The Script Reader - Proposal for a Script I’d Like to Cover Someday

The Storyboard Artist - BACK TO BACK STORYBOARDS AND NO SLEEP

The Key Grip - Comfortable?

Blog comfort

Sorry for the delinquent blogging, but my wife and I had a baby boy and things have been a bit hectic. Please send all college fund contributions to Bill Essling c/o Local 80.
A grip in the entertainment industry gets some strange requests. It seems that if a particular job …

Tags: Film Blog, Movie Blog, Hollywood, Filmmaking, Movie Bloggers

The Indie Film Producer - TO V.O.D. OR NOT TO V.O.D.

Yeah, yeah, I know. But the wait still continues. I promise, my very next post will be the aforementioned JERRY LEWIS opus.

This past week in Variety, Ann Thompson continues the discussion that my inaugural post introduced to the Film Industry Bloggers community. Namely, that of the state …

Tags: Movie, Movie, Hollywood, Director, Oscars

The Genre Director - Movie blackface…racism or catalyst for debate?

Robert Downey Jr. and I share one common experience…we have both performed in blackface.

Mr. Downey’s extraordinary performance in TROPIC THUNDER, part Plantation, part Blaxploitation, is the subject of much contentious debate. Is a transracial portrayal legitimate if done just for the sake of humor, or only if it conveys points that can’t otherwise be made? The principle target of Ben Stiller’s movie is Hollywood narcissism, yet it is Downey’s bold embrace of a taboo that everyone will remember.

My performance got into trouble on legal rather than racial grounds. On a late night live-to-air show, with comedy skits bracketing commercial breaks, I appeared in blackface as Matt Black TV critic of the Daily Gutter, until Matt White, TV critic of the Daily Mirror, threatened to sue.

For me, the humor was not racial; it was wordplay, supported by make-up. The fact that its racial insensitivity did not even occur to me, in my ignorance of the context I was invoking, was reflective of white attitudes of the times. This was Australia in 1966, where the British-made Black and White Minstrel Show still aired on the government broadcasting network and would continue to air for years. In Australia’s 1967 movie JOURNEY OUT OF DARKNESS, the two lead characters, both Aboriginal, were played by white Ed Devereaux in blackface and the Pakistani singer Kamahl.

The late Ed Devereaux, a great Australian actor, pictured here on the left, went on to play more than 80 roles in film and television. In the background is Uluru, then called “Ayer’s Rock” by white Australians. It is probably the most sacred site for indigenous Australians. I staged a fight on top of it, flew hanggliders off it, and blew up a car in front of it, when the Northern Territory government controlled the land. It never occurred to me that I might be doing something offensive to another culture. Not then the prevailing wisdom. Uluru has now returned to Aboriginal control. Location permits are in their hands, as they should be.

Fifty years later Australia is a more racially sensitive, multicultural community. (Although there’s still a way to go, after the stubbornness of the Howard years.) I like to think my consciousness has evolved too. Yet, only when I saw Spike Lee’s MALCOLM X, one of the great educative films of the 90’s, did I realize how the word “black” has been used as a pejorative in the English language: black hearted, black sheep, etc. Make a list. How myopic was that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps all well-intentioned white people still have a way to go to eliminate blinkered and paternalistic attitudes.

But a sea change is coming, one way or the other, in November. Americans who claim they are color blind will have to look into their hearts and decide where they really stand. In a recent US survey, 10% of respondents admitted they did not feel comfortable voting for a black President. How many others will keep their prejudice to themselves until they are alone in the polling booth is a worrying question, given that the upcoming election is the most important Americans have faced since they elected FDR.

So, in this climate, Ben Stiller’s TROPIC THUNDER is ahead of the curve in using provocative comedy to stimulate timely debate on racial issues. It seems unfair to slam TROPIC THUNDER for blackface, and yet give a pass to the Wayans brothers’ transgender, transracial comedy, WHITE CHICKS. (Made me laugh)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I offer by way of comparison an early example of a white actor in blackface employed for what was intended to be a socially redeeming purpose. Click the poster and you will be linked to 5 extracts from the 1964 movie BLACK LIKE ME, which was based on a true story of a white journalist who posed as black to experience daily prejudice first hand.

 

While James Whitmore, a marvelous actor with a long career, does his best with the role, the dialogue creaks with earnestness. But it was a brave project in 1964, and an interesting social studies time capsule today.

To me the race issue is simple - and I know I am hardly inventing the wheel here: there is only one race, the human race. In coming centuries, intermarriage will have obliterated racial differences for much of the world. We may chose to find other reasons to mistreat our fellow man, but pigmentation will not be one of them. So the outcome is inevitable; the sooner we all hurry along that path the better.

Tags: Actor, , Hollywood, Movie, Film Blog

The British Film Director - Great movies that won’t get made.

I’ve been living in Hollywood for three years now. Some of that time I spent being represented at CAA (Creative Artists Agency - one of the big firms who look after the likes of Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan) management firm The Gotham Group and leading …

Tags: , Movie, Oscars, Movie, Movie Blog

The Screenwriter - Movin’ on UP!

Okay…so I’m becoming obsessed with getting to the next level. As you may or may not know, there are all these invisible levels when you’re a screenwriter. I’m actually NOT an expert on this and undoubtedly have a warped view. BUT, as I see things…the levels are basically as follows…

Level 1 – Risking it all and getting to L.A. Yeah, I know we’re in the internet age and I know there are a million screenwriting contests, but I still think your best bet is to be here in order to get to the next level…

Level 2 – Getting an Agent. Finding someone that knows someone, that knows someone, that knows — an agent. Then, convincing all those people to pass your script along. Then, having the agent love it enough or rather, think that he can sell it – and sign you.

Level 3 – Getting a sale. You get your original script out there and someone buys it! Thus, starting the “meeting machine” where you meet with all sorts of producers and studios execs — making new friends and contacts around town.

Level 4 – Getting an assignment. Using the heat off your sale to get the opportunity to pitch for an assignment. Then, killing the pitch and getting the assignment. At this point, it will won’t be a very high profile assignment AND you’ll have to beat out 100 other writers, cattle call style, for the job…but hey — you’re getting paid to write – POW!

Level 5 – Getting better assignments. Getting projects people have actually heard about. Now, granted, you’re probably up against 5 or so writers and it’s probably been passed over by some A-list guy OR you’re being called in to rewrite a script they aren’t quite pleased with, but — these are still really, really great assignments. A huge step up from level 4.

Level 6 – A shade above level 5. Similar projects, only you are one of the first writers on the project after the A or A minus guys pass. And maybe the project is a notch better than level 5.

Level 7 – This level is a little ambiguous, but this is where your agent stops making outbound calls and starts receiving in-bound calls! This is huge. People either offer you a job outright OR they offer it to you with the provision that its yours if you all agree on a take. In other words, this is your job to lose. If it doesn’t work out, THEN we’ll move on. Normally you need something to happen to get to this level (ie: land a bunch of things at once…have a really huge spec sale…one of your scripts gets made and released and does well, etc. Lots of different ways to get here, none of them easy).

Level 8 – Getting to STACK JOBS. This is the level that makes myself and every other writer in town want to yank their pants down and work themselves over. This is where you get to say “yes” to multiple assignments and…the studios are okay with waiting in line. Much like an actor, you put the assignments in positions of your availability and then work them in that order. In other words, you know what your next 2,3, even 4 jobs are. They are locked and loaded. Pretty sweet.

Level 9 – I don’t know what to call this other than — Nirvana. There aren’t a lot of writers here and they oscillate in and out. This level is for people like David Keopp ( Jurassic Park, Spider Man, War of the Worlds, Mission Impossible, etc). This is where A-list actors and A-list directors come calling. Quite frankly I don’t know how you ever fall out of this level once you’re there, given the sheer amount of variables stacked in your favor (great actors, great directors, giant franchises, best selling novels to adapt, and on and on and on.).

And that’s it! Top of the mountain.

Again, all of this is silly to try and quantify, but this is sort of how I perceive the various levels. But as I said before, I’m getting obsessed with movin’ on up. Specifically to Level 7. And believe it or not – NOT because of the upgrade in paycheck. Yes, I’d love a little more breathing room. I’m entering the “buy a house, have a kid” phase, so I could definitely use the extra scratch.

But it’s really more about: a) getting cool projects b) having to hustle less to get them. The less I have to hustle, the more time I have to write, which truly makes me happy.

My agents are ecstatic about my career is and it’s current trajectory, so I’m definitely thankful for how things are going. When I think that I came out here not that long ago never having visited California and not knowing a single soul – things have gone pretty good.

But I wouldn’t mind movin’ another level up!!

Tags: Director, Hollywood, Movie Bloggers, Filmmaking, Film Blog

The Casting Director - It’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to…

I am back in Los Angeles. I am a few days late on my blog entry, but it has been such a busy week for me.

In NYC I saw over 200 actors in 4 pre-read sessions and I brought over 60 actors for 4 roles to the director who I had for only two days. That’s around 15 choices per role, plus I threw in some actors I wanted the director to see for smaller roles. Now I wait for the director to make choices. But are they making choices? Nope. They want more. More options, more auditions, more lists. I have had over 20 sessions for this film. The budget of the film is under $700,000 dollars and they have seen the best talent in town. But they want more. What the producer and director don’t seem to understand is (and by the way, why don’t they read my lists?) there is no more! If they want to up the budget, yes there would be more choices, but for their SAG modified-low-budget film, the choices don’t stretch too far and if I told you some of the amazing, talented, name-y actors who came in for this film, you would be pleasantly surprised and shocked that they didn’t offer the roles out right away.

But still they want more. I get this from the producer: “Matt, maybe, there is an actor out there like (insert actor who makes over ten million per film) who wants to try something different. I mean all I know him from is from his action films.” I am thinking to myself, is this guy serious? His ego is so gigantically huge as to expect (actor who makes over ten million per film) to actually do his SAG MODIFIED LOW BUDGET FILM?!!! Of course when I say, “Stop wasting your time,” or “you are going down a path that will lead you to disappointment,” he doesn’t hear me. All he hears is that I am being negative. But I’m not. I know that for a fact, based on my professional experience having done 40 more films then you, Mr. Producer that I actually do know what I am doing!

But, I still check the availability of the actor (who makes over ten million dollars per picture) because that’s what he wants me to do. Guess what? He is available! Go ahead, make the offer…tick, tock…that is the sound of time wasting away any interest that actors may have had in your film, because they are auditioning for other films. Oh, didn’t you know? THERE ARE OTHER FILMS BEING MADE OUT THERE WHO ARE OFFERING MORE MONEY TO ACTORS, more money then SAG MODIFIED LOW BUDGET SCALE + 10%…so don’t cry to me when all of a sudden you’re a week out and you have no cast.

I’ll say it again: Actors respond to the script first. Then they look at the director, the producer, the budget, how much they are going to get paid, the amount of time they are going to have to be on set, the location, etc, etc…. Actors, agents and manager know what it means when they sign-up for a low budget film. The smaller the budget, the smaller the perks. Actors like perks, heck, I like perks. But on low-budget films there are no perks. The perk is the passion you have for the project. Actors, crew, myself, we have to respond to the material and the director, because that is all there is to respond to. We hope that the film turns out well, that the director knows what he is doing, that the editor can tell a story, that the sound guy wasn’t asleep on the 4th consecutive evening shoot on day 17 out of 21. We hope that the small independent film gets into a festival and we can all celebrate it, we hope that more then the people who buy tickets to the festival actually get to see the film. We hope.

I work on the films because I like the story and I am getting paid to do what I love to do, I just wish that the people in charge would listen to me without feeling threatened like I am taking their manhood away from them. You are still the big producer, I am just trying to report the truth, tell you the way it is, so that you can make the film with the best possible cast out there. I hope they listen.

Well, it’s Friday night and I will be 37 tomorrow. I am looking forward to the New Year. I have a lot of great scripts on my desk and I hope that many of them end up in festivals and on screen to be enjoyed by people other then my Mom and Dad. But if it’s just for them, then it is still worth it in the end.

So, happy birthday to me and go out and support your small independent films! A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into getting those films into theatres!

Tags: Television, Actor, Movie, Film Blog, Movie Bloggers

The Script Reader - Plugging Me, Plugging You

I know everyone is probably still pissy about my The Rottie and The Latte confession of the other day, which was kind of the point…to provoke and self-deprecate in case it seemed like i was judging without allowing myself be judged.  (There were mitigating circumstances with that script, of course, …

Tags: Filmmaker, Film Blog, Movie Theatre, Director, Television

The Web Producer - running around with our heads cut off

 

I’m cutting together the ‘behind the scenes’ video that Tim shot while we ran through this shoot at break-neck speed.  The video was shot at a filmmaking workshop ran by PBC at Otakon; we tried to get the entire thing done within two hours, but…well, once you watch the video …

Tags: Film, Movie Theatre, Director, Movie Blog, Film Industry

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