The article, Screenwriting in Hollywood: A Modest Proposal, appeared in Variety on October 2, 2008. It discussed the difficulties that come with being a screenwriter in Hollywood. Studios often throw around screenplays from writer to writer when the first or even the fifth doesn’t seem to work out. Screenplays often get published with the character development or ideas of fired writers still intact, but the writers do not recieve any compensation. These writers lose their sense of proffessional worth, credibility, and money. The author asks the question: Why has it become impossible for one person to write a producable screenplay?
Archive for November 20th, 2008
Josh Schwarts, who has created small screen hits like The OC and Gossip Girl, is writing the newest installment of the series. Its going to be about new students being admitted to the famed school for gifted.
Schwarts has high expectations for his version of the comic book classic. The first three movies released by 20th Century Fox had broken many records setting the bar higher and higher each time. So its safe to say this big time success on the TV has a high bar to clear on the sliver screen.
See the orginal article here
Variety revealed that MGM is going to pick up Kathleen Ryan’s book “Vibes” with plans of turning it into a movie. MGM has signed on the screenwriter for “Nancy Drew” Tiffany Paulsen to work on the project. The story itself centers around a teenage cheerleader who discovers one day that she has the ability to hear the thoughts of others and finds out for the first time what other people really think of her.
HBO is looking for a writer for a new series that will depict the childhood relationship between Red Hot Chili Pepper’s singer Anthony Kiedis and his father, Spider.
Kiedis, whose deviant, unconventional childhood was depicted in his 2004 autobiograpy, Scar Tissue, will supposedly play a large role in the production. It is expected that Kiedis will be the narrator of the series and will make frequent cameos. The series, appropriately named after the book will take place in the 1970’s in downtown Los Angeles.
In keeping with the course theme of looking to the future, I came across a recent release from MGM studios concerning the vital role the Xbox 360 and the future of entertainment. Soon, there will be over 25 million Xboxes sold worldwide and there is now a plan to harness this immense market.
“The future of home entertainment is Xbox 360 — it’s on-demand, it’s high-definition, it’s always social, it’s all in one place,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Corp. “With the New Xbox Experience, we will reach the next generation of Xbox owners, 25 million and beyond. We are at a watershed moment, backed by the largest entertainment brands, with an incredible lineup of entertainment unmatched in any industry.”
It has also partnered with Netflix, the home movie mail-delivery service, to provide constant high definition movies and television shows to Xbox users, with the Xbox being the only device able to support this technology.
Finally what is arguably most appealing of this New Xbox Experience, is that all of this can be shared with other Xbox users around the world, connecting to have virtual parties with up to seven friends. In addition, multiple film studios are on board to allow more films through the netflix technology.
Who knows, pretty soon we may all be forgeting our cable box and DVD player in favor of a game-playing, movie-showing, high-definition Xbox.
Variety featured an article announcing Disney’s plan to release a 3-D version of the holiday favorite A Christmas Carol. The movie will be the end of a five part deal that Disney made with IMAX.
This will be the second time that Disney and IMAX have come together, the first being for the movie Fantasia 2000. CEOs at both companies hope that this deal will make them big bucks at the box office.
The movie is set to be released on November 9, 2009 and will star Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge.
Filmmakers irked by Utah’s script-vetting
Published November 20, 2008 Jennifer Henricks Leave a CommentAn article from the Associated Press, appearing in The Salt Lake Tribune, this story focuses on the controversy surrounding script-vetting in Utah. Filmmakers who want to make a film in Utah must submit their scripts to Utah’s Motion Picture Advisory Committee for review. The committee offers financial incentives for making movies in Utah, reimbursing filmmakers for a maximum of 15 percent of the production money that is spent in Utah, with incentives not exceeding $500,000. However, because the committee requires that a copy of the script be submitted for review before financial incentives are awarded, filmmakers believe they are victims of “economic censorship,” because the committee can refuse funds for films that they dislike.
Committee officials however, adhere to the argument that they are using taxpayer money, so they must follow specific criteria in how they allot this money.
I thought this was a very interesting controversy, because it seems to me that Utah is simply hurting their own economy by discouraging filmmakers from filming in their state. Although films that don’t receive funds can still shoot in Utah, they are far more likely to go somewhere where they can get a financial incentive. With the publicity of this controversy, Utah may see a decrease in the number of films that even apply for these financial incentives. Filmmakers will perhaps choose to shoot their film in a location where they won’t feel economically censored.
On Tuesday, Variety came out with an early look at the possible best actor race for 2008-2009. The potential nominees were decided by the entire staff at Variety. Leonardo DiCaprio was the first for his role in “Revolutionary Road.” He has received three previous Oscar nominations for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” “The Aviator” and “Blood Diamond.” The second potential nominee is Richard Jenkins for his work in “The Visitor.” He has no previous Oscar nominations. The third is Frank Langella for his role in “Frost/Nixon.” He also has no previous Oscar nominations. Sean Penn is the fourth nominee for his work in “Milk.” He has won one Oscar for “Mystic River” and received three other noms for “Dead Man Walking,” “Sweet and Lowdown” and “I Am Sam.” He is the only actor other than Woody Allen to receive a best actor nomination in a Woody Allen picture. The fifth nominee is Brad Pitt for his role in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” He was nominated for an Oscar for his work in “Twelve Monkeys.” The last nominee is Mickey Rourke for his work in “The Wrestler.” He has no previous Oscar nominations. Click here for the full article.
I think it’s pretty important to note that half of the potential Oscar nominees this year have never been nominated for an Oscar before. It is exciting to see that there are new and obviously great actors on the movie screens this year. I think that as a media person it is crucial to pay attention to these sorts of things and I think it is part of our responsibility as media people to go out and see these movies and actors that are up for Oscar nominations. I know that I will try very hard to go see all these movies so that I am up-to-date and educated on the cinema world.
Warner Bros. extended a seven figure offer for the movie rights to Nicholas Sparks’s latest bestseller, “The Lucky One”.
Denise Di Novi has signed on to produce the film. This will be her fourth Warner Bros. film based on a Sparks novel. ”Nights in Rodanthe”, which is currently in theaters, is one of the Sparks based films which Novi most recently produced. In early October it came in second at the weekend box office making $13.6 million.
Sparks’s novel, “The Lucky One”, is the story of a Marine who survives three different tours in Iraq. Convinced that his good luck has come from a photograph he carried with him at all times of a girl he never met, he sets out to find his “good-luck charm”.
As always, this novel is set in North Carolina.
Claymation feature film
“Mary and Max” an animated film about an unlikely pen-pale friendship between a 8-year-old girl from Melbourne and a “obese” 42-year-old man from New York. “Mary and Max” is the first film of its kind to open at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Voices are by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette.
Animator Adam Elliot produced an Oscar winning animation film which played at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Elliot said “It has been a whale of a pregnancy and we are so thrilled that the birth will be in Sundance.”
