Laughing Matters

Inevitably, when Mark Goffman MPP 1994 meets with Hollywood producers to discuss sitcom scripts and movie screenplays, the first thing they want to know is why a graduate from one of the nation's top public policy schools isn't out saving the world.

"I tell them that KSG training is an ideal background for learning comedy," he says. "Who doesn't think government is a joke?"

Joking aside, Goffman isn't far off from the truth. With the success of TV sitcoms like the "West Wing" and "Spin City," having an understanding of politics and public policy can come in handy for writers like Goffman, who spent the last season writing for the ABC series, "Odd Man Out." It can also help land gigs outside Hollywood. For Goffman, this means "punch-up" work, which involves infusing jokes and witty phrases into political speeches. From his Venice, California, home, he spoke about the marriage of humor and politics, life in show business, and the chance of the Kennedy School ever making it to the small screen.

Q Why was your experience writing for "Odd Man Out" so great?

My job was to make up stories and jokes alongside the people who wrote the movie "There's Something About Mary." They created an environment where all the writers, even junior ones like me, participated. Even our cast was talented and cooperative. There are horror stories about shows where the writers literally wear numbers and if the stars don't like a joke, they ask, "What number wrote that?" And that "number" is fired. We didn't do that on "Odd Man Out."

Q You must be a funny guy. Do you always feel your humor has to be "on?"

Someone once asked Carl Reiner if it's hard to write comedy. He replied, "Not if you're funny." It's debatable whether I'm funny, so I surround myself with funny people and take notes. Most material I'm drawn to is character and story based. I just wrote and directed "Studio Notes," a comedy about Vincent Van Gogh. To me, a man who sold two paintings in his entire life — both to his brother/agent — a man who was so passionate and tragic in his lifetime and now revered as one of the most noted artists in history — that's perfect comedy material.

Q Has it become more difficult for scriptwriters to break into the business? What was your "breaking-in" experience like?

The joke is that there are so many writers, you can ask any waiter in Los Angeles to leave you a copy of his latest script with the check. I was pretty fortunate and broke in through a Warner Bros. competition. I was one of 25 people selected from about 1,000 who submitted a script to its workshop. During the workshop, each entrant wrote a new script. Warner Bros. selected two scripts to be read aloud on the final day of the workshop. Mine was one of the two, and the executive producers of "Odd Man Out" hired me after the reading.

Q It seems that nowadays, just about every politician is using jokes in speeches. Is this emphasis on using humor something new for politicians?

I'm not sure how new the device is. I heard John Locke told really good knock-knock jokes.

Q Do some politicians resist using humor because they view politics as serious business?

Some do, but humor is a tool that most good speakers have in their tool chest, like using hand gestures or stepping out in front of the podium. Last year, I helped write a speech about prescription drug legislation that was given at a bipartisan congressional hearing. It was for a woman whose severe arthritis disabled her and forced her to rely on Medicare for health care coverage. The topic couldn't have been more painful for the speaker. My job was further complicated because she was wearing a neck brace, appearing just weeks after having life-threatening surgery, and she was my mother! Mom's not a stand-up comic, so we worked out material about her feeling a little stiff. The levity let people know she's aware of her condition, and led into her frustrations trying to obtain certain prescription medications. The speech was well received. Since then, she's been asked to appear on CBS and NPR.

Q What are the qualities that make a script or political speech?

I only know what draws me to material. There are stories I come across that I can't stop thinking about, that I can't turn away from, stories so compelling that I care about the people telling them and what happens to them. That's what I try to capture when I write — speeches and scripts alike.

Q Tell me about "Short Term."

During my second year at the Kennedy School, John Hlinko MPP 1994 and I were procrastinating our PAE during winter recess. We decided to write a screenplay based on our experiences with a mayoral campaign, and we wrote a story about a 12-year-old boy who becomes mayor of a small town in New England called "Short Term." I sent it to the only person I knew at a Hollywood agency, who gave it to her boss who gave it to a producer, who called us within a few days. We thought, this is so easy! Then by the time we graduated, the actor our producer wanted for mayor hit puberty and was too old for the part. Since then we've had several interested producers, and I'm sure a studio will make it one day. The average script takes six years to hit the big screen.

Q Besides this collaboration with John, what impact did your time at Harvard have on your current work?

I met James Webb, who was an IOP fellow my first year at the Kennedy School. I hope to have a career like his. He has risen to high levels of government and managed to take time to reflect and write fictional work based on his experiences, such as Rules of Engagement. The Kennedy School is also responsible for my becoming the first person hired at Paramount Television to work in new media. In 1993, I saw this thing called a browser at the MIT media lab and convinced the White House National Economic Council to sponsor my PAE on Internet policy. I'm sure there are many now, but at the time I was the only person at the KSG looking into this field. Paramount recruited me following the Kennedy School's Future of Television Conference, and I became one of the founders of Paramount Digital Entertainment.

Q Have any of your characters or situations been based on Kennedy School people or experiences?

I write the best two-page memos of any scriptwriter in Hollywood. And my sitcom characters are reputed for their decision trees and multivariate regression analysis.

Q There have been a lot of TV dramas based in hospitals and police departments. Would the Kennedy School make a good TV series?

Producers love doctor and police shows because lives are at stake in every episode. Unless things have changed, my KSG experience didn't afford that kind of drama. Maybe the penalties for bad cold-call answers are getting tougher, I don't know. On the other hand, with the success of shows like the "West Wing" and "Spin City," there is an opportunity to create a series based on young people interested in politics. The Kennedy School would make a great setting.