The Movie Nerd

ARTICLE: What Can You Tell From a Trailer?

2012-01-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

Smash Hit? I think YES! Let's Find Out ...

"Smash" is coming to NBC. As noted in previous posts, NBC has been struggling to find an audience. At least one that doesn't tune in for reality weight loss shows. So this last season, as noted in other previous posts, NBC went out and bought a lot of ... well, Pilots. Also known as "ideas for shows." One of these was Smash. It will air Monday after the Superbowl.

What I'd like to do is run a bit of an experiment. Will Smash be a smash? Will it give NBC some much needed momentum going into the new year and eventually sweeps? I know I know, this is a movie blog site and we've already talked a lot about TV already. Screw it. It's my site I can do what I want.

Here's what I think:

1) Great cast led by Anjelica Huston, Debra Messing and (singer?) Katherine McPhee. Two huge starlets that can attract an audience.

2) Great premise in starting a Broadway show about Marlin Monroe. It's unique, it's fun it sets the stage for a lot of great drama (ha ha ... pun intended). And you get to claim one of the most iconic figures n pop culture as a theme (that is especially genius I thought). Also as I've worked on Broadway (well not ON Broadway, but I worked in a Broadway theater for some time) I can tell you the characters and people that are attracted to that environment are larger than life and span an array of types. It's a great premise that hopefully will prove to be a lot of fun!

3) Schedule. Monday at 10pm is a fascinating time slot. It will depend a lot on what is airing opposite it too. While a Monday 10pm time slot will never get you HUGE ratings, it still has potential. As always, this is going to be a point of contention though if the series starts out flat.

4) The market for a show like this is growing. Let's be honest, this show will attract a lot of different types that don't have a lot of other options on television right now (gay guys and WASP-y grandmas, I'm looking at you). Glee is by far the closest and that show is (was?) HUGE! This is not merely a Glee knockoff though. It looks kind of like an Aaron Sorkin show meets Glee. Time will tell how well written, directed and produced the show is, but I like its chances.

So this the trailer I saw that got me thinking ...

I'm curious, let's hear from you ... what do you think will happen with Smash and why? If you're an NBC exec, what are you worried about? What are you excited about?

Sorry It's Been So Long ...

2012-01-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

I haven't gone away. I'm finishing my thesis for law school, final draft due TOMORROW! (And I'm kind of behind .. yikes!) For now I'll leave you with this! A must watch for any aspiring screenwriter! Q&A with 'Little Miss Sunshine' writer Michael Arndt. Great kernels of wisdom littered throughout.

Little Miss Sunshine: The Shooting Script from Cody's Books on FORA.tv

ARTICLE: New Regency Studios. Heaven or Hell?

2011-11-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

The Devil? Is that Prada around her neck?

Let's take a little trip into the weeds of Hollywood, shall we? The real nitty gritty of it all. Where the rubber really meets the road.

Hollywood, at its core is a business driven first and foremost by people. It is about relationships. When you need something, and everyone in HW needs something, who can you call to get it? Movies and television are at their core collaborative efforts. Talent, ambition, drive, creativity ... all of this helps on an individual level, but when push comes to shove none of that is going to matter if you don't get along with people, if you don't have strong relationships. Because your talent and instinct and ambition may help get you off the ground, but in the end you as an individual in Hollywood are only as good as those who are around you. And that's true whether you're James Cameron starting out and making The Abyss or the PA (Hollywood's form of the grunt) trying to get your opus into the hands of the director - if you aren't someone who people want to work with, you best be related to somebody who people do.

And I mention Cameron, because he seemed to start off that way - personable. But now it seems according to rumors, he's not. But he has built such a legacy that people want to work with him still. HW wants to be in the James Cameron business. But most HW folks are not nor will they ever be James Cameron. So for most, these relationships will matter for their entire tour of duty.

So it is with that, I read about the move of Carla Hacken to New Regency, who was a former Executive Vice President at Fox 2000, with a certain degree of fascination.

There were essentially two paradigms:

1) The article itself. The article painted a very rosy picture of a studio looking to be a home for "filmmakers." On its face, great news for creatives! Carla Hacken was responsible for finding and launching The Devil Wears Prada and Walk the Line, two extremely successful films (both based on existing material ... but we'll let that slide. For now). So for her to go to a place that wants to focus on making films first, sounds like a match made in heaven.

Then I read the comments.

2) The comments. Deadline is read by many HW insiders. So keep that in mind as you read this selection of comments by its readers:

"15 years in the biz and Carla’s one of the most miserable people I’ve ever worked with. Hooray for Hollywood. Carla Hacken has “made” films such as Walk the Line and Devil Wears Prada? Really? MADE? Wonder what the directors, writers, cast, and crew of those films think about that."

"I wanted to wait and see if anyone else would post the truth about what a miserable, psychotic person Carla is. Thanks for making my day! I know this for sure, having worked with her."

"Carla is disorganized panicky and very unhappy. She has taste but no ability to handle stress. Brad has made terrible move. He will find out soon enough."

"One of most miserable, meanest and rudest. Ugh."

"Uhhhhhh. So, the new regency offices will now house brad weston, Alexandra Milchan, and Carla hacken? Sounds like a blast. Gonna be some great karma going around that place. Wonder who comes out in the top of that heap"

My Favorite: "Today is the day the hope died at New Regency. God I hope Brad [CEO of New Regency] is looking over these comments and coming to understand the heinous error he has just made."

THE TAKEAWAY: Well, to be honest we'll have to wait and find out what exactly this means. We'll have to wait and se exactly how long Carla lasts at New Regency. We'll have to see if New Regency starts making more money, which will certainly help her position. Money still talks too of course. HW movies are a business remember. And talk of her taste was, even among the blog-posters, far from criticized and even lauded.

Carla Hacken. We'll be watching her career with a certain fascination now.

SCREENWRITING UPDATE: Another Manager Request

2011-11-18T13:48:00.000-08:00

Eric Williams with Zero Gravity Management requested "Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington" last night. Just sent it off to him today.

Zero Gravity also has a production arm, that is probably most renowned for bringing to life "The Cooler" starring William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin (a great flick btw, you should check it out if you haven't seen it yet).

So another someone will be reading the old bird. Obviously takes time for these guys to read anything, especially since they need to attend to their clients who are already signed in what has been a great* year for spec sales.

*great meaning far better than the previous 4.

ARTICLE - No Brainer. Let Him Host.

2011-11-14T19:13:00.000-08:00

He Brings The Heat Baby!

A simple equation to solve HFPA's little quandary.

Ricky Gervais + Host of the Golden Globes + Antics Similar to Last Year - The Stick Up HFPA'S @** = Highest Ratings for the Golden Globes Ever.

Feel free to discuss and disagree. But I'm right.

UPDATE: 11/17/11. He's in!!! I will be watching the Golden Globes for perhaps the first time ever!

And he's tweeting about his monologue material - Holocaust and pedophile jokes? In.

SCREENWRITING UPDATE: Won a Copy of Final Draft From PAGE Awards

2011-11-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine.

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to the folks at the PAGE Awards. I won a drawing for a copy of "Final Draft" today. It's a $300 screenwriting program. Very exciting. I've been using Word, and if you're at all familiar with what it takes to format a screenplay, using Word you have to re-create margins every time characters speak and action happens and a new scene occurs ... it is a very tedious and time consuming process. That, and the info Final Draft compiles as you write on number of locations you're using (plus it keeps track of the names you're using to describe them, which will help a lot), number of characters etc. is all invaulable information for a writer keeping an eye on budget. It's just a really great resource.

I don't mean this to sound like an advertisement for Final Draft, but I'm pretty dang excited darn it!!!

I've been meaning to pick up a copy for a while, but I didn't feel like blowing three hundred when I had a program that worked for my purposes. Kind of waiting until I sold something, it was going to my reward to myself. Now I'll just have to figure something else out ...

Thanks to Jen, Zoe and all the folks over at the PAGE Awards!!! I've said it before, I'll say it again ... PAGE is the best show in town!!!

ARTICLE - A Perfect Storm: Selling A Screenplay for 7 Figures

2011-11-06T10:17:00.000-08:00

I'll take any excuse to post a picture of Emma Stone. Boy howdy!

The word is out. This has been the best season in quite sometime for selling specs on the old boulevard of dreams.

For the non-writers among us. Spec = A screenplay written without being assigned to do so. I.E. A screenplay written by a writer because the writer wanted to write it, not because the writer agreed to do so for another party, per an upfront contractual reason. Antonym: Assignment.

We even had a veritable lotto winner this year. Lauryn Kahn, a 29 year old screenwriter, whose writing credits up until now include a lot of shorts, sold her first feature, He's Fuckin' Perfect, to Fox 2000 for $1 million up front, against $1.5 million. Pay! Day!

It's every screenwriters dream come true. But how did she do it? Through the standard way really, a lot of gumption and a lot of hard work of course. But let's break it down.

1) Concept. The concept of the screenplay was universally approachable for today's audience. Meaning, it was "commercial." Which is what sells for the big bucks in today's spec marketplace.

"The [romantic] comedy focuses on a social media savvy girl who is pessimistic about love and vets her friends’ dates to find flaws. When that process leads her to uncover the perfect guy, she decides to use her internet research skills to turn herself into his perfect match."

Slightly generic perhaps, but this is just the concept remember. Execution is a whole other ball game. And while we can only surmise and guess at the execution, at least until there is a copy of the screenplay floating around the net to read, we can take an educated guess; based on a $1 mill dollar sale, it probably was well pretty well executed.

2) The Rare Bidding War. These don't happen much anymore. But it's a pretty simple concept. It's when a number of studios and/or interested parties become interested in the same property at the same time and start bidding against each other for the rights to that property. These used to be much more frequent, but studios have learned these aren't in their best interest and have become much more patient when looking to pick up properties. But million dollar sales can still result from one if they happen. Yay!

In this case, it was a bit of happenstance. The team helping Ms. Kahn, Gary Sanchez Productions (Will Ferrell's Prod. Co.) sent it to Emma Stone to get her on board. It ended up being sent out to the town from there. Fox 2000 was in the mix early, and when word got out about three other studios being interested, they made Ms. Kahn the $1mill/$1.5 mill offer with a ninety minute expiration. Bing, bang, boom ... Ms. Kahn accepted and sold the screenplay for seven figures.

"KAAAAAHHHHHHNNNN!" (You knew it was coming. #startreknerd)

3) Talent Attachment. As previously mentioned, Will Ferrell's prod team at Gary Sanchez Productions helped Ms. Kahn develop the script and gave her notes as she wrote, to help her hone it. Not a bad way to write a script if you can get it. Also, Emma Stone is one of the hottest actresses out there right now, and I'd surmise that her even being remotely interested was enough to spark interest from the town. Names and talent attachments sell screenplays. It's how a studio knows they'll make their money back.

4) Relationships. Ms. Kahn worked as an assistant to Adam McKay for four years. Adam McKay is part of the Gary Sanchez Prod. Co. team. Coincidence? It's almost an unwritten rule, if not understood, that being an assistant to a top talent like Adam McKay is a great step in the right direction for any young professional looking to break into the biz. But it is incumbent upon you, the assistant, to build and nurture relationships on your own. And no doubt Ms. Kahn did just that, as she is repped by one of the biggest agencies in the game, WME. However, Adam McKay also went out of his way to help Ms. Kahn get it out to the right people, including Emma Stone. And in a town known for folks with the "How will this help me?" attitude, it shows a lot of class and gumption on Adam McKay's part. And Ms. Kahn is the, undoubtedly grateful, beneficiary.

No surprises there as far as the path. Lauryn Kahn put all the pieces into play in just the right way. So all in all, a very envious and hearty congrats to Lauryn Kahn. It's a film I very likely will see, especially if Emma Stone is in it.

"KKKKKAAAAAHHHHHNNNNNN!!!" #startreknerd

UPDATE (11/7/11): Found a copy of He's Fuckin Perfect on the interwebs and gave it a quick once over. The execution is good. It's laugh out loud funny at parts and is definitely in the vein of what you would expect. The lead is strong (even if not terribly original), but it's no surprise Emma Stone is looking to come on board. Strong writing style and voice through out, very punchy. All in all I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10.

Should be fairly decent movie, even if it doesn't break any major ground in the raunchy rom-com genre. If it was pure execution based, I don't see this one scoring a seven figure pay day on its own, a sale for sure. Just not sure its worth what Fox 2000 paid. But Ms. Kahn went down the right path (as described above) and worked her butt off to do so. So no one can take that away from her, even if the film itself is destined to be a fun summer date flick you forget the next day. Kudos again to her.

ESSAY - I Turned 30 Today

2011-10-31T15:08:00.000-07:00

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

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.

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

2011-10-29T13:47:00.001-07:00

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!

ARTICLE - NBC Goes For the Creative Homerun!

2011-10-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

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.*

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

2011-10-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

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).

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

2011-10-24T15:08:00.000-07:00

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)

REVIEW - The Ides of March

2011-10-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

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.

ARTICLE - Why Are Zombies Better Than Stewardesses?

2011-10-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

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?

2011-10-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

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"