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The Secret Lives Of Video Game Stars I interview TV writer and producer Jason Venokur, an Orthodox Jew, on Wednesday, February 25, 2004. Jason: "I became observant through a friend, David Sacks, at [TV show] 3rd Rock From The Sun. "I was born in Brooklyn. I grew up in Scarsdale [New York]. I went to Dartmouth college. I majored in English. I came out to LA in 1992, right after college. I worked as a production assistant on Sliver with Sharon Stone. Then I became a computer editor on On Deadly Ground with Steven Seagal. The editing bay was a big computer on skis and I'd make a hut with a C-stand, sit in the hut and I'd edit the movie as it got shot. I worked at MTV for few different shows such as Road Rules and Singled Out. I was a production assistant on a TV show called Platypus Man. In 1993, I met my writing partner Dave Goetsch through some friends. I was answering phones on a UPN comedy called Platypus Man. 'Which was your favorite episode?' "Dave and I would read each other's scripts. Neither of us liked the other's writing. So we decided to partner up for a nine year trial period. In 1996, we went on staff at 3rd Rock From The Sun for five years, going from staff writers to executive producers. "We stayed around Carsey-Warner [production company] and developed shows. We wrote movies for different studios that never got made but at least they paid us. Last year, along with David Sacks and my brother Ross, we developed a animated show called Game Over [that will air on UPN, starting March 10 at 8PM]. It's about the what video game characters do when they get home from work. Lucy Liu stars as a mom caught between chasing after the emerald monkey and making lunch for her kids. The neighbors are Shaolin monks who have kung fu battles on the roof. It's very educational." Luke: "When did you become interested in Judaism?" Jason: "Through 3rd Rock From The Sun. I was basically trying to schmooze David Sacks because he was much higher up on the show than I was. I was quickly won over by [Judaism] intellectually. It was the practice that took years. It was tough to become observant, to change my identity. But once I decided to go ahead with it, every thing gelled. "Thank God, at 3rd Rock, there were observant Jews there already. When I declared I wanted to keep Shabbos, my boss said, 'Wow, I wish I could believe in Jesus.' "In keeping mitzvot [Jewish Law], I've had a blessed path. As far as reconciling it on a content level, that's something everyone has to deal with themselves. 3rd Rock lent itself to examination of what motivates people. It was theme driven. There was frequently an opportunity to drop in thoughts that were meaningful. I think that was the inclination of the show runners. From a comedy appreciation angle, I've never been pulled towards the lewd." Luke: "How many people on Game Over are observant?" Jason: "Just me and David, but we have a kosher grill. "The show goes in all directions. We worked in a TuBishVat joke, but that's not the mission of the show. The main thing is to make it an entertaining show. Video games are so huge. They are bigger than movies and TV combined." Luke: "In total sales?" Jason: "Yeah." Luke: "Really?" Jason: "Supposedly. I say that a lot. I hope it's true. "It's just a market that hasn't been serviced in this way and people love video games. Our real world is so out of control, the hyper-realized world of video games seems like our generation's last hope for satire. Super Mario is very Swiftian. I don't know if you've played any games recently?" Luke: "I haven't played any videogames since high school, which was the early 1980s. Were you a big player of video games before the show?" Jason: "No. But when we got the order for the show, we hired a guy named Fish to sit in the livingroom of the office in front of a huge screen TV and just play videogames all day long. We would walk back and forth and he'd show us different things and we'd all gradually get into it and found games that we liked." Luke: "What's harder? Being a television writer who is an Orthodox Jew or being an Orthodox Jew who writes for television?" Jason: "In the Orthodox world, everyone's great. Nobody cares. More often than not, they're interested because it is unusual in the Orthodox world. In the TV world, it's similar. There are a few of us. It's not bad. It's nice to know you are in the center of the nonsense center of the world. But you can still feel grounded and inspired. Neither world is unaccommodating to the other." Venokur lists off a dozen Orthodox Jews he knows who write for television. "You have to have a job and it [writing for television] is a great job to have. You have the potential to have a huge impact. It's hard to have a pure huge impact. Everything comes through so many channels. When you're writing television, your job is not to change the world. If you're too literal, you are probably not going to have too much success." Luke: "Do you find it jarring transitioning between the two worlds?" Jason: "I don't know. I go home to a community, friends, people who know what I am about. In the snap of a finger, it could be much more difficult." Luke: "Has God ever spoken to you?" Jason chuckles: "Not per se." Luke: "Has He ever intervened in your life?" Jason: "You have to say He intervenes constantly." Luke: "Is marijuana trafe?" Jason: "Only because it is against the law of the land." Luke: "Are you more positive or negative about the future of Jews in North America?" Jason: "Oh wow." He thinks for a few seconds. "There's an enormous resurgence now in the observant world. That's a counterpoint to losing people through intermarriage. I'm optimistic." Luke: "Would you like to see an Orthodox Jew as president of the United States?" Jason: "No." Luke: "Do you feel a tension between being funny and being seriously Jewish?" Jason: "Nah." ............ Jason wrotes this short about gossip for Jewish Impact Films.
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