"Screenwriters Adjust to Being Bit Players Again" (NY Times)
Dena Jo
December 9, 2001
Screenwriters Adjust to Being Bit Players Again
By DANA KENNEDY
Last month, a company called New Regency beat out five other Hollywood
studios for the rights to a psychological thriller written by a novice
screenwriter. It was a fierce bidding war that recalled the heady days of
the mid-1990's when Joe Eszterhas got a reported $2 million for the
disastrous "Showgirls" on the basis of a story scribbled on a napkin and
Shane Black was paid a record-breaking $4 million for another flop, "The
Long Kiss Goodnight."
The newcomer, David Benioff, was paid $1.8 million upfront for "Stay," the
story of a psychiatrist at an Ivy League college who tries to prevent one of
his students from committing suicide. "I just laid down on the floor when I
got the call," says Mr. Benioff. "I started hyperventilating."
Had the deal been made a decade ago, Mr. Benioff, 31, would have been one
among many young writers enjoying what seemed to be a golden age in
Hollywood, a period from 1987 to 1996, when the traditionally lowly
screenwriter appeared to have a chance at big money, fame and even respect.
Today, Mr. Benioff is an anomaly. Million-dollar deals for original
screenplays, called spec scripts, have become almost as rare as a new movie
from Mr. Eszterhas. Instead, the studios, stung in part by the failure of
movies for which they paid millions, prefer to assign scripts they already
own to writers of their choosing, over whom they exert more control.
As a result, screenwriters are facing such difficult times that many have
either turned to television to increase their chances of having their
scripts produced or are being eclipsed by a wave of writer-directors like M.
Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense"), who broke Mr. Black's record last year
when he received $5 million for the script for "Unbreakable." Mr. Shyamalan
also got another $5 million to direct.
"Screenwriters are back to being the bastard children of Hollywood," says
the writer- director Fred Dekker ("Robocop 3"). "There was a bit of a
backlash to all the big screenplay deals in the late 80's and early 90's.
We're paying for it now."
Feature film writers lost certain so-called "respect issues" they sought in
the new Writers Guild contract signed earlier this year, like their bid to
eliminate the "film by" credit that opens movies and is usually followed by
the directors' or producers' names. They also failed to get residuals from
videocassettes and DVD's. Other, almost embarrassing, demands like the right
to attend premieres and test screenings of their own movies were supposedly
granted, but it is unclear how well such rulings will be enforced.
And in the absence of the flamboyant Mr. Eszterhas, who has not released a
movie since the poorly received Hollywood satire "An Alan Smithee Film:
Burn, Hollywood Burn" in 1998, today's top screenwriters - like Scott
Rosenberg ("Con Air"), Ron Bass ("My Best Friend's Wedding") or Steven
Zaillian ("Schindler's List,") are as anonymous as they ever were outside
the industry. But they can dream.
"Someday, I want to be sitting with a bunch of studio heads telling them
it's in their own best interest to make screenwriters brand names," says Mr.
Bass, one of the most prolific screenwriters in Hollywood. "They think, `If
we make writers famous, it'll cost us more money.' But the reality is, if
we're a brand name, that's one more way to sell a ticket."
Unlike Mr. Bass, who began his career as an entertainment lawyer (and even
had Mr. Eszterhas as a client), Mr. Dekker, 42, was among a group of
aspiring screenwriters who graduated from U.C.L.A. film school around 1982.
They roomed together in a house they called the "Pad O' Guys" in Los
Angeles. They epitomized the growing cult of screenwriter as star.
Among them were Shane Black, Ryan Rowe, who went on to co-write "Charlie's
Angels," Ed Solomon, who wrote "Men in Black," James Herzfeld, who wrote
"Meet the Parents" and Gregory Widen, who wrote "Backdraft."
"We thought we could rule the world and no one was telling us we couldn't,"
says Mr. Dekker. "We got all this press calling us the `Young Turks.' "
Another roommate from that time, Ethan Wiley, 41, a co-writer of the cult
horror film "House" (1986), recalls that almost all of them got agents and
were selling scripts not long after graduating. "The phones were ringing off
the hook," says Mr. Wiley. "We totally took it for granted. We just thought,
`Hey, we're good at this.' "
Though many in the group have enjoyed great success, there were periods,
says Mr. Dekker, when he and some of his colleagues "felt our careers were
dead, and it was a shock because of all that came to us so early."
Mr. Dekker is not the only one who blames what the screenwriter Robert
Nelson Jacobs ("Chocolat") calls the "gold rush that put screenwriters on
the map."
One agent wistfully recalls selling about $10 million worth of spec scripts
in 1994 alone. Mr. Rowe remembers that "people were making
half-a-million-dollar deals on handshakes." "But then," he says, "the
studios got burned."
The notoriety that came from the brief frenzy over the multimillion-dollar
deals ultimately backfired, say industry watchers.
"It was like this big scam," says Chris Gore, editor of the online magazine
Film Threat. "There was all this buzz, all these bragging rights and all
these ego-driven deals. But really what happened was that screenwriting
turned into an industry preying on all these people from Michigan or
someplace who think they're going to come out here and write a screenplay
and make $1 million overnight. It became like the lottery."
There was money to be made and much more interest in original screenplays
during that time than now. But the so-called gold rush was actually not much
more than a series of well-publicized and sometimes gimmicky deals that
captured the public's attention.
The leader of what was, in retrospect, a small pack was Mr. Eszterhas, who
cultivated a maverick image that peaked in 1989 when he stood up to Michael
Ovitz, then the most powerful agent in Hollywood, in a widely reported clash
that began when Mr. Eszterhas decided to switch agencies.
But it was Mr. Black, the 24-year-old wunderkind who sold "Lethal Weapon," a
buddy-cop movie, for a reported $250,000 in 1987, who embodied the hot young
screenwriter. "Lethal Weapon" eventually grossed more than $100 million and
generated three sequels.
Mr. Black's startling success in part led to deals like the one made in 1990
with an unknown writer named Kathy McWorter. Ms. McWorter got a lot of
notice when she was paid $1 million for a romantic comedy called "The Cheese
Stands Alone." At the time, it was the most money ever paid to a female
screenwriter and the most money ever paid for a comedy.
That same year, both industry and mainstream publications picked up the
story of the colorful bidding war for a thriller, "The Ticking Man," written
by Brian Helgeland, who later won an Oscar as co-writer of "L.A.
Confidential," and Manny Coto. The story was about a machine made to look
like a human with a nuclear warhead in its chest. A toy replica of the
Ticking Man was sent around to the studios during the bidding process and
the script ultimately sold for $1 million.
Neither "The Cheese Stands Alone" nor "The Ticking Man" has ever been
produced. "There are probably 10 reasons why it didn't get made," says Ms.
McWorter, speaking in the both perplexed and Zen-like manner that
characterized many of the screenwriters interviewed by telephone for this
story. "There's never one answer." She says she has sold seven screenplays,
each in the "high six figures," during her career and only one, "The War"
(1994 ), with Kevin Costner as a Vietnam veteran, has been made.
In 1991, Mr. Black's next movie, "The Last Boy Scout," for which he received
$1.75 million, was released. An action movie starring Bruce Willis, it did
not do as well as expected at the box office, but did not derail Mr. Black's
career. He went on to write a lambasted dud starring Arnold Schwarzenegger,
"The Last Action Hero" (1993), and yet still received $4 million for "The
Long Kiss Goodnight," another failure.
Mr. Eszterhas's career followed a similar trajectory. After he was paid a
record-breaking $3 million in 1992 for "Basic Instinct," a thriller starring
Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone which grossed more than $300 million
worldwide, he continued to command large fees though his subsequent films,
like "Sliver" (1993), "Showgirls" (1995) and "Jade" (1995), were commercial
and critical disappointments.
"Whatever happened to Joe Eszterhas?" asks Don Murphy, the producer of "From
Hell" and "Natural Born Killers." "Where is Shane Black? Joe delivered
several times, but you've got to keep on delivering for that kind of money."
Indeed, Mr. Eszterhas and Mr. Black have kept low profiles in recent years
and both declined repeated requests for interviews. Both have veered away
from screenwriting.
Mr. Eszterhas had moderate success last year with his rambling novel
"American Rhapsody." Mr. Black's sole screenwriting credit since 1996
apparently is a still- unreleased, Vietnam-era movie called "A.W.O.L." Mr.
Black, who reportedly wanted to be an actor before he became a screenwriter,
had cameo roles in "As Good As It Gets" (1997) and "Liberty Heights" (1999).
He also played himself, curiously enough, in Mr. Eszterhas's film, "Burn
Hollywood Burn."
"Shane broke off from the group pretty early to become Shane Black Inc.,"
says one of Mr. Black's early colleagues who did not want to be named. "He
was very into all the bells and whistles. He wanted the big directors for
his scripts. I think he's blocked because he knows he'll never get $4
million for another script. He's got that wonderboy curse."
The true survivors among screenwriters appear to be those with a ferocious
work ethic like Mr. Bass, who churns out four to five scripts a year, writes
in many genres and moves easily between film and television. Or writers like
Robert Nelson Jacobs, who has developed a collaborative relationship with
the director Lasse Hallstrom - he also wrote "The Shipping News," a
Hallstrom film scheduled for release by Miramax later this month. "So much
of a writer's success can depend on the director's ego," says Mr. Jacobs.
"In Lasse's case he realizes he has nothing to lose and everything to gain
from our relationship."
Even so, writers like Mr. Bass and Mr. Jacobs have stiff competition from
the new wave of writer-directors, like Mr. Shyamalan, Wes Anderson, James
Mangold and Paul Thomas Anderson, most of whom started off on a smaller
scale than writers like Shane Black, and have enviable control over their
films.
Some writers, like Callie Khouri, who won an Oscar for "Thelma and Louise"
(1991), have struggled to be allowed to direct. After years of being told
she could not direct the movies she wrote, she has just finished directing
the movie version of the 1998 bestseller "Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood."
Ms. Khouri also will get sole credit for the screenplay adaptation.
"It was heaven," says Ms. Khouri. "Directing is a lot of work, but it was so
blissful. And you certainly have more power." But many writers have no
desire to direct; Kathy McWorter is one, even though she says she knows it
might help her movies get made and win her more respect.
One industry executive said: "Most writers don't have the temperament to
direct. They think they want to be famous, they want to go to screenings,
but basically they became writers so they don't have to talk to people."
Oddly enough, one of the highest- paid screenwriters in history, a woman who
also enjoyed one of the most enduring careers in Hollywood, managed to
achieve the kind of consistently high salary and even a measure of fame that
eludes today's writers.
Frances Marion was the highest- paid screenwriter in the United States from
1915 to 1934; she earned $50,000 a year from 1916 to 1919, when she was
writing films exclusively for Mary Pickford, according to Cari Beauchamp,
the author of the 1997 book about early female screenwriters, "Not Lying
Down."
Occasionally, Marion and some other female screenwriters, like Anita Loos,
were photographed alongside stars like Greta Garbo and Lillian Gish in movie
magazines like Photoplay.
"It blew me away," says Ms. Beauchamp. "They were well-known themselves. The
captions would say, `The beautiful screenwriter Anita Loos is off to New
York,' or something. Their names were also featured prominently in the ads
for their movies."
But despite her good fortune, Marion apparently sometimes suffered the same
professional frustrations as her modern-day counterparts.
"Screenwriting," she once said, "is like writing in the sand with the wind
blowing."
--
Dena Jo
Dutch
>direct. They think they want to be famous, they want to >go to screenings,
>but basically they became writers so they don't have to >talk to people."
LMAO... That line describes me perfectly.
BrickRage
>From: "Dena Jo" den...@cs.com
>From the New York Times
>"Screenwriters are back to being the bastard children of Hollywood," says
>the writer- director Fred Dekker ("Robocop 3"). "There was a bit of a
>backlash to all the big screenplay deals in the late 80's and early 90's.
>We're paying for it now."
Wow! Fred has come out of his cave. He still owes me a movie for dropping
burning cars on me.
I used to call him and Shane "The Drill Team" -- Black & Dekker.
Interesting article D.J., makes me nostalgiac for the '80s.
>the "Pad O' Guys"
Oddly enough on Skylark Lane. Think "Animal House" with typewriters.
Nesci
Success at any price is over-priced.
The FAQ for m.w.s is http://www.communicator.com/faqs.html
WRabkin
>burning cars on me.
>
You can find him on the Paramount lot. He's a consultant on Enterprise.
BrickRage
>From: wra...@aol.com (WRabkin)
Thanks Bill. I might just have to take a cruise down Melrose and hang out at
Lucy's with a pair of Klingon cammo-binoculars.
Shlockhack
>
>LMAO... That line describes me perfectly.
>
schmoozer. i think i'll become a poet, and write on parchment with a quill
pen.
----------------------------------------
Fennyman: Who is that? [Shakespeare]
Owner of the Rose Theater: Nobody. The Writer.
Maj. Bushteaser
--
Steve Richer
http://www3.sympatico.ca/sricher/home.htm
God's Smarter Nephew
"Shlockhack" <shloc...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20011211195223...@mb-fh.aol.com...
Dwayne Conyers
movie.
--
Dwacon Entertainment presents:
Hillary Clinton's congressional striptease
http://www.dwacon.com
BrickRage
>From: "Dwayne Conyers" dwa...@my-deja.com
>Didn't Shane Black turn to acting? I thought I saw him in a Schwarzenegger
>movie.
He always wanted to be an actor. His UCLA degree was in Theatre. He used to
tell me that all he wants to do is go off and do Chekov in some small regional
theatre but people kept throwing millions his way to write action scripts.
He was also in "As Good As It Gets" and he played my partner in Robocop3. But
he actually isn't "turning" to acting. And thank God for that -- no DeNiro he.
Dwayne Conyers
news:20011226134241...@mb-mg.aol.com...
> Success at any price is over-priced.
Well, remember Curley's famous words to Moe:
If at first you don't succeed... keep on suckin' till you do succeed. Nyuk,
nyuk, nyuk...
=====================
Vom feuer schmeckt es besser
http://www.dwacon.com
Shlockhack
and so did quentin tarantino, for a while.