Saying Hey!

[RyRy]

Hi, my first stop here. It seems like a nice place so I thought I'd poke my head in. Anyway, I'm fortunate to make my living as a writer---five novels published (two bought by Hollywood--one produced so far) and have just sold my first screenplay...well, actually it was a pitch, and I'm already working on the second draft after notes, so I guess it didn't JUST happen. Feels like it, though, with everything moving so fast.

So, here I am, looking forward to some cyber contact on occasion as I'm sitting in front of the computer trying to make the words come out like they should. Good to know you all.

[Strange Mind]

good to make your acquaintance. congrats on your success and maybe you'll have a few words of wisdom for those of us who still remain "hopefuls".

cheers

[MrGazzo]

Have you written anything we would know?

[RyRy]

Anything by Ryne Douglas Pearson. The novels 'Cloudburst', 'October's Ghost', 'Capitol Punishment', 'Simple Simon', and 'Top Ten'. Simple Simon was purchased by Universal in 95 and made into the Bruce Willis flick 'Mercury Rising'---don't get me started on that. Tope Ten was purchased by Warner Brothers in 98 and is in rewrites now, the last I've heard. The pitch 'Knowing' was sold to Escape Artists at Sony a few months back, and I'm currently on a rewrite of that original screenplay.

[Strange Mind]

sorry to hear about mercury rising ;)

maybe you'll do your own adaptation some good.

cheers

[MrGazzo]

I didn't think Mercury Rising was that bad.

[RyRy]

I guess my take on it is because I created the original and saw what I thought was the essence of the story missed. But, that's how it goes sometimes. Just dissapointed that it didn't do better since I think it easily could have in a different incarnation.

[Bill Marquardt]

Welcome on board, Ry. Check out the last entry in the thread called "Done Deal Get Together" under the "Services and Opportunities" forum. We are planning to get together in LA, April 7. You might want to join in. Don't know how many will be there yet, but it should be fun.

There are a handful of produced writers here, but most of us are in the hunt, so be prepared for a deluge of questions. :)

[Strange Mind]

now you've gone and scared 'em away!

[RyRy]

Oooh. April 7 won't work for me, but I suppose I can be deluged here...virtually:)

[RatWriter]

BOL with Knowing, looks to be an interesting concept.

I have a question if you have time. Could you describe the pitch process you went through? You were obviously successful at it and I'd like to get an idea of how to prepare and what to expect.

Thanks,
Rat

[Done Deal]

Welcome, RyRy... nice to have you coming by.

[RyRy]

Actually the pitch process Iwent through is far removed from what is thought of as a normal 'pitch', but here goes. I had an idea that I'd scribbled a few notes on, then forgot. During a meeting with my managers after going through several other ideas they liked (and hereing lies the difference between what people in Hollywood 'like' and 'love', aomething that's only happened to me twice) I just kind of tossed out the one liner for 'Knowing' and their jaws dropped (the only other time that happened was in an idea meeting at a studio where I inadvertently pitched Top Ten, which I was toying with as a novel). Anyway, my managers loved it, so, I did a short two page pseudo-synopsis and gave it to them. They gave it to the folks at Escape Artists, who also loved it (please don't get the impression that every idea I've had is loved---there's a stench left around from those that weren't). I had meetings where we talked the idea through and...that was it.

I've never really had a true pitch meeting where you go in and wow 'em with those 25 words or less. I'd suck royally at that. But I have had plenty of general meetings with people where you talk ideas, they talk ideas, just to see if anything interests you or them. I MUCH prefer this way of doing it, because it is much closer to the way the development process works---chiefly, through collaboration.

Knowing is only my first true original screenplay sale, but I've been doing meetings and lunches (hate lunches---nothing ever gets done...I just want to eat!) since 95 when Uni bought the rights to Simple Simon, and the entire time I've dreaded hearing someone say: "Okay, pitch me..."

[RatWriter]

Interesting pitch story. Though it may not be the typical pitch method, if there is one, it does gives me something that worked. Now I just have to find someone to listen.
Thanks,
Rat

[CRASH]

Rat - the most important thing about going into a pitch meeting is being prepared and know every detail about your story. YOU MUST HAVE AN ANSWER TO ALL THEIR QUESTIONS.

[Done Deal]

Ryne,

Would you mind dropping me an e-mail? I have note to pass on to you.

I'm at DoneD4U@aol.com. Thanks.

[CRASH]

Hey RyRy - I have a meeting in a couple of days for a possible book adaptation. Just curious, are you adapting your novel "Top Ten" for the screen or are they bringing in other writers for that?

[Strange Mind]

hey ry,

you've been really forthcoming in your answers, so i hope you won't mind my asking you a few other questions, because we could all learn a thing or two. if they're outta line, just say so.

basically, about the monies involved. i'm not asking for amounts. but how does a deal go about getting made, for you or your books? for example, do you have a contract with your publisher, and get advances for books? do the film rights get bought or optioned? i understand stephen king has his novels optioned by castle rock for $1 against a seven figure amount.

also, as a published novelist, do you get respect as a screenwriter? how do they work out paying you for a screenplay adaptation of your own work? what's your experience been, so far, with the people and the work?

what was your pathway to writing? how did you start, when did you decide you could do it, and how long before you started making a (i assume) good living?

thanks, and cheers.

[RyRy]

No, they brought in other writers about two years ago, and I think they're onto another writer now to do a rewrite.

[RyRy]

Wow, lots of questions, so here come the answers.

As for the money involved---basically my publishing and film sales are handled independently. I have a lit agent in New York who handles sales of books to publishers. All film adaptation rights are retained by me. Those rights are then handled by my agents 'out here' in conjunction with my attorney. I've had rights to two books purchased for film--Simple Simon and Top Ten. The way the bucks worked on those was a certain amount up front, to be followed when (and if) by more moola the day principle photgraphy begins, plus more based upon performance of the film. Neither was an option. Both were outright sales.

As for getting respect as a published novelist. Let me be clear on this...I'm nowhere near as successful a novelist as the big names out there. No bestsellers or stuff like that. There are reasons for the lack of success on that end, but that's a story about 'New York', not 'Hollywood'. I guess the biggest advantage as a novelist is that two of my books have been bought for film, in combination with the fact that I have amazing agents and managers. Also, I have written specs, and one has gone out without being bought, but what that did was convince producers and the like that I knew how to write a screenplay. I guess the best way to put it is everytime the door opens a little more I shove against it so it won't close.

As for adapting my own books...as yet I have not done that.

My pathway to writing? I started writing in junior high, short stories and stuff, the after high school I went to college to become an engineer, dropped out, became a camp counselor, bus driver, plumber, and then got off my behind and started writing again, finally finishing my first novel in 92. It was rejected 139 times before my first lit agent sold it and I've been making a living as a writer since then.

I hope these answers are helpful.

[callitt]

Ry,

Cie Mie Failte! A thousand welcomes to you and congrats on your success.

To add to your deluge, I'd be curious about how the sale of film rights for your novels came about, and what was the process & legalities involved. I'm working on a novel (there is a publisher interested) that should have a very strong chance of making it to the big screen.

I'd like to know more about that kind of development and negotiating process, if you don't mind.


Thanks

[CRASH]

Ry,

Was the movie rights to "Top Ten" sold before or after it was published? How do you feel about M.W. and M.C. adapting it? Personally, I like those guys.

[Strange Mind]

hey ryry,

thanks. very illuminating, and i just have one question:

how did you get through the 139 rejections? did you send it to 140 places at once, and 139 rejected and one said yes? or was it sent out over and over again, getting slip after slip after slip, till you got one home run? <g>

hey, throw your opinion around the board on a few of the issues, sometime. that way we can get nasty with you. ha.

[RyRy]

The best thing a writer can do is have an agent that insulates them from the business end of things. That said, and being my opinion, the first sale of film rights happened after my film agent started to talk up Simple Simon. A 'buzz' built around it---it was a pretty easy one liner (or maybe two). The manuscript went out on a Friday to a bunch of studios, and on Sunday it was sold to Imagine and Joe Singer through Universal. Gotta say, I was dumbstruck. Top Ten basically was sold as a two line pitch from my agent to a producer at a breakfast meeting. So, for me, there is no real involvement in the negotiating process. And I like it that way. I like to write, not haggle.

As for development, really there is little input from me past the point of the sale. Don't get me wrong---the producers ask for input, but it's limited what a writer who isn't adapting their own work can do. As it should be. It's going to be interpreted by someone. Sometimes it works great. Sometimes not. I'm just glad they ask.

One small note that might add to the above. I came into this biz TOTALLY from the outside, and I can't tell you the number of people who have come up to me and sympathetically bemoaned how shallow the folks in Hollywood must be. Let me tell you...compared to alot of people I've dealt with in the publishing biz, the people who make movies are GENIUSES, and passionate. They LOVE movies. They want to get movies made. They may not always get them right, but they work hard at it. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've had alot of meetings over the past five or six years with dozens of people in H'wood, and to a person they have all been smart and talented and decent. I can say that about half of the folks in publishing I've had dealings with.

[RyRy]

The movie rights to Top Ten were sold before it was published, and before any publishers bought it. As for Werb & Colleary...they know their stuff. They were the original writers on it, did a very commercial script, but I think another writer has been brought in for a rewrite.

[Strange Mind]

now everyone is going to want you to read their script!!!

you have no idea the mess you have gotten yourself into. <g>

i'm kidding.

well i've pressed you enough with my questions. i'm sure everyone else is glad to have you on board. it's a good group in general. some of us are sick individuals.

cheers

[RyRy]

The 139 rejections for my first novel came from about 75% agents and 25% editors. In fact, the editor that eventually ended up buying it from the agent I signed with actually rejected it when I sent it directly. Actually, I guess, his assistant did---but that's the slush pile for you. As for the time frame---it was about six months. I'd send out twenty query letters at a time and wait.

[RyRy]

You know, I probably wouldn't know if it was good if they asked me to read it. I mean, I have really good people advising me. Agents and managers. They know the business, and especially the difference between a great story and a great MOVIE story. I often don't know the difference. But I'm getting better at it. Reading alot of scripts that have been purchased by the studios helps.

[Strange Mind]

nah i was just kidding. most people post sections of pages up here on the board for a general open-discussion critique.

cheers

[callitt]

Thanks, Ry. I'll pick up your novels to get a better idea of your style. What're you working on now?

[RyRy]

New book...can't talk about it. And the first rewrite of a script called Knowing. Also, if you can't find any of my early books, let me know and I might be able to dig some up.

[PteranoDon]

Didn't get to say hi earlier. Welcome aboard. Your insights will be helpful.

If you ever want me to read something, give me a jingle.

pteranodon@xena.com

[RyRy]

Thanks, PteranoDon! Good to meet you.

[Dragonslayer02]

Hello and welcome aboard, RyRy.

Good luck on your transition from novels to screenwriting.

DS2

[RyRy]

Thanks. It'll be nice to have another realm to write in. A novel takes six months to a year, where a script takes six weeks to two months, so I can have that 'I'm done!' feeling more often. Of course, finishing a book is a BIG rush.

[Neurotic Writer]

Six weeks to two months?!!

Okay, that's it, I'm getting a new work ethic!

Welcome aboard, Ry.

NW

[RyRy]

It may seem quick, but I'm fortunate that this is my day job---which sometimes spills into the night. I have a simple minimum schedule I try to keep: five pages of screenplay, five pages of novel, each and every day M thru F, with Sat and Sun if necessary, or if the mood strikes on the weekend---which it usually does.

[nmstevens]

I've heard this as well, about having everything worked out ahead of time in a pitch, and I haven't pitched often enough to dispute the utility of the advice, but my limited experience, like RyRy, runs counter to this.

The pitches where I was most prepared, where I'd written everything out and what have you -- all sank like stones.

The two pitches that actually ended up getting bought came about when I didn't even know that I was going in to pitch, and was barely aware, even afterward, that I'd done it.

Jersey Pictures had sent me a book that they'd wanted to adapt, and I'd basically passed on it and they asked to see me when I was out in L.A. to talk about the book. I was really going in expecting to essentially pass again. I laid out what I thought didn't work, and what the story should have been -- and the next thing you know, they were making me an offer. Just handed in an optional rewrite on that.

Same trip, I went to see Casey Silver and he was asking me about some ideas I had. I mentioned one that I'd spoken to about, briefly, with an exec at Universal (I later found out that she'd talked about this very idea with Casey, so it was, unbeknownst to me, a gentle kind of a set-up) -- but I had essentially nothing beyond the initial premise. A few images, a possible resolution -- no characters, no three acts. Nothing.

He bought it. Working on the first draft of that right now.

I'd certainly never suggest that one shouldn't prepare when going in for a pitch, but I, personally, suffer from major stage fright. I can talk, casually, about ideas with people who are in no position to do anything about them, but the situation where you get into a room with a bunch of people, or get on the phone with a bunch of people and they say, "Go." -- My heart leaps into my throat. I suspect I'm not alone in this regard.

It may just be that I've succeeded, where I have, because, not realizing that I was actually in there to "pitch" I was able to speak in a way that didn't make me sound like a stuttering idiot.

NMS

[RyRy]

What NM said times ten. In my experience, the best 'pitches' happen when you're just tossing around ideas, stories, etc... The synopsis the folks who bought Knowing read was mostly an exercise on my part to focus the story in case anyone was interested in the idea. There was plenty of jawing after they read it, and still is well into first rewrite as of today.

[CRASH]

NMStevens - Blair Witch 2, who's to blame for it?

[kingscross]

Same writer who wrote the new version of House on Haunted Hill, according to the imdb.

[CRASH]

But there were some writers who did uncredited work on the script...supposedly to "fix" it.

[Strange Mind]

yeah. real good "fix" they did.

[GunnWitch]

erm... please tell me this is a joke...

[RyRy]

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[Mr Godfree]

I enjoyed the remake of House on Haunted Hill. It's refreashing to see a horror flick outside the realm of Scream, IKWYDLS(laugh), Urban Legends and all the rest.

Plus, it's the only film in the last five years that actually scarred me. That gas mask wearing thing is creepy as hell, the stop motion movement, The ambient background noise, the way the bad guy's face blurs, that fake rollercoster accension...I loved it.

By the way, welcome aboard RyRy.

[Goreomedy]

While House on Haunted Hill had a promising first act, the rest of the film must have been written by a Stuttering Stan with voice recognition software.

For the love of all that is unholy, leave William Castle films alone!

Next on the Big-budget remake wagon, 13 Ghosts.(though the makeup effects look killer, the screenplay will most likely unleash the Tingler in us all.)

[GunnWitch]

Sorry, Gore, the new "House on Haunted Hill" is one of my fave horror flicks in a long time (and horror is my genre, baby). Ditto on the "it actually scared me", there were seriously some tweaky bits (of course Jeffrey Coombs is too groovy). I, too, love Castle flicks (just recently re-watched the old "13 Ghosts", looooove it) but I think the new Dark Castle has promise. And I am seriously looking forward to the new "13 Ghosts", if the the new "House on HH" was any indication to go by... can't wait! gah, too many title in one post, must go to sleeeeeep... ;)

[cineman]

I've watched some horror films in my day, and all though they have been few, the ones that have stood out were, The Exorcist, and the shining, all the rest just plain sucked. Well perhaps I'm being too hasty, Evil Dead 2 kicked ass, and others have been memorable, but never gave me a scare.

To me the best way to pull off a scary movie is to give it a supernatural feel like Exorcist, hell even House on haunted hill style would suffice, but after you've come up with that formula you need to saturate it with realism, a la Blair witch, give it something the audience can relate to. And even though most audiences can't relate to someone being possesed they sure can relate to the realism your movie generates.

I'm not saying that this is the only way to go, but cheap thrills and gore don't do it for me, you need to create suspense before you can perform the thrills. Let's take a movie like What lies beneath, which borowed from numerous formulas, including Rear window. Now this movie was bad, it was slow and only relied on the basic scares to spook an audience. I.e The mirror trick, the phone ringing trick, as well as the someone coming up from behind me all though I don't know why they would sneak up on me trick.

Resently I've come up with a scary movie that I hope others will find enjoyable, actually I've come up with two, while the first is more for entertainment purposes such as Sleepy hollow, the other is right up there with Exorcist and the shining, Something along the lines of The fog from Stephen king ( I hope Stephen king actually wrote this book, and if not my face is now red.)

Bottom line in my rambling is that you should forget the cheap thrills and cute girls in cheerleading outfits being scared to death and consentrate on what people believe could be real (Blair witch) Because most of the people I talk to don't go in for that IKWYDLS and scream Shite!!!

P.S. If I sound like I'm rambling that is because I probably am since I've just arrived from the bar after drinking a few and watching the Juice monkeys make off with all the fine women, DAMN them!!!!

Ciao Cine! :)

[Mr Godfree]

Stephen King had a short story entitled The Mist. Is that what your thinking of? That just so happens to be my favorite short story of all time.

I think it was John Carpenter...or Romero, John-something anyway who directed a movie called The Fog.

[kingscross]

Correct: King wrote The Mist (short story)

and The Fog was a film by Carpenter.

[cineman]

Thanks for correcting me, I new it had something to do with an etherial (sp?) cloud of something or other.

[RyRy]

Oh man, The Fog. What memories. Adrienne Barbeau...