Hollywood SUCKS: Great movies that will NEVER 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 UK agency Casarotto. I’ll go into more details about working with agents and managers another time, but my focus today is on scripts that I’ve been sent by them.

I’m in the midst of packing up my apartment and moving the family some 3,000 miles to shoot a top secret movie for five weeks. We’re then back in Los Angeles for four weeks (and a very quick first cut) before we hopefully fly out to begin prep on my Eroll Flynn movie which will take us away for five months. So… I’m trying to get rid of as much as I can to cut down on storage costs while we are away. Sitting to the right of my desk is a pile of screenplays that are AMAZING but will never get made. There’s about ten of them. On the floor to my left is an enormous pile of scripts ranging from the unfunny comedy, the complete rip off and the ‘what the hell were they thinking putting this shit into development’. More on these scripts, which the studios have all paid good money for another time too!

But back to these ten scripts that I’ll be keeping in the hopes that one day one of their studio owners say “what do you want to direct next?” Last weeks blog I talked about great scripts that won’t get made because they can’t, for what ever reason, get suitable cast attached, but then there are also scripts that will never get made BECAUSE cast have attached themselves to a project. In my experience the majority of these scripts have leading ladies attached to them. One script on my right has Sandra Bullock attached and one has Reese Witherspoon. Both scripts need a little work but not a huge amount and it’s a crying shame that these ladies are not getting these scripts made - especially in the case of Sandra as the script she has could be a really wonderful heart wrenching story that could put her in the running for an Oscar!!!

Actors can only make a certain number of movies a year. Both in terms of physically and without the audience getting sick of them. But, with a good script being such a commodity there are many cases where an actor will attached themselves to a project to ensure they have a good group to choose from in the event that a bad patch of scripts comes through the door. Problem with this is that after two years they see themselves as playing different roles so a good script, that they once thought was perfect for them, moves to the back shelf. The studio has already spent good money on buying the script and they’ve then spent good money getting writers to punch the script up making it more suitable for the actor. So, by the time the script is put on the back shelf it can have $500,000 - $1,000,000 against it. At this price it makes it very difficult to give the project to someone else to make, as the script costs have become so expensive that it can only really be a studio that makes the movie. Very very frustrating - and sad for both writers AND the cinema going audience!

The other set of scripts on my pile are ones that I have no idea why they have not been made, but for one reason or another they just don’t move forward. The best one in my opinion is DREAM HOUSE written by David Loucka. A great great screenplay that was ready to shoot when I read it. It should have no problem attaching a really really strong leading man and getting financial backing at the $12M mark. But it’s been two and a half years since I was sent the script. With this one I didn’t even get a chance to go in and pitch. They attached a director the day I read it, although it seems like it might be a free assignment again. If it is, and anyone knows the Producers Daniel Bobker or Ehren Kruger do let them know of a fantastic British Director who could knock this one out of the ballpark!!! (Did I sound American just then?????)

So there you have it! Just one of the ways in which Hollywood sucks! Yes, Hollywood has a dearth of good scripts but the first problem that needs to be addressed in Hollywood is not how do we find better scripts but how do we free up the good ones so that they can be made - either independently or using other vehicles. If someone can crack that then their can be a lot of great great GREAT movies coming to our screens over the next few years.

Back to cleaning out my scripts closet… Ice Princess anyone????