someone you can't see is pulling the strings of your fate."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100928/ap_ ... ius_grants
CHICAGO – 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 $500,000 grants were announced Tuesday by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The money, paid quarterly over five years, comes with no strings, allowing winners unfettered 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. His next pitch? The history of the CIA since World War II and a housing desegregation fight in Yonkers are two subjects inspiring him now. "Not all these things have the best possible commercial outlook," he said.
MacArthur winners don't need to tell anyone how they'll spend the grant money. There are no reporting requirements.
(...)
(...)
Receiving word of the MacArthur was "like receiving a phone call from the Greek gods," [anthropologist and archaeologist Shannon Lee] Dawdy [another winner] said, because "someone you can't see is pulling the strings of your fate."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100928/ap_ ... ius_grants
