Production
According to Sorkin, the episode benefited greatly from input by two former White House employees. The scene where Donna stays up all night sorting through documents in cartons was the idea of Eli Attie, Al Gore's chief speechwriter. Meanwhile Gene Sperling, Bill Clinton's chief economic adviser, came up with the sub-plot involving the estate tax. Sorkin, however, had certain misgivings about the estate tax story's appeal, considering the prevalent bipartisan spirit of the time, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
In one scene Sam Seaborn speaks to a Latino lobbyist, and as the discussion heats up he switches into Spanish. The lobbyist, Victor Campos, claims that he has been used for public relations purposes, something Sam denies. Rob Lowe, who plays Seaborn, had to learn to speak the language convincingly especially for this episode. Sorkin commented, "I tend to torture Rob a little."
Read more about this topic: Ways And Means (The West Wing)
Famous quotes containing the word production:
“The growing of food and the growing of children are both vital to the family’s survival.... Who would dare make the judgment that holding your youngest baby on your lap is less important than weeding a few more yards in the maize field? Yet this is the judgment our society makes constantly. Production of autos, canned soup, advertising copy is important. Housework—cleaning, feeding, and caring—is unimportant.”
—Debbie Taylor (20th century)
“Perestroika basically is creating material incentives for the individual. Some of the comrades deny that, but I can’t see it any other way. In that sense human nature kinda goes backwards. It’s a step backwards. You have to realize the people weren’t quite ready for a socialist production system.”
—Gus Hall (b. 1910)
“... this dream that men shall cease to waste strength in competition and shall come to pool their powers of production is coming to pass all over the earth.”
—Jane Addams (1860–1935)