Interesting Spec Script Sale

[Kid Rasta]

I just read about this pitch sale on the spec sales page, and I find the story intriguing:

Title: Untitled Rasmussen-DiMeglio Project
Log line: A Southern father meets his three daughters' boyfriends for the first time at Thanksgiving. The boyfriends turn out to be an Arab, a Jew and a black man.
Writer: Tim Rasmussen and Vince DiMeglio
Agent: Keya Khayatian of UTA, mngmt. firm Mosaic Media Group and law firm Colden McKuin & Frankel
Buyer: Warner Bros. Pictures
Price: $1.25 million against $2 million
Genre: Comedy
Logged: 10/13/05
More: Based on a pitch by Andrew Panay and David Dobkin, which was part of a bidding war. David Dobkin and Tapestry Films' Andrew Panay, Peter Abrams & Robert Levy will produce. David Dobkin will direct.

[Kelsey]

I think it's got comedy potential, but can also quickly become offensive. I'll be interested to see the finished product. The writer sure made quite a paycheck on this one.

[jellyjilly]

Groan, this is so been-there-done-that, but if it MUST be made . . .

I hope it's "offensive" as hell. I don't want to see a movie that's (I presume) all ABOUT a clash of cultures to make a point of not offending anyone. And to tell the truth, I smell offensiveness already in that mix: Black, Arab, Jew, and rural Southern white. Care to guess which one's going to be shot out of the cannon as a racist, tribalist caricature?

So if no one is to be offended, let's imagine the dialogue. "Please pass the turkey, Mohammed." "Sure, here you go. Would you like butter?" "No, I'm watching my weight." "Daddy, you should ease up on the salt." "Don't worry, sweetpea, the doc cleared me on my last checkup." "That's nice. These yams are the best."

[roscoegino]

Clever premise. They basically took the Guess Who's Coming to Dinner formula and multiplied it by three. At the very least, it means that they're buying scripts!

[Kid Rasta]

I guess we all agree about one thing: the writers got paid!

Aren't the producers & director of this the same team behind Wedding Crashers???

[Astral_anchor_Ent]

COULD YOU IMAGINE the moment you find out your script(your BABY) has hit the jackpot & sold for 1.25 million?!? Let's look under SURREAL in the dictionary...better yet, look up "CHA-CHING!!!!"

[BROUGHCUT]

better yet, someone look up "pitch".

>The boyfriends turn out to be an Arab, a Jew and a black man.

which one subsequently turns out to be a girlfriend?

Tricky set-up to resolve. If one of the daughters gets sold for a camel that turns out to be an elephant, they could sort of remake The Party and have everyone recognise their shared humanity during a huge swimming pool sudfest. No?

[Frankclone]

$2 M ! For an extended farmer's daughter joke.

[TDWoj]

$2 M ! For an extended farmer's daughter joke.

I guess this is the kind of "kick-ass", "high-concept" superlative story idea they're looking for?

-TD, shaking her head in wonderment and dismay

[Hasil Adkins]

Well, it's no 'Snakes on a Plane.'

[roscoegino]

Goshdarnitt, will you guys just be happy the suits are buying scripts?!

We have to remind ourselves of what it takes for these writers to make a sale. Many of them write while we sleep. Many of them are guys people enjoy working with. The word "luck" is so bubblegum.

[TDWoj]

Well, I think the dismay is largely in the fact that we are told exhaustively to write high-concept, kick-ass stories. When something that is so clearly neither high-concept nor kick-ass sells, it does beg the question, why do we bother?

[Hasil Adkins]

I'm not judging the above sale. I didn't hear the pitch. For all we know, it's a great story. Can't judge based on a logline.

By the way:
it does beg the question

Buzzzzzzz! Pet peeve alert!!!

"Begs the question" doesn't mean "raises the question" or "suggests the question."

Sorry, carry on.

[TDWoj]

I'm not judging the above sale. I didn't hear the pitch. For all we know, it's a great story. Can't judge based on a logline.

By the way:


Buzzzzzzz! Pet peeve alert!!!

"Begs the question" doesn't mean "raises the question" or "suggests the question."

Sorry, carry on.

Thank you for pointing that out to me. I knew it was wrong as soon as I wrote it but was too tired to suss out why.

This is me raising the question: why do we bother? I realise that loglines are necessarily brief, but come on: it read to me like the worst kind of ethnic joke that is in this PC world entirely verboten. And even back in the day when such jokes didn't upset because political correctness hadn't taken over, I still didn't find stuff like that funny; I found it demeaning.

Oops. I forgot. Movie comedy IS about demeaning other people.

I guess that's why I don't find most comedies terribly funny.

And if this is high-concept... no, I am just not getting it, at all. :(

[Nordic]

If this is the "Wedding Crashers" team, well of course they sold this script for whatever they sold it for. They can sell anything right now. That's how it works. It's cash-in time for those guys.

The corporate suits, well, it's their job to buy scripts like this. This is a no-brainer if you're a corporate suit.

Y'all need to get realistic about this business. And whoever's saying "at least they're buying scripts" needs to have a serious reality check. Of course they're buying these scripts, that's their ****ing job. To buy scripts from recently successful writing teams that are very similar to what they were just successful with.

These guys could sell anything right now. They could ****ing sneeze in a handkerchief, say it's a pitch, and sell that.

[flowers are red]

Y'all need to get realistic about this business.

The business itself is not even realistic. It revolves around fantasy, made up of creative, imaginative (supposedly) people.


It's ok for a studio to make repulsive, offensive films because there are plenty of repulsive, offensive people to go see them. They make what people will go see. Hollywood is not in the business of improving society in the least bit. So for them, this is a wise choice, no worries as the trailer for this trash will say "from the people who brought you Wedding Crashers" and people will go see it. From a business standpoint it is golden.

However it doesn't make it right by any means. Until people stop watching this crap, it will continue to be made. People will continue to pitch and sell these ideas for millions while people with integrity continue to struggle to get something a little more decent made. By decent I don't mean preachy either. I'm not trying to get on a moral kick here, just talking about really horrible film ideas.

[Amuro]

When I first glanced at this I thought it was about one boyfriend, who was an Arab, a Jew and a black man, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

[Droz]

Keep in mind that this 'spec' has major-pedigree producers with last week's blockbuster to their credit. Major attachment bonus beyond what a typical spec has.

[Flannery]

In this case, high concept means that it could be really really funny if you're high when you watch it. Of course, this is no longer an option given the high cost of movie munchies.
:D