Monday, October 31, 2011

ESSAY - I Turned 30 Today

A very open and candid look at a day in my life. A writing exercise. If you know me, then you know I'm a pretty open and honest guy (take that as a warning). With that ...


I Turned 30 Today -  A Very Frank and Candid Discussion
Or
Sorry Mom. Maybe We Shouldn’t Email This One to Grandma?

Every morning as I first open my eyes to welcome in the light that shines mutely through my shaded window, I ask a simple question. It’s asked almost ritualistically. In a way that perhaps every thirty-year-old mostly single guy who still sleeps on the floor would ask it. Full of the knowledge that the answer to this question will greatly affect the rest of my day. It is not asked lightly. But nonetheless, it’s been asked for the past number of years, ever since I first got a laptop and wireless connection, then subsequently allotted myself a little personal morning time. Simply. News? Or porn?

If I were to have tracked the results to this question, over the past however many years it’s been, I would tell you that it seems pretty clear the indexes for porn have been steadily decreasing while the futures of news look more and more bright. I could even surmise that based on this deeply analytical analysis, perhaps this trend may be due to something as simple as a physiological change. In me. I am after all in my third decade, my thirtieth trip around the sun. But, while there may be some truth in there somewhere, I don’t think it’s the whole of the proverbial kielbasa.

With due homage given to Lester Burnham, I know the answer to that now timeless quandary will in all likelihood either be the highlight of my day or it will be the low point from which I must climb, but that will in turn give life a little well earned perspective.  

It seems as though reading about the realities of the world gives me a kernel of some semblance of superiority, as my own fortune inspired circumstances become far less dire and ill fated in their outlook. And perhaps that feeling of gratitude to something or someone larger than myself is more of a pleasure than I would find by awaking that which lies dormant below my sheets. I do not know the answer to this riddle. But it turns out today would continue this newly formed trend. And so my day would begin.

I thus reach over to grab my laptop, looking forward with gleeful anticipation to my immanent discovery of how the world had become just a little bit worse over night. My silver, apple-crested piece of technological genius rests just to the side of my bed, where I had tossed it after last night’s less time pressured quandary.

But as I lift my head from my pillow, a sudden and panicked realization strikes.  Someone has poured cement into my muscles. Heavy? Yes. And painful. Quite painful. I am now required to crack and loosen the blocks of solid gray matter sitting in the core of my limbs and back; that are now keeping my body from performing basic functions, like movement.

As I rub down the parts of my back I can reach, images from the weekend begin to form. Dancing. Lots of dancing. And head banging. And jumping. It was Halloween weekend, and I had danced.  Two nights I had danced. I felt a little sore yesterday, but this was a feeling of excruciating agony.

I also remember the pride. What now seems to be an all too arrogant pride. At thirty years of age I could still keep up with all those twenty-somethings, or so I thought. I could still cut it.  But today, it seemed, was the day I would pay the piper. Today I was to be thirty.

After reading through some articles on the annual “surprise” snow storm that knocked out much of the Northeastern United State’s core infrastructure, which thankfully for my ego apparently left them in a state of unadulterated barbarism, I grumble and shuffle my way into the bathroom. The smell of stale vomit hits quick. My roommates had people over last night. And it seemed to have been a rager. Lovely. I take a gulp of water and down the three pills with a grunty satisfaction, hanging my head only to be reminded that head banging requires a lot of quick neck movement.

So instead, I take to staring at myself in the mirror. What’s left of the tuft of hair that makes up my “bangs” is a wiry and wispy chaotic mess. Flashes and streaks of white skin shine readily through. And … What the hell is that!? My heart sinks. A white one. The first of what will undoubtedly prove to be many. I run a quick cost benefit analysis. Maybe it’s just blond? I’m not entirely sure I can afford to lose one at this point, regardless of its color.

In the end, I slowly reach up. Pinch it between my thumb and fore-finger. Give it a good yank. It’s gone. The magnitude of this moment is not lost on me. Even still, I begin the process of fine-tuning what’s left, so to cover up as much of the translucent white space as I can. Casually ignoring the hand mirror once used for the rear. Preferring to live in old person ignorance, and staving off the otherwise readily found depression.

I throw on some clothes. “Throw” meaning I delicately place clothes on my body so as not to upset the monster hiding now beneath my skin. And head out to the kitchen for breakfast. I’m not sure if it was biological or chemical. Maybe nuclear. But I hope the EPA brings their HAZMAT suits when they come to clean up. And I determine it would be best if I skipped breakfast, so to stay out of their way.

I turn from the kitchen and head for the front door. Apparently, Occupy Wall Street had begun to Occupy My Living Room. And … did they have sex on my couch? Really? I mean … I was young once. I know it’s not unheard of to hook up on a couch when others are sleeping all around you, even if you just met the girl (my apologies to Josh Johnson and his couch). But as you age, the fear of that happening to your couch becomes less and less. Or so I thought. Turns out “thirty” may still be somewhere in that window. Maybe they didn’t. Who does that anymore anyways? Old person ignorance.

The rest of the day would bring pictures from the weekend parties. And dances. Posted to the Facebook - fortunately, nothing too bad. Much to my relief. Although, in one I do have this weird neck skin thing going on. I quickly de-tag myself.

Someone has also posted the eulogy for Steve Jobs - a truly inspired genius. After a quick click, it’s given a thoughtful read.

I don’t remember crying at my Grandmother’s funeral and I know I didn’t cry at my Grandfather’s, both of whom I was close with. Sad sure. I would miss them both greatly. And I’m sure I’ll cry at my parent’s funerals. But this eulogy opened the floodgates.

I don’t consider myself a crier, so it struck me as weird. Maybe part of it was still left over from the morning realization that I was truly mortal, as was so encapsulated by that bit of early hair picking.

But this man had lived a full and happy life. He had an incredible family. And still found time to build one of the most groundbreaking businesses, perhaps, in the history of the world. What his sister wrote is exactly what you hope someone will say about you at your own funeral. And I knew - I wasn’t even close to that kind of achievement. Everything in my life actually seemed to be going in the opposite direction of that goal.

He was also portrayed as human. In everything he did. “Steve didn’t die. He achieved death.”  I’m not sure what that means, but it certainly seems like something to shoot for. Mostly though, realization strikes that if I am Steve Jobs, I have now officially pissed away over half of my own life.

And it is with that, that the theory of my morning news read begins to run in reverse - the perspective now working against me. Thoughts and ideas roll in, set on hyper-speed. Everything I’ve been ignoring, keeping sequestered in the depths of my subconscious attacks with force, is out for vengeance.

I’m going to law school. Why am I going to law school? Because when I was living in L.A. trying to be an actor I was watching the “West Wing” and I realized every character was a lawyer. And I wanted to do work in politics. Answer? Law school.

I had similar feelings about “Star Trek” growing up. I wanted to go to Starfleet Academy because I wanted to work on a starship. I was 12.  A little old to be living under that kind of delusion, sure. I know that.

Nonetheless, the same logic had been applied at age 27 with regard to this rather major life decision. At least law school was real, but still. Bad idea. Not Steve Jobs. So clearly I don’t belong in law school. I hate law school. Why am I still here? Because I have nothing else to do. Horrible answer. Not Steve Jobs.

As the cataclysm of events inspired by a Saturday watching the “West Wing” begin to fly through my brain; as I think back on the avalanche of crap that had risen directly out of this atrociously reasoned decision - from a horrifyingly failed engagement to packing on over thirty pounds of extra blubber, it slowly dawns on me what must be done.

There is really only one answer to the trauma that has become my life. It is the answer that had been applied over the past year, ever since the previously mentioned failures of mine occurred. And what’s more, it had worked - especially in regard to that thirty pounds. Namely: Sweat it out.

Not ‘sweat it out’ as in ‘wait it out,’ but sweat it out as in, literally, sweat it out. For some it’s ‘grunt it out,’ but the same rules apply. It’s what you do when you can’t do anything else. When everything else in your sphere of influence is so far outside of your control that you need something, anything, to grab onto and shake; to cling to with desperate depravity.

To say to the world, but mostly just yourself, “I can do this. I can kick my own ass and feel great about it. So whatever you bring on, life, is nothing to me.” I pack up my things and head for the gym.

The gym. Where the formalities of reality cease to exist and where we all become misogynistic cretins. If you’re unfamiliar with the dichotomy and sociological realities of this paradoxical universe, then may I suggest a cultural field trip to your own local meat outlet.

Today I went to this land of social oddities on a mission.

The white hair this morning? Sweat it out. The full-blown recession, soon to be depression, happening on top of my head? Sweat it out. The lingering pain still in my back from this weekend’s activities? Sweat it out.  The weird neck skin thing in that facebook photo? Sweat it out.

The girl in front of me on the stair-master, whose spandex shorts are two sizes too small and who seems to think that by sticking her butt way out, this will somehow increase the effectiveness of what she’s doing. I’ve never stair mastered, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how it’s done. Besides, you don’t need to spotlight it, we all know it’s there. And who doesn’t realize that only wearing a sports bra is probably against whatever the dress code should be? Does your mom know that’s how you’re dressing? I mean, how old are you anyway? … Realization that I first went to criticizing an otherwise attractive girl for wearing too little clothing, before appreciating it all for what she is - youthful beauty? Sweat it out.

After I’m done, the machine I’ve been using looks like someone hit it with a fire hose. My shirt shows little difference in its own state.  The pain in my back is ringing now. Which means I need to hit the weights, because all that's left for me to do is prove to myself I still can. Sweat it out.

After more reps than I should have realistically attempted in my ancient state of being, I hit the sweat lodge. And I sit. And I think. But mostly, I continue to sweat it out. Sweat it all out. What more can I do at this point?

Thirty. There’s no one you can talk to about it. To any teenager with any sense of typical perspective, you’re “old.” Great. Thanks. Twenty-somethings are too busy not being thirty, too busy getting in the last of the parties, too busy living the last of their youth to care what it will mean to actually be thirty. Anyone over forty laughs and tells you to just wait. Wait? Yes. That’s what I need to do more of. Thank you.

And all the other thirty year olds are too busy being thirty - getting married, having kids, raising kids, going to work - creating a life that will lead to the core of their own eulogy. Too busy to take the time and talk about what it means to be “thirty.” That type of thing is simply too esoteric for the pragmatic generational decade we are now members of. 

You go through some changes at thirty. It’s like adolescence in a way. Except those were good changes. I liked those changes. I went from a squeaky tenor to a rich baritone. My left hand and I became much closer. I became a little more awkward in appearance then too, but manhood was right around the corner. I wasn’t sure what exactly that meant at the time. But I knew it was going to be awesome!

Turns out awesome is applying old person ignorance to not being Steve Jobs because, in the end, all you can do is sweat it out. And then, after enough time has passed, you have your eulogy. So. I guess. Do what you can to make it a good one.

Yep. I turned thirty today.      

Saturday, October 29, 2011

ARTICLE - Ain't So 'Grimm' in Portland, NBC


Portland, OR is my current home town. The feverish excitement the local film and television buffs have been exuding over having a third major television production shooting locally, namely NBC's newest offering Grimm, has been quite joyous in its fervor; (Portland is also home to the irreverent comedy Portlandia and TNT's crime drama Leverage). Grimm is the biggest fare yet, as it is a network show with all the customary high cost infrastructure a studio and network bring to their productions. And Portland could not be more excited.

What is perhaps even more exciting than that, is the size of the audience the premiere drew on Friday night. A Friday night that saw a Game 7 of the World Series being aired opposite. For those that know what this means, it had a 2.1/6 rating. Most would have been shocked if it hit 1.9./5 2.1?! Great news for NBC and great news for Portland, OR.

Nellie Andreeva of Deadline.com perhaps put it best:

It was by far the highest-rated NBC drama premiere this season and the highest-rated Friday non-sports telecast on any network since Dec. 31, 2010 (ABC’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve). For NBC, it was the highest 18-49 rating in the Friday 9 PM slot in almost 2 years. And Grimm accomplished that with no help from its lead-in, the final season premiere of Chuck, which managed only a 1.0/3 in 18-49 and 3.4 million viewers, a series low.

How sweet it is. How sweet exactly for us television and film lovers who want to find work in the industry and would love to do so locally (i.e. me)? As a good friend of mine, one of the bigwig local production heads here in Portland put it; these things are like snowballs. The more you can get local talent experience, the more of a base you can sell to other productions looking for a home. The more other productions come and rave about their experience, the more other producers and execs will hear about it and come to the area because of what they've been hearing. These things build on each other. Portland is poised right on the verge of becoming the next Vancouver, Canada. If our legislature continues its dedication to drawing productions in with tax incentives and if they increase the base of those as an obvious way to infuse, literally millions of dollars, into the local economy then the future for Oregon's film and television production looks not very Grimm at all, but very very bright!

Go Portland!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

ARTICLE - NBC Goes For the Creative Homerun!



RESPONSE TO: "REMEMBER 'FRIENDS,' CONTENT IS KING - A post on how I felt NBC should be focused on more unique content.

It turns out they are. Just not necessarily in the comedy realm. Well some in comedy, but not with that atrocious buy of the untitled Savage/Roach comedy. 

New entertainment chairman at NBC, Bob Greenblatt, has bought more original material in his first year of tenure, than perhaps any other year in NBC's history. It turns out, NBC will be throwing a lot of spaghetti at the wall as they begin to order and develop pilots and series. And a lot of it sounds very original. See "Wrestling Drama" from Jerry Bruckheimer. 

This is GREAT NEWS for creatives!!!

While I stand behind my belief that the Savage/Roach comedy is doomed to failure, and Gaffigan's may or may not be based on his ability to draw an audience from his fans, I think NBC has taken an excellent tact to get themselves back to the front of the line. Buy original, even if expensive, content that can draw an audience looking for UNIQUE!!!

They may have missed out on the Kauffman buys, but it sounds like they are committed to other fascinating ideas. I applaud you NBC! Keep up the good work and I for one, look forward to seeing what makes it air next season!

ARTICLE - Remember 'Friends,' Content is King



Recently I began to rediscover what is likely the best 3-camera (more commonly know as "situation" comedy or "sit-com") television program ever. Friends. The premise was brilliantly simple. 6 friends living in New York. It was Universal. We all knew people like the characters, and we could all be identified as one or a combination of them. It was extremely well written. Its universality still holds up against a decade of time. And it was also, in fairness, extremely well acted. The best episodes are easily those with as little fanfare as possible, where it's just the six friends in Monica's apartment. Like a great piece of comedic theater.

I could easily make the argument that Friends  killed the 3-camera sitcom because it was just so dang good. See Modern Family's, Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm's and the format for 'just about every comedy on television now''s single camera format and their corresponding popularity and the ratings for what three camera comedies are now airing. (How I met Your Mother being, admittedly, the shining star to date with 2 1/2 Men quickly deflating as the novelty of Ashton Kutcher wears off).

But none of them are Friends. That piece of genius was the brain child of Co-Creater Marta Kauffman. And it wasn't so long ago that between Friends and Seinfeld, NBC was the king of Thursday and the king of the ratings race among networks. It was a good time to be an NBC executive, I'm sure. But .. things have changed. NBC is now consistently among the bottom of ratings in overall, the key 18-25 demo and the adult 25-59 demo.

So, I must admit, I was slightly taken aback when it was announced today that Marta Kauffman just landed a huge deal over at NBC rival ABC.  Selling two premises for new shows: A kitchen musical, appropriately titled The Kitchen Musical and The Red Band Society based on young hospital patients. I'm not surprised she sold them, but that she sold them to ABC (in what sounds like a very lucrative deal for her btw). Because it was also announced today that NBC bought an untitled comedy from Andrea Savage (who?) and Jay Roach (of Meet the Parents) which is described as:

The untitled comedy centers on a woman who prides herself on her humor and edge and refuses to become typical after becoming a parent for the first time.


In other words, very similar to a million other comedies that have been tried and have failed a dozen times over. See every comedy bought this last season, or any other season, that was created by a female.

So ABC paid handsomely for what seems to be very "unique" content that you will not be able to find anywhere else, from a former NBC creative that gave NBC one of the biggest shows of all time, on the same day NBC bought a run of the mill comedy from Savage/Roach.

MY PREDICTION: One of the two shows by Kauffman becomes a hit. Possibly both. Savage/Roach's comedy might be ordered past the pilot if they can get a good writing team together, but the lack of originality in the premise keeps audiences away and it doesn't make it past the first season. If it even gets picked up for series.

Oh NBC. You were once must watch TV. What happened?  

UPDATE (3:00 pm): NBC buys Jim Gaffigan (who I love) "Family Comedy." 


Gaffigan will write and star in the project based on his life as a lazy man, married to a strong woman, raising 4 children in a 2 bedroom apartment in New York City.


Hm. ... That sounds REALLY unique doesn't it? (note my tone of sarcasm). NBC's one hope here is Gaffigan has enough of a fan base to pull in an audience. And he does have some stalwart fans, I'll give him that. But so did Hank Azaria, and that couldn't save a much more interesting and unique show about agents - Free Agents. *wah wah.* 

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

ARTICLE - Netflix. WTF Are You Guys Doing?!?!



As I am writing this, it's approximately 9:30 am on America's west coast, 12:30 pm on America's east coast and 1:30 am in Tokyo, Japan ... and the Netflix stock price has fallen $41.35 to $77.53, which is the price it was at in early 2010. That is a one day loss of 35%. 35%!!! Are you kidding me?! But you want to know what's even scarier - Netflix stock has fallen 72% over the course of the past three months.

Holy Crap!!!

Some of that has to do with some inside baseball, analysts of all stripes downgraded their projections for Netflix futures rather severely today. But, let's be honest, these guys didn't just downgrade their projections for the hell of it. The company lost 800,000 subscribers in the third quarter, that's over 250,000 more than they projected. But, what does seem to be counterintuitive, and worth noting, is the company has made about 1.8x as much as they did the previous year at this time, while revenue has increased 49%. But, honestly, analysts see the writing on the wall. These short term gains are nice, but long term. Netflix business model is deemed "DOA."

So what is Netflix doing to stem the tide?  Apart from tearing itself apart with now infamous price increases and announcements of company splits (DVD and Streaming Services) that are only then retracted days later - namely the ill fated, poorly named, poorly conceived and shockingly ill advised Qwikster announcement.

Well it's going international of course.  HA!  Please. Sorry guys, the DVD market isn't all that different in Europe and Asia and competition has already established their ground.

MY TAKE: Here's the long and the short of it.

Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, is no fool. He's not a blubbering idiot, as the media has been so quick to deem him. Reed Hastings knows he's on a sinking ship. He actually knew it before the rest of us. And hence the attempts to save it.

He has tried price increases (which have as of now seemed to increase revenue at the expense of customer base). Why the increases in subscription prices? Some of which were unheard of 60% increases? Because they worked. See increases in earnings and revenue as discussed above.

But. The costs for content are also rising, and will rise sharply in the near future, as more of the content providers (studios, networks and other similar distribution companies) want a bigger chunk of what was a very profitable pie. The executives at these companies feel, and not necessarily unfairly so, that Netflix was built on their backs as they provided content via licensing agreements that were very lopsided because no one knew if Netflix was going to work when they were negotiated. And many of those licensing agreements are up for renewal and renegotiation. Starz, for example, a content provider for much of the "oscar caliber" films on the streaming service is already planning to be dumped by Netflix because of an inability to agree on price structures.

Starz content, btw, is most of what I watch when I stream a film off of Netflix. They may be adding another name to the list of 800,000.

So Reed Hastings knew he had to act. And he did something rather novel and creative. And he did what you want your CEO to do in these situations, he took an informed gamble. He decided splitting the company into two distinct services, streaming and DVD, would be the best way to save the Netflix brand. Then they could sell off one of the services and focus on the other. Some have speculated it was going to be the streaming to Amazon, others speculated DVD because it is no longer a viable business model. Now it's neither becuase of the massive backlash that ensued. Hastings gambled. And he lost. It happens.

Oh wait? What was that? DVD is dead? Yeah. You read that correctly. DVD is no longer a viable business model. Not DVD by mail. DVD. In fact, Reed Hastings himself has said "DVD will one day soon be like AOL dial up."

Streaming is the future. And Blu Ray is the now (and for Netflix to completely reinvest itself in Blu-Ray would be a gargantuan undertaking at this point. Almost too much. But it may be what they have to do in the end). But for a business that has created an empire around what is very soon going to be an outdated and outmoded technology, the future does look grim.

And the captain has tried every maneuver in his arsenal to avoid that iceberg, right ahead. But when the seagulls fly away and leave you all alone in the open sea, much like a 70% drop in your stock price, you know the end is nye. Time to man the life boats.

UPDATE (11:15 am): CNBC Video on Netflix, its competition and its future. They think people will come back eventually. I still have my doubts (pay special attention to Amazon's new streaming service and how it will impact Netflix's market share).

Monday, October 24, 2011

SCREENWRITING UPDATE: New Manager Request for "Mrs. Smith"

So a fifth manager contacted me today (as in ten minutes ago) to request "Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington."

I think this much is clear so far - it's a good idea for a screenplay. The execution may be absolute rubbish, but the foundation at least seems to be there. Else, no one would be interested in reading it, right? Right. So all that is promising I guess, and certainly gives me hope that I am on the right track.

In other writing news, I met with the professor who is my advisor on my thesis paper for law school. It was not the most enjoyable of experiences. And what we discussed will be keeping me busy for the next week and probably through the Hallowed Ween holiday, just so I can finish the "first" draft and still have time to get notes and do a second draft by mid-December ... oy!

But this news does make up for that a bit.  Yay for balance in the universe!!!

Brooke Ehrlich Management (BEAM)

Thursday, October 20, 2011

REVIEW - The Ides of March



SYNOPSIS: George Clooney is running for the nomination to be the Democratic candidate for President. And it all comes down to Ohio. ... Or South Carolina. Depending on who the Governor of South Carolina picks to support and throw his delegates behind. But if George Clooney wins Ohio, then it won't really matter. Confused yet? Don't be. It's not as complicated as it sounds. And it gets better. Really. I Promise.

Ryan Gosling works for George Clooney. Well actually Ryan Gosling works for Phillip Seymour Hoffman who is running George Clooney's campaign. Ryan Gosling is the media man. And he's good with the media. Real good. Super good. So good in fact, that he gets a call from the other guy's Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti. Paul Giamatti wants Ryan Gosling to meet him at a bar to "talk." Ryan Gosling knows he shouldn't. But he does. Or else ... no movie.

Ryan Gosling is offered a job on the other campaign. Paul Giamatti tells Ryan Gosling they have South Carolina sewn up because they are giving the Governor of South Carolina Secretary of State. And the polls show a big enough lead that they should take Ohio easily. So Ryan Gosling is thus on the losing team. Ryan Gosling balks and walks away. Straight to Phillip Seymour Hoffman, to tell him about the offer. Well that's actually not true ... Cause see. There's this girl. A really really pretty girl. Evan Rachel Wood. And she's an intern for George Clooney. And Ryan Gosling likes her. So they go out and ... yeah. They hook up. 

Well when Ryan Gosling does end up telling Phillip Seymour Hoffman about the meeting with Paul Giamatti, Phillip Seymour Hoffman flips the f out. And the next night Ryan Gosling spends with Evan Rachel Wood, she gets a phone call in the middle of the night from ... George Clooney. Oh how that plot loves to thicken.

Long story short, (that means spoilers ahead) Evan Rachel Wood is pregnant with George Clooney's baby. She gets an abortion and commits suicide. Phillip Seymour Hoffman outs Ryan Gosling and his meeting with Paul Giamatti to Marisa Tomei, a reporter for the New York Times and then fires Ryan Gosling. Ryan Gosling finds Evan Rachel Wood's cell phone, and goes to Paul Giamatti to take the job offer. But Paul Giamatti, as it turns out, set Ryan Gosling up because he knew he would tell Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti knew Phillip Seymour Hoffman would flip out. Ryan Gosling then goes to confront George Clooney in the kitchen of a bar with the cell phone and the existence of a letter that doesn't really exist forcing George Clooney to call his bluff (best moment in the movie), and subsequently has Phillip Seymour Hoffman fired. Then Ryan Gosling gets hired as the new top gun on the campaign, and he promises the governor of South Carolina he'll be the VP on the ticket and George Clooney gets the nomination.

REVIEW: Ides of March was a very decent movie. It wan't as fun as Primary Colors. It wasn't as epic as All the President's Men. It wasn't as well written as American President. It wasn't as well acted as ... well actually. It was incredibly well acted. And that is why I'd recommend it. As an OK film, with some very, very fine acting.

I am by no means a Ryan Gosling nut. But I thought he held his own against two of the greatest actors of this generation - Paul Giamatti and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Gosling brought wit, charm and an ease that made his character's arc from naive-passionate campaigner to cut-throat-political-operative very enjoyable indeed.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman had his usual moments of sheer brilliance. The scene where he confronts Ryan Gosling with the fact that it was him who outed Gosling to the New York Times was especially good.

And Paul Giamatti nailed the slime-ball-political-aid. Towards the beginning, there's this moment where Paul Giamatti is pouring himself some coffee. Just pouring some coffe. But he's an ass. You know he's an ass. Right then. Paul Giamatti and Phillip Seymour Hoffman just understand how to subtly communicate what needs to be communicated in the moment. Brilliance. 

And George was .. George. Fine. He did what he needed to do. He's like the third baseman that you know you can stick into your line up and he'll probably hit some balls, maybe score some runs. But he'll never really be that incredible talent he has had the opportunity to be. 

The writing, to be honest, was the most disappointing aspect. Beau Willimon wrote a play of the same name and is credited as one of the screenwriters here. You can just tell it was his first foray into film. Everything was very pedestrian. The dialogue, as you would expect, was amazing. The subtext was sublime. But the storyline, plot and the character arcs all fell kind of flat. They didn't die on the vine. But they were a little stale. There was a, sort of, predictability to it all. 

OVERALL: I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10. Go for the performances. But don't expect the next great piece of political filmmaking. 

ARTICLE - When in Rome (or Hollywood) ... Read the Fine Print

Rome, Sweet, Rome. Coming to a theater near you (maybe) in like 2013. And sure, the main thrust of the film will focus on US Marines traveling back in time to Rome, where they will battle it out Gladiator style. And sure, that may sound like a truly Hollywood tale. But there's a story behind the story that many may never know. To borrow a phrase - The Real Hollywood Story.

To sum: It's the truly inspirational tale of a young writer, James Irwin, creating a very marketable and interesting story, putting it out into the world via posts on Reddit.com as a series of short stories, and then having those stories found and subsequently bought by Warner Bros. A dream of any writer. The Hollywood dream come true.

But wait. There's more. It's Hollywood, not ultimate-dream-come-true-fantasy-land. I mean, have you been? Lots of ins, lots of outs. (Yes. I stole that. Oh sweet irony.)

Recently it has been discovered that Warner Bros. may not have bought the exclusive rights to Rome, Sweet, Rome because Mr. Irwin may not have held the exclusive rights. And why is that? The fine print of course. It turns out in the terms and agreements for posting on Reddit, is this little clause:

 "you agree that by posting messages, uploading files, inputting data, or engaging in any other form of communication with or through the Website, you grant us a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, enhance, transmit, distribute, publicly perform, display, or sublicense any such communication in any medium (now in existence or hereinafter developed) and for any purpose, including commercial purposes, and to authorize others to do so."


I really hope you just skimmed that. Lots of good legalize there. But it's pretty all-encompassing. So now the real fear is that if Reddit so chose, they could sell the rights to the story based on Mr. Irwins posts to Fox or Paramount. If they do or not remains to be seen, but there is little doubt at this point that Mr. Irwin granted Reddit a license. Of course, the penultimate consequences will be for the lawyers to really decide in closed door negotitiations. If it even comes to that. Time will tell, and won't it be interesting to see what it says (that's mine. but you can steal it).


But like every good Hollywood story, there's a lesson here. Understand what you're getting into. Terms and Agreements do mean something. Someone owns the websites we post on. Twitter just recently instituted a similar clause in its terms and agreements provisions. Mr. Irwin should be fine in the end. But the lawyers on all sides are rumbling. And when lawyers rumble ... well. That Hollywood dream can tumble. And fast. 

Monday, October 17, 2011

ARTICLE - Why Are Zombies Better Than Stewardesses?

An interesting thing happened last night in the television world. In fact, a record was set. "The Walking Dead" set a new record for cable viewers in the key 18-25 demographic. It knocked out much of the more accessible network competition, but most interestingly, OBLITERATED ABC's "Pan Am." You can read more about the ratings race here.

What does this all mean? Here's my take:

Audiences are finally becoming slightly tired of retread and recycled ideas. Pan Am, is essentially, "Mad Men" in a plane. But Pan Am's high flying cocktail has also been severely watered down to make it more palatable for the wider ranging and more protected network audience. Making it, frankly, less appealing to a very loyal Mad Men audience.

A Mad Men audience, by the way, that had to live through some very harrowing moments this summer while AMC found its sea legs as the new power house of interesting, unique and extremely popular content. Its negotiations with Showrunners and Creators of their new shows (AMC's hit line up includes: "Breaking Bad," "Mad Men" and "The Walking Dead") were not model. All of its hits are coming back, but not without some bad press first and, even in one case, some lost talent in the form of a showrunner. The Walking Dead's success despite this bad press, the seeming lack of network support for the creatives and fairly major budget cuts is a good sign for the rest of AMC's line up. But the networks should have been shaking in their booties as they watched the zombies march.

Well, maybe not shaking but they hopefully took notice. Studios and Networks like sure bets. Shows and movies are expensive when done on the scale they do it on. They want to know the ground they're treading is one that will lead to profit. But here's the thing. "Pan Am" is not a horrible show. It's actually kind of ... good. But audiences last night said, 'we would rather watch this completely unique thing that we cannot watch anywhere else. That is unlike anything playing anywhere else. That is well crafted and well conceived. Something fresh.'

Keep an eye on the numbers. If audiences continue to trend towards "unique," then this could be a real rude wake up call for the most recent calculus of "profit driven creative content via the sequel/retread" that has dominated Hollywood for the past ten-fifteen years.

Creatives rejoice and long live the zombies!

UPDATE (10/25/11 11:30 am): AMC announces it will renew "The Walking Dead" for third season and international audiences break pay-tv records as they flock to the zombies.

My First "Movie Nerd" Post. What's Happening?

So with the recent happenings in my life, I thought I'd start this little blog to better keep track of it all. In case you haven't heard .. here's what's going on.

Over this past summer I wrote my fifth screenplay, "Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington." It is a psychological thriller, (think Hitchcock's the "The Birds" or "North by Northwest." Or more modernly, M. Knight's "Sixth Sense.") all essentially set in the United States Senate.

Logline: What if a high ranking government official was a terrorist and blew up a plane with a United States Senator on board? What if that senator was your husband, and you were just appointed to take his seat?

As a result of my finishing as a finalist in the PAGE Awards with another screenplay "Cherokee Ridge" (a western) and my joining the PAGE's emeetings program, plus with "Mrs. Smith" being added to this year's NYU screenplay bank - I have had a request for "Mrs. Smith" to be sent for review from four management agencies and a production co.

So that is exciting right? Well. We'll see. I've listed who the screenplay has gone out to so far. And what the responses have been as of the date of this writing. Keep an eye on the blog as I continue to hear more.

Anarchy Management

Eyes On the Road Managment

Energy Management

Safran Co. (Production Co.)

Manus Entertainment
Special Note: Requested to read "Cherokee Ridge"