It's that time of year! No, not Santa and presents. Rather, it's the release of the annual Black List - Hollywood's ranking of over 300 film executives favorite scripts written in or attributed to 2011, which have yet to begin principle photography.
In the earlier history of the Black List, this is where unproduced scripts by more commonly unknown or nascent writers were discovered. From their appearance on the list, a writer would gain recognition, representation, and - ideally - a sale and, hopefully, a production. Now, it has the likes of Quentin Tarantino. (OK, I'll back off; not all the writers on it are nearly as recognizable names as he is. Still, his presence on the list corrupts its purpose for me a bit.) Either way, kudos to all the writers whose talents earned them a spot on the 2011 Black List!
You can view it here.
Receiving feedback (or criticism, notes, input, thoughts, whatever else you want to call it) on a piece of writing can be hard. It's great when someone absolutely loves what you're doing, but be wary of such glowing feedback. The last thing you want when trying to shore up your piece is a misleading, gushing but disingenuous response. Rather, it is all the more common to receive notes that are far less than wholly flattering. At times, they can be downright difficult to hear and ingest. That's why a thick skin is one of the most important tools in a writer's arsenal.
Fortunately, when I submitted the synopsis for my demon thriller to the League recently, their responses didn't necessitate the densest of hides. However, the feedback that I got raised some interesting (internal) questions, the primary one being "when should I pay close attention to a note, and when is it more opinion-based?" By that, I mean, say someone hates my protagonist; he's not supposed to be likable, and I achieve that. But they still flat out do not like him. Well, if other people enjoy not liking him and enjoy the story despite his off-putting personality, that's one thing. But if the entire writers group loathed my protagonist to such a degree that they abandoned the plot and didn't bother to focus on the material... well, that's another thing all together.
Take, as another example, my idea. It involves demons and souls. A character is supposed to be corrupted at a certain point. One of the group members felt adamantly about the fact that her corruption did not equate to sin in his mind. He fell off-board with it there and then, and very firmly believed that I was doing a disservice by posing it as I was. Well, maybe that was a larger theological debate than the script engendered. However, another Leaguer had the exact same reaction. Then, too, did a third.
When certain notes reappear again and again, it's time to take notice of them. I might disagree with the point they're making, but the fact of the matter is, three of the five people who I showed it to brought up the corruption without prompting, and they found it detracted from their reading experience, because they so disagreed with it. Even if I don't see it the way they do, I have to recognize where they're coming from. As a writer, I don't want to alienate my readers. A common readers' problem becomes my problem. Other things might be up to opinion, but something so agreed upon is a big, flashing warning sign.
"Change this now, or be faced with changing it later once the project is in script state. Worse, be faced with a pass because you never bothered to change it at all."
As we come into the final month of the year, already at full-steam, I can't help but to look backward - and forward. Even though it is only December 5th, and the time for New Years plans is almost a full month away, I make myself a resolution.
2012 will be my year.
- In 2012, I will push myself to write more than I did in 2011.
- I will break the streak of little to no productivity that began in August, or earlier.
- I will not only generate scripts, but I will generate market-ready scripts.
- I will broaden my horizons to include more creative outlets: painting, learning the harmonica, whittling, whatever else might come up; I will pursue it.
- The moment I begin to feel that I'm stagnating, I will change things up, shake up my surroundings.
- This includes my job.
- I will travel even more than I did in 2011.
- I will see the world, for how else can I write about it?
- I will attempt a play for the first time in a few years.
- I might get on stage and act again, if the opportunity presents itself.
- While my post-Apocalyptic spec is still circulating around Hollywood - albeit more for consideration for television than for film now - I will not sit on my hands idly.
- I will seek out resources.
- I will seek out resources for others, as well.
- I will read more scripts.
- I will watch more movies than I did in 2011, which has been a particularly slow year.
- If I decide to stay in New York for the entirety of 2012, I will make it a year to remember, filled with glamorous views of the city, nights spent at museums, restaurants, and galleries. I will fully embrace this city for a year, before I leave it perhaps forever.
- If I do leave, I will leave and not look back.
- I will not permit myself to dwell too much on what if - what if I moved to LA a couple years ago? What if I move there now? What if I had pursued a different career all along?
- I will temper myself and my emotions, and when I feel myself starting to sag, I will do an about-face and imbue my life with something or someone new.
- I will seriously pursue a relationship (the absence of which, at times, consumes as much of my mental power as y creative output does).
- I will not be immobile, nor will I permit myself to backtrack.
- I will give 2012 my all and see what comes of it.
And if nothing does?
Ask me in a year.
In order to be at all productive during a holiday, when I'm not currently in the pages stage of a script, I have to set a goal for myself. This Thanksgiving, I did just that. I wanted to finish the synopsis of my demon thriller spec, so that I could finally send it out to my manager. I am proud to say that I did just that, wrapping it up in the last hour of my bus ride back from Arlington, VA to New York.
Initially, I wanted to get a solid page-long synopsis done. When I began it, I didn't have a whole lot. I knew a bit about the protagonist and his friend, but I knew next to nothing about the other characters. The love interest was a major question mark, as were most of the plot points. Half way through outlining (I already had a page and was well into the second by that point), I decided that I needed more antagonists, in addition to the one I already accounted for. In came some demon hunters. Though I was hesitant to use them in the beginning, their presence really makes sense (at least on paper) and adds some great and worthwhile elements to the story. I think they have the promise of adding a lot of fun and great action, too - not in a gratuitous or tacked on way, either.
The love interest's back story became prohibitively important, preventing me from moving any further with the outline until I figured that out. She's supposed to have some large flaw, but not so monumental that we cannot connect with her in the end. I worked hard at it, and managed to solve that one. Same with the protagonist's agenda. I did a lot of research about demons and demonology and that sort of thing, and his story naturally flowed from my findings.
By the time all was said and done, I'd hammered out a full two=page synopsis. Sure, there are some big questions in there, as well as gaps or jumps in the narrative. The characters don't come across as fully fleshed out yet - I focused mainly on the big beats. But the bones of the story are undeniably there. They might change in an outline, but I have a lot more going into this week than I did seven days ago. For that, I am thankful.
In Loving Memory
Lottie Ziemba
1924-2011
I was speaking with a friend the other day. Like me, he is trying to get a production in motion. Unlike me, his is a play (one he's optioned, not written). Our experiences, though, have been quite similar.
He has some talent attached to the show and some people on his team who are working hard to make it happen. I have a lawyer, agent, and manager package, as well as two dedicated producers who are working hard to bring it to fruition. He's had a few readings of it, which have garnered some interest. My script has circulated around the industry and gotten some attention and positive feedback. Despite the readings and interest from a larger organization, he is back to square one (quote unquote), since the larger theatre passed in the end. And though I've gotten some good word of mouth and interest from producers and directors, none have actually bitten.
In short, neither of us is where we would like to be yet. We've had some steps forward and the corresponding steps backwards. Each small success seems to be met with a larger disappointment (larger, if for no other reason than we allow ourselves to anticipate that the minor success will be the first step toward fulfillment of the project). In my case, we've started looking into setting the project up for television instead of film, and that's still not earned us much traction. With his play, he has a recognizable star attached, and his wheels are still spinning. I recently read Down and Dirty Pictures, and in it, Peter Biskind discusses how even Martin Scorsese couldn't get Gangs of New York off the ground for many years. If guys like him have trouble, it's no wonder that unknowns like me face an uphill battle in getting their movies made.
Still, it only takes one "yes." My hope is that, by this time next year, I will have that "yes" to be thankful for as I wolf down my turkey.
We're in the home stretch of the year, which means that most Hollywood heavy-hitting Oscar contenders are either out, or just about to come out (with a few notables that have already come and gone - to DVD). So, out of curiosity, and because I'm really not overwhelmingly excited about anything slated to debut in the next month and a half (nor was I too jazzed about anything in the ten and a half months before now), I decided to do some research, test the waters, and take the temperature of the current Oscar race. I did some googling and came up with a list - from various sources - of which movies are likely contenders, which might be upsets, and what movies are worth watching before the Oscars.
You're probably aware that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences earlier this year yet again changed the nomination voting system for Best Picture. Now, rather than a hard and fast 5 or 10 nominees, depending on the number of first place votes a film gets in the nomination round (it must receive at least 5% of the first place votes), it will be listed as a Best Picture Contender. Among the sites I read, the common consensus seems to be that we should expect seven (7) Best Picture nominees. So, I went with that.
I read - and actually put together a little spread sheet of contenders - the top picks list from Indie Wire, Reelz, the Awards Prophets, Entertainment Weekly, and the LA Times' blog The Insider. (It is worth noting that these lists will likely all change as more reviews come out and the climate evolves for each film. Not all articles were written around the same time, either; for example, the EW one is from August. But let's play along anyway.) With the exception of Entertainment Weekly's contributor's picks, the lists were ranked in order of most likely to take the top prize. Because so many focused on seve real competitors, I looked at the top seven from each of those to determine if there were any unanimously agreed upon choices. There were three:
The Descendants
War Horse
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
I will make it a point to see each of those. Among other notable contenders, Moneyball, Midnight in Paris, The Artist, and The Help were in the top seven for all but one of the four lists. So those goes up there. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo made two top seven lists.
When calling in the top ten, Tree of Life, appears three times, while J. Edgar and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy garner two votes each (J. Edgar was lower on many lists, just FYI). Other notables include: Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Ides of March, A Dangerous Method, Young Adult, Hugo, and occasional shout-outs for The Iron Lady, Carnage, and We Bought a Zoo. Tin Tin is looking like the potential front runner for animated, assuming it qualifies for that category.
So what are the take-aways from this little project? First, I have to eat my words with the League, because I as convinced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 would earn a Lord of the Rings style nomination, yet it wasn't on any of the lists I looked at. Therefore, if you're trying to assemble your list of what to see before the 84th Academy Awards, as I am, then these are likely the fifteen you will want to focus on:
The Descendants
War Horse
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Moneyball
Midnight in Paris
The Artist
The Help
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Tree of Life
J. Edgar
A Dangerous Method
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Young Adult
Hugo
The Ides of March
Something's been weighing on my mind this past week. Call it a concern. Call it a question. Call it... guilt? either way, the newest idea I've come up with, one that I am actually very excited about and that my manager has responded quite positively toward, is causing me a bit of angst. The idea has to do with religion. My concern, is whether my treatment of it is sacrilegious.
Now, to preface, a bit of background on me. I'm not what you'd call the most religious person. By that, I mean that I didn't growing up going to church on a regular basis. (If the grandparents were in town, particularly for Christmas or Easter, then you better believe we were there looking our best, not to mention confused and bored.) Religion wasn't really discussed in my house; I can't quote any scripture, nor can I really paint a very vivid picture of the seminal Biblical events. That said, I also consider myself a believer. (Many of the Leaguers reading this are probably rereading that last sentence at this very moment - the image I bet they have of me is more likely that of an Agnostic, to be honest, if not Atheistic.) I do believe in a higher power, with reciprocal afterlife situations depending on one's behavior and actions. I don't want to get into the meat of what I believe and don't believe here, who I think gets "damned" and who doesn't. Suffice it to say, I am respectful and aware of the basic tenets of Christian theology and associate myself with at least some of them.
The new idea in question, then, invokes certain Biblical ideas. There's no direct naming of important figures; Jesus and God and the Devil will not appear on screen. We don't see angels. There's no talk of miracles or outward attempt to prove or comment on religion, Heaven, or any doctrinal debates. Rather, conceive of the idea more along the lines of Legion or Priest (admittedly, I have seen neither, nor do I envision Paul Bettany in my project, but hopefully that sheds some light on the overall integration of religion into the idea). Demons factor in, but not in the winged, pitchfork-wielding sense. Hell and souls are real in the world of the script, but dealt with in a more action, almost comic-book way. In short, I am invoking religion to create an action piece, and my concern - warranted or not - is whether that is a blasphemous act.
I could go further into depth about why I'm thinking about the nature of the script itself, but I won't. Whether that concern is inward (i.e., mine, regarding me) or not (i.e., dealing with the wider audience's reception to religious elements being treated in this manner) also seems a moot point now. Am I asking for an answer? I don't even know. I suppose the ultimate answer is that, if I am comfortable writing it, I should go forward with this idea. If not, then no. Yet I am excited by the concept. I feel it will offer me the opportunity to write some very interesting characters and quick, stimulating dialogue. I would be lying if I said I was not looking forward to working on this script.
So what is my take away? (What is yours?) Do I go ahead with this idea? Is it, in some way, blasphemous? The Bible has been a source of inspiration for a lot of pieces of art over the years - from paintings to prose to film to plays to sculptures and everything else imaginable. Should I be concerned that my usage of it is any different?
