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

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  • #76
    Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

    He was only 15 at the time. And besides, I think "The Day Before Today" could really have been a hit.

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    • #77
      Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

      Originally posted by Why One View Post
      kintnerboy makes a lot of "the truth is" posts. The thing is, are his conjectures fact? Does he know exactly how things went down behind the scenes? Or are they assumptions, based on speculation?

      If Nancy Oliver only became a writer only because she knew Alan Ball, then why didn't she have movies made around 1999 when Alan Ball hit it big with AMERICAN BEAUTY?

      How do we know that Nancy Oliver wasn't already landing sales and paid gigs prior to SIX FEET UNDER? How do we know that Nancy Oliver wasn't generating heat after a hot spec around 2002/3'ish, landing meetings. Then maybe Alan Ball contacted her, asking her if she wanted to work on SIX FEET UNDER -- because her writing was a perfect fit for the show? Maybe the only reason Alan got Nancy to work with him was because he went to school with her -- not the other way round.

      Why wasn't Pat O Neill involved in EVERY John Cusack movie? Do we know for a fact that John Cusack literally picked up the phone to Tom Cruise and asked him to make a movie with his buddy Pat O Neill because he's living on hard times? Heck, why wasn't KNIGHT AND DAY starring John Cusack?

      No-one's discounting that connections and knowing people doesn't help. Sure it does. It just means you're on someone's radar. It means you get a read. But it probably stops there. It isn't a free pass. And getting a read is easy. Just submit to Joe ( ), or submit to management cos like Madhatter that allows online script submission, or win a screenwriting contest, or write a kickass script with a kickass query, or write a kickass blog that generates lots of traffic, or write a bestselling novel, or get a graphic novel published, or make a technically awesome short film. Of course, all of those listed things aren't easy.

      There's a strong possibility that Pat O Neill may have landed Tom Cruise the same way Gary Whitta landed Denzel Washington. Because they wrote a good script that people responded to.
      Agree. It's easy to see cronyism everywhere. The cards are always stacked: the best excuse for personal failure.

      Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall were once roommates.

      So, following certain people's logic Dustin Hoffman made it because he knew Robert Duvall, and Robert Duvall made it because he knew Dustin Hoffman.

      Et voila: here we have the fame perpetuum mobile.
      "Ecco il grande Zampano!"

      Comment


      • #78
        Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

        Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
        Also, one of the most important qualities in making it in any field is just putting in the practice to get good at the craft. It's no surprise that a group of friends who move to Hollywood and work at making it together all find a spot - they're getting better by working with each other.

        George Harrison was a shit songwriter when he joined The Beatles. By the end, he was writing "Something."
        Good point. Many people can't accept that failure comes before success.

        They give up at their first or second failure, long before they even reach the realm of practice, experience, and knowledge to be able to create something worthwhile.

        The romantic notion of the artist was 100% true emotion and heart, and didn't mention all the downsides of creative work: failure. I think it's one of the sources why many people believe that talent is something you have, or you haven't. This set of ideas has made it from the 18th century to the 21st century with hardly a scratch.
        "Ecco il grande Zampano!"

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        • #79
          Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

          Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
          I'm not jealous or bitter.
          One of my favorite lines from Seinfeld:

          "I'm bitter. Not as bitter as I gonna be in ten years, but I'm bitter."
          "Ecco il grande Zampano!"

          Comment


          • #80
            Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

            Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
            And it seems like you're trying to insinuate that anyone who points out the facts is somehow jealous (actually, you said bitter).

            I'm not jealous or bitter. I'm glad O'Neill and Pink and Oliver and Coppola and Piven and everyone else found success. I'm even happy for people like Lowell. Someday I'll be happy for me.

            I was just answering the OP's question.
            Facts are one thing. You can make a list of facts outlining why Jeremy Piven, to use your example, has achieved the career he has.

            They might include:

            - Both of his parents were acting and drama teachers
            - He was childhood friends with John Cusack (who attended Piven's parents' acting school, the Piven Theater Workshop - so you could make the argument John Cusack has a career because of Jeremy Piven, if you want to continue flawed reductive reasoning)
            - Has acted pretty much his entire life, worked his craft for decades
            - Has an interesting look, and impeccable comedic timing
            - etc, etc - I'm quite sure my wikipedia search doesn't encapsulate the man's life

            So, to deduce Piven has a career simply because of the fact he was high school buddies with a "bigger" star named John Cusack is a pretty astounding leap.

            Sorry if I inferred your ****ed up reasoning stems from some sort of chip on your shoulder or smidgen of bitterness.

            Do you care to illuminate why you feel this way, if not out of bitterness or jealousy?

            Comment


            • #81
              Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

              Originally posted by Ulysses View Post
              Good point. Many people can't accept that failure comes before success.

              They give up at their first or second failure, long before they even reach the realm of practice, experience, and knowledge to be able to create something worthwhile.

              The romantic notion of the artist was 100% true emotion and heart, and didn't mention all the downsides of creative work: failure. I think it's one of the sources why many people believe that talent is something you have, or you haven't. This set of ideas has made it from the 18th century to the 21st century with hardly a scratch.
              Agree completely.

              HH

              Comment


              • #82
                Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                Originally posted by Ulysses View Post

                Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall were once roommates.
                .
                So were Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones. And they both won Oscars

                So there.

                "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

                Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

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                • #83
                  Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                  Originally posted by LauriD View Post
                  So were Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones. And they both won Oscars

                  So there.

                  Haha Good one
                  Nobody's perfect.

                  Comment


                  • #84
                    Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                    Originally posted by Ulysses View Post
                    Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall were once roommates.

                    So, following certain people's logic Dustin Hoffman made it because he knew Robert Duvall, and Robert Duvall made it because he knew Dustin Hoffman
                    This is another terrible example that has nothing to do with the discussion.

                    Hoffman and Duvall were roommates because they were both ALREADY WORKING ACTORS independently of each other.

                    The key word in this thread title is "first time"

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                    • #85
                      Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                      Originally posted by ihavebiglips View Post
                      So, to deduce Piven has a career simply because of the fact he was high school buddies with a "bigger" star named John Cusack is a pretty astounding leap.
                      No it isn't. Piven started acting (again, the title of the thread is "first time", as in a big break) in Cusack films. Doubtful he would have without the pre-established friendship. Then again, he might have become a Tom Cruise sized A Lister if he had stuck to his own thing. The question here wasn't about the merit of anyone's talent. It was how did they get their first job?

                      The real question is, why did me pointing this out upset a whole cadre of message board buddies who then felt the need to project their insecurities onto me?

                      Originally posted by ihavebiglips View Post
                      Do you care to illuminate why you feel this way, if not out of bitterness or jealousy?
                      Sure. The OP asked a legitimate question. I answered it. I don't "feel" any way. I was curious myself so I looked it up.

                      Comment


                      • #86
                        Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                        Originally posted by Ulysses View Post
                        One of my favorite lines from Seinfeld:

                        "I'm bitter. Not as bitter as I gonna be in ten years, but I'm bitter."

                        As a writer, one thing you will never see me do is crib someone else's lines.

                        Comment


                        • #87
                          Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                          Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
                          The question here wasn't about the merit of anyone's talent. It was how did they get their first job?
                          Oh, phew. Well, since "Knight And Day" wasn't O'Neill's first job as a writer, we can rule out the involvement of his college buddies.

                          Thanks for clearing it up, finally.

                          Comment


                          • #88
                            Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                            Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
                            Oh, phew. Well, since "Knight And Day" wasn't O'Neill's first job as a writer, we can rule out the involvement of his college buddies.

                            Thanks for clearing it up, finally.
                            I can see you're really breaking a sweat trying to argue with me, but, as I've already stated earlier, O'Neill's first job was on a tv show called 'Dead Last, which was produced by Steve Pink (of Knight And Day and former college buddy).

                            In fact, those are O'Neill's only two writing credits, with 10 years in between.

                            Will be interesting to see what he does next.

                            Comment


                            • #89
                              Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                              How does pointing out logical fallacies make me come across as insecure?

                              Also... Piven played a linebacker in the Corey Haim "classic" LUCAS before ONE CRAZY SUMMER. I wonder if Cusack handjobbed the casting director on that one as well.

                              And again - just because both Piven and Cusack were in the same film and happened to be high school buddies, it doesn't mean Piven only got in because of Cusack. You think Cusack was such a star at the time he could demand his buddies be cast? Maybe he got Piven an audition, but I'm sure Piven was doing the rounds and probably even repped by that point - and had a good audition.

                              You're weird, dude.

                              Comment


                              • #90
                                Re: How did a "first time" screenwriter end up writing a Tom Cruise movie?

                                Originally posted by ihavebiglips View Post
                                How does pointing out logical fallacies make me come across as insecure?
                                How does me pointing out facts make me "bitter"? Why is okay for you to slap labels on people (first, I might add) and not the other way around?

                                Originally posted by ihavebiglips View Post
                                Also... Piven played a linebacker in the Corey Haim "classic" LUCAS before ONE CRAZY SUMMER. I wonder if Cusack handjobbed the casting director on that one as well.
                                Lucas and One Crazy Summer were released 5 months apart. There's no way of knowing which was put into production first or cast first. Nitpicking, I know, but that seems to be all the rage here.

                                Again, there are many ways into the business. I don't care if someone blows a studio head to get a job. Good for them. I wasn't passing judgement (even though many people here wrongly assumed I was), just stating facts.

                                Originally posted by ihavebiglips View Post
                                You're weird, dude.
                                I have nothing to say to that.

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