Posted by BulletProofPoet on Sep 5, 2009 in
Dan Geruss: Investigative Journalist I was asked about our friend Mr. Geruss and if we would hear from him again soon. The truth is that I received a letter from him before his departure to the Island then a disturbing email a few days later. I wasn’t sure whether or not to publish it until I knew my friend was okay. I’ll go ahead and publish them over the next few days. I’ve been waiting to hear from the Italian government but they have refused to return my letters and calls.
Posted by BulletProofPoet on Aug 6, 2009 in
Tips & Advice Most often the key to attracting a good agent is having several solid scripts already under your belt and have previously been produced or optioned. But what if you don’t fit into either of these categories? There are at least 5 avenues you can pursue to sell your screenplay and get your name out there and your reputation off to a good start.
Below are give groups you can approach without an agent:
- Writers Guild-signatory producers
- Independent producers (Indies)
- Actors and directors
- Network television producers
- Cable, independent television, regional markets and the new technologies available
Posted by BulletProofPoet on Jul 18, 2009 in
Books DOMINANT FOR OVER 100 MILLION YEARS: Planet Earth, reduced by global warming to an apocalyptic wilderness, finds its inhabitants decimated by a reawakened Mesozoic plague. Then, rising from millions of years of hibernation, a breed of reasoning dinosaurs, Troodons, enter what is left of a world devastated by the human species and plague. Foretelling the return of creatures “wise and wonderful,” Longeyes, a seer of the Salish tribe, handpicks a small band of humans to greet the Troodons. Max, a paleontologist long-ridiculed by colleagues for his theory that dinosaurs achieved sentience during their 100-million-plus-year reign, is central to Longeyes’ spiritual quest.
On a collision course with Longeyes is a titanium magnate whose billions have flowed from building domed cities for the wealthy in the American wasteland. Applying his “whatever works” approach and enormous wealth, Gregor sets out to exploit the Troodon visitors and kill anyone who stands in his way. Guy, Gregor’s illegitimate son, a former ecoterrorist. is being pursued by the federal police. Guy renounces his mission of destroying the domed bastions of the privileged in exchange for a more constructive goal: building a community in the midst of his father’s empire in the pollution-free northwest U.S..
Conflict among five equally passionate groups, with species survival as the prize, forces a clash that will determine the fate of Earth’s first masters and the remnants of the human race.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
James Stambaugh has written plays for children, a number of screen plays, and has published poetry. Currently he is working on an illustrated book of original verse. A Coloradan, he is an avid film buff.
Amelia Walsh is a therapist living in Colorado who specializes in neuropsychological assessment and the rehabilitation of victims of abuse and emotional trauma. She has a B.A. in English and a Masters in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University.
Posted by BulletProofPoet on Jul 10, 2009 in
Industry News Not to be confused with the 3-part horror by the same name, this is a documentary by Peter Hanson and Paul Robert Herman featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest names in screenwriting, including Shane Black, John Carpenter, Frank Darabont, William Goldman, Paul Schrader, and dozens of others.
It paints the very real picture of life as a screenwriter. From success to failure, to being shit on to useful tips for aspiring writers.
With quips such as, “Your job (as a screenwriter) is to get punched in the face” and screenwriters are “Egomaniacs with low self-esteem” you start to get the idea that the job of a screenwriter, despite the images we might conjure up, is not as glamorous as one might think.
In addition to the documentary, a companion book will also be available for purchase. Check them out below.
Tales From The Script Trailer
Pre-Order the Book
Posted by BulletProofPoet on Jul 1, 2009 in
Creative Writing This was inspired by a writer I met on a writers message board. I thought it would be interesting to see what process others follow.
While I don’t sit with a printed list of steps to perform when writing, I find that my process typically takes this form:
1: Theme / Thesis Statement (The “Big Idea”)
2: Synopsis
3: Character Bios
4: Setting
5: Outline
6: Treatment
7: First Draft, Second Etc.
8: Finished Script/Novel
9: Title
10: Log Line (If I’m showing the work)
Posted by BulletProofPoet on Jun 30, 2009 in
The Rankled Poet This week’s rant is on Leni Riefenstahl. Next week will most likely be on a movie. Without further delay:
____________________________________________________________________________
As much as I admire Leni Riefenstahl’s talent as an actor and director, there is no question that she’s guilty of being a Nazi sympathizer. There are mounds of evidence to support that, including she herself!
For example, how do we explain the film clips of Riefenstahl dining with Goebbels, Himmler, and other men of the SS branches? Do you mean to tell me that she dined with these Socialist officials and had NO IDEA what they stood for? What they were doing? That she was completely naive and ignorant to the facts? And she may have claimed she never ate at Goebbels’s home, but that’s a lie. Goebbels even states this was so in his diaries. And she was on friendly terms with Hitler all through his rise and time in power, meeting with him numerous times, even as late as 1944.
And I think it’s interesting that although she left the front line in as a war correspondent supposedly over the repulsion of the Wehrmacht brutalities, that just the following year, she sent a telegram to Hitler congratulating him on overtaking France. She said: “Everyone thought the war was over, and in that spirit I sent the cable to Hitler.” Apparently she was able to accept and live with the brutalities Hitler’s regime exacted on others after all.
She even used concentration camp inmates in her films that were later sent to their deaths. And she KNEW about this. She, of course, would deny this, but later when on trial she changed her tune on that little lie, and vowed never to repeat it.
She was a self-involved opportunist who knew full well that her films were propaganda. She failed to speak out, when others DID speak out.
When facts about the era and her role in it are brought out, she would go on the defensive. She’s even had outbursts where she would grab and physically shake the person interviewing her when facts were brought out that painted her in a negative light.
Are we to believe that “Triumph of the Will” and “Olympia” was inspired solely by her desire to be “artistic”? Wrong! How many do we suppose were inspired to join the Nazi cause after that greatest of film propaganda (Triumph) the world has ever known was released? I’m afraid to guess. And Olympia? Despite the naysayers, this was financed by Goebbels’s propaganda ministry.
Riefenstahl knew full well what she was doing and what she was promoting. But she “sold her soul to the Devil” as it were, by turning a blind eye to what the Nazi’s represented, so as to improve on her so-so movie career. She was only doing so-so before Hitler gave her her “break.” She saw an opportunity and took it.
The short of it is, Riefenstahl was, without question, a Nazi sympathizer.
Posted by BulletProofPoet on Jun 29, 2009 in
Random Thoughts Stephen King’s definition for talent in writing: “If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn’t bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.”
Posted by BulletProofPoet on Jun 28, 2009 in
Dan Geruss: Investigative Journalist Dear friends:
The past year has been most wonderful, but alas, I must leave you once more. This forthcoming journey into the unknown comes with not just fears alone, but hopeful prospects as well.
This calling takes me to Poveglia Island near Venice, Italy, which has not been explored since 1922. Legend has it that this mystical place is haunted by the ghost of a doctor who had been tossed from the top of what is known as Bell’s Tower.
By special permission from the Italian government I will be the first person to step foot on this enchanted land in 87 years. The 1922 expedition met with disaster when two of the 12 explorers died from an illness described as being much like the Black Plague, while the others disappeared in the murky waters just off shore when their vessel capsized for unexplained reasons.
As always, my purpose is to shed light on this mythical legend of ghosts and ghouls and prove that past, tragic happenings were a matter of mere bad luck and misfortune.
In all my years as an investigative journalist, I must say, this has me most excited. More so than my investigation of Charleville Forest Castle four and a half years ago.
I will keep a journal to note my experiences and observations, and will later formulate these into my next article.
See you in six weeks my friends.
Dan Geruss
Posted by BulletProofPoet on Jun 25, 2009 in
Creative Writing In this third and final post in the We’re Not Borg series, I have included the opening scenes of a romantic comedy I am working on. Bear in mind this is a first, rough draft. The idea is to note how many emotions are evoked and what techniques are employed to do so.
Among the emotions to look for are anger, desperation, frustration, remorse and fear. Yes, all within what will only amount to approximately four minutes of film.
Please read the linked example below then return when done. I’ll apologize ahead of time for the formatting. Somewhere between converting from Final Draft, to PDF, to RTF to HTML the formatting got dorked up. The piece doesn’t have a name yet so we’ll just call it “My Ball”.
Read the Script Snippet Example Here
Alrighty, welcome back! So, did you spot the several ways the audience will be caught up in the emotions?
1) We’re either hating Samantha because she’s being a spoiled, snobby brat and we remember being picked on like that ourselves, or, we were laughing our ass off because we WERE Samatha when we were younger and remember how much fun that was.
2) We no doubt empathized with Frankie. Felt his desperation, his anger and his sadness.
3) Frankie’s fear leaped from the written page straight to our hearts. Our hearts were pounding as Frankie lay there on the cot, afraid he would die. And the mothers out there were stricken with the emotions a mother feels when a child is hurt.
4) Perhaps a tear broke loose when we saw how terrible Samantha felt. How she was filled with remorse for what she had done.
5) The basic human desire for, or need for, atonement was present also. Nothing Samantha could have done would have undone what had happened. But in an attempt at atonement she first offers Frankie his ball back, then offers to keep it for him until he returns.
Then there is the context of the scenes in their entirety. We go from light-hearted picking, to the whole range of emotions including anger, fear, sadness, desperation, remorse then we follow this up by promptly telling the audience that the first scene would not be the overall tone of the movie.
The bar scene accomplishes a few things. One, it let’s the viewer off. Lightens it up. It says that this movie will ultimately be about a man and his quest to find love and companionship. The concluding scene and Frank’s words, “And it hasn’t gotten any better since” now sets the tone for what will obviously be a romantic comedy.
These opening scenes also demonstrate “foreshadowing”. Once I have finished the script I will demonstrate this technique as well.
So there we have it. Emotion. With it you can take the viewer anywhere you want. Take them to the clouds and allow them to freefall back to earth. You can have them laughing in one scene and crying in the next. Try it!
Posted by BulletProofPoet on Jun 25, 2009 in
Industry News Carpenter, Darabont, Shrader and more talk shop in TALES FROM THE SCRIPT trailer.
Tales From The Script