Remembering March 09

I know. Forgive me for the absence. As you’ll see…very soon we’ll pretend that I’ve been here all along.
So continues the story of March.

And we continue to write.

On March 11th Jake, my manger, sends over the graphic novel, Damn Nation. Vampire outbreak in America, survivors move to Canada and the UK. Interesting read.
On March 13th Patrick and I have a call with Toby at Original films to discuss rewriting the script for a remake. We tried to read the script they sent us. The two chuckleheads who wrote it are likely the worst successful writers in town. Welcome to Hollywood my friends. Where even the talentless can see their dreams come true. We pitch a page one rewrite and we blow Toby away if I’m allowed to toot my own horn. He got it. They don’t always get it. Especially genre. He did. Next step…set a time to pitch Moritz.
Then I leap in the car and make a mad six hour dash to LA to celebrate Tom’s birthday. I forget where it was. Some outside bar in Hollywood. It was the usual crowd. Bernie and Liz, Daly, Patricia, Cortney and David. Harben and Walters were in from Texas. Bob and Robert were there from Paradise. Hensleigh was there and had some wonderfully nice things to say about Valentine. I drank too much and smoked a smooth Cuban provided by Dr. Harben.

Later I lost my wallet outside a Denny’s. This very likely ruined the evening…or morning as it was.

On March 16, Patrick and I finish our rough draft of DRIVE ANGRY. Have I mentioned DA? Maybe that we’d started a spec. Here’s the quick story. Back when we assumed we would sort of automatically do a MBV sequel, we’d discussed writing a road movie that we could shoot fast and cheap. Old Man and Hot Blond on the run 70s movie. We’d shoot it while in post on MBV 2. Then LGF shattered our dreams. So, we decided to write it anyway. We had a blast writing it. We had a first act in our heads and just never stopped. We let the characters steer the ship. It was amazingly fun. We shoot it to close friends and agents to read.

Then me and Izzie go on a walk which starts in the woods…

…and ends at the ocean.

Between slamming out assorted pitches and outlines…the ocean keeps me sane.
On March 26 I SAW WHAT YOU DID closes. Did I mention that in the previous post? Can’t recall. It was Patrick’s gig. It was his take. He brought me in. ISWYD is an old William Castle movie. Two girls make crank calls saying, “I saw what you did!” It’s all fun and games until they cal a guy who just killed his wife. Hilarity ensues. The original which is nearly impossible to find, isn’t very good. And due to modern technology, doesn’t hold up. The project has been in development at Dark Castle since 2001 if I heard correctly. Several drafts had a couple girls calling a serial killer…hilarity ensues. Patrick’s take was brilliant. THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR in high school. The girls call Max von Sydow, a professional killer. We developed a take and pitched it twice. COLLATERAL meets BREAKFAST CLUB. Andrew Rona said, go write it! We cut our deals and got to work.
On March 29th We finished our distribution draft of DRIVE ANGRY. Friends and agents previously read it and loved it. The notes were minimal. We basically did a pass for type os. So we shoot it the agents and they begin prepping a list of producers.
Why producers? Why not just blitz the town? Good question but I have a good answer. A good producer can actually go a long way. A working producer. Not just a name that builds confidence and helps make the sell. But someone who can get the job done. Someone who can protect the director. We wanted…nay…needed Patrick to direct. DRIVE ANGRY in the wrong hands quickly becomes a disaster. I watched Patrick on MBV. I know where it started. Where we took it. And I know where it started to go, how dismal, how substandard. And I watched Patrick stop this from happening. I watched him bring it back to life, back to where it was before. Therefore, I trust him without question. We needed a producer who would protect Patrick. Fight his battles. And that would be the deal. We attach you, and you protect us. Seems an arrogant statement but we could afford some arrogance because the script is pretty good.

So, the girls and I went to the Ocean.

On March 30 Tom asks if he can give myself and Steve Niles a Special Thanks on Dark Country. We both say yes, thank you.
Over the course of the month I had a couple calls with Dark Horse to discuss Damn Nation. My take was Black Hawk Down with Vampires. They wanted something different and I’m still not sure what that was. Patrick had met with a Paramount exec and Damn Nation came up. Paramount was intrigued by the Black Hawk Down take. So it was a head-scratcher. If those who are making the film aren’t on the same page then best stay out of the way until they are. And that’s what we did.

Proof that Izzie’s smarter than she lets on.