Spirit Winners

BEST FEATURE
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” -- Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey and Josh Penn
“Bernie” -- Producers: Liz Glotzer, Richard Linklater, David McFadzean, Dete Meserve, Judd Payne, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Ginger Sledge, Matt Williams
“Keep the Lights On” -- Producers: Marie Therese Guirgis, Lucas Joaquin, Ira Sachs
“Moonrise Kingdom” -- Producers: Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, Scott Rudin
WINNER: “Silver Linings Playbook” -- Producers: Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon

BEST SCREENPLAY
Wes Anderson – “Moonrise Kingdom”
WINNER: David O. Russell – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Ira Sachs – “Keep the Lights On”
Zoe Kazan – “Ruby Sparks”
Martin McDonagh – “Seven Psychopaths”

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY 
WINNER: Derek Connolly – “Safety Not Guaranteed”
Rama Burshstein – “Fill the Void”
Christopher Ford – “Robot & Frank”
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack – “Celeste and Jesse Forever”
Jonathan Lisecki – “Gayby”


BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson – “Moonrise Kingdom”
WINNER: David O. Russell – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Julia Loktev – “The Loneliest Planet”
Ira Sachs – “Keep the Lights On”
Benh Zeitlin – “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

BEST FIRST FEATURE
“Fill the Void” -- Director: Rama Burshtein; Producer: Assaf Amir
“Gimme the Loot” -- Director: Adam Leon; Producers: Dominic Buchanan, Natalie Difford, Jamund Washington
“Safety Not Guaranteed” -- Director: Colin Trevorrow; Producer: Derek Connolly, Stephanie Langhoff, Peter Saraf, Colin Trevorrow,MarcTurtletaub
“Sound of My Voice” -- Director: Zal Batmanglij; Producers: Brit Marling, Hans Ritter, Shelley Surpin
WINNER: “The Perks of Being a Wallfower” -- Director: Stephen Chbosky; Producers: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
“Breakfast with Curtis” -- Writer/Director/Producer: Laura Colella
WINNER:  “Middle of Nowhere” -- Writer/Director/Producer: Ava DuVernay; Producers: Howard Barish, Paul Garnes
“Mosquita y Mari” -- Writer/Director:  Aurora Guerrero; Producer: Chad Burris
“Starlet” -- Writer/Director: Sean Baker; Producers: Blake Ashman-Kipervaser, Kevin Chinoy, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach,FrancescaSilvestri
“The Color Wheel” -- Writer/Director/Producer: Alex Ross Perry; Writer: Carlen Altman Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Linda Cardinelli – “Return”
Emayatzy Corinealdi – “Middle of Nowhere”
WINNER:  Jennifer Lawrence – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Quvenzhane Wallis – “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Mary Elizabeth Winstead – “Smashed”

BEST MALE LEAD
Jack Black – “Bernie”
Bradley Cooper – “Silver Linings Playbook”
WINNER: John Hawkes – “The Sessions”
Matthew McConaughey – “Killer Joe”
Wendell Pierce – “Four”
Thure Lindhardt – “Keep the Lights On”

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Rosemarie DeWitt – “Your Sister's Sister”
Ann Dowd – “Compliance”
WINNER:  Helen Hunt – “The Sessions”
Brit Marling – “Sound of My Voice”
Lorraine Toussant – “Middle of Nowhere”

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
WINNER:  Matthew McConaughey – “Magic Mike”
David Oyelowo – “Middle of Nowhere”
Michael Pena – “End of Watch”
Sam Rockwell – “Seven Psychopaths”
Bruce Willis – “Moonrise Kingdom”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Yoni Brook – “Valley of Saints”
Lol Crawley – “Here”
WINNER:  Ben Richardson – “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Roman Vasyanov – “End of Watch”
Robert Yeoman – “Moonrise Kingdom”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“How to Survive a Plague” -- Director: David France; Producers: David France, Howard Gertler
“Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present” -- Director: Matthew Akers; Producers: Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre
“The Central Park Five” -- Directors/Producers: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
WINNER:  “The Invisible War” -- Director: Kirby Dick; Producers: Tanner King Barklow, Amy Ziering
“The Waiting Room” -- Director/Producer: Peter Nicks; Producers: Linda Davis, William B. Hirsch

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
WINNER:  “Amour” -- Director: Michael Haneke
“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia” -- Director:  Nuri Bilge Ceylan
“Rust and Bone” -- Director: Jacques Audiard
“Sister” -- Director: Ursula Meier
“War Witch” -- Director: Kim Nguyen

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
“Nobody Walks” -- Producer: Alicia Van Couvering
“Prince Avalanche” -- Producer: Derrick Tseng
WINNER:  “Stones in the Sun” -- Producer: Mynette Louie

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
“Pincus” -- Director: David Fenster
WINNER:  “Gimme the Loot” -- Director: Adam Leon
“Electrick Children” -- Director: Rebecca Thomas

 TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
“Leviathan” -- Directors: Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel
WINNER:  “The Waiting Room” -- Director: Peter Nicks
“Only the Young” -- Directors: Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
WINNER: “Starlet” -- Director: Sean Baker; Casting Director: Julia Kim; Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone

- Bill

Lancelot Link: Oscar Edition

Lancelot Link Thursday! The Oscars are Sunday... do you have your gown picked out, yet? Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are six cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) Inspiration From 17 Film Professionals.

2) Making PULP FICTION. (oh, that third writer-director was Adam Rifkin, you'd think these guys would have done 5 seconds of research before writing the article).

3) Budgets For All Of This Year's Oscar Nominees.

4) The Producer Has Some Notes...

5) New Wordplay Column! Awesome piece on revealing information rather than just dumping it on the audience... and the Rules Of Gremlins.

6) Santa Barbara Film Festival Writer's Panel.

And the car chase of the week!



- Bill

WGA Awards Winners

Here are the winners of the Writers Guild Awards...

MOTION PICTURES

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Zero Dark Thirty, Written by Mark Boal

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo, Screenplay by Chris Terrio; Based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Searching for Sugar Man, Written by Malik Bendjelloul.

TELEVISION

DRAMA Series
Breaking Bad, Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett

COMEDY SERIES
Louie, Written by Pamela Adlon, Vernon Chatman, Louis C.K.

NEW SERIES
Girls, Written by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, Lena Dunham, Sarah Heyward, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jenni Konner, Deborah Schoeneman, Dan Sterling

EPISODIC DRAMA
Mad Men, Written by Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner – “The Other Woman”

LONG FORM – ORIGINAL
Hatfields & McCoys, Teleplay by Ted Mann and Ronald Parker, Story by Bill Kerby and Ted Mann, Nights Two and Three

LONG FORM – ADAPTED
Game Change, Written by Danny Strong, Based on the book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann

EPISODIC COMEDY
Modern Family: “Virgin Territory” – Written by Elaine Ko

COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) – SERIES
Portlandia, Writers: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Karey Dornetto, Jonathan Krisel, Bill Oakley

CHILDREN’S – EPISODIC & SPECIALS
Sesame Street: “The Good Sport” – Written by Christine Ferraro

CHILDREN’S – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL
Girl vs. Monster, Teleplay by Annie DeYoung and Ron McGee, Story by Annie DeYoung.

Congratulations to all of the writers!

And I've had a new addition to the family!

BRAND NEW!

*** ACT TWO SECRETS *** - For Kindle!

Expanded version with more techniques to help you through the desert of Act Two! Subjects Include: What Is Act Two? Inside Moves, The 2 Ps: Purpose & Pacing, The 4Ds: Dilemma, Denial, Drama and Decision, Momentum, the Two Act Twos, Subplot Prisms, Deadlines, Drive, Levels Of Conflict, Escalation, When Act Two Begins and When Act Two Ends, Scene Order, Bite Sized Pieces, Common Act Two Issues, Plot Devices For Act Two, and dozens of others. Over 67,000 words (that’s well over 200 pages) of tools and techniques to get you through the desert of Act Two alive! Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is well over 200 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

- Bill

Lancelot Link: A Good Day To Link

Lancelot Link Thursday! Happy VD! Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are three cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) Return Of The Spec Market?

2) What's It Like To Be A Screenwriter?

3) QT Goes To The DOGS.

This week's Car Chase...



- Bill

Lancelot Link: The Jar Jar Saga!

Lancelot Link Thursday! Post Superbowl Hangover? Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are six cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) Erik Bork (BANK OF BROTHERS) on Inciting Incidents.

2) Edgar Wright on ANT MAN.

3) STAR WARS: THE JAR JAR BINKS SAGA (three films) gets a greenlight!

4) Dave Clary on Harry Potter.

5) Oldie But Goodie: AFI's 100 Movie Quotes.

6) Free Book on why JOHN CARTER tanked.

And this week's car chase...



- Bill

Lancelot Link: Into Darkness

Lancelot Link Thursday! Last day of January! Where did the month go? Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are eight cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) STAR TREK behind the scenes.

2) PAPERMAN animated short.

3) Nic Cage's SUPERMAN movie mystery.

4) Winners at Sundance:

Grand Jury Prize, U.S. Dramatic: "Fruitvale," directed by Ryan Coogler.

Grand Jury Prize, U.S. Documentary: "Blood Brother," directed by Steve Hoover.

Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Dramatic: "Jiseul" (South Korea), directed by Muel O.

Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Documentary: "A River Changes Course" (Cambodia/U.S.), directed by Kalyanee Mam.

Audience Award, U.S. Dramatic: "Fruitvale," directed by Ryan Coogler.

Audience Award, U.S. Documentary: "Blood Brother," directed by Steve Hoover.

Audience Award, World Cinema Dramatic: "Metro Manila" (UK/Philippines), directed by Sean Ellis.

Audience Award, World Cinema Documentary: "The Square" (Egypt/USA), directed by Jehane Noujaim.

Best of Next (audience award): "This Is Martin Bonner," directed by Chad Hartigan.

Audience Award, Short Film: "Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?", directed by Jason Willis.

Directing Award, U.S. Dramatic: Jill Soloway, "Afternoon Delight."

Directing Award, U.S. Documentary: Zachary Heinzerling, "Cutie and the Boxer."

Directing Award, World Cinema Dramatic: Sebastian Silva, "Crystal Fairy" (Chile).

5) 25 Odd Things About Stallone.

6) The Joys Of Creation!

7) Leonard Maltin - NOT nominated for an Oscar?

8) Remember that cool poster?

Car chase of the week:



BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN - one of my favorite films you've never heard of. Mark Stevens (DARK CORNER) and Edmond O'Brien (DOA) are patrol car cops who work the graveyard shift and sleep during the day. Both fall in love with the same woman - their sexy-voiced dispatcher. I really liked the idea of a movie where the character's days and nights are swapped, since I worked graveyards at Safeway Grocery for a couple of years.

- Bill

Same Old Song

A couple of days ago my friend Harry wrote a blog entry on why he would not be using crowdfunding to continue his 20 PALACES series of novels. I am a huge fan of the series, and have run banners here on the blog for the books when I probably should have been running banners for my own books. Harry is a great guy, hard working, and eventually wrote a book that Random House thought was going to be the next big thing in the Urban Fantasy genre. They gave Harry a three book deal and deadlines for the next two in the series, and also a big fat check. Awesome! Though the books sold okay, they were not the NEXT BIG THING and Random House opted not to continue the series. Harry had a prequel novel written, so he ended up self-publishing that... and it sold okay to his loyal fans. Traditional publishing has kind of become like the motion picture business - the middle has dropped out. Everyone is looking for the big tentpole hit, not the book that sells okay.

Well, Harry’s 20 PALACES series has a very loyal fan base (I’m part of that) and many of his fans have suggested that Harry could easily continue the series through crowdfunding and make okay money selling the 20 PALACES novels to the loyal fans. That what sells “okay” for Random House is actually pretty good for just a writer. That’s an interesting idea - and I’m sure many writers with mid-range series who have been dropped by their publishers because their books aren’t tentpoles are doing just that (or some variation). But Harry decided not to, and explains it in his blog entry. Though 20 PALACES may not be the next big thing, *Harry* can still be the next big thing. Harry’s goal is to be Stephen King - a traditionally published writer with a growing fan base. *Lots* of people who can’t wait for his next book. Hey, that might make Harry sound vain, so let me say that is the opposite of Harry. Read his blog - he’s the most down to Earth person in the world. Harry believes in himself and believes he can write the Next Big Thing... but that thing seems not to be 20 PALACES... so he’s trying new things.

And that is awesome.

Even though 20 PALACES is a success - how many of us would kill for a three book deal with Random House? - and Harry could continue to write books in that series and make a living, he sees something better on the horizon... and is going for it.

He's taking the next step up.

SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

One of the problems with the Hollywood culture of sequels and reboots is that it’s all about the sure thing instead of the next big thing. They have taken the gamble out of the process - so they can not win. A hit film spawns a hit sequel - and people who loved the first film will buy a ticket for the second film just to relive the experience of the first film. But if that sequel is a lesser experience? The *third* film suffers. We’ve had a lot of third film flops of late, because the thing that usually makes the first film a hit is that it is *different* and new... and the studio often decides not to change the formula and the sequel ends up a search-and-replace version of the first film. Problem there is: a major part of what made the first film successful is that it was different. The better plan is to look at what makes the first film successful and copy that - which includes that it was different. When we look at second films that were successful and *continue* to be successful, like ALIENS, they have taken elements of the first film and added new and different elements to make the second film. It’s all of the great stuff from ALIEN *plus*.  Just doing a cut-and-paste job without adding something fresh and different is all of the great stuff from the first film *minus*, and that’s no way to run a successful business.

As screenwriters we can easily get stuck in a rut. That might even be a successful rut - we may be making a living writing screenplays but seem to hit a brick wall. (Um, this may apply to me.) What we need to do is continue experimenting. Continue learning and expanding and trying new things. We don’t want to become complacent. We don’t want to *not* write the Next Big Thing because we have this current thing working. In fact, when things are working is the exact time to experiment - there’s a certain degree of safety. One of the main complaints I hear from friends who have managers is that they often strike down their experiments - focusing on the sure thing instead of the Next Big Thing. *Mistake!* Since a writer can just write another screenplay, why not let the client take some interesting chances every once in a while? I’m not talking about some wild-ass weird script (though, nothing wrong with writing one if it’s burning inside of you and needs to get out), I’m talking about searching for the Next Big Thing. Something that fits a market, but is different than anything in the market now. Something, you know, *creative*.  If everyone is writing DIE HARD IN A — , maybe it would be fun to write an epic adventure quest? That may not be what is selling this minute, but might be exactly what everyone wants one minute from now?

One of my stupid little jokes is that the world is revolving even when I sleep, so sometimes I wake up and don’t know where I am. We have to run to catch up with our spinning world. We need to be creative and innovative to survive. If we do the same thing all of the time, the world still spins and we become old fashioned.

We need to step up.

THAT’S NOT MUSIC, IT’S JUST NOISE!

Imagine you are a rock star.

Groupies. Limos. Trashing hotels. Millions of fans.

You are the hottest name in music in the world today.

But what about tomorrow?

Music is one of the fastest evolving art forms on the planet. The music I loved as a teenager sounds silly today... but at the time was too radical for my parent’s generation. And the music my parents listen to as teenagers was too radical for *their* parent’s generation. This has probably been going on since the beginning of time. What is interesting is how each generation’s music *builds* on the last generation’s music. This year’s sound isn’t something out of the blue, it’s based on what was popular last year - just changed. No one is inventing a new type of music, but music is *evolving*. Every “new” type of music has its roots in some earlier type of music which had its roots in some even earlier type of music. As the world spins, music keeps moving to keep up with it. When you watch BACK TO THE FUTURE and hear the music that Marty’s parents first danced to... that’s completely different than the music we listen to now. But if you were to listen to music one year at a time (do they still have those Top 10 Hits of 1976 compilations where you can hear the Top 10 from every single year? Or have those gone the way of CDs?), you can see how gradual changes add up to what seems like radical changes. Why an old fart hears today’s music and thinks it’s just noise. The innovative steps are small, but they add up over a couple of decades. That search to find the Next Big Thing in music just keeps moving along... even while we sleep!

Music is not complacent. It is not satisfied with being okay. It is always trying to be better - to explore - to find that new sound that is the breakthrough (for this year or generation... but the world is still spinning!). As creators, we can become trapped in what sounds good today... or what sounded good when we were at that dance in High School, and stop being creative. We can stick with what works *now* and forget that the world spins even while we sleep. Tomorrow really is another day!

NEW YEAR, NEW IDEAS

If you’re read the IDEAS BLUE BOOK or been on some message board where I went on a rant after reading your script idea, you know that my biggest issue is *creativity*. Often writers want to write the exact same idea that has been done before. They want to copy instead of create. They want to find the easy way instead of the best way. The IDEAS BLUE BOOK has assignments - kind of like games - to get your creativity rolling. To help you see that there are other routes to the same destination - routes we haven’t seen before on film. It’s a new year which is always a good excuse to hit the “reset button” on our lives and careers and dreams.

Success in screenwriting or any kind of creative endeavor isn’t some door that will open for you or some wall that you climb over - it’s more like a series of steps... going up. Not those easy steps that go down where gravity *helps* you, the ones going up where gravity fights you every single step. One of the first blog entries I did was on my trip to Honk Kong to teach at the Hong Kong Film Academy - and after a day of sight seeing I walked up the steps that go from “ground level” city central up the side of the danged mountain to the condo I was staying at that overlooked the city. It almost killed me! One step up after another! At some point, you just want to stop on one of the landings and take a nap - maybe just spend the night there. But there is a bed in that condo - way up there - so you keep climbing. That is screenwriting. A bunch of steps going up a damned mountain. You may get to one level and stop to rest - but if you rest too long you will lose some momentum. You have to keep climbing. There is no magic point where you have broken in and can stop climbing... because there is always more mountain. When you get to that level where you are higher than everyone else - remember that they are still climbing and if you rest too long they will pass you! Plus, just like with music, screenwriting is evolving and changing - and you may find yourself playing 1940s ballads at a rave. Old fashioned. Out of touch.

So, what is your next step?

What are you reaching for this year... that is just slightly out of your grasp?

What is your challenge?

What are you learning how to do?

How are you working to become better than you are now?

We’re all climbing those stairs - even the people ahead of you are climbing (or should be). Take it one step at a time - but keep climbing. You’ll get there... and then have to keep climbing to get to the next “there”!

I can't wait to read what Harry comes up with next!

- Bill

Countdown to PARKER

Okay, I'm back!

After returning from the holidays I got swamped with a pile of things - and pulled a muscle in my back. Oh, and it was (literally) freezing cold in Los Angeles... which makes me want to stay in bed and watch movies and drink cocoa. The main thing I did was see HOW DO YOU WRITE A JOE SCHERMANN SONG (winner at Raindance) again at a cinema just down the street from me - Los Angeles Premiere. Director Gary King and uber-cute star Christina Rose and that actor who made me cry twice with his performance Mark DiConzo and composer Ken Lampl flew in from New York and did Q&A afterwards, then we all went across the street to the Federal Bar. Oh, Victoria Westcott producer of TRAPPED IN A GARAGE BAND also showed up... from Canada. I rode my bike, she probably flew (though I once drove to Vancouver - so that's possible). The movie was great the second time around, and it was great to meet Mark (who wasn't in London for Raindance). A few days later my parents blew through town... and I've been trying to get this Act Two Blue Book finished...

My New Year's Resolution was to write more blog entries - and so far I seem to have failed. But I promise some new stuff is coming - including some new Fridays With Hitchcocks... I hope to finish them off this year and start on something new.

But Friday, a new film comes out... PARKER starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez and directed by *Taylor Hackford*. Oh, and based on a book by my favorite writer, Don Westlake (in his Richard Stark disguise). This is *not* a filmed update of PARKER LEWIS CAN'T LOSE, it's a crime drama from the same series as POINT BLANK with Lee Marvin. So, I'm excited by that.

In the planning stages is the First Ten Pages Blue Book, and one of the new articles is going to be about the first *sentence* in your screenplay. The Parker novels always began with a great first sentence... so here they are:

FIRST LINES FROM STARK'S PARKER NOVELS:

Hunter (1962): "When a fresh-faced guy in a Chevy offered him a lift, Parker told him to go to hell."

The Man With the Getaway Face (1963): "When the bandages came off, Parker looked in the mirror at a stranger."



The Outfit (1963): "When the woman screamed, Parker awoke and rolled off the bed."

The Mourner (1963): "When the guy with the asthma finally came in from the fire escape, Parker rabbit-punched him and took his gun away."

The Score (1964): "When the bellboy left, Parker went over to the house phone and made his call."

The Jugger (1965): "When the knock came at the door, Parker was just turning to the obituary page."

The Handle (1966): "When the engine stopped, Parker came up on deck for a look around."



The Seventh (1966): "When he didn't get any answer the second time he knocked, Parker kicked the door in."

The Rare Coin Score (1967): "Parker spent two weeks on the white sand beach at Biloxi, and on a white sandy bitch named Belle, but he was restless, and one day without thinking about it he checked out and sent a forwarding address to Handy McKay and moved on to New Orleans."

The Green Eagle Score (1967): "Parker looked in at the beach and there was a guy in a black suit standing there, surrounded by all the bodies in bathing suits."

The Black Ice Score (1968): "Parker walked into his hotel room, and there was a guy in there going through his suitcase laid out on his bed."

The Sour Lemon Score (1969): "Parker put the revolver away and looked out the windshield."



Deadly Edge (1971): "Up here, the music was just a throbbing under the feet, a distant pulse."

Slayground (1971): "Parker jumped out of the Ford with a gun in one hand and the packet of explosive in the other."

Plunder Squad (1972): "Hearing the click behind him, Parker threw his glass straight back over his right shoulder, and dove off his chair to the left."

Butcher's Moon (1974): "Running toward the light, Parker fired twice over his left shoulder, not caring whether he hit anything or not."

Child Heist (1974) (a Parker book they read in the Dortmunder novel Jimmy the Kid): "When the guard came to open the cell door, Parker said to the big man named Krauss, 'Come see me next week when you get out.'"

Comeback (1997): "When the angel opened the door, Parker stepped first past the threshold into the darkness of the cinder block corridor beneath the stage."



Backflash (1998): "When the car stopped rolling, Parker kicked out the rest of the windshield and crawled through onto the wrinkled hood, Glock first."

Flashfire (2000): "When the dashboard clock read 2:40, Parker drove out of the drugstore parking lot and across the sunlit road to the convenience store/gas station."

Firebreak (2001): "When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."

Breakout (2002) : "When the alarm went off, Parker and Armiston were far to the rear of the warehouse, Armiston with the clipboard, checking off the boxes they'd want."

Nobody Runs Forever (2004): "When he saw that the one called Harbin was wearing a wire, Parker said, 'Deal me out a hand,' and got to his feet."

Ask the Parrot (2006): "When the helicopter swept northward and lifted out of sight over the top of the hill, Parker stepped away from the tree he'd waited beside and continued his climb."

Dirty Money (2008): "When the silver Toyota Avalon bumped down the dirt road out of the woods and across the railroad tracks, Parker put the Infiniti into low and stepped out onto the gravel."

Great stuff, huh? PARKER is based on the novel Flashfire, where Parker pulls a robbery with a crew he has never worked with before... then gets stiffed when they tell him this robbery was just to get the money to do the next robbery... and they need his share. So, Parker pulls a string of small robberies to make enough money to go after these guys to get the money they owe him. In the book (though - it doesn't look like they're doing this in the movie) Parker has to play a role as a trust fund idiot in order to blend into Palm Beach society... which is great fun in the book, since this is the opposite of Parker's personality.

One of the great things about the Parker books is that they are all armed robberies, and all completely different. Probably four or five deal with armored car robberies - and each is done differently and has a completely different story. How Westlake could take the same situation and find an original way to do it again and again is a great example of creativity and originality. Could you come up with five *completely different* ways to rob a bank?

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Sundance Film Fest & Indie Films
Yesterday’s Dinner: Carnitas burrito @ Chipotle, black beans, brown rice.
Pages: Working on the Act Two Blue Book!

Oscars: Who and what got snubbed?

So who got snubbed... and who didn't deserve a nomination?

I'm excited that BUZKASHI BOYS was nominated due to winning Best Short at the Raindance Film Festival (where I saw it). Great film!

Best Picture:
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Lincoln"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Amour"
"Django Unchained"
"Argo"

Best Original Screenplay:
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Django Unchained"
"Moonrise Kingdom"
"Amour"
"Flight"

Best Adapted Screenplay:
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"
Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Alan Arkin, "Argo"
Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"

Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Field, "Lincoln"
Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"
Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"
Amy Adams, "The Master"

Best Director:
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"
Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"
Michael Haneke, "Amour"
Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Actor:
Daniel Day Lewis, "Lincoln"
Denzel Washington, "Flight"
Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"
Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"

Best Actress:
Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"
Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Animated Feature:
"Frankenweenie"
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"
"Wreck-It Ralph"
"Paranorman"
"Brave"

Best Foreign Feature:
"Amour"
"A Royal Affair"
"Kon-Tiki"
"No"
"War Witch"

Best Visual Effects:
"Life of Pi"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"The Avengers"
"Prometheus"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Cinematography:
"Skyfall"
"Anna Karenina"
"Django Unchained"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"

Best Costume Design:
"Anna Karenina"
"Les Miserables"
"Lincoln"
"Mirror Mirror"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Documentary Feature:
"Searching for Sugar Man"
"How to Survive a Plague"
"The Gatekeepers"
"5 Broken Cameras"
"The Invisible War"

Best Documentary Short:
"Open Heart"
"Inocente"
"Redemption"
"Kings Point"
"Mondays at Racine"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Film Editing:
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Life of Pi"
"Argo"
"Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
"Hitchcock"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Miserables"

Best Music (Original Score):
"Anna Karenina"
"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"

Best Music (Original Song):
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
"Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
"Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"

Best Production Design:
"Anna Karenina"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Misérables"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"

Best Short Film, Animated:
"Adam and Dog"
"Fresh Guacamole"
"Head over Heels"
"Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare'"
"Paperman"

Best Short Film, Live Action:
"Asad"
"Buzkashi Boys"
"Curfew"
"Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)"
"Henry"

Best Sound Editing:
"Argo"
"Django Unchained"
"Life of Pi"
"Skyfall"
"Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Sound Mixing:
"Argo"
"Les Misérables"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"

- Bill

Lancelot Link: Happy New Year!

Lancelot Link Thursday! Happy New Year! I hope this is a great year for you - and that you sell a big one! Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are eight cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) Pulp Novel Covers!

2) Lowest Grossing Film of 2012?

3) Old Paramount Map Of Los Angeles Look Alike Locations.

4) Special Effects Guy Arrested As Psycho... But It Was Just His Demo Work!

5) Whatever Happened To Hollywood Endings?

6) William Monahan on Dialogue.

7) LOOPER Prrof Of Concept Trailer.

8) Writer I know makes the Black List... and ends up in every newspaper and magazine in the world!

And the car chase of the week!



CLEOPATRA JONES.

- Bill

These Films Are Treasures

Every year the United States National Film Registry selects 25 films of artistic merit, and this year DIRTY HARRY made the cut along with THE MATRIX. These films have been judged as important works of cinematic art, and will be preserved for future generations. Here are this year's 25 GREAT films...

* "3:10 to Yuma" (1957)

* "Anatomy of a Murder" (1959)

* "The Augustas" (1930s-1950s)

* "Born Yesterday" (1950)

* "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961)

* "A Christmas Story" (1983)

* "The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Title Fight" (1897)

* "Dirty Harry" (1971)

* "Hours for Jerome: Parts 1 and 2" (1980-82)

* "The Kidnappers Foil" (1930s-1950s)

* "Kodachrome Color Motion Picture Tests" (1922)

* "A League of Their Own" (1992)

* "The Matrix" (1999)

* "The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair" (1939)

* "One Survivor Remembers" (1995)

* "Parable" (1964)

* "Samsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia" (1990)

* "Slacker" (1991)

* "Sons of the Desert" (1933)

* "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" (1937)

* "They Call It Pro Football" (1967)

* "The Times of Harvey Milk" (1984)

* "Two-Lane Blacktop" (1971)

* "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1914)

* "The Wishing Ring; An Idyll of Old England" (1914)

If  you have not seen the original 3:10 TO YUMA or TWO-LANE BLACKTOP or ANATOMY OF A MURDER, check them out... in fact, check out all of the titles on the list!

- Bill

HOW DO YOU WRITE A JOE SCHERMANN SONG? - in Los Angeles!

HOW DO YOU WRITE A JOE SCHERMANN SONG is coming to Los Angeles for one night only!

Wednesday, January 09, 7:30pm - 9:44pm
in North Hollywood, CA at Laemmle's Noho 7

TICKETS - CLICK HERE!

My RAINDANCE review...

The best film I’ve seen so far at Raindance. A combination indie film and big musical that reminded me of the old Warner Bros musicals from the 40s with Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler about struggling musicians trying to make it on Broadway. I don’t know whether the title gets in the way or becomes a novelty - but the film actually stars Joe Schermann as a struggling composer who dreams of writing big Broadway shows...  But is stuck teaching music, playing piano for auditions, and doing anything else music related to pay his half of the rent. Evey (Christina Rose) is his girlfriend, a struggling actress who also dreams of being on Broadway, but makes a living doing Princess Parties for bratty kids and any other crappy job to pay her half of the rent. All they need is a break, and as their mutual friend Gunther (Mark DiConzo) says, it only takes one person to change your life... one person to discover you and champion you and give you that boost that makes your dreams come true.

What is great about this film is that each character is in some way that one person to some other character.

As the couple struggles and hopes to meet that one person, Gunther lands a casting job for an Off Broadway Show in need of a composer and recommends Joe... but Joe doesn't want to write music for others, he wants to write his own music - and that causes some problems. The other problem - Joe meets an actress at an audition (Summer, played by Debbie Williams) and becomes infatuated with her... she is his new muse, and must hide this from Evey. When the Off Broadway Show gets closer to casting, Joe tells *Summer* that he will recommend her and tells Evey that she’s just not right for the role. Classic love triangle - but with great songs and all of the gritty real bits usually left out in Hollywood films. At times the film seems like Woody Allen’s ANNIE HALL in the way it looks at relationships in a very real (and complicated way). The film manages to be both a big fun musical and an Indie film where things don’t always end happily ever after.

The songs and dance numbers are amazing - and part of the story rather than tacked on as some afterthought, plus the acting is better than most Hollywood films, the production value is *amazing* for a film shot for next to nothing and financed through a Kickstarter campaign. And this film made me cry *twice* - one great scene where Joe wants to quit the Off Broadway job because they want him to mainstream his music, and Gunther talks about how he was a dancer on his way up until his knee injury and now his job is to audition *other* dancers who are doing what he loves... what he wishes he could still do. What would Joe do if he lost his hands and could no longer play the piano or write music? A *heartbreaker* of a scene, and so raw and real I dare you not to cry. The other scene that opened my tear ducts was when Evey storms out of their apartment after finding out about Summer and goes to Gunther’s apartment to cry on his shoulder... and we find out that Gunther is in love with her and has always been in love with her but she’s his best friend’s girl. This wasn't the Hollywood version of this scene, this was the messy real version.  In addition to those scenes there are dozens of great scenes that didn't make me cry, but did make feel big time. The film is an emotional rollercoaster that will have you under its spell days after you leave the cinema.

Oh, and plenty of great musical numbers that rival anything Hollywood has done. Songs that stick in your head and will have you humming them later. Every performance, every song, every dance number, every dramatic scene, every *shot* in this film is great. When we come to the big show stopper end song that cuts from character to character wherever they are in New York and then splits the screen to create duets - it’s just amazing. At the Q&A afterwards the director Gary King and star Christina Rose and producer Susie King said that their favorite musical movie was WEST SIDE STORY - and that’s what the last number reminded me of. This film was fantastic.



PS: And the winner is... HOW DO YOU WRITE A JOE SCHERMANN SONG won Best Feature Film Of The Festival! What was amusing is that Gary, Susie and Christina didn't even know they were nominated (the nominations weren't announced until a day before) and just happened to be in the audience... so they could accept their award. Gary joked that he would have dressed for the occasion. I loved this film, and these guys are the next big thing! Do you hear that, Hollywood?

- Bill

Hit List & Black List

It's that time of year again! Those lists of Best Screenplays.

We already have the Hit List - HIT LIST 2012 - and congratulations to two people I know personally (not just online) Dan and Emily!

The Black List is trying to frustrate the heck out of us, by releasing the list one script title at a time every hour Today on Twitter. THE BLACK LIST 2012.

- Bill

Lancelot Link: Free Screenplay Episode

Lancelot Link Thursday! It's Oscar Season and the For Your Consideration screenplays are starting to hit the internet! Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...

Because I screwed up and forgot to write a new entry - here's last week's with all of the screenplays.



Here are eight cool links plus this week's car chase...

1) Storyboards for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN!

2) Eric Heisserer on why you can't judge a script by its movie.

3) For Your Consideration: Universal Screenplays!

4) For Your Consideration: Weinstein Company Screenplays!

5) For Your Consideration: Focus Films Screenplays!

6) For Your Consideration: Lionsgate Screenplays!

7) For Your Consideration: Sony Screenplays!

8) For Your Consideration: Warner Bros (there was no link to screenplays when I posted this - they may show up later.)

Car chase of the week - oh the weather outside is frightful...



- Bill

FINALLY!

*** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Kindle!

*** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Nook!

Why pay $510 for a used version of the 240 page 2000 version that used to retail for $21.95? (check it out!) when you can get the NEW EXPANDED VERSION - over 500 pages - for just $9.99? New chapters, New examples, New techniques!

"SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING is the best book on the practical nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing a screenplay I've ever read." - Ted Elliott, co-writer of MASK OF ZORRO, SHREK, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and the sequels (with Terry Rossio). (ie; 4 of the top 20 Box Office Hits Of ALL TIME.)

Only $9.99 - and no postage!

Lancelot Link: Leftovers!

Lancelot Link Thursday! Thanksgiving is gone and the Holiday Season has hit the cinemas - so here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...





Here are four cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) Where Did They Shoot That Film?

2) Joshua James looks at the action scenes from all of the BOURNE movies - awesome!

3)Joss Whedon's Top 10 Writing Tips!

4)Hollywood Reporter's Director's Round Table.

Car Chase Of The Week... is on bicycles!



- Bill

My Online Class Nov 28th!

I'm doing an online class for Writer's Digest on November 28th @ 1pm on Your First Ten Pages - it's the class I just did in London (though I'm improving the heck out of it).

For more infor:
FIRST TEN PAGES CLASS

- Bill

Black Friday?

In the past I've had some Black Friday sales, but this will be the first year that SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING has been available as an e-book, and Amazon pretty much controls the price and promotions, so it's just regular price (which is over $500 less than the used price when it was still out of print). Makes a great gift - and Amazon can even send it as a gift for you.

You MUST Have This Book!

*** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Kindle!

*** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Nook!

Why pay $510 for a used version of the 240 page 2000 version that used to retail for $21.95? (check it out!) when you can get the NEW EXPANDED VERSION - over 500 pages - for just $9.99? New chapters, New examples, New techniques!

"SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING is the best book on the practical nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing a screenplay I've ever read." - Ted Elliott, co-writer of MASK OF ZORRO, SHREK, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and the sequels (with Terry Rossio). (ie; 4 of the top 20 Box Office Hits Of ALL TIME.)

Only $9.99 - and no postage!

If *you* don't have it, it makes a great self-gift!

And if you haven't sold the big one, yet - the Blue Books are only $2.99 each in their e-editions!

BRAND NEW!

*** SUPPORTING CHARACTER SECRETS *** - For Kindle! (Exclusive)

Expanded version with more techniques to flesh out your Supporting Characters and make them individuals. Using the hit movie BRIDESMAIDS as well as other comedies like THE HANGOVER and TED and HIGH FIDELITY and 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and many other examples we look at ways to make your Supporting Characters come alive on the page. Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is around 170 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

NEW!

*** VISUAL STORYTELLING *** - For Kindle! (exclusive)

Show Don't Tell - but *how* do you do that? Here are techniques to tell stories visually! Using the first Oscar Winner SUNRISE and Oscar Nominee THE ARTIST plus other Oscar Winners as examples... as well as RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is around 250 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage! (limited time price)

BEST SELLER!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Kindle!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Nook!

Expanded version with more ways to find great ideas! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

CHARACTERS!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Kindle!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Nook!

Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is once again around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

HOT AND NEW!

*** DIALOGUE SECRETS *** - For Kindle!

*** DIALOGUE SECRETS *** - For Nook!

Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is almost *200* pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

- Bill

Conquest Of The Planet Of Lancelot Link

Lancelot Link Thursday! Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are five cool links plus this week's car chase...

1) James Bond Statistics!

2) The Outline For RAGING BULL

3) Get Your Film Made In 29 Easy Steps (that mostly screw the writer)

4) 20 Brilliant Film Makers.

5) Hollywood Reporter's Writer's Round Table Interview.

How about a foot chase?



- Bill

Lancelot Link: Monkeys Strike Back!

Lancelot Link Thursday! The Presidential election is over, let the monkey business begin! Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...





Here are six cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) IMDB Top 250 in 2.5 minutes!

2) ARGO - the real movie behind the movie!

3) Our Favorite Movie Presidents

4) The 25 Must See Movies Of 2013.

5) Fastest Rising Stars In Hollywood!

6) Bad Notes - The Revenge

No Car Chase this week, how about the SKYFALL trailer...



- Bill

Lancelot Link: Book 2

Lancelot Link Thursday! Halloween is just around the corner - Saturday we begin the 13 Days Of Halloween on the blog. Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are five cool links plus this week's car chase...

1) Looper demo reel.

2) Short that lead to IN BRUGES.

3) The PROMETHIUS that never was.

4) ARGO screenwriter Chris Terrio interviewed.

5) The Brown List.

And the Car Chase Of The Week...



- Bill

Raindance: THE ASCENT

There is always one film in every fest that is cinematography porn: one amazing shot after another. This year that film was a thriller from Slovenia called THE ASCENT about a novelist with severe writer’s block due to all of the distractions in the city... whose editor owns some rural property which includes a really remote sheep ranch and the old village - before all but one family moved away. Plenty of room, nothing to do there - the writer decides to go there and finish his novel.

But once he gets there - he discovers that the locals aren’t like you and me. They are just as remote as the desolate and mostly abandoned village. They have odd customs. They are not friendly at all. And they *hate* city people. The family consists of an ultra-stern father, his overly intense son and his wife... and the mute and weird sister (who would be hot if she weren’t dressed for doing farm chores. Because these people are less than friendly, the writer begins spying on them to get an idea of what their lives are like... and what he sees is *weird*. They slaughter an entire flock of sheep - and bury them. No wool or meat from the dead sheep - and the sheep killing seems almost like a pagan ritual.  They have taken down all of the pictures and mirrors from inside the house, making it difficult for the writer to shave (the stern father and son have beards). Everything the writer does irritates them, and no matter how hard he tries to be nice to them - it always seems to backfire.

After he saves the epileptic daughter’s life when she has a seizure, the stern father softens a bit - explaining that he’s been testy since an illness hit most of his sheep and they were forced to kill the flock to prevent it from spreading... and asks the writer if he would read them a story from a book (none of them knows how to read) - the only book in the house is a Bible... and they have no idea what it is. They seem to either have no religion or some basic form of worshiping the earth...



But when the writer reads the story of Jesus, it brings religion to them in both good and bad ways.... with horrifying results. This film was so well shot that every frame was like a postcard. A beautiful film that creeped me out and built a great deal of tension.

- Bill

Raindance Awards Ceremony

My cameo starts around 8 minutes in.



- Bill

Raindance: A NIGHT TOO YOUNG

Very disturbing thriller-drama, and the great thing about a Film Fest is that the filmmakers were there after the showing to explain the genesis of the project. The original script was a standard coming of age story about two boys, and the director decided it might be interesting to subvert that genre by adding some adults to corrupt them. The result is a very creepy movie.

New Years Eve - two 12 year old boys are sleeding and watching fireworks and talking about girls and trying to figure out how sex might work (though, it sounds unlikely to one of the kids - a boy puts his thing *there*? Is sex about peeing?) When a pair of men and an attractive woman approach them and ask if they will run an errand for them. The attractive woman does the asking - will they go to the corner pub/liquor store and buy a liter of vodka? When the boys say they are too young, she asks one his mother’s name, then write a note from his mom saying she is buying the vodka for her. Then she gives the boys her apartment number and some money and walks away with the two men.

The two boys find they can’t buy the vodka with the note, but find a man who will buy for them as long as he gets a couple of drinks out of it. The two boys go back to the apartment and the attractive woman invites them inside. The boys think they might see some boobie and stick around. They kind of get more than they bargained for - the husband of the attractive woman wants her to sleep with his pal - and she’s not that interested... but maybe if she is drunk enough? One of the boys chugs a glass of vodka - and then begins projectile vomiting. Now the two kids are forced to stay - while the boy’s clothes are washed. As the adults play their games - the tension rises because there are two *kids* present. Oh, did I mention that the husband’s pal is a little crazy and torched a house not so long ago? And that they play the music so loud that a policeman comes... and the attractive woman invites him to stay for coffee even though they have basically kidnaped the two boys and there are all kinds of kinky sex games going on just under the surface?



A lot of tension is built, but the next morning the two boys are sent back to their mothers and the adults go on with their twisted lives. Parts of this film reminded me of a Curtis Harrington film called GAMES with a very young James Caan who plays mind games with his wife Katherine Ross... and when they add a strange neighbor Simon Signoret, the games may include murder. In NIGHT TOO YOUNG there is no murder - but no shortage of games that may turn violent at any moment. The two boys have a life altering event... but not in the usual coming of age movie way.

- Bill

Raindance: LOCKED IN A GARAGE BAND

One of the things that I love is when people I know make films that end up at festivals that invite me. I’ve known Jen Westcott online for years - she’s a screenwriter who has won some awards and had some scripts optioned and is right on the cusp of making it in the biz... but she decided not to wait for Hollywood to knock on her door, and with her sister put together a Kickstarter campaign and made their own damned film. At it played at Raindance! And Jen and her sister flew over to see the film on the big screen!

The genesis of the film was Dov Simons course on making your own movie and his advice to put a bunch of teenagers in a house and have a maniac chop them up.  Jen & Vic didn’t want to chop people up... but what else could they do with teenagers in a house? Jen came up with garage bands - and being trapped in the garage... and the story was born. So a garage band that is breaking up for all kinds of personal reasons ends up trapped in the garage when the power is cut and nobody knows how to open the automatic garage door manually.

The film is kind of BREAKFAST CLUBish - with a well drawn group of very different kids trapped in the garage together, forced to hash out all of their problems while waiting to be rescued. Of course, one has a couple of blunts in his pocket and even the square kids partake. There are also no shortage of bathroom jokes - as the only toilet they have is an empty can and the only privacy is a pup tent in storage. In fact, the garage as a location is a bit of genius as you find all sorts of interesting things to play with in storage - from stale Halloween candies to tools they might use to try and escape.

The various conflicts that need to be hashed out include Lead Singer Scott who has quit the group after spying his girlfriend fooling around with Lead Guitarist Richie, he’s shown up with his new girlfriend - enemy of everyone - in order to pick up his guitar on the way to an interview with a Business College.  Wacky drummer Schinder (source of the blunts) who has some new songs he’s written (and his songs suck - also he wants to change the band’s genre every week and lots of laughs come from his different costumes for each music genre), the Bass Player who has a twin brother who is in the Canadian version of ROTC and is ultra-strict, and Meadow the punk-goth girl who hates everything and everyone and has a sarcastic zinger for everything (I fell in love with her and you will, too), and new singer Abby who is the rich girl whose mother accused Meadow’s maid mom of stealing jewelry, got her fired, and ruined Meadow’s life. Two other characters are *outside* the garage and provide some laughs, Richie’s sister Lizzie who is a spelling bee champ, and Mr. Kaminski the old guy across the street who can not hear their cries for help because he’s vacuuming his driveway.

The film is lots of fun, but because there is no power we get almost no music - and when I first sat down in the cinema waiting to see a film about a garage band, I expected lots of music... and the location wears out its welcome a little too early.  We *do* get great background music - and here’s a stroke of genius on the part of the filmmakers: they went online and got songs from hundreds of unsigned garage bands all over the world, then selected the best songs for their sound track. Now one of the ways they are promoting the film is to take it the towns of each garage band on the sound track and do a screening with the band playing before and after. Because they were in London, we had the local garage band Van Susans on their soundtrack playing after the screening (and at Waxy’s Pub before the screening). It was a great experience - how many times does a garage band have a violin?



After the band’s music ended we retired to a local bar where Raindance had bought out the private downstairs section for a party that began in the afternoon and kept going until they kicked us out. I talked with Jen and Vic about the film, and how they reached that point where they decided to just make the movie and not wait for Hollywood to call. I think this is the big message from Raindance this year - if you are getting meetings and nibbles and it’s obvious that you are on the cusp... no reason to wait. Make the movie you want to make.

- Bill

Raindance: INDEBTED

From Finland - a crime drama about two women who could not be more different: a broke college student who is struggling to pay her bills, and a *tough* mob leg breaker who is sent in to collect debts. If Sam Fuller had written and directed Bergman’s PERSONA it might be this film!

Ellie (Heidi Linden) is a broke college girl who can’t even afford her own beers after class, and depends on the kindness of her friends. When the bills pile up she reluctantly pawns her grandmother’s necklace - a family heirloom - and now has two months to make enough money to buy it back. But there is no way that she can keep up with her bills *and* make enough money to buy back the necklace... Until she meets a businessman in a bar who likes her, and she goes home with him and has sex... and the next morning as she is doing the walk of shame she finds $300 in her purse. A gift? Later when another businessman hits on her in a bar, she says it will cost him $150... and he says yes. Next thing you know, she’s earning enough money to pay off her bills sleeping with businessmen. This is not who she thinks she is... a tear in her identity. She still thinks of herself as a struggling college student, even though she can now buy designer shoes.

Meanwhile, in the back room of that pawnshop a different kind of loan business - the mob’s loanshark enforcers lead by badass female leg-breaker Iris (Kristina Puukko) and her team prepare to collect money... one way or another.  You may be imagining that Iris is some big butch woman - but she buys her T shirts in the petite section. But that doesn’t stop her from being crazy violent. Her team of strong men are afraid of her - she has a knife and will slice you open for looking at her funny. In a series of scenes we see her and the team beat the crap out of people behind on their payments... and eventually run into a debtor who has hired a bunch of huge bodyguards. Even though she gets stabbed, she makes sure all of the huge bodyguards have several broken bones and that they collect the money from the debtor. Iris’ wound is sewn up by Andrei (Juha Arola) - and she lowers her guard and puts her knife away long enough to make love with him. This is a badass babe who becomes vulnerable for a moment... and it frightens her. This is not who she thinks she is... a tear in her identity.

When Andrei sees Ellie in the pawnshop and then later in a bar, he starts a romantic relationship with her - and connects the two women in an unexpected way. When Iris discovers the relationship, she finds herself jealous... not used to having someone take what she thinks is hers. Eventually the two women are brought together in some very violent ways - and end up forced to work together when the mob that Iris works for comes after her and she has no place to hide but with Ellie.

The director Marton Jelinko does an amazing job of linking scenes of each woman with the other - one of the things I often stress in Script Tips and articles is *story flow*, how one scene leads logically to the next. In the portion of the film before the two women’s lives intersect, Jelinko brilliantly links the women visually - cutting from one woman looking out a window over the city at night to the other woman in a similar position looking over the city at night. You are never confused and the story never has the stop-and-start feeling that are major flaws in some big budget studio films like SYRIANA. Even before the two women share a scene - they share the *story* visually. Like Bergman’s PERSONA we see how these two very different women’s lives are on a collision course both physically and emotionally. For a first film made for no money, this is an amazing little thriller.

INDEBTED is a film that grows on you - it begins as an indie style drama and as each of the women cross a line they never thought they would have to cross becomes darker and darker until it becomes a full fledged thriller where the characters are forced to deal with one intense and violent situation after another. After seeing the film I liked it... but days later I was still thinking about it. The characters and situations are both realistic and brutal, and you realize these things might happen to you or someone you know... if they owe money to the wrong people.

I believe the actress who plays Iris is probably a romantic lead in most films - she’s playing way against type - but gives a chilling performance in a role usually given to men. Gritty, edgy, and dark - a movie about women in completely non-traditional roles.



PS: And the winner is...  INDEBTED for Best Debut Feature! This was one of my two juries, and my #1 pick, so I’m very happy that it won. And when it was time to hand out the Award on Saturday night, it was my pleasure to open the envelope, read the winning film’s title, and hand the award to the filmmakers. Well deserved! I hope this film gets some form of distribution in the US, because it’s the kind of movie they don’t make here. Congratulations again to the filmmakers!

- Bill

Raindance: MISSED CONNECTIONS

Another Kickstarter campaign movie, made in Los Angeles by some members of The Groundlings Improv Troop... and funny every single scene is filled with things that will make you laugh.

Neal (Kenny Stevenson) is having a very bad day - he comes home early and finds his wife having sex with his best friend, goes to work and gets chewed out by his boss... so he quits, leaves his car in the company parking lot, and walks across Los Angeles to get back to his apartment...

He spends his days sleeping on his sofa in his underpants feeling sorry for himself. His two other best friends and his wacky next door neighbor come up with a plan to get him back up on his feet - the Craig’s List “Missed Connections” ads where people post things like: “You were driving down the 405 freeway Monday at 2pm in your black Porsche, I’m the blonde girl you passed near the Getty Offramp in the green Hyndai. Call me!”  Their scheme is to respond to the ads and set a meet, then when the guy in the bllack Porsche doesn’t show and the blonde girl gets tired of waiting, Neal comes over and says “I would never have stood you up” and gets them on the rebound for a night of casual sex. And this *works*! Neal is having all kinds of sex with all kinds of women and beginning to get over his heartbreak... when he is “stood up” several times when the missed connections girl doesn’t show... but the same woman is always near the meet location spying. Who is she?

Jane (Dorien Davies) who has also had her heart broken and is posting *fake* missed connection ads in order to stand up random men to get revenge on the times that she has been stood up! When Neal finally confronts her it’s hate at first sight... and the war begins.

The great thing about casting a bunch of comedians is that they not only have amazing delivery of written lines, they may actually come up with a variation on the written line that is funnier still. Every single character - no matter how small - has funny lines, so there is always something to laugh at... and an amusing and memorable character. Neal’s brother-in-law is only in a couple of scenes - but makes a great impression!

MISSED CONNECTIONS is consistently funny - and a rom-com that I haven’t seen before. When the war begins it’s as if the Road Runner and Wylie Coyote were in a rom-com! The characters and situations and dialogue are great - and for a film shot on a *very* low budget it looks like a big Hollywood movie. This deserves a release in the USA. My fear is that they will do that buy it, shelve it, and remake it thing that often results in the watered down and not as funny studio version... just with big stars. One of the reasons why MISSED CONNECTIONS works is that the actors are all *comedians* and funnier than Jennifer Aniston and whoever they might cast in the male lead.

An Excerpt From "Missed Connections" from Eric Kissack on Vimeo.

AFTERWARDS: I did the Q&A with the two leads Kenny and Dorien, who are actually husband and wife, and the producer Lisa Rudin and asked about using Kickstarter and crowd funding in general and how you get that many amazing Los Angeles locations with no money. Also how you find all of these funny people to play small roles. And doing it yourself as a way to make the film *you* want to make instead of waiting for Hollywood to come knocking at your door. As usual, the lesson in all of this is - JUST DO IT!

- Bill

Raindance Winners

Tonight they had the award ceremony at the Raindance Film Fest in London and I got to announce and then hand out the award for Best Debut Feature (I was on that jury and one other), so here are the winners...

BEST INT'L SHORT - BUZKASHI BOYS.

BEST UK SHORT - THE PUB.

BEST DOC FEATURE - BALLROOM DANCER.

BEST UK FEATURE - LOVE TOMORROW. (my jury)

BEST DEBUT FEATURE - INDEBTED. (my jury - and one of my favorites at the fest... a no budget thriller from Finland that is as if Sam Fuller directed Bergman's PERSONA. I presented this award, and it was cool to give the award to one of my favorites from the fest.)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE - LAURENTIE.

BEST SHORT OF THE FEST (Oscar eligible) - BUZKASHI BOYS.

BEST FEATURE OF THE FEST - HOW DO YOU WRITE A JOE SHERMANN SONG (my favorite film at the fest - a kickstarter funded musical that is amazing! After the awards I went to dinner with the filmmakers and I'm not sure it had sunk in, yet that *they won*. This film plays Nov 1 in NYC at the Landmark Sunshine Cinemas @ 7:30... see it!).

Didn't win anything because it wasn't in competition but still amazing: LOVELESS ZORITSA, a Tim Burtonesque rom-com about a woman with a curse - any many who falls in love with her dies in some oddball FINAL DESTINATION way. Love this film! 

I fly back to LA on Tuesday... hope to get a bunch more reviews up before then!

- Bill

Raindance: LOVELESS ZORITSA

A gem!  LOVELESS ZORITSA is a dark comedy that’s a combination rom-com and FINAL DESTINATION movie about an attractive young woman cursed: any man who falls in love with her will die a terrible death. Her childhood sweetheart is walking with her along a lakeside cliff when a seagull poops in his mouth and he loses balance while trying to spit the poop out and falls into the lake and drowns. A rock guitarist is electrocuted in a freak accident. Another man has a giant rock fall from the sky and squash him. Zoritsa is trying to lift the curse - since it gets in the way of her lovelife when every man who is interested in her dies.

Oh, the reason for the curse - she is the first women in her family born without a mustache! The family portraits on the walls of her house are a riot, and the ghost of her Grandmother plays a role in the film - bringing a laugh every time you see her *massive* mustache.

Zoritsa is told by a fortune teller that if she burns the grave of her first love/victim the curse will be lifted - so she goes back to her home town (where she was banned due to the body count) to burn the grave... This is the best *shot* film I have seen in a hell of a long time - it has amazing lighting (like a 40s technicolor movie) and luxurious dolly shots. The production value is *higher* than most current Hollywood films, amazing for a Serbian film. The graveyard scene is amazing - stylized and creepy, like something from a Tim Burton film... in fact, that’s what this reminded me of: Tim Burton.

As men around Zoritsa drop like flies, a small town cop who was original trying to capture her ends up on the run with her when the villagers chase them with the typical pitchforks and torches that villagers have in FRANKENSTEIN movies. The film features a funny tractor vs. Vespa chase, lots of fun scenes... and the more time the small town cop and Zoritsa spend together the more he falls in love with her... and now he wants her to lift her curse before it’s too late!  A really original romantic comedy mixed with elements from Universal horror films and beautiful Tim Burton style production design and cinematography.



This is the kind of gem you discover at film fests that makes going worthwhile. If I were a studio executive I would just give these people money to make movies and let them do whatever they wanted - because LOVELESS ZORITSA is a great entertaining movie with a completely different way of seeing the world... a film that will satisfy both arthouse audiences *and* mainstream cinemagoers. One of my two favorite films from Raindance so far (along with HOW DO YOU WRITE A JOE SHERMANN SONG?).

- Bill

Raindance: STATE OF SHOCK

One of the things I love about film fests is seeing movies from other countries that give us a look at their culture - but in an easy to digest manner. The boring dramas that make you nod off due to jet lag don’t usually work for me, but a genre film can keep me awake through entertainment - but still take me into another world and make its point.

STATE OF SHOCK is Rip Van Winkle in what used to be Yugoslavia. In Communist Yugoslavia Peter and his wife Marica are poor but happy - living in a very very small apartment with two children and dreaming of saving up enough to buy a washing machine. Both work full time, but have learned to enjoy their jobs. Peter is a factory worker who carpools to work with his best friend Jovo every day. Though Jovo is a bit of a screw up - he can always work slower, Peter is a happy hard working employee (hoping that the factory manager will recommend him to the Local Party Official to move up to a larger apartment). On Labor Day, the factory is closed - but open later for a celebration where the Local Party Official will award the Factory Worker Of The Year Award. When Peter is chosen for the award, and the prize - a huge apartment - he faints... and goes into a coma for a decade.

When he awakens, Communism has fallen, Yugoslavia is no more (he now lives in a county called Slovenia) no one is a “comrade” and capitalism is king. Oh, and his wife has divorced him and married Jovo - and they live in the huge apartment *he* was awarded ten years ago. Nothing is the same. The factory he used to work in is now robotized and computerized - his job no longer exists... but the *company* (now run by the Local Party Official) offers him $1,000 for every year he was in a coma. But Peter doesn’t even understand money in this new world.



The film is great fun - and the lead actor (Martin Marion) reminded me of Peter Sellers as he stumbles through this new consumer oriented world - seeing it through his old communist ideals. Lots off laughs... but the underlying point soon becomes clear - they may now be able to buy designer shoes, but everyone is so money oriented that they have lost the ability to just be happy. People don’t have time to love. It’s very much a “simple things in life” type movie - but the great device of the fall of communism in Eastern Europe creates hundreds of small things that have changed big time. A charming film - really liked it.

- Bill

Raindance: Student Films

SILENT KILLER (short)

So, my Facebook friend’s film is playing in a program of Raindance Student’s films at just after noon - and I easily make it on time with enough coffee to be fully functional... even though I’d only managed to sleep for 4 hours the night before. I always worry about student films because... well, they are often learning experiences but not great as films. This leads to that awkward moment where you are asked what you thought of the film, and you stumble around trying to find something nice to say. I sat through all of the student films - and most of them had problems. But when my Facebook friend’s film came on - it was the best of the lot. And really good!

The problems with the other films:

1) The first film was unbelievable long for a short. I would guess at least a half hour, though it seemed much much longer because it was mostly two people sitting in chairs with a pile of exposition dialogue about things that happened to them in the past. The situation was good - but the execution was not. The first rule of short films: they need to be short. In the past Raindance has hosted the Nokia 15 *second* short festival, and those films were always really good - or at least, over before you were bored. But I think ten minutes is a good maximum length for short films because they are easier for a festival to program, and at ten minutes even if they are not good they are at least over soon. But also ten minutes means you have to cut the fat and get to the heart of the story. This improves the film because you have to know *exactly* what the story is about and then get to the point right away. If you only have ten minutes, your story ends up more focused - in fact, those 15 second films were often full stories so well focused that they didn't even take a full minute to tell.  

2) A few of the other films were well shot, but didn't communicate the story to the audience. They showed things happening without bringing us *inside* the story so that we understood what was happening. The result was an external, uninvolving, unemotional, and basically lifeless and false story. Mechanical. The filmmaker’s primary job is to communicate with the audience - and these films did not communicate.

In the middle of this program of films that didn't quite work were two films that worked well - a musical about killing people with hammers that was only a couple of minutes long and SILENT KILLER, my Facebook friend's film. It opened with an attractive young woman sitting on a park bench and a young man sitting on the same bench and chatting her up. Her voice over tells us that he thinks he’s going to romance her, but what he doesn’t know is that he will be her next victim: she is going to shoot him. She pulls out a huge gun, aims it at the young man... who seems to wet himself... and pulls the trigger. BANG! Cut to about an hour earlier - the young woman realizes the young man is following her, tries to lose him a few times - then begins to lure him to her killing ground. The interesting element is that the young man is deaf, and the young woman can speak in sign language - so when they end up on the bench together the conversation is all done with their hands. But now we know the ending - the young man who probably followed this young woman because she was attractive is soon to become her prey. This builds suspense. The end twist - sorry, spoilers - is that when she pulls the gun it is a water pistol, and she shoots his crotch (he doesn’t wet himself - she wets him) and then she hands him a card that says he’s been “killed” by the Silent Killer - and this is one of those assassination games. The further twist is that she likes him and might look him up later.  The story brought us in, we understand what we *think* is going on, and then the story twists at the end.

Even if the story is a mystery where we don’t know what is going on, if you bring us inside the story so that we understand the protagonist and live the story though them, we are being lead into the story and understand the mystery... even though we don’t know the resolution (obviously). A detective type character doesn’t know who the killer is, but they understand the situation and are searching for the solution. But we need to be inside that story and understand the situation - even though we won’t know the outcome. That’s what SILENT KILLER did right and many of the others did not.

So I don’t have to lie to my Facebook friend.

- Bill

Behind!

Once again I am way behind on my Raindance Film Fest reviews!

The good news is that many are half written - so I just need to write the other halves!

My sleep is messed up - it seems like every other day my body wonders why I would want to sleep at 4 in the afternoon... and last night I managed to close a bar after telling Rory (from Raindance) that I would just pop in for a quick drink because I needed to catch up on my sleep. Right.

But the reviews *are* coming!

- Bill