Month: December 2013

Unfortunately, more of the same

Maximum Z Black List, Godzilla, movies, Nicholl Fellowship, originality, Pacific Rim, reboot, remake, Robocop, screenwriting, script, story, storytelling, studio, writing
What? A new, original idea? That's crazy talk!
What? A new, original idea? We don’t know if our brains can take it!

“Don’t remake good movies. Remake bad movies and improve them.” – John Huston

As a writer and fan of original material, it’s quite disturbing how many remakes and reboots keep appearing or are announced, with no sign of it coming to an end.

Sadly, this is how the industry works, with most of the studios afraid to take a chance on something new and original, as opposed to something that’s already proven itself.

But apart from a few exceptions, how many of those trips back to the well have been successful?  On top of that, there’s no avoiding a comparison to the original, with the remake usually found lacking.

Putting this in perspective – I’m a huge fan of the original ROBOCOP, which will have a remake released in February. I have no desire to see it because the trailer doesn’t make it look that interesting, and I don’t see the point in remaking it in the first place.

Counter to that, the forthcoming GODZILLA remake/reboot looks great because it appears to be a smart, new approach to the story, and definitely feels like a significant improvement over the one from 1998. I really hope it doesn’t fall victim to PACIFIC RIM syndrome – big build-up, followed by big letdown.

Now they’re announcing Ed Helms as Frank Drebin in a reboot of THE NAKED GUN. Have they no shame? Apparently not.

The movie-going public wants, no, craves new stories.  Look at The Black List, or the latest batch of Nicholl finalists. This is high-quality stuff, people. Just about any one of them would make for a great film.

There’s a ton of fantastic original material out there, but all we can do as writers is keep writing and hope somebody believes in it enough to drum up the courage to do something with it.

Typing with frostbitten fingers

Maximum Z Battlestar Galactica, editing, feedback, goals, half-marathons, mystery, Netflix, productivity, rewrite, running, San Francisco, scenes, screenwriting, script, spec, story, weather, westerns, writing
Yeah, kind of like that
Yeah, that’s kind of how it feels

Technically, it’s not winter yet, but you wouldn’t know it around here.

32 degrees in San Francisco? Amazing, but true. Not to mention harsh, bitter and just plain unpleasant.

At least it’s not snowing. Traffic is hellish enough around here when it rains. I can’t imagine what would happen if Bay Area motorists had to deal with snow. And don’t even get me started on what some of the larger hills would be like.

So with several layers in place and a large cup of coffee at my side, I’ll do my best to stay warm while recounting recent goings-on from my slice of the frozen tundra.

-Work on the mystery spec continues. Page output varies from day to day. Have to keep reminding myself it’s an early draft, so everything doesn’t have to be perfect this time around. The “this plot point happens on this page” concept is already out the window, but for now, it’s all about just getting it written. Fixes come later.

-Notes on the western spec from friends and trusted colleagues continue to pour in. A wide variety of comments to take into account for that inevitable rewrite.

Several people had the same comment/suggestion about a significant story point, which has made me seriously reconsider how it plays out. I’ve been foolishly stubborn about not wanting to change it, but taking everything into account, the alternative may actually be the best fit.

-Slowly working my way through Season One of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA on Netflix Streaming. Worth the wait.

-Signed up for my fifth half-marathon of the year, taking place on Dec 28th. Which means I have to go outside and train. Safe to say that shorts will not be involved.

As much as I’d like to hit 1:50, I’ll be happy with anything under 1:55 and actually more concerned with not freezing my ass off.

Stay warm, friends.

Project status update time!

Maximum Z Dean Martin, screenwriting, script, writing


*No reason. Just a great song, and fits within the season.*

After surviving a temporary bout of writer’s block and the phenomenon known as Thanksgivukkah, progress is once again slowly moving ahead on the mystery spec. With the time I have available per day, the output of one to three pages continues to move things along.

It’s becoming more and more apparent this draft will not be completed by year’s end, which is perfectly fine. The halfway point seems more likely.

There’s also nothing like rediscovering the satisfaction of letting your internal editor take some much-needed time off and giving free reign to the creative writer. Enjoy it now, and let the editing and analysis wait until the next draft.

But enough about me. How’s YOUR latest project coming along?

Out of the fog – literally

Maximum Z creativity, cycling, ideas, inspiration, monsters, San Francisco, scenes, screenwriting, script, spec, story, writing
Definitely the kind of weather you'd find this guy in
Conditions like this I call “Sam Spade kind of weather”

Call it a benefit of being a creative type.

Even though I may be working on one project, there’s always the strong possibility that ideas connected with another can still pop up. Happens to all of us.

When they do, I do my best to take advantage of it.

Just such a thing happened yesterday morning. As is my usual routine, I was riding my bike to work. (Didja know I leave the house at 4AM? True.) Suffice to say, it was dark.

And foggy. This is San Francisco, where fog is a serious issue. Visibility was limited to fifteen, maybe twenty yards.

So there I am, pedaling along, and I can’t help but notice how delightfully creepy and sinister it all is. Barely-lit slick streets blanketed with dense fog, the hearty blast of the foghorn sounding over by the Golden Gate.  Something in my brain switches on.

“This is the perfect setting,” I think to myself, “for the opening of the monster script.”

The fog hung around for about another two miles, giving me lots of time to come up with a mental list of what could happen during that sequence. After I got to work, I wrote some of them down. If only the rest of this was as easy.

Even though this is just a small part of the story, and the actual work on the script may not happen for a couple of months, it was pleasantly unexpected.

We can’t force inspiration, so when you suddenly come up with an idea, let alone one that works, no matter how big or small it is, grab hold with both hands and do not let go.

The details might change, or you might not even use it, but it’s still a small step towards being done that helps make the whole process a little more bearable.