This Savage Art

In an effort to regain, uh, something, AMC Theaters are offering full ticket refunds for Cinderella Man. I always said I would like to see Hollywood back up its product with a money back guarantee. Not that I think this will be a trend in any way, shape or form. It’s just a ploy to get asses in the seats for the big 4th of July weekend. Though it does bring attention to the fact that there is a huge void where quality films used to be.

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Who in a million years would have ever thought Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant would be used as a metaphor for Iraq?

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Yeah, so Friday I turned 38. Reflections? I am a very nostalgic person by nature. Even my memories of the most horrific moments of my life make me look back with the fond reflection of someone who escaped the lava flow at Pompeii and didn’t become one of those statue people. Sure, I bitch like everyone does. I wish I had enough F you money to privately finance my own projects and deal with none of this starving artist bullshit. Truth is, I have a good life with a great woman who supports what I do. That’s a lot to ask for and I got it. Her gift to me was to take me out to dinner, my choice, and to see the stage production of Glengarry Glen Ross. I was dying for BBQ so we went to this place, Spanky’s near the theater. Good BBQ. In fact too good. I always need a nap after BBQ like that and now I had to hear Mamet’s words coming out of the mouths of this stellar cast. I’ve seen the film a number of times which is a part of my DVD collection. The play is a different animal from the same species. It is a before and an after. Before the break in of this purgatory that is a real estate office and after. The film fills in the blanks a little more. The film’s setting, New York. Brooklyn I think. Not that it matters, it could be any large city. The play, Chicago. That’s where we come in. Accents thick, dialogue chewed up and spit out. Mamet truly at the top of his game. This is the one he will be remembered for, taking the baton from Arthur Miller. All the bile and desperation still kept intact from this very capable cast, Liev Schreiber, Alan Alda, Jeffrey Tambor, Frederick Weller, Tom Wopat and Jordan Lage. This isn’t a review just an acknowledgement that profound work does exist, you just have to find it.

Thank you for the gift Linda.

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I would encourage anyone making a film to go union in the talent department. Union actors have a better idea of how a set is run, where they need to be and training that will benefit the quality of your performances. They are professionals. When I made my last short film I was using non-union actors except for one. It turned out because he was SAG and I did want him for my film I needed to sign an agreement with SAG. In the end I went with AFTRA but now it looks like SAG got it together and made our lives a little easier.

Effective July 1, 2005, thanks in part to input from independent filmmakers and actors, the SAG Low Budget Agreements will be modified to make it even easier to work with professional actors.

A new agreement specifically designed for Short Films.
Increased budget caps.
Elimination or reduction of step-up fees.
New production incentives.
For the first time, sample copies of all the Low Budget Agreements are available to download.

Go here to find out more.

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I recently got a request for a logline for The Face of the Earth. The logline can be seen here. Here’s a short synopsis;

A Friday night like any other Friday night. Is it? Something under the surface has been tearing John apart. A traumatic past that he struggles with every day has left him a shell of a man. The only one John can confide in is Cicci, a working class thug whose volatile nature has made it almost impossible for him to integrate into society. No one understands Cicci. No one except John. He has saved his friend on numerous occasions but tonight it is John who needs saving.

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The new state-of-the-art cinemas with luxurious seating and featuring High-Def digital and 35mm projection opens today at 325 Sixth Avenue, the site of the old Waverly Theater.

What I like about what they are trying to do here is cater to the audience. The New York audience. The multiplexes have made the film going experience about as moving as sorting through your bills. I think there is a concerted effort here to make it all encompassing by programming classics with indie with foreign with art house and cult movies. With a strong advisory board (Noah Cowan, Alfonso Cuaron, Rick Linklater, Rebecca Miller, Errol Morris, John Sayles, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh, Cynthia Swartz, Dan Talbot and Gary Winick) the IFC Center is vying for the much coveted premiere independent entertainment space in NYC. A great feature is they will have guest programmers and special celebrity programmed evenings. Author Jonathan Lethem is planning to present “King Of Comedy” and “Ace in the Hole” on July 7 while Filmmaker David Gordon Green has slotted “Jeremiah Johnson” and “Thunderbolt And Lightfoot” for August 8.

The center has come to fruition with some flack though. Questions of independence and audience loyalty have risen when given the parent company is corporate entity Cablevision. This and protests against the IFC’s use of non-union projectionists at the facility have launched some skepticism about where the center’s heart is at. I guess it’s a matter of time but I wish it well and hope these issues can be worked out. The New York film community needs a place like this to keep it vital.

Oh yeah, no commercials.

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I woke up a little bleary eyed this morning to find a pleasant surprise. No, not a message from Jane Rosenthal and Bobby D on my answering machine but some praise from Dave Anaxagoras over at Man Bytes Hollywood.

Dave has been extremely helpful with the technical aspects of blogging along with all questions related to screenwriting. I found this very generous especially coming from a guy whose pressure cooker lifestyle finishing two original screenplay drafts in order to graduate from the MFA program at UCLA left him with no time. Just by reading his blog I felt the stress. I don’t know how he found the time but thanks again Dave. It goes back to my theory that the truly talented are not stingy with their talent. So right back at cha, guy!

Also a thanks to everyone who visits the site. I hope to keep everything current and helpful. I found a community among fellow bloggers, some full blown professional screenwriters and some aspiring. The blogosphere is the here and now. Books can give you information but this is an open dialogue with others who have been there or who are going there. No matter how you cut it we are all here to make films. this savage art… is geared for the writer/director because it is what I am striving for. A dying breed in my eyes. It’s important for me to keep my skills sharp, grow and build relationships and this is part of that process. Right now I’m focusing on writing but hopefully I will go into other phases of development in the near future.

Again, thanks to everyone.

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Recently I was surfing online and I came across a link to something related to Tom Fontana, the writer and creator of Oz and writer of other shows like St. Elsewhere and Homicide:Life on the Street.

It triggered something in my mind. I remember seeing some profile on Fontana and his headquarters somewhere in the West Village, I think. He went into his writing process and how he creates characters. I couldn’t remember the content of the questions so I e-mailed him. I thought it was an amusing and helpful approach;

William -

Head, heart, balls: “How does he/she think? What does he/she believe? Feel? Who does he/she want to fuck?”

Hope that helps!

Tom Fontana

Human nature, gotta love it.

You can find his personal website here.

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Recently, I posted a couple of questions into the blogosphere and was lucky enough to get responses. Jon Deer over at The Thinking Writer helped me out in a timely manner with regards to the legal matters that are involved when you are interviewing someone for a screenplay. As did Craig Mazin from The Artful Writer with my other inquiry on the typical turnaround time of a screenplay under WGA terms. Thanks to both for their professional guidance.

Q: When interviewing a subject for a screenplay do you need to take any legal precautions like having the subject sign a waiver before you start that process to protect yourself from any future litigation?

A: The Thinking Writer

Q: In an ongoing quest to improve my skills as a screenwriter I have planned to write my next project under a strict timeline. I want it to reflect what it would be like if I was in the real world, getting paid, on an assignment. Of course I won’t have the real world challenges of a producer giving me notes but I want to see if I can do it. A test. A challenge if you will. So my question is, what is the typical turnaround time for a screenplay in WGA terms? As in delivery of treatment, first draft, rewrites and final draft. Is it all negotiable or is it written in stone?

A: The Artful Writer

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