Crazy Times!

Crazy times.

The old Wild West ain’t got nothin’ on Hollywood these days. With things finally starting to settle in after the extremely tough WGA strike, now the SAG contract needs to be settled.

And while I do feel the need to stand by SAG (they were great during our strike), I just worry that there’s not much left to strike for. And frankly, I’m not sure the town can take another shutdown.

Also adding to the craziness is the fact that places like Warner Indie and Picture House are closing and New Line (the studio that picked up my first spec) has downsized considerably.

Studios downsizing, contract disputes, producers losing their deals, all sorts of random outsider money swirling in and out of town – it’s like a freakin’ tornado out here.

I wish I had a definitive idea as to how this is all going to shake out. I would love to share it with you. Maybe there’s a greater good in all this, but right now, it’s a tad depressing. There are fewer buyers, fewer outlets for edgy material, and tons of really great people that are out of jobs.

I have several friends that were let go or left their jobs before the strike that are still sitting at home — throwing cards into a hat! These are ridiculously smart, creative people that I really hate seeing sit on the sidelines.

As I say all this — things for me (ironically) have never been better. But I think part of the reason that I’ve dodged a lot of the above mentioned bullets stems is that I have a lot of heat in my career now AND maybe more importantly – I write big, fun action-y, high-concept scripts. These, for the most part, are bulletproof.

But, the carnage among the rest of my friends has been hard to watch. Writers, execs, and producers are all trying to find their way in this new version of Hollywood.

It’s really, Really, REALLY hard to keep up.