Dumb Idea?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Dumb Idea?

    I read this while lurking and it gave me a [dumb] idea…

    Originally posted by cp6267a View Post
    Not sure if this is the right thread for it, but I thought I'd post a Black List success story. My script was chosen as a featured script last month, which lead to an increase in traffic. A Goya winning producer from Spain read it and liked it, and I've optioned it to his production company. Just wanted to send thanks and post about a good experience with the site.
    First off: I generally despise any "contesty" type "readery" stuff. But…

    I thought, "hey, may be the right environment for an old script I dig that is wrong for Hollywood. I didn't know foreign markets were potentially checking this stuff out."

    I have a script that my rep can't go out with. It's gritty and dark, too gritty and dark for Hollywood. Although, oddly, it landed well with taste-makers. Meaning a bunch of general meetings "we like your writing, cool script, but we can't make this sh*t." A manager at Anonymous Content tried to, briefly, get it set up overseas. Problem is, I wouldn't want my real name on it and I wouldn't want anyone I'm dealing with now to know I put some old script up on some website. Kind of interferes with their game plan for me [1) I don't need my name/script getting dinged by some anonymous reader when tastemakers already gave it the thumbs up. I took that brand of script as far as one could hope to go within the constraints of Hollywood. 2) My reps surely want this script to remain dead and buried "you only write big commercial sh*t now, GOT IT!"]. Script is a few years old, but optioning it to some foreign off-grid outfit sounds interesting -- in fact that's the market I wrote it for, never meant for it to go out in Hollywood, that was their call -- strangely I have no avenue to them, being repped by the Hollywood machine.

    Direct it yourself: The only way I'd get to direct this myself, or want to, is if I'd won that super lotto jackpot. I would have turned around and spent my own money (10 mil) to direct this thing as a vanity project.

    Back to topic: Or is BlackList a bunch'a nonsense I shouldn't concern myself with. I met Franklin several years back at an event, seemed like a good dude, but that says nothing for the website's legitimacy. The hole thing, what little I know of it, strikes me as a bit of a fluff.

    …Or should I just leave the script dead on the shelf?
    DOPE CITY

  • #2
    Re: Dumb Idea?

    Every time you post, I want to watch that Kevin Roberts sketch on SNL.

    No, the blacklist isn't nonsense, and if you want to put a dead script up under a different name, there probably isn't much downside. Most likely not a lot of up either. Most dead scripts are dead for a reason, and it's rarely because they're too dark. That's usually a soft pass. Hollywood loves dark as long as it's cheap.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Dumb Idea?

      First off, if your rep says "only big commercial sh*t from now on", it's time for a new rep. Good reps want their clients to write that dark sh*t if it represents the best of their writing. I wrote a 1950's road-trip script set in f*cking Mongolia that had zero chance of being bought as a spec. But it was the best thing I ever wrote, made the Black List and landed me the two biggest gigs of my career. The town isn't looking for "big commercial sh*t" if it's not based on existing IP anyway, which is why I doubt your reps gave you that advice - it feels like you're projecting it on them based on them not adoring your darker script. Post that dark one on the BL site with your name on it if you're proud of it. You decide your brand, nobody else does.
      https://twitter.com/DavidCoggeshall
      http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1548597/

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Dumb Idea?

        Originally posted by dmizzo View Post
        Every time you post, I want to watch that Kevin Roberts sketch on SNL.
        Not following. You're going to have to explain that dig to me.

        Originally posted by dmizzo View Post
        No, the blacklist isn't nonsense, and if you want to put a dead script up under a different name, there probably isn't much downside. Most likely not a lot of up either. Most dead scripts are dead for a reason, and it's rarely because they're too dark. That's usually a soft pass. Hollywood loves dark as long as it's cheap.
        I don't totally agree.

        1) Some scripts simply haven't found their avenue. Like I mentioned, my buddy produced a dead script and did well with it ($$,$$$,$$$). Why did no one want to make it previously, it was in plain sight?

        2) Hollywood loves dark as a read. Or if it's commercial. Yes, this is a cheap script to make, 10 mil. However, it's not commercial. Like I mentioned, the script got me an agent and a job. There was nothing to soft pass on as the script went out as "this is a sample, we know you can't make it."

        Otherwise, my feelings wouldn't be hurt if it did zero on BlackList. I have other things going on. My concern is that I would want it to be 100% anonymous, but I'm a bit concerned as the title would be the same and there's a long shot chance it could get back to someone that I'm out with an old script online -- looks desperate -- though I'm not. Maybe it's not a concern. But I'm sure my rep would say "do not do it..."
        DOPE CITY

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Dumb Idea?

          Originally posted by ProfessorChomp View Post
          First off, if your rep says "only big commercial sh*t from now on", it's time for a new rep. Good reps want their clients to write that dark sh*t if it represents the best of their writing. I wrote a 1950's road-trip script set in f*cking Mongolia that had zero chance of being bought as a spec. But it was the best thing I ever wrote, made the Black List and landed me the two biggest gigs of my career. The town isn't looking for "big commercial sh*t" if it's not based on existing IP anyway, which is why I doubt your reps gave you that advice - it feels like you're projecting it on them based on them not adoring your darker script. Post that dark one on the BL site with your name on it if you're proud of it. You decide your brand, nobody else does.
          Whoa… hold up. CAA signed me off the dark script. Never said they didn't adore it. Never said anyone didn't adore it. I said it landed mostly well for what it was, but that no one wanted to make it.

          My project now is based on an existing IP.

          I'm glad your script led to something, cool man. But the honest to god truth is that agents want you to write one of two things 1) Oscar bait. 2) Big commercial. Despite what they personally dig. No projection.

          I get that I decide my brand... and I'm doing that. I never said my sh*t isn't dark now, it is, the only thing that's changed is that it's commercial with a much larger scope.

          I feel like we're arguing something that was never said. My question has more to do with the political angle of going behind your rep's back.
          DOPE CITY

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Dumb Idea?

            Originally posted by surftatboy View Post
            My question has more to do with the political angle of going behind your rep's back.
            Don't go behind your rep's back. Let them know you want to send it somewhere or try some service as a professional courtesy.

            When you use the words "going behind _____________'s back" in a sentence that should pretty much clue not to do it. I don't think anyone appreciates anyone going behind their back. It's almost always disrespectful, unless you're say planning a surprise party of some sort, a great gift, paying for someone's meal/drinks or tickets for a trip.
            Will
            Done Deal Pro
            www.donedealpro.com

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Dumb Idea?

              Originally posted by surftatboy View Post
              Whoa... hold up. CAA signed me off the dark script. Never said they didn't adore it. Never said anyone didn't adore it.
              I guess I got that impression from "My reps surely want this script to remain dead and buried."
              https://twitter.com/DavidCoggeshall
              http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1548597/

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Dumb Idea?

                Originally posted by Done Deal Pro View Post
                Don't go behind your rep's back. Let them know you want to send it somewhere or try some service as a professional courtesy.

                When you use the words "going behind _____________'s back" in a sentence that should pretty much clue not to do it. I don't think anyone appreciates anyone going behind their back. It's almost always disrespectful, unless you're say planning a surprise party of some sort, a great gift, paying for someone's meal/drinks or tickets for a trip.
                Probably true... I'll talk to them as a professional courtesy. I do already know what their answer will be.
                DOPE CITY

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Dumb Idea?

                  Originally posted by surftatboy View Post
                  Otherwise, my feelings wouldn't be hurt if it did zero on BlackList. I have other things going on. My concern is that I would want it to be 100% anonymous, but I'm a bit concerned as the title would be the same and there's a long shot chance it could get back to someone that I'm out with an old script online -- looks desperate -- though I'm not. Maybe it's not a concern. But I'm sure my rep would say "do not do it..."
                  Honestly, no one will care. No one is going to mount a forensic investigation to uncover your true identity. Unless you're Scott Frank. I'm guessing you're not.

                  But yeah, "it's too dark" is a pass, and the reasons could be anything from budget to quality to whatever. No one says that when it's great.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Dumb Idea?

                    Originally posted by ProfessorChomp View Post
                    I guess I got that impression from "My reps surely want this script to remain dead and buried."
                    I just meant that I think they will look at it like: "dude... you have bigger stuff [for me] going on. Leave it alone. We're on to bigger and better stuff now. Let's not go backwards."

                    I say this because I bowed out of writing for a couple years to start a company and work in a different capacity. Had a great time, company [of two] made great deals for other writers. But now I'm back to writing. This new project is my first outing back as a writer. And I have a follow up that's equally big. I would say my rep wants to stay on that track, not that they dislike the old scripts.

                    My time away helped me retool my barometer for where/how I could fit in on the commercial side of things. But yes, one day I'll write something small again for the liberation of it.
                    DOPE CITY

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Dumb Idea?

                      Originally posted by dmizzo View Post
                      Honestly, no one will care. No one is going to mount a forensic investigation to uncover your true identity. Unless you're Scott Frank. I'm guessing you're not.
                      Nope. Not Scott Frank.

                      Didn't assume the town would break out their CSI gear. Meant if someone happened upon it and said to my rep "hey, didn't you go out with _____ a few years ago? Do you know it's up on BlackList?" Rep might not be cool with that. Stranger sh*t has happened. Much stranger.

                      Originally posted by dmizzo View Post
                      But yeah, "it's too dark" is a pass, and the reasons could be anything from budget to quality to whatever. No one says that when it's great.
                      Is this mic on?: Generally, agreed. But when a script goes out STRICTLY as a sample there's nothing to pass on, it's not for sale.
                      DOPE CITY

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Dumb Idea?

                        I've never heard of someone not wanting to sell their script. Now that sounds strange.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Dumb Idea?

                          Originally posted by dmizzo View Post
                          I've never heard of someone not wanting to sell their script. Now that sounds strange.
                          Agreed. On the face of it, it's illogical. However, it was a strategy. The agents knew it wouldn't sell and they didn't want that to effect/kill the reads. They didn't want to go out and get 100% passes based strictly on marketability. Instead, they suggested we try to put it together off grid -- They brought in a manager from Anonymous Content who apparently had good relations with a specific foreign market they thought was right for it -- to work in conjunction with their in-house people. Meanwhile they went out with it as a sample explaining that it was a small script looking to get setup in a foreign market for me to possibly direct. This way the targeted reads were only reading based on content, not marketability. Takes the pressure off the person reading.

                          This way, when I went in for meetings it was all about what they loved, as it wasn't up to them to fix it.

                          I wanted to be on the BlackList that year, as I knew the script had zero chance at selling, and I think it maybe could have been [on the lower rung], but the script never went to anyone but higher ups -- one of which offered me a job weeks after the general meeting. It was a good targeted strategy they came up with, in my estimation.

                          But no, the script has never been for sale and that still kinda bugs me on some level.
                          DOPE CITY

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Dumb Idea?

                            So if someone said, hey I want to buy this, you would've said... ?

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Dumb Idea?

                              Originally posted by dmizzo View Post
                              So if someone said, hey I want to buy this, you would've said... ?
                              …Cool, I'd like to direct it.

                              I don't know, would have depended on who it was. What their heat was etc.

                              Today I'd sell it to someone who 'got it' and wanted to do an amazing job with it. Like some off-grid foreign indie director whose other films kicked ass and had a cult following. That would be my first choice. It's the type of story that could only work as cult following fare. A very violent story that is somewhat of a slow burn until revving up full bore into a gritty, hellish world. Frankly, I'm surprised anyone in Hollywood made it past page 10.
                              DOPE CITY

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X