Just to rain on MC’s (latest childish) parade
L8 nuz
Basically there are 2 main categories that are given the opportunity
(or should I say misfortune?) to immigrate from EU to North America:
the winners to US and the mediocre herd to Canada. I (should I mention
effortlessly?) landed in NYC, while our buddy Mathew – a mediocre
writer for kids with disabilities – was welcomed by a polar bear just
south of the North Pole – Montreal.
Now I’ll tell ya what, Remy: while America is indeed the land of
opportunity, our northern neighbors are known to import
whatever_it_takes to survive (at least numerically, in a frozen land
where people are tired of living and procreating). MC is just trying
hard to pay his bills: NOBODY CALLED HIM THIS MORNING! He’s bluffing …
On the other hand a Pulitzer winner wrote about me that I’m way better
than Shakespeare. Full article in the largest newspaper in the state
I live.
No word about Mathew there. Think about it, Remy …
wcmartell
Confusion?
Fantasy?
Denial?
L8 nuz
lemme bet, Martell: you JUST KNOW Mathew is bluffing, now don't ya?
You seem like a smart SOMEBODY. I'm better than Shakespeare. Can you
do something about it? I'll pay the Martini
Alan Brooks
> On the other hand a Pulitzer winner wrote about me that I'm way better
> than Shakespeare. Full article in the largest newspaper in the state
> I live.
Is that a Pulitzer winner from Ohio? So it would have to be Michael D.
Sallah, Mitch Weiss or Joe Mah of The Blade, in Toledo. Which one was it
and what did they say?
Alan Brooks
---------------------------
A Schmuck with an Underwood
-- Put up / Shut up
MWSM FAQ: http://www.panix.com/~mwsm/faq.html
Filtering Trolls: http://www.panix.com/~mwsm/trolls.html
L8 nuz
Yeah, Alan, he’s from Ohio. I never met him. We talked over the phone.
He asked me about my accent. I told him to go fuck his mutta.
Next thing I know is that he wrote this: “"Shakespeare wrote
plays with less symbolism." [compared to my stuff] Now go figure …
wcmartell
> Yeah, Alan, he’s from Ohio. I never met him. We talked over the phone.<
But he never gave his name. He's the Mysterious Pulitzer Prize Winner.
He rides into town on his pale horse and comments on people's writing.
And "Shakespeare wrote plays with less symbolism." [compared to my
stuff] sounds like an insult to me. That's a total slam.
- Bill
Remysun
> No word about Mathew there. Think about it, Remy …
I am thinking about it. You should post a link to that article, Dan.
nmstevens
Why don't you post a link? Or is the "largest newspaper in the state
where you live" not on line?
NMS
mary...@rcn.com
He's too busy rooting for the Toledo Mud Hens.
Paulo Joe Jingy
You just like to stir people up, don't you?
For your sake I hope that's true. From my point of view, being a
troll is preferable to being delusional.
Remysun
> He's too busy rooting for the Toledo Mud Hens.
No, the Mud Hens are my team--tomorrow's Tigers. He's over in Injun
country.
2.71828183
>I live...
The State of Dementia, no doubt, bordered by the State of Unhappiness and the
State of Jealousy, all very far from the State of Sound Mind.
RonB
An imaginary Pulitzer winner who writes imaginary reviews. A whole
universe of imagination and that's the best he can come up with?
Hell, I had convinced Laurence Olivier to come back from the dead to act
the lead in my latest script, but when he read it he was so intimidated by
its brilliance that he felt that he couldn't do it justice. So now I've
got to ratchet down its incredibleness a few notches so I don't scare
away the next actor.
I wouldn't shit you on this.
--
RonB
"There's a story there...somewhere"
mary...@rcn.com
I just think that's the best team name ever.
L8 nuz
not too many people were “insulted” that way, Martell. I bet Mathew
wasn’t …
L8 nuz
>
> - Show quoted text -
um … er … I can’t find the stupid link. Do newspapers have links? Hey,
Neal: what if I’m just having fun building the damn set up? Somebody
has to teach Remy poker since he – like many others on this forum –
can’t write. It’s only me, you, Martell and pinky that can put two
words together in the same phrase so they’ll make sense. Ron won the
Nicholl so, since I didn’t, I can’t but consider that he can’t write …
L8 nuz
I was born to do that, Paulo. Dunno whether you noticed but when
American assholes call me names (troll included) I'm anti-American to
the bone. Not that I am for real, but just to harm their feelings
since they are in such a rush to harm mine (“the fuckin’ newbie, let’s
crush him!”). When a sore brit from Quebec bites my ass (“his script
is unreadable”) I’m so much American and anti … Canadian. If an
Italian would mess with me guess who would be the most vicious anti-
Italian on the planet?
mary...@rcn.com
> On Sep 20, 10:38 pm, nmstevens <nmstev...@msn.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Sep 20, 8:56 pm, L8 nuz <pass_...@msn.com> wrote:
>
> > > (and this is about his thread “Dilemma du Jour “)
>
> > > Basically there are 2 main categories that are given the opportunity
> > > (or should I say misfortune?) to immigrate from EU to North America:
> > > the winners to US and the mediocre herd to Canada. I (should I mention
> > > effortlessly?) landed in NYC, while our buddy Mathew – a mediocre
> > > writer for kids with disabilities – was welcomed by a polar bear just
> > > south of the North Pole – Montreal.
>
> > > Now I’ll tell ya what, Remy: while America is indeed the land of
> > > opportunity, our northern neighbors are known to import
> > > whatever_it_takes to survive (at least numerically, in a frozen land
> > > where people are tired of living and procreating). MC is just trying
> > > hard to pay his bills: NOBODY CALLED HIM THIS MORNING! He’s bluffing …
>
> > > On the other hand a Pulitzer winner wrote about me that I’m way better
> > > than Shakespeare. Full article in the largest newspaper in the state
> > > I live.
>
> > > No word about Mathew there. Think about it, Remy …
>
> > Why don't you post a link? Or is the "largest newspaper in the state
> > where you live" not on line?
>
> > NMS- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> um … er … I can’t find the stupid link. Do newspapers have links?
You go to the paper's website, find the article, and do the usual:
highlight the http address, copy, go back to the post you were
writing, paste, send. Not exactly brain surgery. If the article has
been archived, a phone call to the paper will usually get results
quicker than trying to dig it up - a secretary can email it to you.
nmstevens
>
> - Show quoted text -
Please do me a favor and don't group me and Bill Martell in the same
category as Pinky with the possible exception of all three of us being
carbon-based life forms -- and the two of us grouped together in that
case with Pinky only to the extent that she chain smokes carbon into
whatever kind of bizarrely delusional life form she happens to be.
Oh -- ditto you. Minus the smoking, unless you happen to smoke.
But with the "bizarrely delusional" unless you post that link double
quick.
NMS
L8 nuz
Pinky CAN write, Neal. I dunno whether she writes screenplays, but she
writes a perfect English on this NG. And THAT (given my whereabouts)
impressed me. You, on the other hand, write just glorious. You’re
bluffing as much as you can (or as you please) and, believe me, I’m
amused. It’s just that 90% of your readers seem to believe you, while
I KNOW you’re just a smart con.
And, as of my philosophy, there’s nothing wrong with a smart con
artist …
L8 nuz
>
> - Show quoted text -
Mary: you can’t sleep, sweetie? Me neither. I dropped outta bed one
hour ago, had a beer and I’m now at my 3rd glass of wine. Don’t they
say one life to live? My gorgeous green eyed lady dumped me: “you love
the bottle more than you love me, Dan. Adio” And that wasn’t the first
time I heard that shit.
Anyways, as I was saying, I might have some fun building a set up.
Just to teach Remy what a bluff is all about. Remember: NOBODY (on
this thread) believed that in a full article about my-glorious-self
(in the most important/largest newspaper in Ohio) delivered this line:
“Shakespeare wrote
plays with less symbolism."
Do YOU believe that that article happened? C’mon, your honesty would
be appreciated
MC
wrote:
>
> Do YOU believe that that article happened? C’mon, your honesty would
> be appreciated
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and the burden of
proof is on the person making the claim. I think Carl Sagan said that.
Oh, and remember your claim that you could write four scripts in the
space of a week... where's the one I was supposed to read?
Point is, no one can prove an article doesn't exist. So it's up to you
to prove that it does exist.
Until then you're a blowhard with some kind of weird chip on your
shoulder.
--
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch.
- Orson Welles
L8 nuz
> In article <gb5c87$ik...@reader1.panix.com>, L8 nuz <pass_...@msn.com>
OK, you damn loser. I repeatedly tried to insinuate that brits are
fine w/me. Why would you hate me so much (or mimicking it) is beyond
me. I don’t have the link, you go find it, you rat.
But here’s the article: http://www.geocities.com/iq516/PD.html
My stuff is old: 2001. I’m no (and never was a) graphic designer.
Never been an “English master”. So just view it and shut da fuck off
MC
wrote:
> On Sep 21, 7:56 am, MC <copes...@mapca.inter.net> wrote:
There you go,,, that wasn't so hard, was it?
By the way, the Shakespeare comment is not -- in any way -- related to
your writing as far as I can see. The article doesn't even mention your
writing, forthe screen or otherwise.
Anyway, good luck with the logo thing. Not that you'll need luck -- you
have the logo thing.
mary...@rcn.com
Nobody hates you - we just ask that you put your moola where your
mouth is. And the Shakespeare ref was in regard to your logo, not
your writing, which wasn't mentioned. But congrats on winning the
lottery, and good luck with the logos.
L8 nuz
> In article <gb5ecs$re...@reader1.panix.com>, L8 nuz <pass_...@msn.com>
>
> - Show quoted text -
“By the way, the Shakespeare comment is not -- in any way -- related
to
your writing as far as I can see. The article doesn't even mention
your
writing, forthe screen or otherwise.”
Mathew, you kidding me? Did you just returned from the church (with
gOD between yer earrings) or why else won’t you attack me, as kinda
everybody else on this forum did/do/does?
Anyways: I wasn’t even thinking about screenwriting in 2001. It came
to me about 3 years ago (stupid me!) and I got alotta glorious advices
on this forum, such as, “fuck off retard, you can’t write! Your script
is unreadable!”
Anyways #2: Outta the blue (I never contacted them) Harrah’s asked me
to send them my fabulous logo presented at http://www.geocities.com/nu4ms/59.html
I was in vacation, I sent my business proposal some 16 days later.
They never answered me back. I fucked them big time (I still have the
e-mails; thank you, Yahoo) Motherfuckers! Whatta fuck do they think,
that I have to answer them the very next second they e-mailed me?
Anyways #3: I’ll hit it big soon
Anyways #4: yeah right …
Remysun
> Anyways, as I was saying, I might have some fun building a set up.
> Just to teach Remy what a bluff is all about. Remember: NOBODY (on
> this thread) believed that in a full article about my-glorious-self
> (in the most important/largest newspaper in Ohio) delivered this line:
> “Shakespeare wrote
> plays with less symbolism."
> Do YOU believe that that article happened? C’mon, your honesty would
> be appreciated
What is a bluff? I find it odd that your pic can refer to
Cleveland.com, and yet none of the phrases in the article are
searchable. They have a paid archive service. Why don't those words
come up so that we have to buy that article?
And "Tom Feran's" style. Why does he vacillate between saying that you
are lucky and you have no luck? Does he really wish his own words to
be compared to a sound and fury, signifying nothing?
Now, I don't have Photoshop or anything past Paint on this computer,
but why do the two parts of the article have dramatically different
yellowing? Weren't they written at the same time? This is before
analyzing the font, which I won't be able to do.
So is this a bluff? Are you saying that just because anybody can post
here, that everyone is bluffing? Because the easiest way to prove the
veracity of what a person says is other people. Or something more
secure than geocities, which can be used by anybody.
For the pros, better than imdb, just ask the Writers Guild to verify
their membership and credits. For MC, you can ask Bouchard, or even
make the trip up to Montreal to steal away his apprentice.
You really gotta find somebody to vouch for you. Otherwise, you're
bluffing.
Alan Brooks
>>> But here‚s the article: http://www.geocities.com/iq516/PD.html
Okay, so you're semi-legit: you really were the subject of a newspaper
article in an Ohio newspaper in 2001.
But while The Plain Dealer has a number of Pulitzer winners on staff, the
writer of your article is not one of them:
http://www.pulitzer.org/faceted_search/results/Feran
Please let me know if the Pulitzer database is incorrect, and I'll see that
it gets fixed.
>>> My stuff is old: 2001. I‚m no (and never was a) graphic designer.
>>> Never been an „English master‰. So just view it and shut da fuck off
>>
>> There you go,,, that wasn't so hard, was it?
> Anyways: I wasn‚t even thinking about screenwriting in 2001. It came
> to me about 3 years ago (stupid me!) and I got alotta glorious advices
> on this forum, such as, „fuck off retard, you can‚t write! Your script
> is unreadable!‰
We weren't *that* nice to you, were we?
Given that you can't even punctuate your posts correctly, there's no way
your screenplay would have been even close to readable. You need to try a
little harder. Every opportunity to write is an opportunity to do it well
or do it badly. Why do you choose to do it badly here online?
> Anyways #2: Outta the blue (I never contacted them) Harrah‚s asked me
> to send them my fabulous logo presented at
> http://www.geocities.com/nu4ms/59.html
> I was in vacation, I sent my business proposal some 16 days later.
> They never answered me back. I fucked them big time (I still have the
> e-mails; thank you, Yahoo) Motherfuckers! Whatta fuck do they think,
> that I have to answer them the very next second they e-mailed me?
I hate to break it to you, Dan, but your fabulous logo is a cute
illustration that any sub-average design student might have come up with
using clip-art and Photoshop. You really need to learn something about
fonts if you want to present logos. This one might work for some sort of
restricted campaign for a lottery or a drawing for a case of Guinness.
Aside from that I think you need to get working on your next idea.
> Anyways #3: I‚ll hit it big soon
Not with that chip on your shoulder you won't. But good luck.
Alan Brooks
---------------------------
A Schmuck with an Underwood
-- Holding my breath,
I am not.
-- Yoda
Remysun
that damn politicking of the last couple of weeks. I wish you called
that bluff on the four scripts, so that we'd have something new to
talk about, but this will do.
mary...@rcn.com
> For the pros, better than imdb, just ask the Writers Guild to verify
> their membership and credits. For MC, you can ask Bouchard, or even
> make the trip up to Montreal to steal away his apprentice.
Howevaire, those sources are only good when you have an actual
credit. Lotsa people do uncredited work - the check clears, but your
name is off the credit list. I've done it a little, as have very
famous folk like Kevin Smith, Tarantino, and Carrie Fisher, to name
just three.
>
> You really gotta find somebody to vouch for you. Otherwise, you're
> bluffing.
Or just do the following: keep your nose to the grindstone, be willing
to learn, don't be arrogant, and try to be helpful - people consider
the source, and it's not just IMDB credits - it's a whole package of
knowledge, niceness, willingness to listen, and a lack of ego and -
big for me - no mean streak allowed.
L8 nuz
“Given that you can't even punctuate your posts correctly, there's no
way
your screenplay would have been even close to readable.”
You’re so full of shit, Alan, that not even Bush could ever bail you
out. My script is perfectly written. And yer silly comics: “My stuff
is old: 2001. I‚m no …” (highlighting on “I,m”) are so ridiculous that
you should be shot and asked questions later, you friggin’ retard you.
“I hate to break it to you, Dan, but your fabulous logo is a cute
illustration that any sub-average design student might have come up
with
using clip-art and Photoshop.”
No fucking kidding, Alan, why didn’t they? I mean is yer IQ way lower
than my aunt cat? And talking about yer aunt ‘ll tell ya a joke that
u’ll never get it:
ALAN
Dad, what is antimatter?
DAD
She is the wife of uncle Matter.
OK, OK, I know: you didn’t get it ‘cuz of my “punctuation”
wcmartell
Um, look at the thread title and your initial post.
When you pick a fight, there's a reasonable chance someone might throw
a punch at you.
Here's the thing - this isn't a game of poker where Matthew has to
lose for you to win. And Matthew isn't playing against you (or anyone)
so there's no reason for him to "bluff" - what would be the point?
And hyping the hell out of yourself (bluffing) does no good at all.
You may get some press, but how does that lead anywhere?
You write a great script.
You sell the script.
You are now a screenwriter.
It is all about results. Results down come from hype or bluffing or
anything other than hard work.
It's just that simple.
- Bill
MC
"mary...@rcn.com" <mary...@rcn.com> wrote:
> > For the pros, better than imdb, just ask the Writers Guild to verify
> > their membership and credits. For MC, you can ask Bouchard, or even
> > make the trip up to Montreal to steal away his apprentice.
I didn't understand this apprentice reference. Can someone explain?
>
> Howevaire, those sources are only good when you have an actual
> credit. Lotsa people do uncredited work - the check clears, but your
> name is off the credit list. I've done it a little, as have very
> famous folk like Kevin Smith, Tarantino, and Carrie Fisher, to name
> just three.
You've done it for me. You helped a lot with the dialogue on 'Flood' (no
matter that it was then butchered by others), and they would not budge
on an "Additional Dialogue By" credit - which was frustrating.
> >
> > You really gotta find somebody to vouch for you. Otherwise, you're
> > bluffing.
>
> Or just do the following: keep your nose to the grindstone, be willing
> to learn, don't be arrogant, and try to be helpful - people consider
> the source, and it's not just IMDB credits - it's a whole package of
> knowledge, niceness, willingness to listen, and a lack of ego and -
> big for me - no mean streak allowed.
And besides, a great many writers' entries on IMDB aren't remotely
accurate, comprehensive or up to date. Mine included.
MC
wrote:
> My script is perfectly written.
Well of course it is.
RonB
> And besides, a great many writers' entries on IMDB aren't remotely
> accurate, comprehensive or up to date. Mine included.
Just out of curiosity, is there a place where accurate "credit" records
are kept, and is it accessible to the public (for a fee or otherwise)?
RonB
> It is all about results. Results down come from hype or bluffing or
> anything other than hard work.
>
> It's just that simple.
It simply can't be that simple. Otherwise folks wouldn't be selling
books and lessons on using the "right" formulas to break into Hollywood.
(Sign up now for the RonB "paint by number" Instant Gratification
scriptwriting course. "I'm RonB, I'll sell or option any script for only
39.95!*")
*We will option any script for $1 in perpetuity if you purchase the
Deluxe RonB "paint by number" Instant Gratification Scriptwriting
Course and choose the "I'm an instant success" add-on package!**
**A service of RonB Script Optioning, Inc.***
***RonB Script Optioning, Inc is a division of RonB Instant
Gratification, Inc.****
****RonB Instant Gratification, Inc., is a subdivision of MegaClomp &
Stomp LLC, Inc.*****
*****No warranty is extended or implied.
MC
RonB <ronb02...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > And besides, a great many writers' entries on IMDB aren't remotely
> > accurate, comprehensive or up to date. Mine included.
>
> Just out of curiosity, is there a place where accurate "credit" records
> are kept, and is it accessible to the public (for a fee or otherwise)?
I don't know about a central registry, but anything that was written
under the jurisdiction of any guild would be in the records of that
guild -- but how accessible it is to the public I don't have a clue. And
nor do I know if uncredited work is in their records.
Remysun
> I didn't understand this apprentice reference. Can someone explain?
Besides the Star Wars/Trump allusion? There's the guy from Jaybee's
group who asked you to look at his pilot script. Nothing's stopping L8
from taking a trip up to Montreal to check things out, and tell the
other guy that he's the only one who knows how to write a script--
that there's even a logo to prove it.
But seriously, mentoring and apprenticeship are a good thing. IMO, the
best writers in this group are the ones that have helped others, to
the degree that they can.
L8 Nuz's earliest posts were definitely a beginner asking for help.
I'm not sure what could be said of any early insult he received or
perceived, but IMO, his reaction has been all wrong.
Who was it who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same
thing over and over and expecting a different result? As long as it's
the same screenplay and logo we're talking about, as long as it's the
same insults in response, as long as it's the same unwillingness to
work as a writer, I don't see how it could be anything but the same
insanity.
But at this point, it beats politics.
RonB
> But at this point, it beats politics.
If you say so.
wcmartell
> books and lessons on using the "right" formulas to break into Hollywood.
But it kind of is. The books and formulas and classes are just like
any other classes and books. You want to build a coffee table -
someone has a book on how to build furniture. You buy the book, read
the instructions, build your coffee table. My dad had a bunch of books
on building your own furniture - and he built all kinds of stuff. I
have a nightstand - in crappy shape - but he built it himself. Popular
Mechanics magazine used to have instructions on how to build this or
that in every issue. I can buy a book on how to repair my Toyota (but
I take it to a mechanic, because those genes didn't seem to get passed
on to me).
But here's the thing about building your own coffee table - some
people's coffee tables will look great, others will look sloppy. Some
people may actually have the ability to make coffee tables so cool
that when they have friends over, they comment on the coffee table and
want one of their own. They can *sell* the coffee tables they make.
If course, a screenplay is a little more compliacted than a coffee
table - so there are all kinds of books and classes and opinions. Part
of my work avoidance is going to message boards and picking fights...
er, I mean, answering questions. And one of the things that amazes me
is that with all of these books and classes and seminars and websites
out there - people make obvious mistakes. Sometimes I wonder if these
folks have ever *seen a movie*.
So, I'm working on this top secret remake of a hit 1980s film - can't
tell the title until the producer wants it announced. I'm in the
producer's office on Friday, and he mentions something from my book -
a section called Weapons For Weirdos that is all about how every
henchman needs to have their own special weapon - and it should be
cool and even character related. My example in the book is Odd Job in
GOLDFINGER - his razor edged bowler. No one else has a weapon like
that - and you *remember it*. You can run down a list of action flicks
and characters usually have some favorite weapon - not just the
henchmen, look at the guys in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN! What does Robert
Vaughn use? Anyway - the producer commented on how that was a
revelation to him. But when he started thinking about it, he realized
it was in all kinds of movies.
And that's exactly what a screenwriting book (or a book on making
coffee tables) is - someone who has made a coffee table or maybe just
taken one apart tells you how they are put together. And you could
probably figure out how to make a coffee table without the book if you
studied coffee tables and tear them apart and built a few and figured
out all of the little tricks to making them. It's not some amazing
lightning flash of genius or anything - I've just seen a ton of movies
and taken them apart and put a few together and learned ow to do it -
and my book or website's Free Script Tips or my classes on audio CD or
whatever - are just me saving you some time tearing apart coffee
tables. I did all of this work to figure out how they work, and I'm
passing it on to you. I hope that most of the time people read my book
or listen to the audio class or read the Free Script Tips every day
and say to themselves, "Of course! That's obvious! How come I didn't
see that before!" And the fact is, they *did* see it before - it just
didn't click. It's like one of those Sunday Newspaper Kids Puzzles
with two pictures - and what is missing from one of them? You look at
both pictures - and they look exactly the same! But then you start to
see the differences. Now, if someone pointed out the differences, you
couldn't help but see them. Suddenly, those differences would be
obvious. That's what a good sreenwriting (or coffee table building)
book should do. So, basically, a good book is one that tells you what
you already know... kind of a rip-off, huh?
- Bill
FREE SCRIPT TIPS:
http://www.ScriptSecrets.Net
Alan Brooks
> Here's the thing - this isn't a game of poker where Matthew has to
> lose for you to win. And Matthew isn't playing against you (or anyone)
> so there's no reason for him to "bluff" - what would be the point?
>
> And hyping the hell out of yourself (bluffing) does no good at all.
> You may get some press, but how does that lead anywhere?
Weirdly, I felt better about l8nuts when I thought he was a troll. He
wasn't a very good troll, but at least I thought I understood the schtick.
Now I'm convinced he's an actual person, who really is... well, he pretty
much is what he presents himself to be.
Which is sad. The referenced article makes him out to be around 50 years
old, and anyone that age should have found a better balance in his life.
Alan Brooks
---------------------------
A Schmuck with an Underwood
-- A Heartbreaking Work
of Staggering Stupidity
Remysun
> On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 21:36:06 +0000, Remysun wrote:
> > But at this point, it beats politics.
>
> If you say so.
We can do without the insults, but it's great to talk about writing,
or even verifying if it is someone's writing?
wcmartell
> Just out of curiosity, is there a place where accurate "credit" records
> are kept, and is it accessible to the public (for a fee or otherwise)?
Probably not. For instance - not all of the films I've written have my
name on them. Usually for good reason.
Have I ever told the story of the film I rescued? This producer was
starting a new company and wanted me to write some scripts for much
less than my quote to help him out. You know, if I do something cheap
as a favor, it's to get paid my rate when the company takes off... not
to write a bunch of scripts cheap. He didn't want to pay my rate for
ither scripts, and said he could find a writer on the street...
And he did that (though it probably wasn't literally the street - this
was pre-Craig's List, but he found the writer somewhere like that).
And they made the film. And it was 58 minutes of plotless crap. The
script was padded up the wazoo, and only had 58 minutes of words that
stuck to the screen. And none of it was a story.
Producer calls me - we screen the film (I think at FotoKem) and he
asks me what it will cost for me to write 40 pages of plot that
strings these scenes together? I write it, a new director films it,
the film is called "one of the best in its genre" by one of those
Movies on Video books... and my name and the new director's names are
not on the film. We both thought the film sucked even after we tried
to rescue it. So no credit - and no way to even tell we worked on it -
but the synopsis in that Movies on Video book is all about the plot I
added to connect all of those scenes.
Last year I had a film come out - big backstory so I'll trim it down.
It was a remake of one of my films from a decade ago - and they began
with my (original) screenplay than rewrote it for the action star...
but the financing required that a European (or Canadian - Matt could
have been credited) be the writer. So they *bought* my credit. They
paid me to have my name not listed in the credits, so that they could
get EU financing. So that film isn't in my IMDB credits either - and I
don't think there is any way to find that information at all (or else
the EU financing finds out, and makes them pay back the $12 million
US). I did get a "Special Thanks" in the closing credits... and
money.
So many people do uncredited rewrites and sometimes even ghost writing
- I know a guy from the old Compuserve boards who was a writer's
assistant to an A list writer and claimed he actually wrote the first
drafts of most of the A lister's scripts - and had some compelling
evidence that this wasn't just BS.
I'm a big fan of the old Doc Savage pulp mags, and Ron Goulart has a
book where he interviewed a ton of old pulp writers and got some great
stories - a few were about Lester Dent (Doc creator & head writer)
subcontracting novel-length stories from other pulp writers - often
meeting them on the street to pay them for a paper box filled with the
latest Doc Savage story - because Dent was the highest paid writer on
the magazine, and could make enough for the story with *his* name that
he could pay some other writer to write it and still have enough money
left over to make a living. So you never really know who wrote what!
- Bill
Free Script Tips Every Day:
http://www.ScriptSecrets.Net
MC
Alan Brooks <ch...@panix.com> wrote:
> Weirdly, I felt better about l8nuts when I thought he was a troll. He
> wasn't a very good troll, but at least I thought I understood the schtick.
> Now I'm convinced he's an actual person, who really is... well, he pretty
> much is what he presents himself to be.
>
> Which is sad. The referenced article makes him out to be around 50 years
> old, and anyone that age should have found a better balance in his life.
The article is sort of uplifting and pretty sad all at the same time.
Avoid normal situations.
[..]
> Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and the burden of
> proof is on the person making the claim. I think Carl Sagan said that.
He did, albeit not verbatim, in "Cosmos".
--
alt.flame Special Forces
"The possession of this Russian territory can give us neither honor, wealth,
or power, but will always be a source of weakness and expense, without any
adequate return." -- Orange Ferriss on the purchase of Alaska, 1868
nmstevens
It isn't just novelists who do that. Back when I was story editor at
Laurel we were doing an anthology film where we paid various name
writers, who shall nameless to write various segments -- and I knew
who these guys were and we weren't exactly paying them chump change to
do this stuff and I also knew their work -- because some of them has
worked for us before.
And we got in a draft from a particular writer and it was just awful
-- really amateurish and just way below what I knew this guy usually
did -- and something clicked with me -- because we'd gotten
submissions for Monsters from somebody else who, by sheer coincidence,
happened to be this guy's live in boyfriend that we'd passed on
because it was crap.
And I looked at those old submissions and I looked at this new stuff
that was supposedly written by this guy we were paying a lot of money
to and the circuits connected up. He was getting the money and he was
letting his boy friend do the writing.
But that's not the sort of thing you can actually point a finger at
anybody and prove. All you can do is get on the phone and give the guy
notes and pretend that he's actually doing the work (and then later
on, whatever the condition of the script is, you sit down and do the
final polish yourself).
So it goes.
NMS
wra...@aol.com
>
> For the pros, better than imdb, just ask the Writers Guild to verify
> their membership and credits. For MC, you can ask Bouchard, or even
> make the trip up to Montreal to steal away his apprentice.
>
> You really gotta find somebody to vouch for you. Otherwise, you're
> bluffing.
He was 42 when the article was published -- how long ago was that?
I admit I'm stunned. I didn't think anyone past the age of 22 would
make such an ass of himself.
Except Skip, of course.
Oh well, live and learn.
Avoid normal situations.
[..]
> Who was it who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same
> thing over and over and expecting a different result?
Nietzsche.
Paulo Joe Jingy
> But here’s the article: http://www.geocities.com/iq516/PD.html
This is one of the saddest posts I've ever read on this newsgroup.
Not to insult you or Tom Feran, but the guy writes human interest
stories. He's got to fill a column up a few times a week. (If you do
a Google search on: "Tom Feran" "Plain Dealer" the first hit is a
column about how to fix cracks in cement.)
He did your column because you got lucky in lotteries -- human
interest. He let you go on about your logos because he has to fill up
his column.
Think about it. Your logos got a free advertisement in the most read
paper in Ohio, and nobody was interested. Doesn't that tell you to
move on, to try something else?
I'm not insulting your logos -- who knows what'll catch on. I've seen
some pretty strange ideas out there that people buy and I just shake
my head. So, you took a shot -- good for you. But, damn, Dan, the
one with Ohio's name in it has a shelf life of 9 years, after 2009 is
no longer good. You've been pushing it since 2001. What are you
going to do, push it until December 31, 2009?
Move on.
You wrote a script -- you got some people on this newsgroup to give it
a shot. Most didn't think it was wonderful. Especially from an
unknown writer it can't just be good, it has to be wonderful. Your's
isn't.
So learn from it and write another one.
Move on.