DECEMBERHappy Birthday wendago.com. I have kept an online journal for 10 years. THAT is 70 dog years, people! I say “journal” cuz when I got started “blog” and “blogger” were relatively unknown. So to show respect I am playing catch up. Last week I did September, October and a couple days ago November. I learned the months of the year when I was young and have enjoyed being able to call upon that knowledge. Thus… December of 2010!
But first…
Then there’s the trailer misdirect. AMAZING. I’m watching and I’m thinking, “Oh I like her.” “Oh, I like him too.” “Well this looks like a sweet… WHA? What the… Oh mygod nooo! RUNNN!”
But if we really want Trailers to stop revealing what’s wrapped under the tree, then bloggers would need to help. It’s tough to entice the audience with a trailer when there’s so much info online. And with so many bloggers scrambling for hits, with the studios feeding them EXCLUSIVES, by the time every blogger has his or her own exclusive, there’s not much left in the surprise department. Granted everybody’s gotta eat and hits put food on the table but it comes at a price.
So, let’s chat December.
There would be no opening credits at the front of Drive Angry. Patrick decided to put the credits crawl at the end. So when you watch DA you can just go in and start watching.
In early December Mel learned that our insurance would end at the start of the year. Just one more example of getting screwed at the drive-thru. We had qualified in both 09 and 10 so we called the guild. Turned out neither those behind H3D nor those behind Drive Angry had paid into our health fund. So the process of making this right began with a deadline looming. Because even though we did everything right, if we didn’t get it resolved by the deadline, our insurance would end, regardless. Ugh.
The biggest event in December was Tom Jane and I burying the hatchet once and for all. While the date slips my mind, he and I, along with Tim Bradstreet, met at an exclusive members only club on a rooftop off Sunset. I also met Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck. Whoa. Anyway, we are all now full steam ahead again.
On the 4th I see an email thread which reminds me that Michael De Luca is a force of nature.
Also on the 4th Don, Damon and Dean came to Pebble Beach to play golf. I met them the night before tee-off down at Cannery Row. We dined at the Whaling Station then hit a couple bars. Don told stories of writing Sanford and Son, Damon spent way more money than I’m worth and Dean was normal adorable self.
On the 7th Variety named Patrick one of the 10 directors to watch in 2011.
Patrick and myself, Amber, Bill and Billy all crashed the Cimarron Group to work on Extras for the DVD/Blu-Ray. Sitting here thinking back… I really did have fun with this crew.
On the 10th Patrick delivered Drive Angry. We were done. From March of 2009 to December 2010. That’s a long journey. Normally I’m done the moment I hand in the draft, but when your writing partner is the director or more likely, when your writing partner is Patrick, you get escorted throughout the whole process. We wrote it. We sent it to agents. We polished Jonah King over a day. We went to producers. Met with a dozen. Chose our favorite. Agent called, said you should meet with De Luca. So we did. 5 minutes later we knew he was our guy. De Luca sent it to Nic who attached within the day. Deals were made. November 09 scout. January 2010 prep. March 2010 cameras rolled. From there it was Patrick’s every single waking hour. Daily challenges overcome. No matter what was throw our way. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. We’d done all we could do. It was done. Time to set her free and see if she flies back to us.
That same day we met with David Robinson at Morgan Creek to discuss the future.
On the 12th we found ourselves in Texas for Harry’s BUTT-NUMB-A-THON. It’s 24 hours of non-stop movies. First time we went was with MBV. We screened MBV at 1am during the 24 hour show and it was a big success. I wasn’t there but Lions Gates’ marketing team was there along with Patrick, Jaime and several cast members.
Drive Angry screened at 8am, 19 hours into the show. Right after HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN and right before TRON. Those that weren’t asleep cheered and clapped at all the right places. Those that slept got some good rest before watching TRON.
On the 15th Patrick and I began work on an original horror concept. Original concepts are risky but then, Drive Angry had been original. If it did well then we had to think we’d get a shot at another. I obviously don’t mind remakes and sequels. But I also want originals. It’s the variety I like. I don’t just watch horror either. I watch comedy, drama, action, scifi. Variety. As long as Drive Angry did okay, we’d be fine.
Something remarkable had happened with Izzie. Something was different. She had changed. Her teachers noticed. Her therapists noticed. Everyone kept asking, what had we done differently? What had changed since Thanksgiving? It was like a light switched on. First she started glowing. She was happy. And second… smarter isn’t the right term. It’s like she became more aware. Her vocabulary shot through the roof. Her understanding. Her sense of humor. One of the daycare ladies at the gym, who also has an autistic child, kept going on and on about Izzie. How Izzie gave her hope for her son. That unless you knew Izzie was autistic you wouldn’t “know”. So. We had that going for us.
Then Hollywood shut down for the holidays and I spent time in PG with the girls.
25th. It was a good Christmas. I got some good toys.
On the 28th Bryn Mammond from GOREMATE magazine sent me perhaps one of the most comprehensive, detailed and researched interviews of my career. Later a photo shoot would accompany the article which would consist of me and some scantily clad Gore model(s). I suggested Christa Campbell as she was not only a former Goremate cover girl but also my acting partner in DA. I sent in my replies and never heard from Bryn again.
2010 was over. It had been a good year. Ups and downs. Highs and lows. But we shot a movie. A Nic Cage movie. I went to Australia. Twice. Tom Jane and I got back to work. I stood at ground zero. We got the Hellraiser job. Izzie learned how to use the Force. Good friends. Good food. And lots of running. It was a very good year.