Last week we wrote about Writing Head of Department Maria Jacquemetton’s current gig on the new TV drama Mad Men. Maria, from L.A., kindly agreed to answer questions from you, posted in the comments section.

Here are your need-to-knows about writing for TV, and Maria’s answers.

Q: Hi Maria! When you and Andre are assigned to write an episode, how much of your time is spent on research? Since Mad Men is set in the past, do you have a backlog of interesting, historically-relevant tidbits lined up for you to use when you need them?

Good luck with Mad Men. We all want you back in Canada!

- Sean

A: Hi Sean,

When we’re writing Mad Men we are constantly thinking about the past. Since the stories often involve documented historical events, research is a big part of the writing process. The Executive Producer, Matthew Weiner, has reverence for the era in which the show is set and it’s part of our mandate as a writing staff to be attentive to the details. We use a lot of different sources ranging from written material to conversations with ad men from the period.

Our writers’ assistants and interns also help with the process of gathering information about anything that we worry about today, whether it’s sports, fashion, politics, entertainment—the cost of a hot dog from a street vendor in 1960, whether or not they had area codes back then—things you don’t even think about until you really put yourself in the past. It’s fun, and sometimes eye-opening.

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Digital Design’s Brett Forsyth has posted an update on his homebrew multi-touch display over on the DD Blog. There’s video - and you can really see how this very cool project is shaping up.

Multi-touch tech is at the heart of the current iPhone frenzy, and its promise seems to strike a chord with, well, everyone who sees it. Having this tool in-house will be a great chance for students to explore those possibilities. Thanks for keeping us posted, Brett!

When VFS grad Clifton Murray made Canadian Idol’s top 22, we were pretty excited. And after Monday night’s performance, the whole Acting department had 1-866-9-IDOL-02 on speed-dial to vote for him. The day after the show, we caught up with Clifton while he decompressed in his Toronto hotel suite for a candid phone interview about his experience on Idol, his approach to singing and acting, and his memories of VFS. Enjoy!

It should come as no surprise that Digital Design is full of bloggers. After all, any designer’s got to stay in touch with an industry that’s ever-challenging and ever-changing.

The DD08 class is in Term 4 now, and a lot of them are carving time out of their busy schedules to blog. It’s a great way to get an unfiltered look into their life and work.

Here’s a recent selection: Leah Bancroft, Bart Barlowski, and Enrique Tejero. (Be sure to check out Leah’s in-depth post about working on Reel Ideas Studio!) There’s lots more, so keep your eyes on the blogroll to your left as we highlight them.

And don’t forget - for the full DD experience, the Digital Design Open House is this Thursday, June 28th at 6pm. We hope to see you there!

For the second year running, artists from around the world will be touring – and learning – for three weeks in France as a part of DRIMN. One of the 30 students chosen from around the world is VFS Classical Animation grad Michelle Clement!

Michelle will be travelling throughout France with 29 other students, visiting animation schools and ending her trip in Paris. Airfare and accommodation expenses are covered by the French government. The trip is intended to be a “technical, artistic, and cultural journey,” and will include meetings with French professionals, artists and technicians.

Anticipating the trip, Michelle says: “There’s lectures, screenings of students’ work in and around France, as well as group projects we work on together while there as we travel to six different cities. I’m looking forward to flying overseas, as I’ve never been to Europe, and checking out Gobelins the most! I’m so thankful for the opportunity to participate!”

She begins her three-week trip today. Bon voyage, Michelle!

This coming week is the Platform International Animation Festival down in Portland, Oregon, and our own Larry Bafia and Marv Newland will be right in the mix. The Platform fest, which runs from June 25 to June 30, is a really exciting venture - the only of its kind in the U.S.

The festival includes tons of screenings, but also industry panels. Marv’s sitting in on the discussion about the late cartoonist Basil Wolverton, while Larry will be adding his voice to “PLATFORM 101: Teaching for New Platforms,” a panel tackling the challenges of ever-changing tools and tech in animation.

If you’re lucky enough to be in the neighbourhood, check it out. Sounds like a great time.

If you’re in town and don’t have plans for Saturday night, check out this party-slash-fundraiser!

Wit Productions is hosting a fundraiser for its short film Over Easy. The film will will be written and produced by - and will star - Wade Fennig (Writing grad and current T.A., photo left) with Acting instructor Andrew Moxham directing.

The party will feature music by Whiskey Strait (Acting instructor Michael Chase’s band) as well as the vocal talents of current Writing student Jordana Kalenchuk, who we hear knocks everyone’s socks off. Hmm, even if you do have plans… might want to cancel ‘em and join us at Yagger’s…

Saturday, June 23rd - 8 pm onward
Yagger’s Downtown Restaurant & Sports Bar
Tickets - $10, which includes a sleeve of Granville Island Lager and the chance to win great prizes
Tickets available at the Writing T.A. desk, 815 West Hastings (2nd floor)

22 with a bullet!

Clifton Murray cemented his place on Canadian Idol last night, making the hard-fought 22-singer shortlist. Next step: Top 10.

The Acting grad who left university to study at VFS will again be in front of the judges on Monday, June 25 at 8pm on CTV.

Break a leg, Clifton!

Some of you may have heard a rumour that Maria Jacquemetton, Head of the Writing Department, has been in L.A. working on a series. It’s true! Maria, along with her husband and writing partner Andre, are Writers and Producers on Mad Men – the new AMC drama created by Sopranos Exec Producer Matthew Weiner.

The show’s description from its website: “Set in 1960 New York, Mad Men pulls the viewer into an unexpected new world - the high-powered and glamorous “Golden Age” of advertising - where everyone is selling something and nothing is ever what you expect it to be.” For a better sense of the show, check out the trailer and behind-the-scenes footage (including a look at the writers at work!).

Got your own questions for Maria? See the end of this post!

In the meantime, we asked Maria to tell us a bit about the process of writing for Mad Men. She says:

“A typical day for the writers depends on where we are in the production schedule. The writing staff may gather in the writers room in the morning and spend the better part of the day as a group, breaking the story for an episode, talking about the series arc and the character arcs for the various principal cast members, and catching up on everybody’s personal lives. Ordering lunch is also important (the staff has working lunches most days!). Sometimes we will take a break to watch dailies (shot footage of the current episode in production) or walk down to the two stages where Mad Men is shot to watch filming.

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There’s more than a little song-and-dance to being an actor. You’ve got to be able to own that stage.

That’s something our very own Acting grad Clifton Murray, who we last touched base with when he appeared in the movie She’s the Man, knows very well. And he’s proving it in front of a huge national audience.

Clifton’s just cracked the top 100 in this season’s Canadian Idol. He’ll be singing his heart out tonight as the field gets ever smaller.

You can cheer him on tonight at 8pm on CTV. We will be!