Pittsburgh

I gotta start blogging more. The whole point of this was to be able to one day look back and chuckle at the adventure. Which means I need to get to work.
As far as Hollywood is concerned, I’m told that one should keep politics to his or her self, unless you want to destroy your career. Of course, since I’ve spent years reinventing ways of destroying my career…why stop now?
I am a Republican voting for Obama.
I have not switched parties despite the Bush administration’s many tireless efforts to convince me to do so. If Hillary bests Obama then McCain gets my vote. Although I don’t see that happening. Despite my alma matter, Kentucky’s, best efforts. When Kentucky was asked upon leaving the exit polls, why didn’t you vote for Obama, twenty-five percent responded, “Cuz he’s black.” Kentucky. Bless their hearts. Always the last to jump on board the Politically Correct train.
Messengers II has wrapped.
One script entered. Two movies leaved. At times it was frustrating writing and rewriting for such a low budget. But it sure was fun. And the notes were smart. The discussions were smart. The process was…wait for it…enjoyable. I had fun writing it. I had fun rewriting it. I would, with no hesitation, gladly work with Ghost House and Mandate again. I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product.
My Bloody Valentine is currently shooting and shooting in 3D. That last detail has turned the production into a monster. Huge lights, giant cameras and eons to set up shots. Welcome to the digital world. They have switched to 14 hours a day, six day weeks. I’ve been tweaking lines along the way. In fact, I polished last night what will shoot tonight. And I am loving Patrick Lussier. But then I always have. Not only is a friend…he’s simply a pleasure to work with and I consider it an honor being one of his commandos. Would and will happily work with him again. As for Lions Gate…nah. Not if I can help it. There are plenty of hungry writers in the world. I don’t mind sharing. Let somebody else have a turn. And one day I’ll tell the behind-the-scene story. An epic adventure of a handful of heroes who do battle with a team of villainous morons. But that is a story for another day. Suffice it to say, the good guys won…although a few of us lost limbs.
I leave on Wednesday for Pittsburgh. I am playing a small role in the film.
As for Monkey’s Paw…if you recall from my last post, I had proclaimed it perhaps the best script I had ever written. Risky and bold and a throwback to the way movies used to be made, to the way stories used to be written. Yeah. Well. So much for that. I’m currently doing a page 5 rewrite. That means the first five pages are the same…everything else brand new. I’ll make it work because that’s what I do.
I used to think my job as the screenwriter was like a novelist, in that he/she writes a story and Hollywood does everything in its power to nurture, protect and bring that story to fruition. Rrright. When monkey’s fly out of Bob Barker’s butt. No, like it or not, in today’s Hollywood the Screenwriter’s job is to take many different opinions, ideas, visions and work those into a cohesive and compelling story. No, that’s not easy. And yes, the truth hurts. But I’m not here to blow smoke up your hoohoo.
Anyone who frequents movie message boards will see the trend. The general public knows. Movies aren’t as good. Most poeple don’t know why. Heck, sadly even Hollywood doesn’t know why or somebody would change the current trend. I think, and of course I could be wrong, but I think the answer is simple. The people who know how to make movies aren’t the ones making the movies. The writers aren’t in charge of writing the story any more. Executives are. And I’m not talking about high-level power executives. I’m talking about all executives. Even the kid fresh out of film school. The directors are losing their directorial power. This may come as a surprise but at many studios it’s the Marketing Department who has final say over casting.
I and other believe that movies on the whole have suffered. The quality of the story has suffered.
Don’t believe me? Test the theory. Look at the top ten movies of 2002. Then compare those to the top ten movies of 2007. Which year has your favorites movies? And pay no attention to box office. Studios have that down to a Science. They know how to sell movies. They just forgot to let the talent make the movies.
Remember when all Oscar movies used to be made by studios? Not anymore. Juno. No Time for Old Dudes. Now Oscar goes to the independents. Why? What has changed? Pretty simple really. Writers and directors still control the movies in the independent world. Not so much in the studio world. But what about Iron Man? It was great! And it was huge! Everyone loved it! Yes, it was. But Iron Man wasn’t made by a studio. It was an independent. Marvel paid for it. Marvel controlled it. Not a studio. What about all the Pixar movies? Toy Story. Monster’s Inc. Finding Nemo. Again independent. Until recently. Will that change now that they are with Disney? If Disney is smart they’ll stay out of the way.
So, what else is going on? Well, once I have Monkey’s Paw behind me (I should finished when I return from Pittsburgh) I have a TV pilot to finish. Then I’m going to write a spec for Thomas Jane based on a Tim Bradstreet idea. Too early to get into details but it will be fun.
And even though imdb removed Psychopath from its listing, Carpenter is still attached and it’s still happening. It’s going to be a comic book first…as I have mentioned before. The comic will come out before the end of the year through…eh…I forget the publisher. It’s one of the independents. I’ll find out and post later.
I guess I could ramble on, but perhaps shorter, sweeter and more consistent posts are the new thing.