Over the next few years, Sandefur studied at "some of your better col-
leges in Southern California" and worked as a freelance writer, before
accepting his first staff job in the series Enos. "Every job is a milestone.
Jobs are few and writers are many, and it's getting more and more com-
petitive, especially in one-hour episodic. When I began, television was
dominated by one-hour dramas. It was relatively easy to get a pitch
meeting. With the advent of half-hour comedy and reality programming,
the number of one-hour dramas has been greatly reduced and it's not
such an open market.
"If I had to pick one job that meant the most . . . I'd have to say it was
an episode I did for Little House on the Prairie: A New Beginning. At the
time, I was pretty young and I'd sort of given up on writing as a career.
But there was a true story from my life that I wanted to tell and it fit with
Little House. Don Balluck [Little House executive story consultant], a good
friend and a great writer who has since passed away, was open to a pitch,
so I told him my story. In short order, I had an assignment and wrote the
script. It turned out to be a very
rewarding experience and
helped refocus my energies. I
never looked back after that."
With a renewed interest in
screenwriting, Sandefur
worked on a number of televi-
sion shows, picking up odd
episodes here and there,
rewriting or polishing existing
material, and creating screen-
plays of his own. He worked
regularly on The Rockford Files,
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer,
and other series. He served as
script consultant on the crime
drama Dark Justice, writing ten
episodes himself and co-
writing a two-hour movie.
He served as executive story
editor on the high action series
Soldier of Fortune, Inc., producer
Jerry Bruckheimer's first
venture into television.
"Working for Jerry Bruckheimer
was a lot of fun because he
demanded big action. Soldier of
What do you like
least about your job?
"Beginning. `Fade In:'
is the hardest thing to
write. The blank page is
potentially one's best
friend, but also an enemy
to be feared."--Duke Sandefur
What do you love most
about your job?
"Finishing. `Fade out' is the easiest and most
rewarding thing to write. Finishing is where
the satisfaction is.
"Wait . . . suddenly I'm thinking of lots of
things I love about my work. The flexible
hours (often called `unemployment' or
the preferred `hiatus') are great. As a free-
lancer, I don't clock in, I don't hit a key
without my morning coffee, and if I feel a
compelling need to go fishing, I do. Staff
work is more rewarding in this regard
because it's task oriented. You get to finish
a lot more often."--Duke Sandefur
VOICES OF
EXPERIENCE
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