JULY 19, 2007
IT'S ALL ABOUT OLD FRIENDS

It's mid-December, 2006, and I'm looking forward to some time off. I've spent the last several months producing and writing on a legal drama called Justice, and it's been grueling. I've written four episodes, and we've just gotten word that the show's been cancelled. It's not all bad news, however. I have a baby boy on the way, due in about a month. My second. So I'm thinking maybe I can catch up on my rest and cruise for a while. I know I've got some sleepless nights ahead. Enter Matt Nix.

Matt and I have been friends for years. We started our writing careers around the same time: he quit his assistant job at a talent agency at the same time that I quit my job as a lawyer. Luckily for both of us, we actually got writing gigs in a relatively short amount of time. He was doing movie assignments, and I was doing staff jobs on TV shows, mostly legal procedurals. In between shows and assignments, Matt and I worked on a short film and a few screenplays together, character-driven comedies. I learned very quickly that Matt is a brilliant writer and also one of the nicest people you'll meet. We also have a great time working together. So when he called about Burn Notice in December, I was all ears.

The pilot was being shot in Miami, and Matt had been asked to do two backup scripts. The studio and network wanted to know whether Burn Notice had legs as a series. Throughout the development of the show, I'd read drafts of the pilot and had given Matt a few minor notes. I knew the show had tons of potential. It has everything I'd want to watch: great characters, smart humor and it takes place in the spy world. Beyond that, it also has this cool, quirky voice. Definitely not your standard network fare. So when Matt asks whether I'd like to write one of the backup scripts, I don't have to think about it very long...absolutely. He laughs on the other end of the line: Good, I told the executives you would. Oh, yeah, the scripts are due in a few weeks. So much for catching up on my rest.

Matt and I spent the holidays in the back room of a café in Pasadena near his home. We outlined his episode, "Identity," and mine, "Old Friends." We're cracking jokes and laughing the whole time. I haven't had this much fun working on an episode in a while. Later, we were joined by Jason Tracey and Craig O'Neill, who would do a third backup script, "Fight or Flight." Originally, "Old Friends" was about an up-and-coming fashion designer whose design ideas are being stolen. Michael has to ferret out the corporate spy in order to save the company while also trying to avoid being killed by a Czech assassin, Jan. I finished my first draft a few days before my son, Diego, was born.

When Matt drops by the hospital with a gift for the baby, we have an impromptu meeting and decide that the corporate espionage story isn't working for either of us. After a few days, I suggest we do a story about Michael's old friend, Bill, whose daughter has gone missing when she gets mixed up with a prostitution ring. Matt smiles. He had thought of a similar idea. We went back to the coffeehouse and re-outlined the episode. We also conceived Michael's screw-up brother, Nate, whom we decide will bring the case to Michael. After a few drafts, we're much happier with the episode. The network picked up the show in February and by mid-April, I'm headed to Miami to shoot "Old Friends."

I've never been to Miami, and the first thing that strikes me is how hot and humid it is. The second thing that strikes me is how beautiful everything is: the beaches, hotels, and the people. Matt and I prepare the episode with the director, David Solomon, a television veteran who is really excited to be doing the show. We run around town, scouting locations. I cruise around the place on my own, trying to get a sense of the city. After a week of prep, the cameras start rolling.

The cast is awesome. It's been said before, and I will say it again: Jeffrey Donovan is Michael Westen- smart, funny, not bad on the eyes. Gabrielle Anwar brings a really cool, dangerous sexiness to Fiona. Bruce Campbell is a god – he makes every line he utters a thousand times funnier that you thought it would be. Sharon Gless is a legend and utterly believable as Michael's formidable mother. Seth Peterson is hilarious and heartbreakingly real as Nate. The scenes between Jeffrey and Seth were a real treat to watch. There is great comic chemistry between the two, and David let them riff on camera long after the scene was over. We used many of their improvised lines in the final cut.

The guest actors were also great. Mark Totty blew us away in his audition for Carl Wilhelm, as did Eric Lange as Bill. And they both came through in front of the camera. The minute Ilia Volokh walked into the audition room, we knew we had our Jan. Ilia is a quietly intense guy and a real physical presence. If there was ever a guy who could play a cold-blooded assassin, it was Ilia.

I think there are a lot of great moments in the episode, but the final scene at the hot dog stand between Michael and Jan is my favorite. When we first discussed the scene, Matt and I wanted to avoid the conventional showdown: no guns or knives. It had to be something clever and quirky. I proposed that Jan have severe nut allergies. My older son, Alfredito, has them. I thought it might be interesting, and maybe even darkly comical, if Michael defeated Jan by spiking his favorite food, hot dogs, with peanuts. Matt liked the idea, and we went with it. David did a wonderful job directing the scene, and Jeffrey and Ilia did an amazing job playing the intensity and humor of the moment. It feels like two assassins going at it. Roy Wagner, our brilliant cinematographer, also got to show off his stuff. The lighting and camerawork is phenomenal. It's classic Burn Notice.

We've now shot nine episodes, and the show is hitting its stride. It's still just as fun as it was those first few weeks in December. We get to play with guns, make a few jokes and work with a really talented cast and crew...and old friends, of course. There's nothing better.