Damn you blogger

Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

I just spent an hour on a post about the game show and our hilarious hijinx on the way there. Typed up the entire story. Only to see Blogger freeze and delete the whole damn thing...

hmmm.

Not very happy - and don't really want to repeat what was a really long and drawn out - but riotously funny - story about the journey to the world series of pop culture...

So instead - here is some Monday Ramblings.

After my agents promised to send me a script last week - I finally wrote them Saturday to ask if there was a problem getting it to me. They said I should have had it long ago... Turns out one of the guys there sent it to the wrong address. Or so they said... Someone went back to the office last night and emailed it out to me.

Its for a big company. Crazy idea - but the nice thing is that the big problem they have with it is the bad guy. They think his plan needs some work and that he really needs a character pass. If there is anything I am good at - it is bad guys. Probably because I can relate so much. Its really easy to write bad guys if you are at all honest about your own nature. I always just think about what I would do if I thought I could get away with it and didn't care about repercussions. And when it comes to plans - I am a damn Rube Goldberg... I can overplot a crazy plan like the Riddler...

I am reading an incredible book - which if you haven't read it - pick it up. Freakonomics. Really amazing stuff. Asks a lot of interesting questions and follows them up with really fascinating answers. Like what really makes a good parent. How do you make your kids smart. Why did the crime rate go down in the 90s? What do the kkk and real estate agents have in common....? It is really fun - and informative - even if you don't like the answers. But one of the things that he states upfront is that the way humans talk and the way they act are totally different...

Still waiting for word on the Japanese project. The idea I sent to the producers that they went nuts over is currently being written as a book. The author of the book has a proposal - that we want to see - but we are going through his agent. We should have something later this week.

Offers go out to the main two actors this week. I thought they had gone out - but they should be going out today. There was a few more questions that needed answering - stuff about perqs and back end percentages - and the whole star package... Wow. Must be really nice... Good for them....

In looking at the schedule for the film - I noticed that one whole story was cut out in its entirety. I know the script as it stands is a bit long - 126 pages - and I know that I write action a lot shorter than it would play on the screen - so there will have to be cuts.

Last week - we heard from Star Two's manager and she told us that when Star 2 was talking with the Director - he was told there was a new version of the script. So mini major wanted me to send the new version to them. Me being completely in the dark about it - tried to stay calm. I wrote to Director and asked him... Hmmm... If there is a new version of the script - I sure would love to see it...

And the backstory to that is - Last year - Director and I were supposed to work on cutting it down a bit and going over any changes that he might want. Now I am in a better position than a lot of writers - in that I am also a producer on the project - so I get a bit more say in what happens. I also still own the script... So no one is gonna get a bigger say for now than me... Anyway - the director just went ahead and rewrote the entire thing - just shortening and changing things as he saw fit - including dialog...

It was really not good. And we had a bit of a tiff over it. But cooler heads prevailed and we just put that version of the script behind us. Till now - when they said he had a new script. Well. Director wrote me back, insisting that there was no new version - other than the changes that we had both talked about... So we should be on the same page.

He is supposed to call me today so that we can talk about what those changes are and how we can incorporate the Star's ideas into the script as well. Should get real interesting real fast.

In the mean time - after a great 40 page start on the new version of my last script that I was never really convinced needed a new version - I am stuck. I set out to make a few changes - ended up completely rewriting everything - and now realize that I need to really make some important choices and get some more stuff down on paper...

But I also realize that too much of my time has been thinking about the movie going and its hard with a little brain like mine to cram so much stuff inside...

Really need to sit down and read the script for the movie again. While I know it like the back of my hand - I have purposely not read it for over a year. I want to come to it fresh - hopefully finding ways to make it better - instead of being emotional as the babies get killed.

Shaping up to be another interesting week. Offers go out. Still gotta write. Gotta stretch the savings. Try to keep everyone happy and not go nuts...

Tomorrow will bring part two of the trivia story...

So stay tuned....