E and Episode 3

It’s been a wonderfully busy couple of weeks.

First off, Spooky’s getting old. Or stubborn. Whichever the case the Vet suggested we give her a closer shave to assist in her daily cleaning routine. Now she looks like a weenie dog.
Shortly after the last update I went in and met with Brad Fuller, Matt Cohan and Andrew Form of Platinum Dunes to pitch them my take on the remake of The Hitcher. Spoke with Nicole after to learn once again I was a frontrunner but they still have a few pitches to hear. If I had a dime for every time I’ve been a frontrunner. Anyway, got word from Nicole today that they are passing on my take. Don’t cry for me Argentina…I’ll be fine. On to the next.
Brenna mailed my Season One of Deadwood back to me with a note…

Those who watch Deadwood will understand.

Last weekend I made the long drive to Lake Arrowhead for Natalie and Patrick’s wedding. Lake Arrowhead…don’t go if you don’t like heights.
After the wedding I walked up to a group of guys, proclaimed I knew no one and that I was going to hang with them. And that’s what I did.

This is Sergoff outside the reception…before even the food was served. He’s shirtless because…well, bless his big Russian heart, he’d hurled all over his clothes having sucked down a ton of cheap whiskey. That’s Alicia’s sister (who’s name escapes me for the moment) forcing him to drink water. Much of the reception was spent trading off guard duty over Serg.
Since it was so far away and since I assumed I’d partake in the wedding spirits, I booked a room at the Lake Arrowhead Resort. I ended up spending most of my time with Alicia (Natalie’s childhood friend), Eli (who I’d actually met once before just after he’d been hit by a car – long story for another time), Robert (the drunken Sergoff’s roommate) and Alicia’s sister…who’s name still escapes me. They all had a room elsewhere but came over to the resort because it was shmancier. We hung out at the bar and eventually Patrick, Natalie, Natalie’s sister and a dozen others from the wedding joined us. The evening fades slightly at this point. My room became a shelter for the inebriated. There were people passed out everywhere.

Dean called Tuesday night with concern. We had plans to meet up late Wednesday night to stand in line for the Midnight Episode III. But Dean had just checked the tickets. Wednesday 12:01 AM. We would have missed it. He scrambled to inform JP and Rodney and we all started making our way to the Commons in Calabasas.
We were so excited. Rodney was going to be a bit late so JP, Dean and I decided to grab a bite. It was great…until Dean walked over to the Theatre to check on the line and found only crickets.

They’d misprinted the tickets. The show was still 24 hours away.

We were angry.

So the next day found me at E3. It’s like Christmas and Disneyland and Love rolled into one. Xbox 360, Huxley, PS3, there’s simply too much to see and do and report.

I spent most of my time with Brad and David…above their MMO game through WebZen…the movie demo played constantly from a gigantic screen. They’re very proud of this one and I can’t wait to check it out.

David offered to click a pic of me with the EQ Girl. I don’t like EQ and haven’t since they would do nothing when one of my accounts was hijacked years ago. But I hardly think the EQ Girl was responsible. But, the pic didn’t go as planned since the bonehead in the background accosted me for touching her. All I did was put my hand on her back. It seemed the appropriate stance for a picture opportunity. Oh well.

I ran into Keith Boesky while there which is pure dumb luck when you consider how big the Convention Center is and how many people were there. Boesky has been handling my Video Game/Comic Book business since he was with ICM. In that world, there simply isn’t a better, more knowledgeable deal maker in the business. I ended up with two meetings from just standing near him. And when I first met Boesky he had that short haired business agent haircut. Just look at him now. He’s the man.

I stopped in at NCSoft looking for JP and ended up staring at City of Villains which I gotta think will release soon. They had it last year at E3 when Mel and I were there and she proceeded to annilate every other gamer in the area. I was unable to hook up with JP although I knew we’d see each other later that evening for our second attempt at seeing Star Wars at Midnight.

As for the normal world of work and play. Goldstein and I met with David Maddon at Fox Studios again this week to discuss our little one-hour procedural. Great meeting. We’re still a bit too early to start pitching networks so I’ll keep refining the pitch and we’ll make the rounds in a few weeks.

Clearly E3 wasn’t all fun and games. There was real work involved.

We did have meetings.

From left to right…Starbreeze lead programmer…Ivan? I’m having a brainfart. I’ll have to load Riddick and double check the credits. Then Magnus, their founder. Brad Foxhoven of Titan Productions. Me. John Carpenter. Johan Kristiansson, Starbreeze CEO. Cody of William Morris, one of John’s agents. And finally David Wohl of Titan Productions.
The Starbreeze boys showed us their Darkness trailer which was amazing…and oddly enough based on the Comic Book that Wohl had co-created while back at Top Cow.

Anyway, E3 was great. It was fun and extremely productive. I was telling Mel about it and it was clear she would have loved it. We had a blast at E3 last year. And for those who have never been, find a way to get there next year. You’ll love it.
So, I parted with Brad and David and started the journey back to Calabasas for Star Wars.

JP, as it turned out was probably going to the same party Brad and David were hitting so he was going to be late. Rodney wasn’t showing until after 10:00 so Dean and I met at Mi Piaci for a romantic dinner. Our waiter was…odd to say the least. A gay Italian man who spoke like Latka on helium. We ordered a bottle of wine and while testing it, Dean spit it out as if choking on the horrible taste. Latka turned pale at which point Dean informed him that he was kidding. To which Latka stated:
“Homey don’t play that.”
And walked away in a huff.
Dean and I were stunned silent. And folks…that don’t happen often. I honestly can’t think of one example where someone turned the tables on us. It was funny and creepy and thought provoking at the same time. One for the books.

So Dean and I stood in line forever. I kept raising the camera over my head and clicking shots of the people behind us. This was my favorite.

We endured the long line and the stream of cars pulling in and out to park, illuminating us up in their brights.
Eventually they let us in. I held the seats while Dean went out to hook up with Rodney and JP.

Rodney showed up first. Rodney’s the big dude, producer on My Wife and Kids and former Charlie Sheen body guard. And holy cow is he funny. Once the four of us were seated (where we had to wait for another hour) we were in stitches we were laughing so hard.
The funniest event of the evening was while Dean and Rodney were waiting in line for popcorn, JP showed up and…simply strolled in. Ignoring the ticket guy completely. He didn’t even give the guy a glance. Rodney and Dean were stunned — the ticket guy was stunned and didn’t know what to say. They were certain JP was about to be shot. Rodney said watching JP stroll in without a ticket and without a care was the first time he truly felt free.
Anyway for that remaining hour we cracked jokes about it. From the theater staff’s raffle over who was going to approach JP about not having a ticket to their confusion at seeing these two large black men sitting with two bald Aryan brother looking white men. It was around here that Rodney mimicked one of their voices and proclaimed…
“The small one must be their leader.”
That’s where I lost it. I was laughing so hard I cried.
Anyway…after 72 trailers for upcoming movies we finally got to see Episode III. It was wonderful. We’re back into the quality of Empire Strikes Back with this one. Blows Episode I and II out of the water. Made 50 million its first day. That blows all the records out of the water. It’s dark and wonderful. Go see it.
So that brings us up to date for the most part. Gonna watch Lost then curl up to a book until I’m snoozing.