Coffee Shops Past, Present and No Future

Let's find out where I go when I need to go

When I heard last week about the Magic Trio of Stallone, Voight and Gibson and how they were going to be the President’s ambassadors to fix Hollywood, I thought, “What a great idea for a column.” I could pretend that I had been invited to Duke’s in Malibu for lunch with them and that they had agreed to tell me what their big plans were to save Hollywood. I was going to write a cute sketch of how we met, what they ordered and maybe even a bullet pointed list of their plans. It would all be hilarious. I even had a couple of the bullet points ready:

1. More catchphrases like, “I’m getting too old for this shit, or “You’re the disease, I’m the cure.” (Lethal Weapon and Cobra)

2. Pick a country, make them the bad guys in everything and get people stirred up, like we used to do it with Russia and China. Who cares if China is a huge market?

But you know what? It felt dumb. And inconsequential. Easy. And did I say dumb? Because it’s true. Writing jobs are down 42% in TV this year. Good ideas can come from anywhere. Let’s see what these guys had to say. And meanwhile, Peter, stop making fun of them and start doing something. We get it, you’re going to school, here’s your pat on the back for that. What are you doing? “How do I get an agent?” “Why won’t you read my pitch deck. It’ll only take ten minutes and I’m only looking for a showrunner to go to pitches with me. You won’t have to do anything; it’s easy money for ten minutes of your time.”

Seriously. I get those emails. I won’t bore you with the idea that for me to go into a pitch for anything, I have to believe in the idea enough that I want to work on it for four or five years. I’m not just a gatekeeper who just gets you a meeting. Speaking of meetings, if Jon Voight can get a meeting with the President and get something going on a way to fund and keep productions local, I’m here for it. As a friend who is a props person said, “I’ll take a lifeline from whoever wants to throw me one.”

But I know you all like it when I do lists. You tell me that. So we’re going to do a list of:

My 8 Favorite Places to Write in Los Angeles besides my office at home.

1. Big And Tall Café And Books – 1990s

Was at 7311 Beverly Blvd. Coffee and books. Upstairs loft where unknown comics like David Cross, Janine Garofalo and Colin Quinn did shows to crowds in the tens. Having moved from Chicago, it felt the most like Barbara’s Bookstore on Wells, so it was my place. Free refills. Could walk from my apartment. Wrote on legal pads kept in a Banana Republic Israeli Paratrooper knapsack.

2. Nova Express Café – late 1990s

Was at 426 North Fairfax. Pizza and coffee and art. Sculptures made of found objects. Named after a William Burroughs novel made in the ‘cut-up’ method of writing, then cutting up the sentences and words and scrambling them together to create new meanings. They had a drink that was a bottle of coke with two shots of espresso poured into it, called Rocket Fuel. That got me by real good. In spite of the black light bulbs everywhere, I wrote on a legal pad, now kept in backpack, and would occasionally bring my mac laptop which weighed a thousand pounds and didn’t feel that portable. Wrote the Greetings From Tucson pilot there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_Express_Café

3. There was this one Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, at 3470 S Sepulveda Blvd. The Integrated Performance Baseball Coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates went to school nearby. So when I would drop off or pick up and especially if there was a game after school, I would spend time there, getting things done. At this point, I was into a 17 inch MacBookPro that was big and heavy and I had some sort of messenger bag made of nylon. I saw Jack Black in there one time, telling someone he was sitting with that the idea is to, “Not want to work as much, once you hit a certain point.” Not sure I believed him then, or now. For me at least. WORK is how you win. You work. Like this guy. He is just promoting the Tea part of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. See what happens?

I wrote a lot of Wizards episodes there. Including one where my friend Gigi McCreary reminded me that after a run thru I went and got notes from the network, scribbled them all down on my script and then remembered I had to go to either a sound mix, or some sort of event, so I just left the lot. The writer’s room called me in the car to say, “Where the hell are you? You have the script with all the notes on it we need to do.” I pulled over, tossed the script onto someone’s lawn and told them the address of where I left it and kept driving to the next place. It all worked out, but Gigi often reminds me that, “If the sprinklers went on, or a dog got it, we’d have been screwed.”

4. Starbucks at 206 N Larchmont Blvd. But not now. They are still there, but it isn’t at all like it was when I wrote there. When I wrote there, it was bigger inside, and there was this one table that was tucked around a corner and had great light and an outlet and comfortable chairs. It was still a “third place.” The baristas didn’t turn over as much. The manager there was named Matt, he was a Navy vet and he was awesome. One of the baristas wanted to be an actress and I helped get her setup with the extras casting company. She even got to be on the Wizards prom episode. I wrote the first episode of the Cartoon Network show I did, “Level Up,” there. I also had a jerk who wasn’t loyal to me during the end of Wizards see my car out front one day and come inside to tell me how loyal he REALLY was. Proving that he isn’t loyal, or a good guy. But a great liar. Stopped going there after he left and after they shrunk down the place and turned my writing nook into a second bathroom. Bill Simmons used to write in there, too. I don’t know him, but he’s in a four person Boston Sports Text Group, and he’s the only one who I’m not friends with. He typed so hard on the keyboard that it sounded like roller skates on cobblestones. Wild.

Used to be a hang, now it’s an app

5. This place I already wrote about. So I won’t here. Bob Dylan’s coffee shop on Broadway in Santa Monica.

https://petermurrieta.substack.com/p/find-a-magic-space-and-beat-writers

6. Coffee Corner at the Farmer’s Market at 6333 W. 3^rd Street. The best. They have Café de Olla. They knew me by name. I got to hang out with so many great friends and writers. I wrote the movie “Dealin’ With Idiots,” there with my pal Jeff. For a long time I had my office there, too. In one of the secret offices upstairs from the stalls. And the absolute best part about that was I had a parking space over at the Grove in the Self Storage place. And the best time of year to use it was the Holiday Season. The Gang could drive over, park, shop, eat, see a movie and bounce with no traffic no troubles. For a while I was on the same suite of offices as John Malkovich’s company and also a watchmaker and repair guy. Never saw John Malkovich. Or did I? My working theory is he was the watchmaker the whole time. He’s that good.

There he is.

7. City Hall Observation Deck at 200 North Spring Street. You might have to sneak your coffee upstairs, I’m not sure. But back in the day you could show up and by showing ID, get up to the observation deck at City Hall and there were tables up there. No plugs or outlets. But if your laptop had a full battery, you could write up there for a couple of hours with the best views of the City of Angels. I wrote a draft of a pilot that would have starred Danny Trejo up there.

That’s seven. Love them all past and present. We keep growing here, and I keep loving it. In some emails and reactions and some talks with loyal and smart readers, I know that not all of you read all of what I write every week. There’s a fair amount of “one out of three,” out there. However you do it, I can’t thank you enough for hanging out and sharing time with me. But because not all of you read all of these, I thought I’d post the full 3 Joaquins pilot here. I put it out in 3 parts, but not all of you read all three of the weeks I did it, and I just like the idea of there being one link to the whole pilot. I’ve got some news brewing on that front as well. I had a meeting with someone who read it, loved it, and has a plan. I love the plan. More details soon. Here’s the full pilot.

Ai3 Joaquins Murrieta Studio Updated 3rd 06

2.53MB ∙ PDF file

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And I thought I’d keep offering up some of my writing here. A comedy pilot I wrote with Pete Holmes is next. It was for NBC, but they decided against it. Now you can read it and enjoy it and pretend we shot it! Or tell me why you know they didn’t shoot it.

Master Ghost Kitchen P Holmes P Murrieta 6th Draft 6

382KB ∙ PDF file

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If you enjoy these columns, tell one person. Do that. Be that angel to me this week. My very loyal and smart reader, Gustavo, gave me a shout at Santiago Canyon College in Orange. Keep spreading the word.

We’re growing and growing and word of mouth is the best way to tell someone that you know –

The Most Important Chicano In Hollywood That You Don’t Know About