State of the Script (022)

"... a very difficult sale"

That is a quote being passed along to me from some agencies, production companies and networks in reference to SP1. Everyone claims to love the script, the concept, the writing, but they find it to be a tough sale. I feared that "a very difficult sale" was just a nicer way of saying "fuck off, loser." My manager assures me that isn't completely true. SP1 is mostly a difficult sale because WriterGal and I would retain the coveted "created by" credit. This makes established showrunners less likely to get involved and companies aren't as inclined to take a chance on newbies likes us. Execs at smaller companies, like the ones that have been interested in SP1, like to take a script like this and throw it at few walls and see if anything sticks. If it doesn't immediately stick, then they move on to the next thing. Luckily the young producer and my manager aren't afraid of a couple passes. They insist they only see it as more motivation to find the right home for our show.

If you recall, WriterGal and I had given our take on two projects to a production company (see entry #17). The development exec claims she loves our idea for the first project, a romantic comedy, but an established writer came in with an idea that blew them away and they are going with him. The exec also says she "truly" loves our take on the second project, a TV series, but at the moment they are fighting with a network to get the rights to the project back. Once that happens, which could be months from now, she will come back to us.

They love me... they love me, not?

Not much else to report on the state of my completed scripts. In the meantime, I am still working on the RC script and the PT script. RC script still in outlining stages. PT script around page 45 of a rough draft.

Ten Favorite Films of the 1940s (021)

This will probably be the most difficult decade to narrow down to ten films. I wouldn’t be surprised if half of my all time favorite films came from this decade. The list is predominantly Hollywood movies made during the Hays Code era. I have a thing for Hays Code films and would love to experiment sometime by writing a screenplay with the censorship guidelines enforced by the code. Anyhow, here are the films in chronological order:

1. The Philadelphia Story (1940) - George Cukor
2. The Great Dictator (1940) - Charlie Chaplin
3. To Be Or Not To Be (1942) - Ernst Lubitsch
4. Casablanca (1942) - Michael Curtiz
5. The Palm Beach Story (1942)- Preston Sturges
6. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) - Frank Capra


7. Double Indemnity (1944) - Billy Wilder
8. The Big Sleep (1946) - Howard Hawks
9. The Bicycle Thief (1948) - Vittorio De Sica
10. The Third Man (1949) - Carol Reed

If it wasn't for my rule that directors can only appear once per list, then these two films may have been in the top ten:

His Girl Friday (1940) – Howard Hawks
The Lady Eve (1941) - Preston Sturges

Writing Schedule Revised (020)

The two most important things in writing (or so I’ve been told):

#1 – Make a writing schedule
#2 – Stick to that writing schedule

Easier said than done. Making a writing schedule is a talent in and of itself. The schedule needs to be practical. According to my previous schedule I was to have the second draft of my PT script completed by September 23rd… not practical. I am on page 43 of a very rough draft. The writing schedule also needs to be ambitious. I’d rather be a week behind my ambitious writing schedule and working hard to keep up than a week ahead and feel like I have time to explore the backlog of my DVR. Finding the fine line between practical and ambitious can be rather difficult.

I will admit that my latest writing schedule is more ambitious than it is practical. I don’t feel I have much choice. Without a full time job, I will most likely be out of money by New Year’s Day. This is my last chance to write full time before having to succumb to the workforce. I’m not saying I will stop writing in the new year, I’m just saying I will have less time to be a productive writer. A glimmer of hope does exist in that I was asked to do some paid edits on a friend’s book. If that works out, I might be able to extend my schedule before getting a dreaded non-writing job.

How ambitious is my new writing schedule? Along with finishing my PT script, I intend to start and complete a feature romantic comedy (RC) with WriterGal. Writing a script in two months is particularly ambitious, at least for me. Our manager has requested that we base the script on WriterGal’s one-woman show. We have decided to also loosely base it on our own relationship. I’m just now realizing that writing a relationship comedy about your own relationship with the person you are in a relationship with might be a problematic. Oh well.

Revised Writing Schedule
PT script – December 25th 2009
RC script – December 25th 2009

Of course, I will have checkpoint deadlines along the way, but I haven’t actually figured out the finer details just yet. No time for a proper conclusion. Back to writing…