Six months later, and I'm rolling in money... but nothing produced.

It's been a strange year for me.  I haven't posted a single thing to these boards in quite some time.  Now, though, I feel I should throw this up here for two reasons: 1.) because I've been neglecting my duties with the review board and 2.) because I now can speak of strange, Hollywood happenings.

First, I have a few messages in my folder from various users telling me I have been deleting posts.  Not me.  Sorry, but I haven't done a single thing, moderator-wise, to the film reviews board in at least six months.

Okay, so let's get into it (I'll do the short version): Got an agent based on my Max Payne treatment.  Got paid.  Came this close to using mine (and just mine) as the actual shooting script for director [BLANK].  Unfortunately, while bits and pieces may float to the screen here and there, it is extremely unlikely that a.) my actual story will be used and b.) I'll recieve any kind of credit besides a Special Thanks.  (I put [BLANK] as the director, though I'm actually pretty sure the project is now without both a director or a lead).

So, moving on, next came a project I must sincerely apologize for to most horror fans: John Carpenter's The Thing remake.  It wasn't going to be a remake or a prequel or any of that nonsense.  It was to be a sequel.  An awesome sequel that my writing partner and I came up with and pitched.  Unfortunately, we were swiftly paid and cut out of the process all together.  And than it went from a sequel to a prequel... and now it's a remake... because God knows we needed another one of those.  I will say that despite the dicking over, the people at Strike were very cool and I even got to speak to one of my favorite writers, James Gunn as well as the (suprisingly very young) writer of the Doom movie (he was actually on some game show on VH1 over the summer; his name is Dave Callaham).

All right, so where are we now?  A novel.  It is the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life, and I still have (at least) 25,000 words to go.  The (hopeful) publisher is Bloomsbury and the title (for now) is Adventures in Wasteland: A Teenage Fable.  Look for the finished product (hopefully) in the next six months.  Look for the film (hopefully) in a few years from the my co-writer I mentioned earlier (gave him the rights for a buck).

Are there any other future projects?  Kind of.  But nothing set in stone.  I've learned alot in 2006 about this business.  Is it all good?  No, of course not.  But, though it may sound corny, I wouldn't change a damn thing.  Alot of people complain about the Hollywood system.  Me?  I have money.  I have alot of great scripts and story outlines that I know may go un-filmed for now, but have some great ideas and I know they can be produced some day.  And, most importantly, I have experience.  And there's no such thing as bad experience goes as far as writing is concerned.

So that's where I am.  I'm still going to be as active as possible on these boards as possible, so this certainly isn't my farewell letter.  However, I am going to ask Don to find a new moderator for the review board.  As much as I enjoyed running that board for two plus years, I know I cannot give it the same attention I used to.

Also, even though this is, once again, certainly not my swan song, I do want to thank everyone that ever read anything I've written for this site.  From my scripts to my reviews, whether you liked or disliked, you all helped me tremendously.  Cheers.

Good luck and please be famous, okay?

Syco - best of luck in all your pursuits hon. I'm sure you will go very far in the industry. Keep updating us whenever you can and you always were and are an awesome movie reviewer.

Best wishes,
Andy xxx

What's going on with The Willie and The Grace? I think that would work really well on say HBO with the likes of Lucky Louie or even on Showcase with the Trailer Park Boys.

It fills that niche of the no budget series that works better than say half the poorly produced series on TV nowadays.

I've loved that series since you brought it out on film. Self production after they pay you is also a route to go. Use that fat cash to make your own films based on what you wrote.

Oh, yeah, I meant throw something in there Wesley... thanks for the reminder:

Look for the series finale sometime in the Spring.  We have a very small portion all ready filmed and things are changing left and right, so it is kind of a work in progress.  Interestingly, it is like nothing I ever expected it to be, but I'm really hoping it's very enjoyable.  After all we figured that it should go from an existential comedy to a romantic comedy to... balls-out action flick...?  Yeah, it sounds strange (and indeed, it is), but I think it fits very well in the series and we also figured we'd go all out since this is the last one (that will be self-produced anyway... *wink*).

Once I have more footage ready, I'll throw together a teaser/trailer.  In the meantime, think of the whole thing as Spaced meets that 'Let it Out' Kleenex commercial meets Ghostbusters.  I promise, it'll be good.

From episode 1 to episode 2 you guys grew better as a series and a unit. I think that anyway.

I would purchase the DVD if you ever released one because the show was something special for the budget. I even vaguely remember the commentaries you guys made and the outtakes. Good stuff all around. (Might have to watch them again someday soon)

The teaser trailer interests me. Get back to me on that one. You know where to find me haha.

Graham,

Thanks for the great update on your life.  Best of luck to you.  I know (and I hope) you will be dropping in periodically to let us know how your projects are progressing.  I've asked Nixon to keep an eye on the reviews board.  However, if you've got a review or two burning a hole in your pocket, please drop 'em in.  

Don

How did you get Max payne (copy righted right?) treatment read by  a studio?