A Return to May 09

So…in recap…Patrick and I write a spec called Drive Angry. We send it to a bunch of producers. Some pass. Others want in. We meet with and discuss and DeLuca blows them all out of the water. Tough love folks but that’s how she went down.
It takes a couple of days for DeLuca and our agents to connect. But when that finally happens the trigger is pulled. Mike DeLuca and team will produce Drive Angry. Our agents inform the other producers who had shown interest.
Now…I have been doing this Hollywood thing for a looooooooong time. Here’s how it normally works. There’s a job. I go in and pitch a story. This is not unlike going in, pulling your pants down and allowing everyone to inspect your penis. Sometimes they discuss your penis while you are in the room. Sometimes they tell you to go home so they can discuss your penis behind your back. Sometimes you get a call that says, “We thought your penis had some nice girth, but we’ve decided to go in a different penal direction.” Most of the time you simply hear nothing until you read on Nikki Finke or the Reporter that said producer went with someone else’s penis. And very rarely you’ll get a call informing you that we love your penis and would love to see more of it. Again. Rare.

But this is Hollywood for the writer. It’s what they don’t tell you in the brochure. I’ve said it before. Ain’t nearly as glamorous as you are led to believe. But in the end, it all comes down to the penis.
However, in this situation…Patrick and I wrote a spec. Producers read it and some wanted to be involved. So, we met and tried to determine who we thought would be the best fit. Pun…intended We were polite and respectful and once we made a decision, our agents made calls and we personally sent emails thanking everyone for their time and consideration. WAY MORE than we ever get when we are turned down or simply dismissed without a second glance.
And you know what…everyone was gracious. Everyone understood.
Except Tripp. He was angry. He felt cheated. He said it wasn’t fair. He felt DeLuca had more time to prepare. He felt we should choose him because he met with us so quickly. He announced that if we go with DeLuca then he gets to take the script to Screen Gems. Say what? I wonder how many writers have come back to Tripp angry when they didn’t get the job. Saying they felt cheated or that it wasn’t fair. Or that another writer had more time to prepare.
As a writer I’m not allowed to get upset. To throw a fit. I have to touch my knees and say, “Thank you, sir, may I have another.”
The double standards are exhausting.
Over the years I’ve heard great things about Tripp. This was not his finest hour.
On May 3rd Tom phones. He’s gonna do a graphic novel of Alien Pig Farm for Comicon and wants a preface for the book. I pound one out. Something mostly crude and vulgar in keeping with the tone of the book.
On May 4th after informing Neal and Mike that we went with DeLuca the four of us decide to pursue an old remake together.
On May 5th we send an email to the DeLuca team informing them how thrilled we are to be working with them.
May 8th I do an interview for Written By magazine, the WGA publication. It’s for an article about 3D. Specifically about writing for 3D. As always, I don’t sugar coat it. At least two directors will later be annoyed by what I had to say.
We also send our treatment for “Virgins” to the producers. Have I mentioned this one? Not sure. Patrick and I had started an adaptation of an old Patterson novel. With the Drive Angry hoops and ISWYD and half a dozen other gigs we were chasing, we figured we’d break the rules and just send our treatment to the producers. The heavy lifting was done. Either they’d love it or they wouldn’t.
May 11th ISWYD is announced in the Hollywood Reporter. Patrick and I are co-writing. I’m producing. Patrick’s directing.

On May 13 we sit down with DeLuca, Zach and Josh. The meeting is a blast. We talks strategy. DeLuca will have to go to Sony first. It’s a first look. Sony will likely pass. It’s a violent movie. Not a sequel or remake…not something Big Sony is likely to get. If they do want to pursue then we’ll likely end up going to Clint and Screen Gems (Tripp will be annoyed). During the discussion, I mention our pitching Fright Night to Clint and how he quickly shot us down.
DeLuca grinned.
Turns out…DeLuca recently acquired the rights and cut a deal with Dreamworks. Patrick gave them the quick pitch and Mike said he’d call Dreamworks to set a meeting.
On May 15, Dean and Elizabeth’s dog Lulu passes.
May 18. Melanie and I have been married for one million years. Happy Anniversary.

We expected Sony to pass on Drive Angry. They don’t. Rachel, the exec, wants to screen MBV.
May 19th, Sony is still bullish on Drive Angry. They won’t pull the trigger but they won’t give DeLuca the pass. He doesn’t wait. He sends the script to Fox, Uni, Relativity, New Regency and Adam Goodman at Paramount. He lets everyone know about Sony’s interest.
Meanwhile Patrick and I are pounding out ISWYD. Dark Castle has been politely pressuring us to finish. It is hinted that if we can deliver what we pitched they have the slot and the money to go into production immediately.
On May 27th we meet DeLuca at Dreamworks, and pitch Fright Night to Mark Sourian. Interesting meeting. Mark tells us exactly what he likes and doesn’t like. Not sure that’s good or bad…just commenting that it rarely happens.
On May 28th we finish our first pass on ISWYD. We have yet to be paid for commencement. We send the script to our network of readers. Close. Trusted.
Later that day we hear that Fright Night is between us and Kring from Heroes. Apparently Kring and Spielberg spoke about it. No clue what that means but we are all waiting on Kring to deliver his pitch and then DW will make a decision.
On May 29th Patrick and I have a general meeting with Avi and Ari Arad, DeLuca, Zach and Norm Golightly via conference call to discuss Ghost Rider 2. It’s a great meeting. The gist: Avi wants the horror movie version of a superhero movie. We just happen to know exactly how to do that. We sort of have the pitch in our heads while there, but we will retreat to our bat caves and solidify it.
Later that day we get a call that Weinstein biz affairs has called to make a writer’s deal with us. When we asked, “For which project? (over the past month we’d actually pitched four different stories.) We were told biz affairs wasn’t sure.
And thus brings us to the end of May.