I should be wrapping up some contract work or writing the script, but I just wanted to take a quick moment to share the latest. (Not that it's really news, since I wrote about it in my most recent FB status. But anyway...)
I was a bit nervous before our meeting on Monday. I don't know why... I guess because les producers always come back with a few notes or suggestions, and while they're usually rather minor and always well worth the effort of brainstorming and scene shuffling, I've really started growing weary of outline rewrites. I think it's fair to say that I find them time-consuming and much less creative than the actual writing process.
I thought for sure that we had at least another outline to go before we could begin writing again, and so I was honestly shocked at how few notes TC & AS came back to us with. I was also happy that any suggestions they offered, or ones that Jim n' I came up with while chatting, will all be very easily implemented into the dialog of existing scenes - which means no major shuffling!! YAY! When we were done reviewing their notes, I exclaimed, "That's it!?" and TC said that I sounded surprised. I really was. What a huge sigh of relief!!
I look forward to jumping back into writing. We are coming so close to the end of the development process... the only process I've ever known... it's exciting to discuss what comes next.
Either today or next Tuesday (because TC will be away at the Whistler Film Festival), TC & AS will provide us with three thorough A, B and C strategies for going into production next fall. We all agreed that we don't want to shoot this thing in 2011, with a 2012 release. While postponing the film might provide us with more opportunities to increase the budget, there are no guarantees. If DE ends up being a super low-budget $1M movie, then so be it. Of course, we may need to tweak the car crash scene or use creative editing to successfully dodge what we cannot afford, but I have the utmost faith in Jim's talents as a director that he will do a fabulous job, no matter what the budget.
I mean, I know that those of you who know Jim probably recognize that he's very talented... but honest to gawd, I think he is 100 times more talented than what anyone realizes.
Jim is the only person I know who can hear a few notes of a song, and immediately name which scene in what movie that music score is from. He notices when the camera is doing a slow zoom or pan, when the zoom/pan is so subtle and slow that you really have to watch the edges of the TV screen to notice. He also seems to have memorized every shot in every movie he has ever seen and will try to figure out how certain creative shots were achieved, (which he then stores in his vast memory archive for future reference for when he becomes a director someday.) Speaking of memorizing shots, I may have mentioned before that his Grandma still has a stack of notebooks, where an 8-year old Jim tried storyboard movies he had seen in the theater shot-for-shot. There were no VCRs back then, so he knew that if he wanted to see a movie again, he would have to recreate it for himself comic-book style.
I could list a thousand more examples, but I don't think I need to. Jim was born to direct movies, and I am so thrilled that he will finally get that chance! I am confident that he will do a great job, no matter what the budget limitations may be. (Of course, perhaps I'm just being overly biased. But when it comes to anything film-related, he never ceases to amaze me...)
So, that being said, we should find out what our A, B and C strategies are soon enough, and then get an idea of what sorts of potential budgets we may be dealing with. Like I was saying, the lowest will be 1M, so that's not too shabby... Even though our script is a little ambitious, with a lot of locations, a car crash, and a couple FX, I think we'll find ways to make it work.
Although my direct involvement will drastically decrease once all the writing is done, I'm still thrilled to be a part of something so creative n' cool. While big budget movies often wash their hands of the screenwriters after a certain point, I feel very fortunate to find myself in a situation where I will be able to enjoy the rare opportunity of staying somewhat involved and watching how it all comes together.
Anyhow, getting back on topic here, after our Monday meeting had ended, we then received a follow-up email from AS who said that because Jim n' I have worked so hard over these last few months, she hopes we have no objections (ha ha) that they would like to pay us 80% of the remaining 75% of our development funding right now, instead of waiting until we deliver the final draft. Fabulous! While we still need to stick to our existing budget, that extra cash will definitely help soften the holiday blow to our ever-dwindling bank accounts.
So yeah... all very exciting stuff.
Jim n' I are big believers in celebrating all the mini milestones over the course of our journey. So, to treat ourselves for this "No More Outlines" milestone, we went out for a nice dinner at Milestones (ha!). I bought myself some deliciously smelly Lush bath stuff and a CD - The String Quartet's tribute to Tool's Anemia. And after some peer pressure from yours truly, Jim bought himself a special edition of Bottle Rocket on blueray, with all kinds of great extra features.... which is why I was pushing him to get it. It's always very inspirational to hear about other people's journeys and challenges when trying to get their first script off the ground -- and those guys sure did have their share of obstacles, including two years of major rewrites and awful test screenings. And now look at them - they're total superstars! (For those of you who don't know, Bottle Rocket was the indie hit that launched the careers of Writer/Director Wes Anderson, Writer/Actor Owen Wilson, and Actor Luke Wilson.)
Of course, now we're on this real Wes Anderson kick since watching Bottle Rocket and Rushmore. We'll probably watch The Royal Tennenbaum's next. (I know it's not everyone's cup o' tea, but I really enjoyed that movie, plus I love (and own) their groovy coffeehouse-esque soundtrack.) And then, maybe on the weekend we'll go to the theater to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox. (I think we'll skip renting The Life Aquatic and The Darjeerling Limited... neither of which Owen helped write, which left them missing a certain je ne sais quoi in the deadpan humour department. Owen didn't help write Mr. Fox either, but we still really want to check it out.)
Okay, it seems that I'm going on an incredible tangent here and am using far too many brackets - which, to me, indicates going on tangents within tangents. Always a bad sign. On that note, I think it's time for me to stop blogging and get back to work!
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