Special Tech for the Tech Challenged Exec

Aaron Klein proposes special tech to help Hollywood Execs understand why SOPA was bad:

Before you can do a Google search, you have to sit through five minutes of ads for Google Chrome, Chromebooks by Samsung, Android Phones by Motorola, and that amazing straight-to-video blockbuster, Google+. And oh yeah, don’t even think about trying to skip the ads. A cute little red “X” appears in the corner of your screen if you try to do that.

If you fly off to your vacation home in the south of France, your Mac won’t boot up at all. Remember, it’s your fault for traveling – just buy another one with the right “region code.”

It has always bothered me that I can't skip the screen that tells me it's against the law to pirate movies. After all, if I'm watching that screen, it means I bought or rented the movie legally. Why are you stealing precious minutes of my life? I bet I can skip that screen on pirated movies, hey?

KRAFTY ON KINDLE!

I see that CRAFTY TV WRITING: THINKING INSIDE THE BOX is now available in a Kindle edition!

The CBC: An Intervention

Diane Wild polls assorted Canadian writers, including Yours Truly, about what's up at the CBC. Check it out.

Why Haven't I Hit Yet?

Q. I have great ideas but it seems like others get these things done before me. For example, etc. etc.

A couple of possibilities.

One, maybe you're on the right track. You're writing scripts about the right sort of things. Personally, I wrote a Pretty Boy Floyd movie, and then Larry McMurtry wrote a Pretty Boy Floyd movie, and which do you think got into development? And I wrote a hacker movie and then that Sandra Bullock thing came out. I had an idea for a movie inspired by Paul Reubens, and then Paul Reubens put a biopic of himself into development. It tells me I'm in the right territory.

Two, the odds of any movie getting made are low. I've written 36 feature scripts. About two dozen of them I was either paid to write, or I optioned to someone after writing. I have three feature credits, and a few uncredited rewrites. Most people consider me a fairly successful screenwriter. Most screenwriters' careers resemble icebergs: 9/10 of their work is unseen. Maybe you just need to get more material out there, and be patient.

Three, are you sure your hooks are sharp enough? Are you mining territory that is too obvious, that other writers are bound to get to as well? Someone will probably beat you to the screen. Simon Beaufoy, who wrote THE FULL MONTY, was not on obvious territory. Maybe you should be thinking up the next JUNO or LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE or BEING JOHN MALKOVICH or ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND.

Four, are you sending your scripts out before they're as good as you can make them? Do they fall apart in the third act, or are they just goddamn brilliant all the way through. Maybe you need to raise your standards on your own work.

I wouldn't say "don't give up," because if you're a real writer you won't give up regardless what I say. But without reading your stuff, my bet is one of these apply.

The General Election: A Preview

[POLITICAL THEATRE] This video has been circulating a lot on Facebook:



I think this is exactly where I'd want the President's rhetoric. The President can't run on cutting taxes; everyone knows the Republicans will do more tax cutting than anyone else. He has to make the case for taxes. So he does.

Notice how he jumps almost immediately to "strong military." In the past this has been a Republican talking point. Obama's stealing it. He makes the point that you can't cut taxes, cut the deficit, and have a strong military.

At the end he makes the Elizabeth Warren argument. You're going to be hearing it a lot more this year. No one ever got rich on their own.

You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police-forces and fire-forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory — and hire someone to protect against this — because of the work the rest of us did.
“Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless — keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.

Unsuccessful Democratic candidates apologize for the social contract, I think; successful ones (Bill Clinton, Obama) embrace it.

The smart money seems to be 50-50 on Obama getting another four years. Based on this speech, and the most recent economic numbers, I'd put it a bit higher.

(But I wouldn't bet $10,000 on it.)

In memoriam: Nicol Williamson

Nicol Williamson has died. I'll remember him always as the brilliant, tricksy, wise Merlin in John Boorman's wonderful EXCALIBUR.

I once visited Boorman at The Glebe, his place in Ireland. He told me that Williamson hadn't been able to make sense of his character until the costume designer made his odd little silver skullcap. Then the whole character came to him.

And Laurence Olivier never felt he had a character until he'd designed the right nose.

Goodbye, old wizard. May She treat you well in the Summerlands.

Need Someone Who Can Read...!

I'm auditioning actors tomorrow in Montreal for my cheese videos. I'm looking for someone who might have three hours tomorrow to volunteer to read with the auditioning actors... know anyone?

Letters to Young Filmmakers

Howard Suber was one of my professors when I was at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television; for years he team-taught alongside studio head Peter Guber in the Producers Program. His 2006 book, THE POWER OF FILM, talked about what makes a film great. He's just come out with a new book, LETTERS TO YOUNG FILMMAKERS, which is a sort of FAQ from his years of giving wise advice to people coming through the UCLA film program. The book is a series of brief letters answering questions about topics like inspiration, pitching, developing your writing, optioning your material, and why, if the screenplay is so important, Hollywood treats screenwriters like crap ... many of the same topics you may be interested in. Maybe he's got a letter for you.