Official Feburary 29th Entry

Apparently I’m not going to get any less busy. Last two entries were void of pics because I made them from the road and/or I was sleepy.

Christmas. Good times.
Spent most of that time planning an attack. I was always pretty confident that MBV would perform but that meant I would need to be ready to pounce. Hype, buzz, the stank of wonder, whatever you want to call it, rarely shows itself. It’s where that whole “Fifteen Minutes of Fame” statement comes from. My fifteen minutes was approaching. So how did I prepare?
First off, I wrote Devil’s Commandos with Tim Bradstreet for Thomas Jane to star. It’s pretty wonderful. Second, Patrick and I officially joined forces which included my joining up with Valerie, Trevor and Scott at Paradigm. Patrick and I would henceforth be a team.

Now, here’s a bit of honesty you won’t find often. While Zane started the process wonderfully, in all fairness the script should have read Screenplay by Farmer and Lussier. No disrespect intended but I’m too tired to BS. I’ve never made it a secret that Patrick was the driving force, warrior and protector of MBV. His input in the script was well over 33 percent. But that’s not how the business works. There are rules you see. Rules to protect the writer from a rogue director. And that’s a great thing. But sadly these rules do not protect the director when he actually dives into the trenches to protect the writer and the writer’s story. So, from now on, Lussier and I are a team.

Patrick and I pitched MBV3D part II a couple of weeks before release. It was NOT the same story regurgitated. We evolved it. Took it somewhere new and exciting. The execs responded with shock and awe and grins and visions of dollar signs dancing in their heads. While we and the execs may have had our differences in the past, they knew we’d cracked the sequel. Nobody knew these characters or this world better.
We were told, if MBV does 20 million then we should move forward with the sequel asap.
Patrick and I also toyed with an idea of writing a spec.

By Saturday it was clear we’d done our job. One LGF executive mentioned we’d dropped 3 percent and I made a face. He said, “Noooo! This is great! Most genre films drop double digits!” He was simply glowing. Riding a high. I didn’t get it until he screamed, “We all have jobs on Monday!”
Punisher Warzone, Spirit…there was alot riding on MBV3D and it felt good that we’d done our part. Not only did we open…we were getting unheard of reviews for a genre film. Movie goers were having a blast.

Over the weekend Patrick and I attended a number of screenings. DP Brian and his wife Melanie (pictured above) joined us.
Patrick and Brian were something of a force of nature during production. They had to learn this new 3D technology which was evolving daily. The main camera wasn’t even ready until the day before shooting (if I’ve got the story correct). They had to constantly leap over obstacles. They had to improvise, adapt, overcome. And they did it. Not only did they do it but they did it with the support of the entire crew. They had every stress and complication most directors face…more than most. Yet they never screamed. Never yelled. Never belittled the crew.
So, the plan was to attack MBV3D part II with the same crew. Take what we’d learned and move beyond.

After every Q&A I asked the audience to flip us off. They were always more than happy to oblige.
Thinking back to the industry screening and the press junket…even the surviving cast members were excited about the sequel. Jaime was thrilled. Kerr and Edi were bouncing off the walls. Jensen was cool and confident. Even Atkins was quick to remind everyone that a fella can, in fact, live without his jaw. We were ready to roll.

So, we simply enjoyed the ride that was the next few days.
Above was the actual miner suit. You could tell due to the duct tape on the helmet. While I will probably never be a fan of LGF’s development doofuses, I adore the Marketing Team. You couldn’t throw a rock without hitting something with a Miner’s picture on it.
Back during post I was contacted through Myspace by a band member in the band, Soul. They had a song entitled, “My Bloody Valentine” and wondered how long a shot would it be to get Patrick and Wandmacher to listen to it. I explained that the film was already scored and music purchased. He understood and we stayed in touch via brief myspace notes. Later he suggested his band do a concert the night before we opened then take his crowd to the Midnight showing. I told him to contact Jamie at LGF and she’d know where to begin. He got back with me later and was thrilled. Jamie sent him shirts and key chains and posters, even on of the giant standees. A huge crowed showed. They loved the band and went ape over the movie.
LGF marketing. You simply can’t beat them.

Jack Murray our producer was present at every screening. He was Patrick’s Ninja on set. All stealth and protection.
Little tidbit of trivia. In the movie, when Ferris and Atkins search Axel’s house, we hear a cartoon in the background. The name repeated over and over in the cartoon is Mr. Murray…named after Jack.
Originally Patrick went after “A Charlie Brown Valentine” as well as other more notable toons. The owners of all said, “Uh…no way.” So…LGF sent over a bunch of stock footage cartoons. I was visiting Patrick and the sound guys at Skywalker at the time. I’m now wondering If I already told this story in a previous entry…who knows. Too lazy to go back and look.
A few days later…it was late…ten or so at night…Patrick sends me some words and asks, “Does this sound like a cartoon?” I read the pages and groaned. Apparently, LGF had sent over something goofy. I told Patrick as much and asked him to give me an hour or two. He replied sheepishly, “Well, I only had a few minutes to write it.” Then we both laughed.
I wrote out a tiny three part story which would be heard during three different shots. Then I wondered if it would fit. So I popped in the latest cut on DVD. I muted the volume and did the voice while the movie played. Perfect. It fit. I sent Patrick the pages and for a giggle I sent him the mp3.
Next day I drive back up to Skywalker and when we get to that part in the film…I hear my voice…as the cartoon. They’d popped in my MP3, did all their magic and presto. So…when you see that scene again on Bluray…listen for my voice as the cartoon loony and for Jack’s name.

I forget how long I was in LA total but I split my time between Patrick, Tom and Dean. I crashed at Tom Jane’s place so that we could talk Devil’s Commandos. The following morning I was gazing out at Silverlake then looked down and saw the above. I leaped about three feet. Later Tom cooked breakfast and we ate with our fingers the way vikings do.

I also spent many a morning breaking breakfast with Dean. After one such outing he asked if I was up for a hike. So we climbed a big hill/mountain in Calabasas and swung on a swing. After which, of course we had man sex on an antique quilt and promised never to tell our wives.
Dean’s about to join a TV show but I guess it’s too early to talk about that.

Now, while I play the part of the mean, grumpy, angry destructer, I’m mostly a big softy. I so horribly missed Melanie and Izzie during my many journeys in LA. So I requested multiple pictures from home.

Patrick and I dropped in on Del and Sue for a signing. It was both great and odd. A camera crew arrived to interview us. They were the most unprofessional crew I’d ever come into contact with. I sort of wish I had not destroyed their business cards so that I could give them the recognition they so deserve. Actually the unprofessional I can live with…we all live, learn and grow. It was the arrogance and rude behavior that made me want to punch a couple of them in the skull.

With each return home, Izzie and I danced to Abba. Okay, perhaps not every time but most of them anyway. Because we had plenty to celebrate. MBV had opened. In fact it was a great weekend for the movie business. Mall Cop was huge. Notorious made money. Eastwood simply proved that none of us are worthy. And our phones started ringing.

The last time my phone rang like this was never. I’m a working writer, people. I write and it pays the bills. Pretty cut and dry. MBV is my first true success. While I got my foot in the door back in ’96, MBV is the one I had been striving for.
So after the weekend of the release the first thing we heard was that there was a rights issue. I have no clue of the actual details but the rumor I heard was that while LGF had the rights to the remake, they perhaps had not solidified the rights to a sequel to said remake. Needless to say, while the phone was ringing quite a bit…the caller ID never said LGF.

Back to LA for a signing and meetings. Pictured are numerous Jason’s past and present…along with Sue.
Ran into Geoff and Melissa from old Cunningham days at the signing. He’s now a producer on Psyche. Was good to catch up.
Chatted briefly with Swift and Shannon. They said wonderfully nice things about MBV and I wished them the best with F13. I’ve always liked Swift and Shannon. Swift emailed ages ago to let me know they were up for a rewrite on Messengers. He didn’t have to. There’s certainly no requirement. Just always very respectful. And, of course, I adore Mark Wheaton. I really wished the best for F13. I’m glad it opened huge. I’m angry it didn’t have legs but I’m pretty sure that had little to do with the writers and more to do with a couple producers. These two jokers can sell you a Coke. Red can, white lettering. It’s an easy sell. But they can only sell you one of them because once you take a drink it tastes like Shasta. With MBV we sold a whole bunch of Shasta that tasted like Coke.

At some point during my assorted journeys I ended up crashed at Tim Bradstreet’s castle San Diego. The goal was to take Tom’s notes and pound out the polish on Devil’s Commandos. We fell short of our goal. Tim had to hit LA for a job and I ended up having to leave early for a meeting. But while Patrick and I have been unnaturally busy I have never lost any enthusiasm toward Devil’s Commandos. I actually plan on diving back into it this week.

A week then two went by and we started to wonder what was going on with the sequel. One of the top execs left, went over to the Weinsteins. Incidentally, he was the exec who had said, if we do 20 then we should got to sequel asap. We put out feelers but heard very little. Then we caught wind that Drake said he had greenlit the sequels to Blair Witch and The Grudge, both of which underperformed, so he was not a believer in theatrical sequels and felt they should be avoided. That was a little disconcerting. First off both of those sequels weren’t very good. Second, Blair Witch never really had a foundation anyway. It was a publicity stunt that made bank. How do you turn that into a sequel? Why would you even try? Oh well. Not official but not what you want to hear from the head of the company. From the company clearly unafraid to send SAW to sequel after sequel with no interest in making a good sequel.

So, Patrick and I continued to take meetings around town. While LGF seemed to have us on ignore, everyone else loved what we’d done. We began meeting on gig after gig after gig. Most were remakes but some originals. All were nothing short of wonderful fun.
And in our downtime, Patrick made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Finally we got what some might call damning with faint praise. We were told that we were uniquely successful in LGF’s eyes, that they were incredibly proud of the film, thrilled by the box office, thrilled by the reviews and that so many people, distributors, peers at other studios etc, told them how good it was…that they felt that ‘magic’ wasn’t going to be possible to replicate.
Wow.
While we fought tooth and nail to make the movie we wanted, while Patrick on several occasions lifted the train back onto the tracks after they (LGF) had derailed it…that we apparently “accidentally” made a good movie. That we couldn’t possibly have known what we were doing.
Wow.

So, will there be a sequel? That there is the picture of a pig with wings that sits near Patrick’s pool.
Hollywood is a strange strange place. Hard to predict what will happen. Thanks to the lovely Nikki Finke we know that Icahn has been taking part in a pleasant takeover of LGF. He has been buying up stock and LGF debt for pennies on the dollar. He has announced that he will be making changes to the board of directors. This will likely result in his making changes to the executives in charge. What does this mean for us? No clue. Perhaps nothing. But I’m interested to see what happens.
This may well be that event that once and for all proves the Karma is real.
Since acknowledging all of this stuff and since I just went up to the office pottie to discover a surprise…I wrote the following note.

I am now going to go tape it to the stall door.
I’m back. That was fun.
So Patrick and I have been making the rounds. While I wish I could just tell you what happened with these next two projects, doing so would put unfair pressure and attention on a producer and two executives who did everything in their power to push both of the following projects through. So…that said….Patrick and I got the call about a remake. Ohhhhh my, ladies and gentlemen. This was one of those remakes that when you first hear of it you tinky in your pants a little. Because it’s considered a classic in many circles. The producer who brings it to us is a powerful one. If nothing else, it’s worth going down the road just to see what he’s like in the bed. And isn’t long until we’re both saying, “Oh this could totally benefit from a remake!” So, we did what we do. We removed the cheese. We made the heroes and villians smarter. We paid respect to the original while kicking what the fans loved so much up a couple notches. And finally…we made it scary. Terrifyingly scary. We did what we did with MBV. We paid respect to the original while updating and making it both smart and scary. We pitched the producer. He LOVED it. We returned and pitched the exec. He LOVED it.
Now was time to pitch THE MAN. We knew this part was impossible to predict. The Man had a reputation for lobbing grenades at a pitch. Patrick and I told ourselves we could handle just about any lobbed grenade…except for one. We would not remove the part that made this particular movie a classic. So the pitch began. Five minutes in The Man stopped it. Told us he’d NEVER make this movie. He said he hated the original. Said you couldn’t make that movie today. And then he lobbed at a grendade at the one thing we were prepared to walk away over. And while annoying he did say something interesting. He said, “I know all of you get this. But I don’t. So I’m doing you a favor. Because I’ll just fuck it up. None of us will be happy.” Both producer and executive timidly argued. Well what if we do this…? What about this…? Patrick and I sat there quietly and exchanged a smile. It was time to go.
Now…that was the HUGE remake we were up for. What follows is the HUGER remake. In fact, this next one wasn’t just a remake. It was the remake…of a remake. We were entering holy land as far as some fanboys would be concerned. Us included. Patrick had spoken with the executive and the project was brought up. The executive needed a little time to make sure the rights were where they were supposed to be. In the meantime, Patrick and I sat down together and watched the remake. We looked at each other, “This could totally benefit from a remake.” Again, here’s the thing. They are going to remake it. Most remakes blow. At least we get it. We know how to update while being respectful. And this one was no different. So we went back and watched the original. We watched the sequels to the original. And the story began to present itself. The twists and turns. The story began to update while maintaining respect to the original.
Then Friday was released. It broke records. Monday our executive was attending the studio big dog meeting. The big dogs were scrambling. “What giant franchise do we have that we can reboot?!” A small voice spoke up from the kid’s table. It was our little executive. Our little Arthur long before he pulled the sword. He reminded the big dogs that they had the HUGER remake. He told them that he already had the guys who did MBV in 3D coming up with a take. The big dogs requested a screening. Patrick and I took that time to solidify our pitch. I loved it. It was scary and funny and respectful. The characters were smart. The Villains even smarter.
Then came the day of the big screening. Our exec called. The suits loved it. He should know something the following day. Sigh. The following day the suits praised our little flick. What we had done with non-franchise, obscure movie was amazing. Then they promptly turned and requested Zack Snyder for their remake. When it was pointed out that Snyder had his next ten projects lined up and would be tied up for years…they angrily asked our little executive, then why aren’t you bringing us Chris Nolan?!
Needless to say, we never even had the chance to pitch our take.

So far, those are our only two passes. That’s out of twenty plus projects. We will most likely close our first deal next week. And likely another shortly after. Last week we pitched an incredible remake and it was clear we blew the executives away. This week has us meeting on three more giant remakes. And soon after we meet the studio head to pitch a story Melanie came up with…more on that later because it’s pretty amazing. And then there are a dozen projects we have yet to develop due to time. No worries though. We’ll get to them all.

Now, will we get hired on them all? Of course not. Not even close. But here’s the deal. A smart story. Smart characters. A smart villain. And no compromise. We make the best story we can make and we will fight to the death to protect it from those who can’t help but stumble stupidly in the way.

I don’t know any other way to do it. It seems the general movie goer is sick of remakes yet remakes statistically out perform the originals. Thus if remakes are all we’re being offered then the only way to combat those that are simply cashing in, is to actually respect the material and make good movies.

And while I keep referring to MBV as a good movie, you may have seen it and hated it. Great. But I don’t care. It’s a good movie in my eyes and this is the first time I’ve been able to say that about a movie I’ve been a part of. It’s the first time the end result has so much of me in it. It’s the first time I’ve worked with a fearless director willing to fight for the integrity of the story. I’m not interested in making the movie I THINK you will like because that leads to failure. I can only successfully make the movie that I want to see and HOPE you share my vision. And that’s what Patrick and I are going to do.

No fear.

So, for now…I’m home. I don’t like being away. When I come home Izzie latches on. Won’t let me out of her sight. Scared I’ll leave again. And now she knows how to call me. Or when I call she’ll take the phone away from her mother and go hide with it in her room. It’s actually sort of nice. I’m driving and she’s just jabbering away. But more than that, I miss my wife. I’m not good being away from her. I got pretty lucky in the wife and mother department.
Sleepy now. Dave? Will I dream?