Month: January 2005

Yeah, I know. It’s been awhile.
It’s been a hectic few weeks.
The Necroscope meeting kept getting rescheduled and when it finally looked like it was going to happen, I jumped in the explorer and hit the 101 to LA. 5 minutes later I had a Honda Accord sticking out of the back hatch. I’m fine, for all those concerned. But the meeting was postponed again.
We rescheduled and had the meeting this week. It was a good meeting. We got the first and second acts mapped out and I actually liked the results. I still need to do a bit of research for the third act but once that’s done it’s back to Warner Brothers to pitch and dazzle.
The Dummy returned from the Bahamas and we dove into Warcraft together.

Of course the first thing he did was get a table dance from the girls of goldshire. Look, the man needed to let his hair down. He’d worked hard, deserved some…comforting.

But he shouldn’t have danced. He dances like a goomer.
I got a call a couple weeks back about doing a rewrite on a scary flick. I’d read an earlier draft of this particular flick and to be honest, I didn’t really like it. The idea was okay but the execution was horrible. Although there had been a rewrite since the draft I’d read I kept thinking it was going to be a page one rewrite and I just wasn’t sure I had the time or if I wanted the headache. But that night the script arrived from ICM and by morning I was in love. The newest writer had done a fantastic job and in my opinion all it needed was a polish. I was game. I was ready to dive in.
Of course, as are most deals out here, nothing is simple.
The original writers had made a deal with the original producers which guaranteed them the credit. This really is frowned upon. And what it meant was, a Writers Guild writer really couldn’t be involved. Because credits are determined by the guild. If a guild writer wrote on the project and felt he or she deserved their name on the script then they could arbitrate.
My understanding was that the original script was little more than a good idea. A non-guild writer was hired to do the rewrite and that’s the draft I read. Wasn’t very good. You get what you pay for I suppose.
Then came the most recent writer. A guild writer. But to get around the whole “guaranteed credit” thing, he was hired more or less under the table. It’s a risky little undertaking. Were it ever to come out, the guild would boot him out and his career would take a dive.
But, it’s not my place to police Hollywood. And his rewrite was good. He turned the script around. It’s really an odd thing. Either you know how to write or you don’t. It’s not something you can teach…no matter what the books or the lecturers say. And you can’t give studio notes to fix it. It’s second nature. Either it’s there or it isn’t. In this case it was there. It was a solid script. Good characters, good pacing. It just worked.
And the studio liked it so much they were going to buy out the original writers. They were going to buy out the whole “guaranteed credit” thing. Thus, I or whoever they hired, could come in and rewrite the thing on the up and up.
So, I and three other writers pitched our takes. My take was pretty simple. I told them I felt it only needed a polish. I thought one character needed to be completely rewritten because he played more cartoon than real and I felt that was a left-over from a previous version. I had some notes about streamlining the goals and clarifying the beats of the second act.
I’m told the other writers had some good ideas but came in more or less wanting to re-invent the wheel. So, as with most projects I go up against…I ended up being the front-runner.
If I had a dime for every time I’ve been the front-runner only to lose the job to the other front-runner…well…I’d have about a buck fifty.
It was around this time that the walls started to crumble. The original writers wouldn’t take the buy-out…well, not for the money offered. They wanted more. The studio wasn’t willing.
So, for about a day that was the end of the story. I played Warcraft.
Then I got a call. What if the studio hired me to write “Project X” but I would really do the polish on the script in question…would I be willing to pursue that sort of deal?
I’ll be honest, I toyed with the idea. I mean, money is money but after a night’s sleep I just couldn’t go there.
This whole thing was an exercise in politics anyway. I was only doing a polish. Even if it went into arbitration I’d never get the credit. So I told them I’d be willing to sign whatever document that simply stated, “I, Todd Farmer, will not seek credit or arbitration.”
Never heard back on that one but the next thing I caught wind of was that they were thinking about making me a producer. Producers tweak drafts all the time. This would make me slightly more legitimate while making sure I couldn’t seek credit. It was still a cheat. Still a lie. You can still go to hell for it, but the money was supposedly gonna be better. I put in a call to my lawyer but it wasn’t neccisary.
At the end of the day the entire situation was an enormous waste of time.
They’ve hired another non-guild writer, who I’m told, oddly enough, had some of the same ideas that I myself pitched.
Is not the world a magical place?

Purity and I lead Gondo through Scarlet Monastery to battle the evil Mage, Doan. Doan used to carry this staff which…well it makes you smarter. Gondo wanted this staff. Gondo now owns this staff as poor Doan is dead.
Gondo quit our guild yesterday. I suppose he had his reasons.
Wohl called this this week about Demonic and Psychopath. We’re meeting with Clive Barker next week concerning Demonic and John Carpenter concerning Psychopath. Should be a fun week.

I’ve started playing, Farmer, my priest, and Mel and I went back to Scarlet Monastery to kill Doan again. Fella just won’t stay dead. After doing so we took a nap.
After sending the little alien outline out to Niles and Jane, Jane felt the budget was too big so I’ve gone back in to trim it down. I should finish this weekend.
I’ll be glad when we’re all in agreement and can start writing the issues. With the success of “30 Days of Night” and the pending film on it’s way, setting up the graphic novel is already a done deal. The trick will be convincing Lions Gate to make the movie. But that should be fun.
Speaking of Lions Gate, Patrick’s “Flight of the Dead” flick is moving right along. I read the latest draft and thought it was wonderful. I expect they are doing some tweaking but hopefully he’ll have a greenlight soon.
I met with Jack D’Annible at Bruckheimer. It was a general meeting but I liked the guy. He used to work at ICM. I mentioned my and Patrick’s “Mass Destruction” which he was interested in. Nicole sent over the trailer for his viewing pleasure. I also mentioned “Past Tense” which I have started rewriting. Once finished we’re gonna shoot him a draft. I always thought it would be perfect as a big Bruckheimer type film.

I took Mel, Krakka and Vaygus into a tower to work on their lock picking skills. All three are rogues, I’m not sure what path Vaygus went but Krakka went more strength and Mel went Stealth. Once Mel’s caught up to him in levels I’m looking forward to watching them duel. I think Krakka’s in for a rude awakening. I don’t think, I’m certain.
We finally closed the deal on “Riddle Me This”. Constantine now has a six month extention. Of course the question now is the same question that always comes at this point. How long will it take them to pay me?
I’m tired of journaling now. It’s nearly 2:30 in the PM. I really can’t think of a better time to take a nap.

Leading up to the Tennessee Christmas trip, Mel and I were receiving updates from Arinne and Tim’s Disney Cruise Adventure.

Arinne and I have discussed a sibling vacation this year. Which I’m still pushing for. Be nice to get the sibs and their lovers off on a big adventure.
And as Hollywood shut down for the Christmas season Mel and I had the time to dive into Warcraft with much passion. The game is a fantastic escape from real world worries and thus the reason some are referring to it as WarCrack.

I continue my lone adventures where I mainly explore and take screenshots.

It’s fun to do stuff with the guild but at the same time exploring the world is wonderful and pressure free.

Just log in and take off running until you end up somewhere new.

You simply never know what you’ll find.

For instance, an evil goblin driving and robot.

The trip to Tennessee was lovely.

We had us a semi-white Christmas…could have used about a half-inch more.

Grandpa Robert was an engineering Santa throughout the vacation. Not only was he building the toys out of the box…within minutes they’d be broken due to feverish play and he’d be out in the garage fetching the hot glue gun. It should be noted that he’s turned down many offers to work in Santa’s toy shop.

While there we had to do Captain D’s. Don’t ask me why. Mel has some twisted need to go there as often as possible.
While on the trip I did get some work done. I finished my graphic novel pages and shot those off to Steve and Tom.
Then the day after Christmas we were on a plane back to Cali. Man was it a long flight. I’d give all my DVDs to Mel’s folks and while she slept I sat there staring off into space. I never have been able to sleep on a plane. Turbulence, you know?
Mel and I returned home to the beginnings of California’s rainy season.

And would you have thunk it? Turns out we live at the Beginning of the Rainbow.

And oddly enough, the end as well.
Once back in town we dove back into Warcraft.

Mel and I joined forces to kill the Abominable Greench. He was trying to kill Christmas. It was actually pretty great. They’d implemented lots of Christmas stuff into game play.
Before the trip, Ravane had invited Mel, Dean and myself to journey to a place called Scarlet Monastary.

The journey led us passed a giant dome…still no idea what it’s all about.

And later we ran across humanoids who’d been hung from the trees. You gotta know when you see something like that, that you may be in for it.

Once there, Ravane, very seriously applied poison to his daggers…while Mel, Dean and I danced.

Later while taking Ravane to a small town he’d been visited…we had to kill everything along the way. Seems the elf never met a giant he didn’t want to kill.

I covertly met a man about an underground purchase from the Horde Blackmarket. I got the info I needed and then journeyed across the world.

…where I bought a chicken on the blackmarket.

And I bought my mighty steed. Very sweet indeed.

And not to be outdone…Mel learned to ride a horse and bought a Pinto. Each race gets a different mount. Elves ride Cats, Humans ride Horses, Dwarves ride Rams and Gnomes right Robotic birds.

It certainly makes travel faster as well as safer. Last night we hooked up with Edo, Benski and Lessa and it reminded me of the old west as we galloped across the sands of Tanaris.

Melanie has become a Weaponsmith Specialist and she’s very excited. Together with her armor/weapon crafting skills and my leatherworking skills, gold doesn’t seem to be an issue for us.
Shepherd has gone through some changes.

He’s gone from Cowboy Shepherd to…

Dark Shepherd. I like Dark better.
On New Years Eve, our guild, the Guardians of Goldshire (those silly enough to be playing a game on New Years Eve) met up in Goldshire…

…got drunk on Dwarven Ale and danced. In the real world Mel and I popped the bottle of bubbly Dean and Elizabeth gave us for Christmas and I’d like to think that’s the reason the dear Ms. Purity…

…took all of her clothes off…
So, overall it’s been a good Christmas.
I’ve jumped back into work. We’re back into Negotiations on “Riddle Me This”. Awaiting notes on the graphic novel. Got a meeting to discuss “Narcosis” and the outline I sent Pre-Christmas. Magnus (now under and different name) is back in full force. “Scarecrow” starts shooting next month. And the list goes on.
And today Olga and I had a chat about doing some website updates. She did some hacker dances which hopefully will stop the comment spam I’d been getting. I’m excited about making some changes. We’ll see where our talks go.
So, I’ll keep writing while the sun’s up and playing while the sun’s down. Dean gets back from the Bahamas next week and with his hiatus I’m sure we’ll be warcrafting and screenshots will be taken.