Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Dec Blues
Yes, I'm still here, still plugging away.
The reviews for THE TOWN THAT BANNED CHRISTMAS (available on Amazon) are in, and boy are they mixed. Some people say it's charming, others say it's the worst Christmas film they've ever seen. Well, at least people have an opinion about it. As the saying goes, any kind of publcity is better than none at all.
Betwixt and between projects, holiday baking, life, the usual suspects. And waiting. Always waiting, which seems to be a writer's lot.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Monk's Final Season
Yes, it's true. By "mutual termination", MONK is going the way of the dodo next year, for a final 8th season. Yes, it will live on in syndication, but no more original episodes.
Honestly, I can't say that I'm heartbroken. The first half of MONK's seventh season has been uneven, to say the least. I'd prefer that MONK go out in a blaze of glory rather than just wither on the vine.
And now, having seen my beloved Teddy in WONDERLAND (the TV show), I realize just how under utilized he is in MONK. "Dr. Robert Banger" was a great role for him, he really sunk his acting chops into that.
Eight seasons is a long time in TV land, a long time for the writers to keep their batteries charged, and for the actors, it's a challenge to keep it fresh.
So while I will miss MONK...I'll always have TL.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
A New Era
Bleary eyed, still reeling from yesterday, the enormity of it all has yet to hit me. Our long national nightmare is finally over. Not just for me personally, but for our country.
Without going into too much elaboration, the Bush years were not kind to me. The election of 2000 marked the beginning of a long, hard road. I had hope in 2004, but sadly, it was stillborn. This year I had almost given up, tired of the petty, shrill rhetoric. I even wasn't going to vote!
It took me awhile to get on the Obama train, but when I did, we all jumped on board with a vengeance. As the world watched and waited, I feel that as a nation, we all held hands, held our breath, and took a giant leap of faith---the kind of faith and hope that those of lesser minds, hearts and spirits have pretty much given up on. And we were rewarded. This election wasn't stolen from us. This was a generational moment that we will remember the rest of our lives, like so many other national moments.
It's a new day, and while it's true that the problems I had yesterday haven't gone away, and the problems we face as a country, they're still here too. But the national mood has changed. As a nation, we look to the future with new hope.
Yes, we can. I get it now. And the people I love who are with me deep in my soul and in my memories, it gives me great comfort to think they would've gotten it too.
Oh yes, we certainly can.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Political Movies
In keeping with the election season, I got to thinking of my favorite political themed movies. There are many that I like: SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, BEST MAN, FAIL SAFE, DR. STRANGELOVE: OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (the original). But the one that resonates the most with me, the one that I lived through, is the classic ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN.
I fully remember the Watergate saga. We were living in New Hampshire at the time, and I vividly remember watching the hearings. It was better than a soap opera, except that this was real. If you think about it, the hearings were the first live reality show.
Watergate spawned so many great characters (and dare I say, eve heroes): Martha Mitchell, Sam Ervin, Elliott Richardson, Judge Sirica, John Dean. It also launched the careers of Woodward and Bernstein, who grabbed the tiger by the tail and didn't let go. And the movie perfectly captured the time, the culture, and the fear. Yes, fear in Richard Nixon's Washington.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sarah Palin Drops Flyers Opening Puck
What a silly stunt. You knew the boo bird would have a field day.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Still Breathing
Yep, I'm still here, still writing, still reading a pile of scripts for that contest (oh, what lovely blogs I'll have about that experience) and otherwise trying to keep warm during an unexpected cold snap and maintain my sanity in this overheated political season.
My kids are very excited about the upcoming Presidential election. My oldest called today and for over an hour we jabbered about it. Which reminds me, if you haven't yet registered to vote...DO SO!!! NOW!!! You can even register on-line.
http://www.beavoter.org/congressorg/election/register_vote/
Not sure if you're registered?
https://www.votepoke.org/index.html
They'll help you to register too.
Hey, if you're don't vote, I say you lose the right to bitch and moan about the way things are going if you don't like it.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Friday, October 03, 2008
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
And Now For Something Completely Different
Now that MONK (and my lovely Ted Levine) is on hiatus until January 2009, I thought this would be a most opportune time to review Season 7 thus far. Eight episodes have aired, and quite frankly, not all is well in Monkland. I was really anticipating this season, especially in light of Stanley Kamel's passing, who played Monk's shrink on the show. How would this wrinkle in Monk's life play out? I envisioned all kinds of neat and clever scenarios.
And therein I think lies the problem. Of all the scenarios that could have been done, the easiest, most undramatic, was chosen. In other words, the safest. This should have been a pivotal moment in Monkland. Instead, the new shrink barely made a ripple, and it's been downhill ever since. Monk has veered from being a genius Detective to acting like a juvenile, slapstick simpleton.
Apparently many MONK fans enjoy it when Monk and the gang act like idiots. I'm not one of them (and this from a woman who grew up on The Three Stooges).
The mystery of Trudy's murder (one of the basic tenets of the show) has been dropped. Monk's reinstatement to the force (another plot basic) is rarely mentioned. Continuity also hit the skids as the writers rewrote Monk history, and logic, for the most part, took a back seat.
Monk's allure, at least for me (besides Ted Levine) is that there was always a skillful blend of mystery and reality (I might have to suspend my disbelief and swallow some whoppers), but as long as it was entertaining, I willingly went along for the ride. This season has been the opposite. It's bad enough that the overwhelming majority of the shows have been banal and mediocre, but logic was stretched like a rubber band.
Yes, yes, I know---never let the facts get in the way of a good story. And it's just a TV show. You can't expect excellence in every episode.
But this is Monk. I expect Monk to be a higher plane because of the respect (okay, love/lust) I have for Ted Levine, who, if truth be told, has pretty much been phoning his work in. As much as I adore this man, I would love to see him do more than simply be a foil arching his eyebrows and doing a slow burn.
I think there's a lot of gas left in Monk, so I can only hope that the eppys coming in January are better. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'm in for a bumpy ride.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Don't Let The Truth Stand In The Way
"Sept 13: Fact Check
Watching the last twenty four hours of events, interviews and press releases, we take some time to offer up some fact checking.
From Troopergate to Charlie Gibson's interview with Governor Palin, we find a few statements and answers that test the boundries of truthiness.* (*Copyright. Stephen Colbert 2005)
On Troopergate; yesterday lawmakers voted to issue supoenas to thirteen individuals including Governor Palin's husband. Todd Palin has long been rumored to have had a key role in pushing members of his wifes staff to take action against Trooper Wooten.
Todd Palin is listed among in the official call log as making three phone calls to one of Governor Palin's aides, who then communicated with Bailey prior to a recorded phone call that outed Bailey and proved he was lying about never pressuring anyone to take action about Wooten.
Issue: After the joint judiciary committee meeting, Lt. Governor Sean Parnell issued this press release:
As a lifelong Alaskan and public servant, I'm disappointed by the complete hijacking of what should be a fair and objective process. It is troubling to see partisan Democrats and Obama supporters abuse their power, the legal system and trust of Alaskans to smear Governor Palin to score political points.
Arbitrary deadlines, inappropriate public comments and secret deals between Senator French and "independent" investigator Branchflower, have turned this process into a complete farce. This use of government power for political gain is an embarrassment to Alaska and the landmark ethics reform our state has achieved under Governor Sarah Palin.
Fact: This is sappy politics from Parnell, who will become governor if McCain wins.
The committee who voted to support the supoenas included four Republicans, all conservative, all McCain supporters. On my radio show following the hearing, Representative Jay Ramras (R-Fairbanks) said any allegations of partisianship were insulting.
"I've had a McCain sign in my yard since August 21 and I'm a proud supporter. My committee is comprised of staunch Republicans who also feel that this process is about getting to the facts."
And as far as Parnell talking about landmark ethics reform; this is a candidate who during his run for Lt. Governor back in 2006 took thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the same good old boys that Palin is now saying she took on. The same good old boys who have been indicted by the FBI.
And although it took the raids by FBI of state lawmakers offices for Parnell to return the donations, over his career the folks from Veco have been one of Parnell's greatest sources of campaign cash when he was a state legislator back in the 90's.
Issue: During the joint judiciary committee meeting yesterday, special investigator Steve Branchflower mentioned the need to supoena Murlene Wilkes, the owner of Harbor Adjustors, who has a contract with the State of Alaska to process claims for workers compensation.
Branchflower said there appears to have been some pressure put on the company from the governor's office to deny Trooper Wooten's workers compensation claim. The admission came from an employee of Harbor Adjustors, who apparently refused to go along with the pressure to deny the claim.
Fact: This is an email I received on August 18:
Item that may be of small interest to you, the ADN has had it for a week and done zero with it.
Officer Wooten had a workers comp claim on a back injury that went through Harbor Adjustors (Murlene Wilkes). Skinny is that the Gov's office advised his claim should be denied.
Gave the claim office photos of the officer on a snowmachine (undated/Palin-family taken shots)
HA handed it over to legal to handle (Murlene didn't want to get in the middle of what was obviously something personal, and as her only source of income is with a vindictive State gov contract, doesn't want to come out on this issue).
End of day, Wooden got pennies on the dollar for his claim, they wouldn't even pick up for the chiropractor.
Issue: Governor Palin's interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson regarding the Troopergate investigation.
GIBSON: The -- you mentioned the personnel board, it's a bipartisan legislative group, that's working at it now, which you said was fine, until you got named as the vice presidential nominee, and then you said the personnel board ought to handle it.
PALIN: We've said all along that … the personnel board is the appropriate agency or board to inquire -- our state statute says if there is a question about actions of the governor, lt. governor, or attorney general, you go to the personnel board. So we've said all along that that's appropriate …
Fact: Never....never had Governor Palin or her staff mentioned they felt the personnel board was the appropriate agency until after she was selected to become John McCain's running mate and was looking for a way to delay and stall the investigation.
In fact, the joint judiciary committee had a hearing scheduled for August 18, to discuss issuing supoenas, but the meeting was cancelled after the governor vowed to cooperate fully.
Issue: Governor Palin's interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson regarding the economy and budgeting.
PALIN: Reduce taxes, control spending, reform the oversight and the overseeing agencies and committees to make sure that America's dollars and investments are protected.
GIBSON: So let me break some of those down. You talk about spending. How much smaller would a McCain budget be? Where would you cut?
PALIN: We're going to find efficiencies in every department. We have got to.
GIBSON: So you'd take military off the table, the veterans' benefits. That's 20 percent of the budget. … Do you talk about entitlement reform? Is there money you can save in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?
PALIN: I am sure that there are efficiencies that are going to be found in all of these agencies. I'm confident in that.
GIBSON: The agencies are not involved in entitlements. Basically, discretionary spending is 18 percent of the budget.
PALIN: We have certainly seen excess in agencies, though, and in -- when bureaucrats, when bureaucracy just gets kind of comfortable, going with the status-quo and not being challenged to find efficiencies and spend other people's money wisely ... then that's where we get into the situation that we are into today, and that is a tremendous growth of government, a huge debt, trillions of dollars of debt that we're passing on to my kids and your kids and your grandkids ... It's unacceptable.
Fact: During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign for governor, Sarah Palin spoke often about how she was going to cut state spending, review agency operations then prioritize state spending and cut those services that were not "constitutionally mandated". The words "finding effeciencies" seemed to be laced in every speech.
In January 2007, Governor Palin's initial budget proposed reducing state spending by $150 million for the fy08 budget. Six months later she signed the largest budget in state history. And although most of the press focused on the $231 million she vetoed from the capital budget, the fact is both the operating and the capital budgets came in at a combined $350 million higher than what she promised.
Along that same failed promise came the rate of savings. While saving for the future was the clarion call in justifying cuts to the capital budget, the $127 million she had promised to save ended up being just $5.6 million according to the Office of Management and Budget.
In December 10, 2007 Governor Palin introduced her administration's proposed fy09 operating budget. The administration touted a plan to hold operating state operating expenses to just a 4 percent increase,
However when Palin's budget proposal was analyzed by the legislative finance division, the administration's budget was found to be a 15 percent increase in spending, not the 4 percent as was originally advertised.
In an interview in March of 2008 with Anne Sutton of the Associated Press, Palin's Budget Director Karen Rehfeld said, "Until Alaskans decide what public services they don't want us to deliver any longer as a state, any significant reduction in the operating budget is going to be difficult."
Three months later Governor Palin signed the largest operating budget in the state's history at $6.1 billion, a 9% increase over her previous record budget."
Thursday, September 04, 2008
This Is Why
The Huffington Post September 4, 2008
By Jane Smiley
"Nothing to Offer
Last night, Sarah Palin got her once in a lifetime moment, the moment where she introduced herself to the nation at large. She had a choice about how to reveal herself. We all know she could easily become president, so we were looking to see what kind of person she is, and we saw it. She's mean and shallow and aggressive. She thinks being a leader is about tearing down your rivals. She lies about her own actions and she demeans the more generous actions of others. She goes for the easy laugh, but doesn't even make up her own jokes. If there's a low road, she will take it. If she can pander, she will do it. Her performance recapitulated her actions as mayor and governor in Alaska -- holding office, for her, is about keeping as much power as possible and using it for her own selfish ends. This woman is small small small. She demonstrated that with every word she spoke.
But she inspired the base of the Republican party, all those white folks visible in the audience in St. Paul, so they must have seen themselves in her. I often wonder how, after the Bush years, anyone could be a Republican. It's an ongoing mystery, but Sarah Palin demonstrates who they are. They are small small small. They are obsessed with power. Whatever they have, they want to be sure that they keep it. They don't mind if the pie is shrinking through their own actions -- they will just employ the police state to keep their portion and get more. All other factions of the Republican party -- all the ones who once had and still have any vestiges of kindness and morality and (God forbid) altruism -- have drifted away and only the narrowest are left -- the out and out racists, the sexual opportunists, like McCain, the operatives who do it for the money, and the knee-jerk haters, the folks who leave destruction all around themselves and never even say they're sorry. It's not that they don't believe in, say, global warming. It's that they don't care about any larger issues at all as long as they get theirs.
It's obvious to everyone that Sarah Palin's life is chaos. Her record as mayor and governor is chaotic and her personal life is chaotic. Could she have orchestrated and survived two years of campaigning for the presidency with the panache, the energy, the organization, and the personal growth that the Obamas have shown? Of course not. How the campaign goes is how the administration goes. Palin is showing stress, desperation, and vindictiveness already. And speaking of that -- Obama extended respect to her and she returned contempt. Is she a mean girl? Not as harmless as that. She's more a Lady MacBeth. She IS the Republican party. She shows as clearly as anyone ever that if we as voters embrace something small, we get what we deserve."
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Yow
I'm slowly coming out of zombieland.
This past Friday I was hit with the mother of all kidney stones, so the weekend has been a bit of a blur. The only thing that seemed to get me out of my stupor was the nomination of Sarah Palin, which just cemented my vote for Obama.
I shall survive. The country is another matter.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
One Step
And who said Fridays were dull?
Don't want to jinx it, but I got some news that may pan out into something...and then, again, it may not. I've been in this position before, I'm the relay runner and I pass the baton off and my teammate fumbles it.
So until I know more, just keep those good vibes coming my way. Masochist, thy name is screenwriter.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Hanging On
Doing my usual thing, besides loafing, and not even much of that (loafing).
Still working on the Christmas script. After some bumps in the road, it seems to have settled down into semi-coherent treacle. I'm not used to grinding stuff out, so this has felt like an extended labor.
And while I've been working on the Christmas script (and not feeling very Christmassy, maybe I should play "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer"), I'm doing other stuff like reading scripts, jotting down ideas, and misc. which falls under the umbrella of life.
Am still waiting for the shoe to drop on the John Edwards scandal. Whatever it is, you know it has to be a biggie. Why are his minions still ferrying Rielle Hunter around from one manse to the other and paying her expenses if it's over and done with? What does she know that's even more damaging than their affair and the baby?
The mind reels.
As if anyone cares I've been very disappointed with MONK, am biting my tongue until the halfway mark. I've been scolded on the USA Network Board for being a "critic" and not a fan. Horrors! But that's another blog.
Come to think of it, I haven't been feeling PROJECT RUNWAY either; this season's challenges haven't been very challenging and the design divas haven't been very divalicious. Maybe the switcheroo to another network will give it some new blood. SHEAR GENIUS is limping along to the finale but I am looking forward to the Tabitha spin-off.
Other than that, it's been the same old same old. And rejection. Always plenty of that.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Sex, Lies, Money, Videotape and Pampers
Okay, if you don't want to read another John Edwards screed, stop right now---yes, you---and head on over to www.rougewave.blogspot.com where Madame Cupcake has one of my latest blogs, a rant on The M Word. And it's got nothing to do with Rielle Hunter. I promise.
But...if you're like me, a true gossiphile who can't resist a juicy sex scandal, continue reading.
Let's face, nothing enlivens the dog days of August than a high powered politician caught with his pants down. This story should be a journalist's wet dream: web sites being scrubbed, assumed names, huge monthly pay-offs, a stooge to take the fall, the terminally ill wife, the stool pigeon friends and family...hell, the only thing missing is dead horses. And we got them too!
Sad to say, it SHOULD BE a journalist's wet dream...because it appears that, yet again, the MSM is letting bloggers like Deceiver and Death By A Thousand Paper Cuts do the leg work. Even more appalling is when MSM writes about it, and then fails to properly attribute their sources. Come on guys, you know better than that. You're not some rinky dink operation like Newsday (which, by the way, except for one headline story, has pretty much stayed away from the JE mess like Christie Brinkley from her snake of an ex). I like Christie, I'm glad she stood up to that jerk, but that's another blog.
Belatedly, it comes out that pretty much everyone knew that JE was having an affair. Even Hilary's people knew and decided not to make an issue of it. Everyone knew except, you know, the people that counted...THE VOTING PUBLIC.
Not unexpectedly, the MSM, instead of doing what they're supposed to do, like, uhm, report the news, is still picking up other people's crumbs. John Edwards did this big confession which was designed to put the whole thing to bed (sorry), but it did just the opposite. His half-assed confession got so many people mad and upset, that they're shoveling even more. And sorry for JE, nothing they're churning up is any good. They never learn, do they, and it's so simple. JUST TELL THE GODDAMN TRUTH.
And some of these progressive sites I go to, well, after a burst of righteous indignation, they seem to have fallen back to their sloppy ways of blaming everyone but JE and EE. He lied, he's still lying, everyone is lying...but let's not talk about it because, you know...we bought those lies. And since JE isn't going to be at the convention, hey, it's over with. Not important. Move along. We have to keep our eye on the prize.
Uh-uh. I'm not buying that shit.
Until and unless JE comes clean, le Hunter scandale will permeate the National Convention like dead meat. Sure, people may not want to talk about it, but it's there, and each revelation drips like Chinese Water Torture. Yesterday it was RH's sisters going on TV to say that RH's baby looks like "JE in a onesie", today it's a story in the NY Post that EE was told about the affair in "installments." That's a new one on me, the pay as you go plan for adultery. When JE's colleagues (without his approval or knowledge, of course), paid people off, they forgot to include a lot of RH's friends and family on the gravy train.
I admit, I'm baffled by this "herd mentality" that exists on several "progressive" sites. Yes, we're getting hit hard (as well we should). So they bring up John McCain's affair and Cindy McCain's drug addiction as if we should be keeping score, as if this somehow evens the playing field. Honestly, this is pathetic. Look, I don't like John McCain either, but unless you have him in bed with a lobbyist NOW, forget it. Yes, his behavior toward his first wife was horrible, but he already copped to it, and it was thirty years ago. And yes, Cindy did some bad things when she was a pill addict back in the 90's, but by all accounts, she's recovered. Dredging up this crap is petty and mean and isn't going to change the conversation or the spotlight.
Yes sir, we just love a rip roaring sex scandale in the morning. Remember Elizabeth Taylor? Fuck the fake Olympic fireworks and the lip synching cutie. Pretty soon we'll be reading in The Globe that Michael Phelps can't even swim. This is better than TROPICAL THUNDER. Popcorn, anyone?
PS I got the tombstone photo from DBKP. Love ya!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Let's Get Rielle
Most people on the web know me through my screenwriting, but there's a reason why I have "proud bleeding heart liberal" as my "tagline". In addition to writing scripts and novels, I used to be heavily involved in several prominent left wing blogsites back in the late 90's-2001. I wrote essays and humour pieces, mostly. After the 2001 election debacle, I had to pull back to maintain my sanity. Still, I frequent them, and put in my two cents, sometimes three, when I feel the urge and need to. And I certainly do feel the need to in the wake of the John Edwards mess. Probably what I write won't matter to anyone but me, it's a blogsumi, it's like spitting in the eye of a hurricane.
As a former JE supporter, I'm totally and completely disgusted with him. I don't think there are enough adjectives in the dictionary to describe how incredibly stupid, irresponsible and despicable his conduct has been, and continues to be. Unfortunately, my gut tells me that there's more to this story to come, but that's for another day.
Moreover, I'm also disgusted at how the MSM and many left wing bloggers refused to investigate this story (or even report on it) until it was in their collective faces. Since when has the National Enquirer become the de facto investigative newspaper of record?
Worse, when some tried to write about the subject on some sites, they were derided, castigated, vilified and even banned outright. I know, because when I wrote on one site to defend a member who had been banned, I was called every vicious name in the book: troll, right wing sock puppet, etc.
This disturbed me no end, this indignant hypocrisy. Let's face it: if this had been Mitt Romney or any other prominent Repub who had run for President, these sites would have been all over it like Krazy Glue. But because it was John Edwards, because of his terminally ill wife, because the details, if true, was just so sad and sordid, they wanted to ignore it, much like the Emperor With No Clothes.
Now that they can't, these so-called MSM journalists are tripping over themselves in as they try to explain why they didn't cover the story. It's now become clear that papers like the New York Times did the most perfunctory of investigations, which meant just relying on Edwards. For crying out loud, it's not like there wasn't anything to investigate, all this stuff has been out there since 2006. They simply chose not to dig deeper. They abdicated their responsibility big time. All of them, even Newsday, my old employer, now a sad shell of its former shelf and just another sales tool for the almighty Cablevision empire.
It's a cliche, but it's usually true: where there's smoke, there's fire. And it took the dogged efforts of the Enquirer and sites like Huffington Post, Stranahan, Deceiver, Radar Online, Gawker, Wonkette and others to keep the pressure on. Do you think Edwards would have owned up to his adultery if the Enquirer hadn't snookered him at the Beverly Hilton? Think about it. Jay Leno was making jokes about it for two weeks. Where the hell was Wolf Blitzer and Jack McCaffrey?
And don't give me that crap about Edwards being a "private citizen". He's an ex-Senator. He was running for President. Obama was considering him for Veep, if not that, certainly a cabinet post. Edwards was fair game. He made himself so. His hubris and arrogance, and yes, his dick, overtook his common sense. In my book, Edwards isn't the only one who should be hanging his head in shame.
Yes, I'm still a bleeding heart liberal, but at this moment, not a proud one.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
For Scott
Now Dennis Hopper is a man who looks as smooth as a glass of aged bourbon. I wouldn't kick him out of my bed, that's for damn sure.
Monday, August 04, 2008
My Muse
Hey Ma, lookee, they're taking my picture!
I know what he's thinking, and he knows that I know...hell, I'll race ya!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
I Saved The Cat!
Here's my long promised interview with Blake Snyder, a very cool cat!
Blake Snyder didn’t just save his cat, he turned his kitty into pure gold. Author of the best-selling “Save the Cat” how-to screenwriter books/franchise, Blake is a hot commodity at classes, conferences and workshops around the globe for devotees of his now famous “beat sheet,” along with his common-sense methods and savvy tips. A screenwriter and producer for over twenty years, Blake is now busy writing the third installment of the popular “Save the Cat” series in which he is happily devising increasingly clever and crafty ways for writers to get their characters in and out of trouble. We caught up with Blake in Vancouver as he prepared to host one of his popular “Beat Sheet Workshops” (for more information on upcoming workshops, the “Save the Cat” books and ancillary products such as software, please go to www.blakesnyder.com).
Blake, was it always your intent to be a screenwriter? Do you see yourself primarily as a screenwriter or as a writer?
Well, I did tell a friend that I was going to be a big Hollywood screenwriter and sell a script for a million dollars, and it came true. I wrote my first screenplay when I was only seventeen. I am still very much in demand as a screenwriter. I get asked to write screenplays all the time. In the course of my career, I’ve sold over thirteen scripts. “Blank Check” was a successful Disney film. But for now, my primary focus is on the “Save the Cat” books. Writers everywhere tell me that they use and adapt the methods found in the books. I’m delighted to say that even non-writers have found the books useful. I once had a Realtor tell me that they used the books to sell a house!
What would your pitch be to a writer who has never heard of the “Save the Cat” books before?
That they are the first and last screenwriting books you will ever need! When I started out, I wish I had had this information, it would have saved me a lot of time and heartache. I had to educate myself on how to construct a snappy logline, a crackling pitch, and now I am delighted to impart that information to help others who are struggling in much the same way I did years ago. I went through hard times.
You know, so many screenwriters are focused on writing a great script that they forget that it is also about networking and making the necessary contacts in order to get their great script read. It’s all about connecting. Look at it from the executive’s point of view. They’d much rather work with a friend than a stranger. After all, wouldn’t you rather work with a friend than someone you didn’t know at all? I know I would. You can never discount the schmooze factor. You need to be pleasant and sincere.
Where exactly did the idea of "Save the Cat" evolve from?
All the other screenwriting gurus I came of age with, and loved and learned from, were not screenwriters, so when I wrote my book I wanted it to be from the point of view of someone who actually wrote and sold scripts. As a successful screenwriter myself, I wanted my book to be full of the slangy, how we really talk, brass tacks information that I and my screenwriter pals used to talk about and solve writing problems. One phrase I always used is "save the cat" where's the "save the cat" scene I'd ask of a writing partner or when pitching a story, I'd use that phrase to describe the moment as yet to be devised where we know we like the hero in a story. My books and methods are chock full of this stuff, it comes from 20-plus years of shorthand, cut to the set piece, flowery, slangy insider stuff I never heard anywhere else. That's why I think my books inform both new and veteran writers.
Regarding the books, I have a question from a fan. There seems to be a bit of a controversy, or let’s say, a disagreement, about the beats. Some people insist that you must adhere to the structure you lay out exactly, you must be very rigid in the page count where you have the beats, it has to be on this page or that page, and if you deviate from it somehow you’re ruining the formula. Do you have to be such a slave to it or can you deviate a little bit?
It is a guideline, and it is totally adaptable. I am fighting against the idea all the time that certain plot points must be on page 16 or page 25 and if it is not, the reader will simply toss the script aside. The books and the beat sheets are a distillation of everything I have learned over the years, information I sorely wish I had had when I first started out. However, the only way to educate oneself and learn is through trial and error, it is by doing, it is by the actual physical act of writing. There is no getting around that.
I know that for me, and I’m sure I speak for many other writers as well, that the mere mention of pitching strikes terror into our hearts. What was your first experience like pitching?
I can tell you that I was not very good at it. It was not until I educated myself on what made a good logline, the actual construction of it, that I got better at it. I say it in my books, go to Starbucks and pitch to the people standing on line with you. You will see by their reaction if this is a movie they would want to see. Pitch to your family, friends, neighbors. It is invaluable feedback.
If you were starting out as a screenwriter today, what would be your approach?
Well, it is so very much different for a screenwriter starting out today. There are so many opportunities for them, avenues and outlet that were not available back then: the Internet, You Tube, My Space, and the world of independent filmmaking that require less money to go tell a story. Stories are everywhere. We live in an age when visuals are the most important way of telling that story, be it a speech, 30-second commercial, a two-minute You Tube or a film downloaded to a phone. New outlets will be created for the once hemmed-in screenwriter to educate, persuade or create.
What about ageism in Hollywood and the idea that you must live in California to have a screenwriting career? I ask because I have a friend who recently told me that she was giving up screenwriting because one, she was tired of the rejection, and two, she was afraid that she was “over the hill” age-wise.
I hope you tell your friend to call me and hopefully I can talk her out of it! It is still about what is on the page and about making connections. If as a writer you constantly refresh yourself, keep yourself current and viable, I do not think it is a problem. The same applies for living in California, especially now with the Internet. It can be done.
Do you offer screenplay analysis/consulting? Do you plan to have classes on-line for those who can’t attend your workshops in person?
Yes, I love to help writers, and I love to read their scripts because through this, I learn new things all the time. I am my own best student! I will be in a class teaching and then a student will say something and I will think wow, I never thought of that in that way before.
And yes, we are working on offering classes on-line in the very near future. In addition, we recently became partners with Final Draft, and we are very excited about that. I am also proud to say that we have launched a fantastic new high school outreach program to teach students the basics of screenwriting utilizing the methods used in the “Save the Cat” books.
When did you realize that you were on the right track, screenwriting-wise?
I just spoke to a very new writer. As part of my outreach I often spend half-hour coffees with writers to help them. I give back to my industry and that's one way I do it. I asked him what he was working on and he was pitching his stories badly. He was using all the well-intentioned but misguided methods that I used early in my career. Well, by the end of the coffee, I am proud to say, we fixed that. He will never pitch "beat for beat" again. He will focus his story because he'll know what it is. My particular problem early on was attitude. When I started, my whole attitude was, I'm special, I'm different, and these rules don't apply to moi! And so, 20 scripts later that did NOT sell, I really was forced to take a look at that attitude and that method. Was I really going to do this, was I going to be a pro, or was I going to stay being an unsold dilettante? My turn came when I asked: what service do I offer? Why would anyone hire me to write anything? And how can I make it easier for producers, agents and executives to find me, and work with me. That was my big change. Starting from there I started to really examine what sold and what didn't and why. Logline was key. I scoured the trades for spec screenplay sales and examined, really analyzed the loglines and why oh why did they sell and mine did not. I started to make my ideas and scripts more like theirs, and soon my attitude of entitlement changed, and I became a better writer, and soon, one that sold with partners and on my own, a lot of scripts.
What makes for a good concept? Also, what makes for a compelling and a powerful logline, and why is it that so many screenwriters have so much trouble constructing them?
In Chapter 1 of my new book Save the Cat! Strikes Back: More Trouble for Screenwriters to Get Into... and Out Of, I discuss the three types of loglines I get pitched that come up short and why. I talk about failed loglines and pitches I've made and heard from other writers, and I give four brand new requirements that really make a pitch jump off the page. I have learned a lot due to the fact I put my e-mail address into both my books, and always answer writers who pitch me, I've heard hundreds in the past three years, and I have very definite ideas about what works and what doesn't and why. That's why I'm writing the third Save the Cat.
You stress the idea that screenwriters are providing a "service" and that scripts should be "transforming." Can you elaborate on that?
We writers have a noble profession, and it is complicated and hard work and all kinds of problems abound, but in fact the job is simple: Tell me a story. What is that? It's about a hero who faces his greatest fear, dies, and is reborn. That's every story. Why? It's because it's what we do every day; we rise, face the day, face our fears, fail or succeed and close our eyes at the end of it transformed. We die a little every day, we grow a little every day, and what we are all seeking, no matter how we seek it, is an interaction with the divine. However you seek that, falsely or in full consciousness of it, that experience is what successful storytellers recreate in their stories. The reason we like to hear stories of you going through this horrible transformative process, and not us is, it's painful to change! No caterpillar wants to die by becoming a cocoon, especially when we don't know for sure that we'll have wings on the other side of the transformation. But we all do it. Living each day is an act of faith and stories we tell let us know that it's worth it. Every story. Comedy or drama or musical, at core, the good ones address this truth. And as writers we must be aware of that.
What common mistakes or misconceptions new screenwriters have that they should try to avoid? For example, one fear expressed by many is that their scripts and/or ideas will be "stolen."
Yes. I say that only amateurs have this fear. If you only have one idea worth stealing you should be in another business. As to common mistakes, there are so many, I will have to keep writing books about them because I have made them all. But the good news is mistakes are how we grow.
If there's one bit of advice you could give newbie screenwriters, what would it be?
Be happy. You're in a great profession with more opportunities now than ever in the history of man. Be open. The best thing we can be as writers is flexible; the definition of humility is that state in which you are open to learn. Do not always think of what people can do for you; think about what you can do for them. It really is all about good karma.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Pfftttt
It was too good to be true.
Yep, don't you know it...the manager thing went south. I just got an e-mail from the owner of the firm. There was a parting of the ways with the guy I was supposed to sign with.
All this means for me is that I'm back where I started. No manager, no contract, no nothing. Par for the course. So much for my great July horoscope!!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Hot Hot Hot
New York is in the middle of a sweltering heat wave. We haven't had a good dousing rain in weeks, and we are sorely overdue. In this kind of heat, you barely have the energy to go into the pool, as cooling as it is.
I'm plugging away on my Christmas script, slowly but surely (yeah, the heat affects me too). Am waiting to hear back on several projects, but you know how these things go...hurry up and wait. Actually, I'm anxious to get going on some other scripts that have been gestating, so the sooner I get VANILLA SPICE outta my head the better.
In the meantime, MONK had its premiere eppy this past Friday, and to say I was underwhelmed is putting it mildly. I love MONK, I adore Ted Levine, so I really had high hopes for this eppy, but the writers went in another direction than what I had anticipated. Don't you hate when that happens? But hey, what do I know, I'm just a semi-professional who makes a living writing teen beat articles and fortune cookie sayings. (I am a Capricorn. I never forget).
And in case you were wondering, and even if you weren't, still waiting on the tweaked contract. Shouldn't be too long (keeping all body parts crossed).
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Maybe, Baby
Don't want to jinx it, but it looks like I have myself a manager. Until I get the contracts, though, that's all I'll say for now.
Otherwise, getting a treatment together (God, do I hate treatments) for a contact at an animation company, and then mulling over another idea (or two or three) in case she passes, as is most likely (ever the optimist) but then asks me what else yer got?
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Stone Cold
Today was not a very good day. I woke up in pain due to a kidney stone, and it went downhill from there. Have you ever had a kidney stone? It is PAINFUL. I would rather go through childbirth, at least you get a kid out of it.
Still I tried to work through the agony. I did a couple of pages on one script, got another script ready to go out, and then I got embroiled in a semi-flame war on a screenwriting site...in other words, I pissed the day away, and I mean that sincerely.
And then tonight, like a bolt out of the blue, I heard from the director of my Christmas movie. It looks like they finally have a distributor for a DVD/TV/cable deal, sold at Cannes. And it's to a big international company. You will know this company.
I am very happy.
But I could have done without the kidney stone. Really.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Happy Fourth of July
Another good week. Went back to the Christmas script, started the family comedy, and now hubby and I are brainstorming a very cute and clever family CGI feature. I pitched the idea to a couple of pals and they seemed to dig it, always a good sign.
Also, I had a very good phone confab with a manager who may be interested in repping me. Don't want to say too much about it, he's reading several of my scripts, so we shall see.
The kids are fine and doing their thing.
So yes, while it may change next week, or even tomorrow, today there is reason to celebrate in the McIlvaine household.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Monday Monday
I am tired tonight. Tired, but happy. Not from writing, though. From querying and sending out scripts. Today I did a big e-mail blitz and while not everyone responded with "yes", enough did to make it a good day in McIlvaine Land.
I would love to have a good manager or agent do this. Really. All this marketing crapola keeps me from doing what I love best: write. And wouldn't you know, in between all this madness, I came up with a script idea (thank you, John Fogarty) that I think has great possibilities, or as in speakese, "excellent franchise potential" and "cross multiple platforms."
In other words, make lots of moolah for me and my heirs. Now I just have to find the time, and energy, to write it.
RIP George Carlin
Friday, June 06, 2008
June Follies
I been really busy, folks. Did two interviews, writing, rewriting, reading scripts, querying, and all the other stuff that passes for life.
My interview with TJ Lynch is at www.pitchfest.com, look under Newsletters. Sometime next week my interview with Blake Snyder (Save the Cat) will be posted as well. Both super nice guys.
Other than that, still here, if anyone gives a shit.
Love sunflowers. Have done a lot of planting in my garden. No wonder my back hurts!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Unforgiveable
I don't often get on my political soapbox, but recent events have forced me to.
Let me be blunt: initially, I supported Hillary Clinton in her Presidential quest. However, in this long and bitter campaign, she lost my vote a long time ago. Now, after her remarks regarding RFK and his awful death, it only reinforces my decision.
I have tried, for the life of me, to understand why she would say such a thing. I just don't. And her "non-apology" is even worse.
Don't get me started on RFK. I loved him. I will never forget the day he died. My beloved grandmother was inconsolable. She loved RFK and the Kennedy family just as much as I did.
For Hillary to even think such a thing, that's bad enough.
But to say it.
I wish she would resign as my Senator and just quietly go away. I love the Big Dog, he was a great President, and while the thought of him being the First Man is delicious, this recent "gaffe" is too, too much.
My mother said it best: Hillary has dug her own grave. Now let her lie in it.
Monday, May 19, 2008
That Magic Moment
Mother's Day seems an eternity. Between writing, querying, life, kids, and all that other crap, I barely know which end is up.
And then it all comes into focus today. What I'm doing, or trying to do. And who I'm doing it for.
No, not the last super delegate telling me who's they're going to vote for.
I have a great phone conversation with a producer. I wasn't PJ the Mommy, I was PJ the writer of that great Showtime movie. We connected. And for twenty minutes I was firing on all cylinders, pitching, ducking and weaving, giving it my best shot, and them giving it right back to me in a positive way.
And the best part of it, the kids were home. All three of them, a rare treat, with boyfriends in tow, a rowdy group, and they started cooking diner. I come out of the office and they can tell by the way I'm dancing that it was a good phone gab. No, not just good, it was fantastic. And even if nothing comes of it, for that time, my time, it felt wonderful. It felt normal. It felt like this is what it's supposed to be.
Just me...PJ.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Mother's Day
I was talking with a friend and yes, the subject of kids came up. I have a very strong maternal instinct. I love my kids, I would die for my kids, I would take a bullet for them in a heartbeat. There is nothing I would not do for them. And I think they pretty well know it.
So yeah, I guess that makes me a Mother. And proud of it!
So yeah, I guess that makes me a Mother. And proud of it!
Monday, April 28, 2008
More Musings From The Front Lines
As I market my latest spec, it came to me that I'm not just shilling a script. In a very real sense, I'm shilling myself. My voice, my words, my tone, my dreams, my creativity, my imagination, my soul, me, me, me.
It's a hard thing to accept that people may just not be interested in...me, me, me.
So why do I put myself through this agony time and time again? Am I sadist? Lord knows, I've been shit canned to the curb so many times that you'd think by now I'd be gun shy.
But no, I'm pimping myself like a ho in the hood. This is the part I hate. I really do. I don't relish this at all. Yet I remain ever optimistic that my knight in shining armor will come galloping up (or maybe drive up in his shiny foreign car).
I can't imagine doing anything else. I can't imagine not doing this. So I guess I'm stuck like a rat in a maze.
Hope springs eternal. Like kittens, puppies and fools.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
More of The Man
How could you not love him? C'mon, I dare you! Look at that face, especially in the last photo. Those dancing eyes. Oh, what a tease! You know what he's thinking of. Hell, you know what I'm thinking of.
He makes me want to go on a two week bender...and I ain't talking about no lost weekend.
The Hills Have Eyes? Nah. Ted Levine has eyes. And balls. Cue piss and swagger music.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
CHERRY PICKING
Well, I've really gone off the deep end. Sweet lil ole me has written a very naughty sex comedy involving virgins, eggs, Poison Ivy and ugly chicks.
My kids read it and were simply agog. First, that I had written it. Second, that I had written it, their Mommy. Third, that I didn't pussy foot around and went for the jugular. You can't have a sex comedy without the sex or the comedy.
My hubby read the first five pages and ran screaming into the night.
But you know what? My kids loved it! This was no BS---Adrienne and Stephanie really loved it. They loved the virgins. They loved that the parents are as screwed up as the teens. And everyone loved "Cousin Toofy", who really should be called Cousin Goofy. As Stephanie put it, every time he popped up, she knew he was going to be an ass.
My kids are used to me and my scripts, but this threw them for a loop. Hey, Soccer Moms can be dirty!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Same Old Same Old
I'm at the point in my new relationship where I get that feeling in my stomach, the one where I feel kinda sick and unsure.
Am I doing the right thing? Am I on the right track? Yes, it felt good at the beginning.
It was passion, lust and obsession rolled into one package.
And then, in the morning, once I wake up and stare at myself in the mirror, hair tousled, bags under my eyes, worn, haggard...I can't help but wonder what I'm doing to myself in the name of love.
You know what I'm talking about...the part in a new script, the mid-point, where I wonder what the hell I'm doing.
Most of the time I push my doubts aside and shove ahead, acting on blind faith. Most of the time, it works. But sometimes...it doesn't.
You'd think after all this time, it would get easier.
It doesn't.
Am I doing the right thing? Am I on the right track? Yes, it felt good at the beginning.
It was passion, lust and obsession rolled into one package.
And then, in the morning, once I wake up and stare at myself in the mirror, hair tousled, bags under my eyes, worn, haggard...I can't help but wonder what I'm doing to myself in the name of love.
You know what I'm talking about...the part in a new script, the mid-point, where I wonder what the hell I'm doing.
Most of the time I push my doubts aside and shove ahead, acting on blind faith. Most of the time, it works. But sometimes...it doesn't.
You'd think after all this time, it would get easier.
It doesn't.
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