How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

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  • #31
    Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

    Nobody will know apart from Patrick O Neill himself. Although I'm inclined to go with what dmizzo is saying.

    Plenty of well-connected peeps in the industry that can't catch a break. And plenty of unknown peeps catching big waves. Will Smith isn't the only father in the entire film industry. And Allan Ball didn't go to college that had only 2 students.

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    • #32
      Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

      Originally posted by dmizzo View Post
      Oh yeah, and nominated for an academy award. Maybe not the best example of how "people who can't write a great script" sometimes get in.

      You know what? You've turned me around.

      Sophia Coppola won an Oscar for a 70 page script because it was great! It's studied in film schools the world over. And Lost In Translation would have been made no matter who her father was.

      Yup. Hollywood is a meritocracy.

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      • #33
        Re: How?

        Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
        Alan Ball can't get an Alan Ball movie into production just because he's Alan Ball.

        Oh how I wish that were true. It would have saved us all from Towelhead.

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        • #34
          Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

          Can having famous parents give you a shot? Sure. But if you blow it, no one's going to keep investing money in you. And no one's going to spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to make a movie as a favor to mom or dad.

          But is it really so weird that kids of talented parents get a shot? Between nature and nurture, I'd want to see how Meyers & Shyer's daughter could write, or Coppola's daughter could direct.

          Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
          Oh how I wish that were true. It would have saved us all from Towelhead.
          Have you seen the movie? It's pretty great.

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          • #35
            Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

            Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
            Can having famous parents give you a shot? Sure. But if you blow it, no one's going to keep investing money in you. And no one's going to spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to make a movie as a favor to mom or dad.

            But is it really so weird that kids of talented parents get a shot? Between nature and nurture, I'd want to see how Meyers & Shyer's daughter could write, or Coppola's daughter could direct.



            Have you seen the movie? It's pretty great.
            Sophia Coppola did blow it with her last movie. Didn't stop her from making another.

            Nancy Oliver should be a showrunner somewhere else by now (although she is 55, don't know how that plays into things). Haven't seen L.A.T.R.G. yet. It's in my Netflix, behind a logjam of 500 other titles. Towelhead didn't look like my cup of tea.

            Liked Lost In Translation, though.

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            • #36
              Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

              Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
              Can having famous parents give you a shot? Sure. But if you blow it, no one's going to keep investing money in you. And no one's going to spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to make a movie as a favor to mom or dad.

              But is it really so weird that kids of talented parents get a shot? Between nature and nurture, I'd want to see how Meyers & Shyer's daughter could write, or Coppola's daughter could direct.



              Have you seen the movie? It's pretty great.
              Coppola I understand and I like her work.

              Nancy Meyers makes hundreds of millions with each film so I can understand it from a financial point of view. But she's not a great writer. I find it odd that the daughter is now writing with the father who hasn't been as successful as his wife since they divorced and stopped writing together.

              Can't imagine what it would feel like to write an original screenplay and have it rewritten by the 22 year old daughter of the director.

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              • #37
                Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
                Sophia Coppola did blow it with her last movie. Didn't stop her from making another.
                Oscar winning writer/directors of huge hits usually get more than one misstep before they're thrown out of the industry, no matter who their parents are.

                And the budget for her next one (looks great, FWIW) is probably much smaller than the one she had for Antoinette. It seems like a very normal career trajectory to me.

                Nancy Oliver should be a showrunner somewhere else by now (although she is 55, don't know how that plays into things).
                That's like saying a writer should be a director after writing two movies. Some people have the desire/talent to produce; some people are happy just writing.

                Towelhead didn't look like my cup of tea.
                Then why shit on it if you haven't seen it? That always mystifies me.

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                • #38
                  Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                  Originally posted by mariot View Post
                  Nancy Meyers makes hundreds of millions with each film so I can understand it from a financial point of view. But she's not a great writer.
                  Really? I think she's fantastic at what she does. I'm not saying her movies should make the AFI top 100 list, but her structure and tone are generally awesome. She writes great characters. Big name actors and actresses star in her movies for a reason.

                  To each their own, I guess.
                  QUESTICLES -- It's about balls on a mission.

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                  • #39
                    Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                    That's where subjectivity comes in. From what I gather, the key is having someone like your work enough to champion it. But it doesn't stop there as other producers/execs/talent have to like it as well -- enough to get involved and, basically, risk money and reputations on it. Because that's what happens when movies get made.

                    I don't believe for one moment that Tom Cruise would make a career decision based on who the writer knew as opposed to whether the material was strong enough to be his next summer movie.

                    Doesn't matter who you know. You wouldn't risk money on a business venture that involved selling ice on the internet -- even if it did come from your own brother. Unless you believed in it.

                    Too many out of work family members of industry people and well-connected people to assume that it gives you a free pass.

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                    • #40
                      Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                      Roman is a better example than Sofia. He hasn't directed any movies since 2001.
                      Nobody's perfect.

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                      • #41
                        Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                        Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
                        Oscar winning writer/directors of huge hits usually get more than one misstep before they're thrown out of the industry, no matter who their parents are.

                        And the budget for her next one (looks great, FWIW) is probably much smaller than the one she had for Antoinette. It seems like a very normal career trajectory to me.



                        That's like saying a writer should be a director after writing two movies. Some people have the desire/talent to produce; some people are happy just writing.



                        Then why shit on it if you haven't seen it? That always mystifies me.
                        Lars and the Real Girl was a stunningly different and smart script - and an even better film. How many films of this decade can you describe like this? I mean, honestly. It's a rare thing to have a premise as original as the story itself. And then to make it funny and warm too? Pixar, maybe, are the only others who have done this of late. Then think of their budget. Oliver and Gillespie were able to do it for a very modest budget. And they had to butt heads with a LOT of people to get it up. As did Ryan Gosling.

                        Sure, knowing someone probably helped get that script read, but it was the script itself that blew people away. Getting the film made was an uphill battle. Nothing about it was easy. They deserved everything they got (plus, I would have given them the Oscar, too.)

                        Of course there's nepotism in HW, as in any other industry. But will it guarantee you a career if you don't have the chops? Nope. Or not likely.

                        Re the Will Smith kid thing... Actors are about BO. Will is one of the few stars today who can guarantee a massive opening weekend. And his cache is such that it will even extend to his kid for a bit, as long as he isn't a total flop. Meh. What can you do? He'll either make end up with a career or not, not because of his dad, ultimately, but because he can or can't act.

                        Be brilliant. Make your own contacts. And write the **** out your next script. My money's on the nobody genius ahead of anyone with only the "in" factor.
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                        • #42
                          Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                          Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
                          Oscar winning writer/directors of huge hits usually get more than one misstep before they're thrown out of the industry, no matter who their parents are.
                          It seems like no one is thrown out, Oscars or not. If Richard Kelly, Kevin Smith and M Night Shamalan can still get jobs, there is no criteria.

                          Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
                          That's like saying a writer should be a director after writing two movies. Some people have the desire/talent to produce; some people are happy just writing.
                          My point was, was that after tuteling under Alan Ball for 10 years on two hit shows (and producing them) she should have taken a shot (if she wanted) while she could.


                          Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
                          Then why shit on it if you haven't seen it? That always mystifies me.
                          Because, as a project that had absolutely zero commercial potential from day one, but got made because of Alan Ball, it was a perfect example of what I was talking about. And the reviews were middling, so I have a 50/50 chance of being right by shitting on it.

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                          • #43
                            Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                            Originally posted by Knaight View Post
                            Really? I think she's fantastic at what she does. I'm not saying her movies should make the AFI top 100 list, but her structure and tone are generally awesome. She writes great characters. Big name actors and actresses star in her movies for a reason.

                            To each their own, I guess.
                            I like her movies but think they rely heavily on the actors. The characters as written on the page would not come off as well without a Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, etc. I think she gets the casts she does because her movies are financial successes and there's not that much competition in that age range.

                            Her movies are the film equivalent of pop songs. I enjoy them.

                            I think her structure is terrible, though. The movies start well but the endings always seem forced on.

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                            • #44
                              Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                              Originally posted by mariot View Post
                              I like her movies but think they rely heavily on the actors. The characters as written on the page would not come off as well without a Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, etc. I think she gets the casts she does because her movies are financial successes and there's not that much competition in that age range.

                              Her movies are the film equivalent of pop songs. I enjoy them.

                              I think her structure is terrible, though. The movies start well but the endings always seem forced on.
                              I detest Nancy Myers' movies.

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                              • #45
                                Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                                Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
                                It seems like no one is thrown out, Oscars or not. If Richard Kelly, Kevin Smith and M Night Shamalan can still get jobs, there is no criteria.
                                Trust me, it can be tough to get another shot.

                                My point was, was that after tuteling under Alan Ball for 10 years on two hit shows (and producing them) she should have taken a shot (if she wanted) while she could.
                                And I would say that you may not perfectly understand how television works. It says absolutely nothing about her talent as a writer because she didn't make the leap to showrunner.

                                Because, as a project that had absolutely zero commercial potential from day one, but got made because of Alan Ball, it was a perfect example of what I was talking about. And the reviews were middling, so I have a 50/50 chance of being right by shitting on it.
                                It was made because someone thought that that script and that cast had the potential to make a successful movie. It's not "oh, Alan Ball wrote a script! Let's make it!"

                                It just doesn't work that way. No one's handing out greenlights as favors.

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