The out of the loop writer's dilemma

Today was not a good day to be an occasional writer, full time mother. As I caught up on the news posted in the latest edition of The Hollywood Reporter, an article about the new Miramax caught my eye. One of the first productions to be released under the (re)new Miramax banner will be an animated gnome picture called GNOMEO AND JULIET.

Oh, please no! You have got to be kidding me! That animated piece that I just finished, that I've been excited about all summer long has just been blown out of the water. How I sooooo wish I could claim plagiarism, but it's obvious I can't. It's just another example of a great idea drifting through the ether that multiple people 'discovered' at the same time. And I'm kicking myself because I missed the news. With a 2011 planned release, GNOMEO AND JULIET must have been in the works for, at minimum, a full year.

There are differences. The multiple writers of the piece used Shakespeare as a template. I didn't. My only hope is that mine (titled TURF WAR) would have been better. As far as pitching the material? I already know it's a lost cause, because all of Hollywood will compare it to GNOMEO AND JULIET just from the logline. No one is going to want to put forth effort on a script whose idea alone is so close to a new release, no matter how good that other script might be.

But this is one of many dilemmas for a writer in such a high turnover industry. Am I sorry I wrote TURF WAR? Do I chalk it up to wasted time? No! I'm proud of my work, and hope it will, at the very least, showcase my talent. I guess what I'm saying is, don't stop writing! How many times can they remake Romeo and Juliet? Apparently, too many. How many times can we see battles between Vampires and Werewolves? I know, they're on the decline, but they'll return again. They always do.

So, for me, I hope that TURF WAR will at least do well in competition. And in the mean time, I'm off to write that next great idea that seems impossible to have not been tackled by someone else. Wish me luck! And keep writing!

The Holiday Season is Upon Us!

Thanksgiving is gone, Christmas is on the horizon and there are three weeks left to the Fall Semester. Library Acquisitions has been an interesting class, and I foresee a passing grade. The Schoharie has been updated, and I plan on pitching it and submitting it to competitions - after the Holidays.

Onward to a new project, and I think I've got one thanks to my friend Judith, who happens to be the moderator of our local Writer's Group. I don't want to divulge the details of the new script yet (I feel that strongly about the premise), but it was inspired by a writing exercise that Judith put us all through. I'd like to share the exercise with you in hopes of inspiring you to find a fresh story idea.

Basically, you do this:

1) Gather a list of all of the film genres you can think of, such as animation, romantic comedy, drama, horror, sci-fi, western, creature feature, mockumentary, gangster flick, chick flick, fantasy, thriller, supernatural thriller, sports pic, spy pic, military pic, buddy pic, period piece, musical, road picture, etc. etc. Gather as many as you can.

2) Randomly choose three genres off of the list. Pick them out of a hat if you have to, but make it as random as you can.

3) Brainstorm a movie idea based on the three genres you came up with.

The three genres that my team ended up with was a scifi/fantasy-gangster-chick flick. And we brainstormed a story idea from that. Now, I'm attempting to write it! And my son is so excited that he wants to attempt to animate it and post it on the web... Wish us luck, it's all in the preliminary stages, but it sounds like a fun project!

Happy Holidays to all, and keep writing!

A Professional's Rant

I found this link to be an interesting and entertaining read from screenwriter Josh Olsen. 

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/09/i_will_not_read.php

I'm nowhere near a professional in my caliber of writing, and yet I understand where he's coming from. Sometimes. The article is a double edge sword (cliched phrase!) for me, because as a reader there are days when I dread having to come up with a tactful way to say someone's writing isn't that good. And as a writer, I hate to bother professional level people into reading my work.

But as writers, we have to do that. As writers, we need feedback. As screenwriters, we need to convince the right people to read our material so that it can be bought and, hopefully, made into an honest to goodness movie - or tv show - or web series. How do you do that with tact? 

So, thanks, Josh Olsen, for making me laugh and then depressing the crap out of me in one fell swoop.