I Want to Write

The Church Supports the Writers As Well.....

2008-01-04T16:16:00.000+10:00

We know who has the big man on side........

my favourite below...

cheers
Dave

2.13am

2007-12-06T02:16:00.001+10:00

started at page 89 around 3pm after getting work and a quick nap in.....we fought....staggered back to page 88, bloody, bruised but still in the fight.

2.13am - 101 pages.

One more day of time dedicated to writing. Bring it on.

Came into this day with a strange feeling. I hear Pro's talk about being scared of starting a new script because what happens if "it" won't come this time. The blank page just sits there mocking them.

For the first time ever I experienced that feeling (not of being a pro :) ) of dread. It is a truly scary, black abyss, that I had to push myself away from. That is some scary shit.

Time to grab my teddy and hit the sack.

cheers
Dave.

I'm baaaack....

2007-11-15T17:09:00.001+10:00

Hi All,

Hmmm July was last post. Didn’t seem that long. Sorry about that. You would have seen me commenting here and there around the place, so I had not dropped off the edge of the world.

One word to describe my actions. Selfish.

Instead of blogging, I’ve been putting that time into the scripts. In addition to that, I still know both my kids names, wife still tolerates me, dog doesn’t bite me and I’m still employed, so the juggling act is working.

Two scripts going nicely, 90 odd pages on one, and 50 on the other. Got two days coming up of a motel room, no family, hookers or bookies. Just me and Final Death, sorry Final Draft. That was actually a typo…..I think I am approaching these two days like a big tournament. Two days, 40 pages is what I want, take no prisoners. Wonder if I can sell tickets?

Okay, but no grief about writing whilst the strike is on. My own project, own time, etc. I have been following it as closely as I can from over here. That petition that was started. I was actually number 26. My birthday number, so hopefully that is a good sign for the strike.

I would like to say thank you to all the writers who are out picketing. Yes, it is for yourselves but it is also for people like myself and for the future, so thank you.

I wanted to show my support in some way, would love to be there and walk the walk with you all. Unfortunately, a few thousand km’s in between and saving the money for if I ever need to attend a few meetings over there :) One must have hope.

I did come up with one way to show my support and I think it is something that a lot of us aspiring writers based overseas can do. I went to my local store, grabbed some local chocolates(I don’t think they are available in the US, could be wrong though) and have just mailed them off to the WGAW offices asking them to distribute them, along with a letter of support at whatever gate they wish to take it to.

The chocolate I chose was the Cherry Ripe.

Lovely red packaging, I picked the snack bags, and popped them in mail. Thought it worked in well with the whole strike colour theme :) Should be there in a week and I hope the WGAW staff will pass them on.

I’ve given up reading the comments at Craig Mazin’s site for a little while. Anonymous(anonymi? Anonymous squared??) is/are becoming annoying and there are too many comments about the same thing or are just rehashing old points, bashing the same dead horse to a slow second death.

I feel for the under the line crew. I can see their point of view but they are amazing for standing by the writers, in most cases.

To the actors, thank you, and yes, you are next, so its good practice for later and any publicity is good publicity so we should not look a gift horse in the mouth.

I would like to discuss slogans. Some good ones, my personal favourite was the Lost writer’s sign asking if you wanted to find out what was on the island. Great stuff.

Here are a few ideas of my own, feel free to use if you like them:

(insert studio or studio head of choice) has a 0% strike rate.
Husbands: No Soaps means your wife will want to talk to you.
Wives: No scripts means more sports on TV.

Nothing fantastic but use ‘em if you like ‘em.

Till next time, take care and all the best for the strike, again, thankyou for doing it!

Cheers
Dave.

Loved It

2007-07-20T16:12:00.000+10:00

My wife and I watched Hot Fuzz the other night. It's one I've been waiting for as well.

Loved it, had us both laughing from very early on, definitely put off the sleep to catch that one. Well worth it if you like the dry British sense of humour and can Simon Pegg act?! Loved his T2 type persona. Hilarious. I had read reviews where they thought the third act went on too long but I thought it was a great send up at a good length. Each to his own.

On a personal note I have actually just spent two weeks at home working. Wow what an experience! I'll have to do it again soon, back on the road next week but not for too long. Going to book in a writing weekend for myself, I need to if I want to get my main one back on track asap.

Maryan over at Fencing with the Fog is treading water waiting for the Nicholls letter. Hope she makes it, here's something for good luck. Your own Nicol (mc)

Back to the Aquawoman shoot Maryan!! :)

Just been playing with a camcorder to DVD convertor I purchased a few months back. Found this grab from a wedding my family and I attended back in 2001 up in Palm Cove in northern Queensland.

The wedding was over and my daughter (2 and a half at the time) who was flowergirl wanted to go for a walk on the beach. Mum was Matron of honour so Dad was lucky enough to be the one chosen. It is my favourite piece of footage of my daughter and I. Unfortunately, in the conversion from the camcorder to AVI the quality has taken a dive but you'll get the idea.

The thing I love about it is the differences. Me. Smart casual dress(it was beachside wedding so nice and casual and tropical summer, 38 degress and 120% humidity that day I reckon!) black shoes.

Her, special flower girl dress on, flowers in hair, shoes off. Exploring the beach, finding sticks and rocks fascinating as it is all new to her. Life is exciting, I was only allowed to point things out, she wanted to run and grab them all. It is just one of those moments in life that you do treasure. Thought it would be fun to share through the magical powers of youtube. Forgive the shaky cam work, I didn't second someone from NYPD Blue, my brother in law actually just spotted us and took the opportunity to film us, unbeknownst to me until I saw the footage later. I was very thankful he shot it.

Stay well everyone.

cheers
Dave.
PS I think my favourite part of blogging nowadays is putting the tags in.

So, I was in Texas last week…

2007-07-10T13:31:00.000+10:00

For about 30 seconds all up.

It’s not very big.

Texas, Queensland(see the red arrow and smiley face), couple of hundred km’s from where I live(Brisbane). About 500 people, not so good for a screenwriting expo’s I imagine.

Been absolutely flat out, managed to get some writing done on the joint project but none on mine, although with the driving I have been doing lately(racked up 2500km last week) I have had time to run plenty of scenarios through the old think wagon and have come up with a few ideas to improve both screenplays, so that’s good.

Below is another map showing you the area I cover in my job. Feel free to then jump on a world map and compare the size of Queensland and Northern NSW to the US or Europe. It’s a decent size I have to cover. Anything over 1000km, I fly. We all have our limits :)

The red only indicates where I currently have properties, around 60 at present, as more come online I can go wherever I am needed in Queensland or Northern NSW. However, must say I am coming to love Northern NSW from Grafton up to Ballina. That’s a lot coming from a Queenslander :)

I tend to help this process along by downloading and burning onto a CD the CS podcasts, great company when all you are left with is ABC radio and about 4 hours of driving ahead.

I put the question out there a while ago about software for converting and burning mp3’s to a CD, discovered Windows Media does that itself. I knew it ripped but was not aware it converted…..so there you go. Saved me plenty of time.

Along with half the western world got to see Transformers, enjoyed it for what it was, fun to see John Rogers name up there, hope he did not get to shafted in the whole Michael Bay film situation. Michael Bay is an enigma to me…..hmmmmmm I may be making that too complex. I have read things, as we all have about MB, however, I have found a number of his films(not all) enjoyable – for what they are. No, they are not wildly thought provoking, etc. They are however, generally entertaining in that big screen, action, summer blockbuster way.

Someone in the scribosphere once wrote that the average movie goer is tired from the week at work and wants to escape, hence the reason for dumbing down movies(I could be a little wrong in the wording, it was a while ago). I think they are right for the first part, but I don’t see it as dumbing down so much as just making it entertaining….if you can entertain and educate(that includes making people think about a situation), bloody well done, if all you can do is entertain, then well done!

Finally saw the Da Vinci Code the other week. Neither my wife and I had read the book so we were going in knowing the basic spoiler, but still keen to see this movie. Lasted 20 minutes before we turned it off. I kinda thought it was going downhill when the priest was whipping himself and I was thinking, not as painful as where I’m sitting mate. We could not waste our time waiting to see if Tom Hanks cut his hair or changed his expression, there was sleeping to be done! It really did not entertain us at all and therefore lost us.

Hey, I’ll watch a doco about flies crawling up a wall if you make it interesting and educational.

Going to be home for a number of weeks now so will have a chance to catch up on a number of things, jobs, writing, work, etc. which will also allow me to post a bit more regularly. Stop laughing.

Parents situation is in flux. Dad has moved back home but it is day by day stuff. Must admit, did not think he was going back. Happened once twenty years ago(like I said, huge backstory, but no violence towards each other at all, nothing like that) but I knew then he would go back, but did not expect it this time. Not sure if I am happy he has moved back...hmmmm. Time will tell if it is a good move.

Take care and again congrats to all the people like Fun Joel, Chris etc that have been picking up writing gigs lately, well done!

cheers

Dave

I'll drink to that.....

2007-07-10T12:52:00.000+10:00

July 10, 2007 12:00am
Article from: Daily Telegraph

NEW research, to be revealed at a conference of some of the world's top neuroscientists in Cairns today, has found alcohol does not kill off brain cells as always thought.

For years imbibers have been told a big night on the drink wipes out entire sections of human brain cell function with much the same destructive equivalent as a napalm bombing strike.
According to Queensland Brain Institute director Professor Perry Bartlett, this is not true.

There is no evidence drinking alcohol leads directly to the death of brain cells, he said.
"Some of the best studies, done in Italy, show a bottle of wine a night can reduce the risk of dementia in old age," Professor Bartlett said.

In moderation, alcohol has positive benefits for blood vessel health and stroke prevention. And, as an added bonus, new brain cells are generated every day of our lives.

Research by Professor Bartlett and his team has found we all have an inbuilt repair kit replenishing the more than 100 billion cells - or neurons - in our brain.

What are you waiting for? There's plenty of inspiration to be drunk!

cheers
Dave.

Bad week....

2007-06-08T23:42:00.000+10:00

Two people I love very much.

66 and 67 years of age.

Finally settling into retirement. New house, etc.

46 years of marriage.

All blew apart this week. HUGE backstory.

No-ones fault. Both parties faults. Two people, one sad story.

Old enough to understand they why's etc. but listening to both your parents in emotional pain breaks your heart and drains more energy than I realised.

Going to be a long year.

cheers
Dave.
PS On top of all that my daughter has discovered the Olsen Twin movies...AND she loves to watch them with Dad. I just imagine I've been captured by jihady types and my eyelids are held open with roughly cut wire whilst strapped to the chair. So far I haven't given over any info,but I may crack if there is a long weekend and my daughter wants to have an Olsen twin movie marathon.

The importance of those little lines...just add water

2007-06-04T11:12:00.000+10:00

You know the ones that are smattered amongst the fast flowing dialogue runs in your "best of the best of the bestest" screenplay.

They're the easy ones to dismiss as not important to spend time on when you've got the Mr Sheen out doing those contest winning, agent impressing dialogue/ exposition /structure /whatever polishes.

Couple of words, never more than one line.

Easy to read.

Agents and Evil Development Excutive Overlords might even read these lines.

Aren't they as important as the "no more than four" lines action paragraphs where you map out the emotional journey through the characters actions and inferences in their movements or simply destroy the universe with a wad of gum and a nuclear device sitting on Panadora's box.

Whatever.

Those single lines can be very important.

They can change ......

perspective.

I saw a photo the other day that perfectly illustrates the importance of these lines.

Why a picture? Picture = 1000 words...yadda yadda.

Below is a headshot photo....we've seen them a 1000 times before....this one is Jessica Alba in a bikini top. Photographers and her publicist must dole these out at an alarming rate. They're common, you hardly give them a glance. Not withstanding that JA is an extremely attractive girl but once you've seen that shot (line) a thousand times...whatever.

As I said...seen it a thousand times ...boring.

Then. The twist. A small change to the photo(line) and suddenly everyone is taking notice.

Exhibit A.

Just add water and you have something different that catches peoples eyes.

Thus endeth the lesson for today. Go back and add water to those boring lines. :)

cheers

Dave.

Short of Mine

2007-05-31T22:31:00.000+10:00

Hi All,

A few weeks ago over at Todd’s Tequila Barn, more commonly known as Moviequill we talked about short films. Specifically I mentioned I sometimes write them as a form of useful procrastination, ie I am writing something.

I thought I would post the last one I wrote. I was going to give it to Shane who directed my first short for On the Lot(if he wanted or could use it) but unfortunately he did not make the final cut. Let me say…..HE WAS ROBBED…..no bias here : ) Besides, I think this is more of a sketch rather than a proper short.

Anyway, the short below was just a fun thing I knocked up one afternoon, took a bit over an hour or two, can’t quite remember. Please forgive the character descriptions, like I said, I was just having fun. Yes, I may have been channeling Ellis from Die Hard when I was imagining this character.

I don’t get SNL over here, I think it might be on cable but I don’t have that at home, so if it is similar to any sketch that has been done, purely coincidental.

I saw Spidey 3 last weekend… mmmmmm not the worst movie by a long shot but not as good as I wanted it to be. I was actually pleasantly surprised when I watched Click with Adam Sandler. Not normally a fan of his, have liked a couple of his, but quite liked this one.

Travelling heaps for work, but took the night off to post this rather than belt out emails and whatnot.

Hope you have a giggle, just a bit of fun. By the way, I titled this one Keeping the Faith.

Hope you are all well.

Cheers
Dave.

FADE IN.

INT. ROOM - CONTINUOUS

The meeting is not going well.

ELLIS HARDING -- super-slick-manic-uber-marketing-spin-doctor-guru is planted in his chair, playing with his files on the polished timber of the desk.

HARDING
Those ideas were just to test the water...

Hovering near the fireplace, is hawk-like Catholic CARDINAL CRIOVAC who still manages to look resplendent in his purple cassock, spinning his rosary beads so fast he is in danger of taking off.

CARDINAL
Testing the water?

Across the table from Harding, seated in an oversized wingback chair is HEADPIECE MAN, whose hands and bejewelled-tiara religious headpiece are the only visible parts.

HARDING
Watch it there Cardinal.

Cardinal looks at the spinning rosary and gets it under control.

HARDING (CONT'D)
Too many Hail Mary’s to get through before dinner if you break it.

Harding’s body language doesn’t talk, it shouts.

CARDINAL
Do you think we could we continue?

HARDING
Right then. You guys have thrown me one hell of a challenge.

CARDINAL
One you can’t accomplish?

HARDING
Hell no! You boys are gonna love these next ideas for rebranding the Catholic Church.

CARDINAL
Modernizing...

HARDING
Riiiight...

Makes a note...

HARDING (CONT'D)
So anyway, it’s a hard sell. Your Front of House Managers are ripping your credibility to shreds, your sales are down, donations...down, attendance...down...everything... down.

CARDINAL
Your ability for stating the obvious is staggering in it’s simplicity.

HARDING
I have identified a biggie
(flipping through his reports)
...sex before marriage...any chance?
Both Cardinal and the Headpiece shake vigorously…no!

HARDING (CONT'D)
Pity...
(Thinking)
what about if we just move the goal posts to after the engagement...you’ve got the commitment thing happening but there’s still time to hoof it if she’s bad in ....
(Realizing his audience…finally)
...the pews....bad in the pews...you can call it off.

Still a no.

CARDINAL
Next.

HARDING
Best thing about being down this far? You got nowhere else to go but up! And baby, listen to me, I’ll get you flying in the clouds again!

CARDINAL
Your holiness...

HARDING
Sorry?

CARDINAL
Please address the Pope as your holiness.

HARDING
Sorry Mr Holiness.

CARDINAL
You did say you had a Catholic education?

HARDING
Yeah, but a few years of therapy managed to block most of it.

CARDINAL
Continue.

HARDING
The truth is the whole thing needs a complete ground up rebuild. Okay...okay...look first thing...image.

Points at the Cardinal.

HARDING (CONT'D)
Not even a cracked up street dealer would be caught dead in that.

CARDINAL
We don’t want drug dealers...

HARDING
(eagerly)
I can cross off that whole saviour program then?

CARDINAL
No!

HARDING
Lose the robes. You want modern. Nice suit, no tie, open neck, nice and welcoming. I’m sure we can get some sort of sponsorship thing going. Balance out expenses, etc. I can see it now, the Boss, dressed by Boss. We can probably get some sort of supply deal going with aftershave and perfume companies to supply the holy water. Baptized, christened and ambrosial!

Headpiece is indicating no interest.

HARDING (CONT'D)
You’re knocking back a gift horse there. Kids nowadays, into Buffy, Angel and stuff. Vampire hunting with Red Door or Chanel No. 5. Get some rebates happening and claw back some of those lost profits.

Still no interest.

HARDING (CONT'D)
Give me something Mr Holiness. I mean look...the whole Virgin Mary mess? Branson has the Virgin brand sewn up globally, be a bitch to try and get it off him...

Headpiece and hands indicate he is agitated.

HARDING (CONT'D)
I know, I know, but when your people were playing all cute in the crusades, they should have been patenting and trademarking all of this. I’m just playing catch up here.

CARDINAL
Yes, yes, we’ll take that on board, what about attendances, we are losing worshippers...

HARDING
Losing? The Cardinals baseball team loses, desertion is a better word here. Your market is oversaturated...Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Kabbalah, Judaism, Scientology...

CARDINAL
Scientology?

HARDING
You’re competing against an internationally renowned and revered sci-fi writer’s best work...with what? Old Testament, new testament, slapped together. . It’s got no traction in today’s marketplace. You need a hero...

CARDINAL
We have Jesus...

HARDING
He gets killed...

CARDINAL
He returns...

HARDING
It peters off into ramblings, almost like it was written by different people...

CARDINAL
It was...

HARDING
Proves my point...no focus.

CARDINAL
Move on!

HARDING
You were the ones that said everything was on the table. I’m just giving you the reality of the moment. Take for instance Mr Holiness here. Everyone knows you as the Pope, but then have to address you as Mr Holiness...it confuses the market.

CARDINAL
We don’t care about that, that’s how it has always been.

HARDING
World would be much less populated if doctors had kept that thought going.

CARDINAL
We are not doctors...

HARDING
(Trying to win them over)
Funky scrubs though...

Cardinal throws him a hurry up look...

HARDING (CONT'D)
(Consulting his files)
Okay, I’ll come back to that later. Looking at your numbers over the last 30 years since the decline started, there is a huge spike in numbers that looks promising...

CARDINAL
Continue...

HARDING
Your predecessor, back in the eighties...the numbers go crazy after he was shot.
(Looks at the Pope)
...any chance?

The hand gripping the side of the wingback waves with purpose. CRACK! A wisp of smoke is all that is left of Harding.

CARDINAL
(To the Pope)
Next?

FADE OUT.

THE END.

My thoughts...

2007-04-19T21:05:00.000+10:00

truly go out to the victims and their families caught up in that senseless shooting by an obviously deranged individual. I hope they can find peace someday.

Sincerely,
Dave.

More exposition....

2007-04-18T09:31:00.000+10:00

Gotta make sure that when my friends ask what I have been up to and I reply "killing my babies", I provide further explanation.

cheers
Dave.

ummmmm, some updates, maybe a giggle, could be naked pictures of Jessica Alba.....

2007-04-14T18:38:00.000+10:00

Well, that heading should have the whacko's pouring through the doors....

Just to keep things same as, been busy :)

Now up to about 24000km’s in the car and was able to fly the wife and daughter to Cairns for Easter with the frequent flyer miles, so some perks :)

Been getting into a decent swing with the writing again which is great. Knocked off some pages for the one I am writing with my brother in law….I got to do the scene with the US President when he was singing “Prostitution of the Constitution”, I moved on as he asked for anyone to sing “Impeachment Blues” with him…I enjoyed that scene :) Yes, there was a Banjo, but no other words containing both B & J were included in that scene. That's what the finale is for.

Went on to my feature and have started jumping from scene to scene rather than going linear. It is working really well for me and have added a number of pages. I can still see this bastard blowing out to 140 pages though……then machete time.

Sorry, little rant here…I am f*&^%$g sick of websites that cannot get the bloody basics correct. I am talking about simplicity…..username, tab, password, tab, enter/submit/whateverthef%$k key to then hit, enter.

I am generally smart enough to not need to get a password reminder EVERY fuckin time I login, if people do need that type of help……BAN THEIR IP, THEY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED ON THE INTERNET.

Keep them in parliament where they belong.

Another peeve is that when you tab, it takes you to god knows where on the page….I am not talking about Uncle Erics Easy Euthanasia website, I am talking about some huge –made billions and have retired to raise virgins -- motherf*&^%r sites around the place. Use your f*&^%n brains, put the nerf football in the draw and think about your web design before you knock off after half an hour of work and hit the café latte bench press machine. Sorry for the swearing but it has been really p*&^%$g me off lately.

Okay, Todd(Moviequill) hit me with a tag(last time I help you with any bank questions buddy :) ) regarding 5 things you don’t know about me. I am assuming they should be mildly interesting. No promises though.

Hmmmmmm……. five……if I have mentioned any of these before, I plead the fifth, since I am not living under your constitution, take that as a fifth of bourbon.

1. I have been happily married for over 10 years. You’ll have to check with the wife to see if she has been.

2. I was the U16 Karate champion for my state. Sounds better than I got knocked out in the first round at the Nationals.

3. I once took a job that kept me in Alice Springs for two years, I had 30 minutes to make that decision. Yes, you can fuck up when rushed.

4. I did not get drunk until I was over 18. I will sober up when I am over 70.

5. I was voted President of my college in my first year there. I had only recently turned 18. My biggest achievement for that college, which was an Australian version of Animal House, was starting 20 boat races in a row with my own skull….yes, falling down face first not only became on option, but inevitable, gravity and alcohol don’t mix well Fact: It takes 5 guys to carry you up three flights of stairs, the fifth is to hold your head up so you don’t bang them on the stairs. He is also helpful in opening any doors. Just a heads up. Yes, I have settled down. I now only start my daughters orange juice boat races with straight shots of Ribena.

Well you wanted 5 things about me, so you got five I's.

I wanted to mention a bit of fun I had for Valentines. Got the idea whilst on the road. For my wife's present I went a bought a pillow slip (girls, don’t throw things at the screen just yet), went home and did some internet surfing and photoshoppy type things. Went to printing place in shopping centre that puts photos and stuff on anything. Valentine’s comes around, get wife to sit on the bed with eyes closed.

Open them.

In front of her is said pillowcase with a photo of me with a caption below:

“For when you are lonely” because I travel a lot…cute bugger aren't I....

She gave the aaah look, you know the one where she is thinking, crap, is this all…..

I then said flip it over…..

On the back…picture of George Clooney with a caption:

“For when you are bored”.

Tears, howls of laughter….it worked, best present I have ever come up with. Girls at work seemed think it was a bit of a winner as well. So there you go, latest installment, you can now resume plucking the eyebrows of your dog/cat/antelope.

Cheers
Dave.

PS I am not tagging anyone else, you are safe. You know who you are!

The Clock is ticking........

2007-03-17T09:29:00.000+10:00

I am just wondering how long until this story turns up on L&W SVU? It's a given isn't it?

cheers

Dave.

AA rapist gets jail term after confession
By Tom Baldwin
March 17, 2007 03:30am
Article from:
Font size: + -
Send this article: Print Email
A RAPIST who wrote a confession letter to his victim as part of the 12-step Alcoholic Anonymous recovery program was yesterday sentenced to 18 months' jail for the sexual assault he inflicted 23 years ago.
William Beebe received a 10-year sentence, suspended for all but 18 months, for attacking Liz Seccuro, a fellow student at the University of Virginia. The case was reopened in 2005 after Beebe sent her an apology on vanilla-scented paper.
"Dear Elizabeth," it began, "in 1984 I harmed you."
He wanted to tell her how, after dropping out of college, his life had been a misery - an "emotional black hole" - jumping on and off the wagon until he arrived at AA.
From the moment he read the 12-step program, which encouraged alcoholics to list those they have hurt and try to make amends, Beebe had wanted to contact his victim.
"I have always secretly felt, consciously and unconsciously, as though I didn't deserve true unity with another woman after what I did to you," he wrote.
"I did not know how I was going to set about repairing wrongs I believed I could never fully right most especially in the situation with you." He offered her compensation, including paying for therapy sessions.
Ms Seccuro read the letter and following emails with growing unease.
In 1984, she attended a fraternity party and was handed a drink of pale green liquid that left her feeling strange. She remembered Beebe, a student she did not know, dragging her to his room. When she tried to break free and plead for help, another man threw her back into the room, where Beebe tore off her clothes and raped her.
Beebe's account was different. "We started to make out in my room," he wrote. "There was no fight and it was all over in short order."
She remembered resisting before waking up naked, wrapped in a bloody sheet, and then walking to the emergency room. She also dimly recalled other men being involved in a "gang rape" or a "spectator sport".
After receiving the apology and subsequent emails from Beebe, Ms Seccuro contacted the police.
Beebe was arrested in Las Vegas and brought back to Virginia where, facing a life sentence, he denied charges of rape. She began to receive hate mail and suffered a miscarriage.
When Beebe pleaded guilty last year it was to lesser charges of aggravated sexual battery, the result of a plea bargain for his co-operation in the continuing investigation of what police believed was a gang rape.
The Times, Washington, in The Australian

Thinking outside the sqaure for marketing

2007-03-13T06:42:00.000+10:00

I love this one........at present it is the main story on www.news.com.au the signs might be physically outside their market but it is working. Read here for more info on this story.
I expect to read more about this as the weeks progress.

Great show, not dissimilar to Jon Stewart's show but they like to actually turn up and create mayhem. Recently on Dick Cheney's visit here to go hunting with John Howard our PM(JH politely declined that generous offer I believe) the Chaser crew were seen listed on the Secret Service's list of no-gooders :)

cheers
Dave

What's the Protocol?

2007-03-07T23:15:00.000+10:00

When a manager from another department has dropped you in the shit with the clients you are visiting and is complaining to you, whilst you are in front of said clients about said clients and all you want to do is ask a few questions, it's all right to tell him to shutup isn't it? Bit hazy on that myself, but it did work.

Had my performance review last week, I received high marks for playing well with others. I'm already aiming low for next year :)

Little short is going well, holding a 4.5 average at present, when it hits six I'm selling!!!!!!! No, you are not allowed to point out average is being held by all the other film-makers coming and reviewing it, leaving a high score in the hope people associated with that one will reciprocate. My head is happily in the sand on that score......LALALALLALALALALLALALALA

cheers
Dave.

News on screenwriting……..

2007-03-02T13:55:00.000+10:00

Okay so I lied, it’s not necessarily about screenwriting, but a film, a short film, one I may have mentioned before.

IT’S BEEN MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It gets more interesting as the director Shane Kester has entered it into On the Lot, the new Mark Burnett / Steven Spielberg reality show as his audition piece. http://films.thelot.com/

Gets more interesting….it’s on the web! I only found out late the night before last with an email from Shane.

So, if you want to watch HOUSEWIFE WANTS HIT-MAN(Must have own Gun) go here.

Been watched over a thousand times already, had a great response so far, holding 5 out of 5 stars at present. Lots of nice comments about the writing, story and plot which I am chuffed about(and Shane should be as well).

Shane had other scripts to play with and he had chosen mine to shoot and enter into film festivals, then he gets an email from his father in law telling him about On the Lot and he has 14 days to enter. Easy, when you are based in France(yeah, that France was in all the papers in the 40’s) and he had my 14 page script and his audition piece had to be under 5 minutes. 14 generally doesn't go into 5 too well.

I don’t think Shane will mind me quoting from an email of his:

I'm so pleased that you're pleased. The night I found out about the contest I was pretty weighed down not knowing what to do. I woke up at 4:00 am the next day with an epiphany. Could I cut down HIT-MAN? So I opened it up and cut all non-essential scenes and got it down to 6 pages with it still telling a cohesive story.

As I sat there while the sun was coming up I then had to think of actors and it dawned on me, make the couple older (that's even funnier Dave: I agree!) and use the older English lady that I saw in a play reading, but she was in Australia. My friend Ian recommended Penny and it all fell together so fast and so perfectly. Then after their shoot they gave me Dave, Phil and Dave's info and that fell into place. It was a world-wind production but I can't tell you how amazing it is that it all fell into place.

I'm just glad you're happy. I was fearful that you'd not like what I had to do to it. Script-Doctoring can be painful for the screenwriter, but I must say it was so easy to work your writing into what I needed because it was so solid from the start. I didn't have to mess with plot or story at all because it was already there and that's the hard part.

Shane had to trim over 50% of it, however he did manage to retain my story and a heap of my dialogue. From what I can tell the only change to dialogue was to allow for change to structure(very slight), to allow for shorter exposition and the ages of the actors changing from mid thirties to say late 50’s(early thirties in Penny’s case obviously) and where he did have to change it(and he did I have no argument about that at all), he kept it in the spirit of my intentions anyway. Loved her part, she was great!

What did he cut out? Heaps of stuff that I had a ton of fun writing but to get it under 5 mins was necessary to lose. Lots of banter between the cops and more detail in the questions from the Hitman. If anyone wants to see for themsleves, drop me a comment, email or send Jessica Alba around nekkid with a request and I’ll shoot off a copy of the original script so you can compare. I know some of you in the scribosphere have already read it a few months ago. Good fun for newbies like myself to see how it was done. Bear in mind I had written the script with American actors in mind, never thinking it would be done with English actors in France! :)

How lucky am I? I get a lead on a guy in France. We know nothing about each other, but he has been able to retain my story whilst dropping over half the pages to get it within the boundaries of the audition. Plus he did it all in 14 days. Editing, the whole bit. He slept for ages afterwards, I can believe it. I thought he did a great job.

I am happy with it, ecstatic in fact(not unrealistic about what it means to me though) and I will try to not go all Sally Field on you. I have a produced short, where the director selected my writing over others, which in my mind is different to making the short yourself. In some small insignificant way, my writing has stood out, which gives me that small boost of confidence we all need from time to time.

Shane has asked me if I have anymore shorts as well, so that is also promising. I’ll respond to him shortly on that one.

I had heard so many horror stories about being rewritten etc but I am happy about how Shane has conducted himself, he has been nothing but easy to get on with and totally giving in crediting my work. He was kind enough to give me sole screenplay credit where many would have given joint after the rewrite. Also, he added to the script by adding one character, I had kept it at only 4) and I am totally jealous of his bushy eyebrow joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big favour to ask here everyone, and as you know I am more into beers than self-promotion, but this is for Shane, not me, so I can live with that. If you like it, after you watch it, please pop a review and a vote as that will help him in trying out for the TV show. I’d work with him again in a drop of a hat. You do have to register to review/vote etc, but it is totally worth it, I have I ever steered you wrong before? Sorry about that whole Enron thing by the way.

Bigger favour, if you like the short and feel so inclined, would love if you could blog about the TV show and ask people to visit Shane’s film (my script, but his film :) ) and vote and review their heart out. They can then proceed onto others, but I have viewed the other 1,789,729 scripts on there to save you the time, and really well, you have better things to do :)

So, I’m no longer a virgin……..I think I need a cigarette. :)

Til next time.
Cheers
Dave.

The F Words

2007-02-02T16:33:00.000+10:00

Floods and Flu.

Not great seperately, they SUCK when together. Stuck in Cairns, can't drive to Townsville, so jumping on a flight tomorrow at lunchtime, 55mins later touchdown.

Had fun yesterday around Tully, when I could not make it through(police with guns can be persuasive, who'd have thought?) coming back to Mission Beach was interesting. Had to follow a semi's backside through the water just to make it. This is the MAIN highway up here as well, not some two bit back road....then again.......... :)

The reason they suck, they are cutting into my planned writing weekend.

Mainlining Panadol so the head is clearing which is a positive.

Take care.
cheers
Dave
PS James, got your email, been without internet for two days now, will respond soon. Good to see the prison sentence was reduced.......I can make up more stories if you like ..... or you could blog about your good news here (http://screenwriting101.blogspot.com/ remember that place) if you like :) Yes, Queenslanders are bastards :)

Australia's New Prime Minister

2007-01-17T17:31:00.000+10:00

Really, do we even have to vote????????

2006……Nice little year….always room for improvement, but a solid performance, I’ll give it a B+.

Onto 2007, the Viagra year of the 21st century. Why Viagra? Well this century is standing on its own now. Can’t keep blaming the 20th for all its problems J

Finally got to see Casino Royale and totally agree with all the positive sentiments out there. I was dubious of Daniel Craig due to the Tomb Raider movie. I enjoyed those movies because I take no sense of reality into them, but I did not actually like Daniel Craig in that role, one of the only ones I had seen him in besides Elizabeth. He did do a great job. The writers and directors also did an absolutely marvellous job. Wife and I even got to see it together…that is a feat let me tell you!

Heading back on the road, two week trip from Cairns to Mackay, as of Monday. Trying one big trip rather than three short ones, might be easier on the kids if they only have one set of goodbyes. Should be fun, I have even managed a weekend in Townsville which is truly exciting. Why? It’s Townsville, there is nothing to do there but write. Not quite true, I lived in Townsville when I was at Uni and had a ball there, but I don’t know anyone there now, so the whole weekend will be one big screenwriting extravaganza…..tickets available outside the motel. Bring your own booze. My aim is 40 pages between Friday night and Sunday night. I’ll let you know how I go.

Being a male I am a visual creature, hence Jessica Alba’s popularity :) Just like all males I read(past, not the present tense) the Playboy pictures for the articles, we ARE that visually focused. Sad, but true.

Since starting screenwriting I have developed a visual image of how a screenplay is written.

When I first started writing I understood what people meant who said anyone can write a first act. It is relatively easy, however, when it goes through pages about 30, through to 120 it gets bloody hard. Again my imagination kicked in and I started imagining a screenplay as something like the following:

My rack of ideas…….

The first act…..easy to carry, and change around…..if it never gets bigger than this….piece of cake.

But as you get into Act two…….and the pile gets higher and harder to manage

things get harder……..you try and take one little plate out of this pile to place somewhere else…

You can easily end up with …………

Of course……you have the professionals like Mamet, Kaufman, Rossio/Elliot, etc

I’ll be happy when I can carry my stack without dropping it.

Can you tell I spent 14 years in hotel management :) Interesting how our life experiences and background influence our perception.

I hope you are all well.

Cheers
Dave.

Smack the Dog

2007-01-05T05:48:00.000+10:00

Hi All,

Remembered that Security Dog used to post on a blog written by a lady from Australia called Honey Smack, so I searched for it, found it and low and behold found some info out about Security Dog.

He is alive and well. He went to LA again, met Alicia Silverstone and from his location on his blogger profile, which was still active, he is back in the UK. So that is good news. Glad to hear he is all good.

Phrase of the week I came up with for my new screenplay "Motherboard humper"........I'll let you have fun trying to figure that one out. Not that hard at all though.

I previously mentioned the short that I wrote which is due to be shot this month over in Europe. What I had not mentioned was I had never pushed my wife to read it, she had never really shown that much interest in my screenwriting, but some friends were over and she mentioned to them that someone was going to shoot my short and they were quite interested. The wife of this couple has a desire to some writing of her own(childrens stories and she has a kick arse high concept story for one as well) so she was very interested, actually asked for a copy. They took it home read it and told me the next day what they thought.

Greatest feedback was from the wife(not mine, wife of the couple)......."I could actually see what was going on in the room". Made me feel bloody fantastic I can tell you. My wife actually asked to read it as well. After finishing it, she looked slightly taken aback, her comment......"that's actually good". High praise indeed from my wife! :) Her next question, so when are you going to finish the big one you are working on, I want to read that. Soon! She has even agreed to me spending more time writing rather than with her. Fine line between having enough time to write(never) and not neglecting one's family.

What else, had a good Xmas season, received Steven Kings On Writing, nearly finished it. Good book, reinforced some of the ideas I have developed and learnt over the past few years. I disagree on one or two minor points, but I put that purely down to my angle being screenwriting and his angle being more for the novelist, which is fine. Have always loved his books so I have enjoyed reading about his process.

For the parents out there, you would have heard that Greg, the yellow Wiggle has left the group due to illness, he kept fainting due to a condition which I can only spell and pronounce whilst drunk. Since it's only 6am on Friday I can truthfully state I am not. Lucky it's not Saturday morning.

I was a bit amazed that Greg left actually, because really, Jeff falls asleep all the time, so what's teh problem with a little fainting by Greg? My next thought was if Greg left, perhaps Jeff will be pushed out and replaced with a younger less narcoleptic version. So, in honour of that studio inspired possibility, I offer you my top ten(in spirit of my previous post) jobs Jeff could do if he is shunted out of the Wiggles:

Top 10 jobs Jeff the Wiggle could do if he ever leaves the group.

10. Replace Homer at the nuclear power plant.
9. Fill in for the security guards at all those high security places that have armed terrorists outside.
8. Customer Complaints at any major bank.
7. George Michaels chaffeur
6. George Michaels psychiatrist(well George is obviously not listening to anyone so why stay awake during the sessions)
5. Mets(or insert the team you love to hate) catcher.
4. Assistant to Naomi Campbell – would you like to be awake doing that job?
3. Replace Letterman, because what else would he do for the other 23 hours?
2. Jessica Simpson’s study buddy…the ONLY way.
1. President of the United States, at least Jeff admits he goes to sleep on the job.

Have fun!
cheers
Dave..

Top Ten Thing to Do

2007-01-02T15:19:00.000+10:00

Gotta love butchering the English language.

Anywho.....for those of you who want to procrastinate but keep it within the realms of writing, perhaps calling it warm up laps or something similar. Soliloquy Squats?? :)

Head here

Letterman has a top ten contest running each week by the looks of it. You can win a mousepad. Week after week I am just blown away by TV budgets!

Scribospherean who has the most mousemats at the end of the year wins. Wins what? You already have a small collection of mousepads what else do you want? Okay you can have Jessica Alba's phone number* as well.

Best of luck!
cheers
Dave.

*No undertaking is given that the actual phone number given in the prize will be answered by anyone, let alone Jessica Alba. Roseanne Barr is a possibility. So is Dick Cheney, be warned, you may be shot.

Don't Know if Anyone is Interested?

2006-12-27T23:00:00.000+10:00

Do any still remember Warrens little group screenplay experiement last year around September?

I had misplaced these files but found them tonight. I had actually written two versions of my part of it. I had two different ideas as to where things coudl go. I chatted iwht Warren about it and we went with the first one, but there was still a few things I liked about the second one. It could possibly have opened up more possibilities, not that we needed any more! Everyone seemed to be having a great time doing it. Just thought I would post it for nostalgia sakes more than anything else.

It is embarrassing reading them again, there are so many things I would change, amazing what a difference a year makes.

Hope you enjoy.

cheers
Dave.

Attempt I

INT. HAMILTON’S OFFICE - DAY - CONTINUOUS

TRENT HAMILTON, Senator from the Northeast, so the nameplate on his desk says. Overweight, built to drive a desk, drinks too much, too often. Chairman of the Oversight Committee for Alternative Lifeforms. Not many other people have heard of it either.

HAMILTON is standing behind his desk, SYLVIA is off to one side.

HAMILTON

(quavering voice)

You can’t threaten me, I’m Chairman of the Committee that lets you live here, I ca..can have you terminated.

He waves his letter opener at her as if it were a mystical wand that will keep the danger away.

SYLVIA

Senator, that’s not a knife.

Sylvia whips out a large bladed knife and thrusts it into HAMILTON’S chest. A smile crosses her lips as she sees the shock on the Senator’s face as he slides to the floor. Hamilton’s finger falls away from a button located discreetly on the edge of his desk.

SYLVIA (CONT'D)

Where do you keep my records you DNA deficient dipshit? (Pulls the protruding knife upwards slowly)I want them to know who killed your pathetic ass. (Gently pushes the knife downwards)You wanted our technology, our DNA, but you wont let us breed on your planet, or live in peace? (Twists the knife to a horizontal position) What? Homicidal alien got your tongue?

Hamilton tries to speak, but no words come out.

SYLVIA (CONT'D)

Well some of us have had a gutful, or in my case, three gutfuls.

The knife is slashed horizontally, spilling Hamilton’s insides onto the floor.Sylvia moves to the filing cabinet where she places the knife on the edge, where the blood slowly drips to the floor. We see files marked “Senator Hamilton , Chairman, Congressional Oversight Committee in Alternative Lifeforms” Sylvia bypasses these.

She finds the section she is looking for.

SYLVIA (CONT'D)

Anogarabe, no, Venarath, no, that’s Will’s planet..where’s Quartarian?...hmmmm?

Sylvia removes Will’s file, studying it intently.

SYLVIA (CONT'D)

Maybe there is a way? (Smiling) Sorry Will.

Sylvia removes Will’s file, continues searching.

SYLVIA (CONT'D)

Got it!

Removes her file.

SYLVIA (CONT'D)

Baby, that ring is mine. (Admiring her left hand)It will look so good against my purple scales.

The door to the Senators office explodes inwards sending glass and wood flying. Black clad, heavily armed agents storm the room.

TEAM LEADER

Don’t move! Freeze!

In one continuous motion, Sylvia drops the files, grabs the knife and hurls it across the office, impaling the figure next to the TEAM LEADER, as she dives into the bathroom and bullets pepper the wall and door, as it slams shut.

INT. HAMILTON’S BATHROOM

Her back is to the wall, she is breathing heavy. The Team Leader is shouting for her to come out.

SYLVIA

(Getting angry)

They want to control my life, give me no choices, all for the privilege of just living on this fucking planet?

Sylvia stands, reaching over with her right hand she grips her upper lips and starts ripping, her face, neck, upper torso, everything, until we are left staring at this perfect alien specimen. Her purple metallic like scales shimmer, as the fluorescent light pulses above her.

SYLVIA (CONT'D)

Time to meet the real Sylvia boys.

INT. HAMILTON’S OFFICE

TEAM LEADER

Ready, on three. One, two..

The door explodes out towards the assault group, knocking them to the floor, senseless.For a split second, Sylvia is framed in the doorway, surveying her work, she is relishing this freedom.

Sylvia moves slowly through the downed team, collecting two machine guns, two pistols, and extra magazines for both. These, and the blood spattered files are tossed into a nearby bag.

SYLVIA

Ready for the engagement party Will? ________________________________________________________

Attempt II

INT. HAMILTON’S OFFICE - DAY - CONTINUOUS

TRENT HAMILTON, Senator from the Northeast, overweight, ruddy complexion, built to drive a desk and drinks too much, too often. Chairperson of the Oversight Committee for Alternative Lifeforms. Not many other people have heard of it either.

HAMILTON and Will are sitting on either side of the desk.

HAMILTON

So McCarthy, what the hell went wrong?

WILL

It was just a bad run, it happens from time to time. We’ll be...Hamilton thumping the tabletop.

HAMILTON

Not on my watch! You fuck up again, and I’ll nail your ass so bad, you’ll be begging for Bubba to take over.

WILL

That was just a training run, that’s what we have them for. Have we ever not completed a mission?

HAMILTON

No, and there better not be a first time either. Here is the final information you need.

He throws a file across the desk, we can see it is labeled Committee for Alternative Lifeforms, Operation Sharp Forge, Top Secret is stamped across it.Will is looking decidedly unimpressed, pissed is definitely the word.

WILL
Glad you didn’t leave it until the last minute.

HAMILTON

The committee can’t afford exposure on this one, it is too big, we could not possibly cover any fallout.

Through clenched teeth.....

WILL

Whatever.

HAMILTON

We own your ass, remember! You came to us for help. So, when we say jump, you just ask how high?

Will stands up, shrugs slightly, his mouth suddenly opens, and then continues to open impossibly further. His human face is pushed aside as his alien face morphs out through his mouth, pushing his human face back like a cowboy hat resting on the back of his head.He places his face inches away from HAMILTON’S.

His scales are coated from the residue inside the human face, it is dripping down his face, and onto his extremely sharp teeth that seem to have appeared from somewhere deep within his mouth. Hamilton is both mesmerized and terrified.

WILL

Listen you DNA deficient dipshit. You’ve got our technology, you have our DNA, you got what you wanted! We want to live in peace, not fight your goddamn battles!

Will is so close now, residue is dripping onto Hamilton.

WILL (CONT'D)

This is it. The last one! After this, you can find yourself another doughboy to plow.

HAMILTON

(feeling cocky)

You can’t, we have an agreement.

Will sits back down, and gets all comfortable in his chair, crossing his legs. His human face is still hanging off the back of his head like a grotesque human cowboy hat.

WILL

Want to test that agreement in a court of law here in the good old US of A? Be my guest. I better make sure my face is all right for the camera’s. There might be one or two TV crews interested in chatting to me.

HAMILTON

We would tell the Agnorians where you all are.

WILL

I realize that. That is why your lovely wife is on her way to somewhere safe.

HAMILTON

Geez is that the best you got? I was going to divorce the silly bitch anyway.

WILL

That silly bitch has the gold and cash you had stashed. and, you can close that Swiss bank account now.

HAMILTON

You filthy bastard! I’ll..

WILL

Venarathian actually, but you can have it all back, once we’ve finished this job, and are settled somewhere safe. You just make everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, understand, it’s time for us to disappear. We are only doing this last job because it is something that has to be done.

Will stands, and moves to leave the room, he stops and faces Hamilton.

WILL (CONT'D)

All we want is some peace, why is that so hard for you to understand.

Will exits the room, he pulls out a mobile, dials a number and yanks his face back over his head, adjusting it with one hand as he waits for the call to connect.

WILL (CONT'D)

Coates? Can you get some more of that adhesive ready... Don’t ask. ______________________________________________

Merry Christmas from DownUnder

2006-12-24T16:18:00.000+10:00

Well ‘tis the season to be jolly. What do we have to be jolly about? Lots. We’re still alive and kicking :)

I was watching something the other day with my son, and from this I fully realised the situation where one little letter can change the entire meaning of what you are attempting to get across to readers of your scripts. Exhibit A below:

Wag the Dog, written by Mamet, well-known political thriller. On IMDB this is the synopsis.
When the president of the United States is about to get caught in a sex scandal 14 days from the election it is time to create a war. Perception and reality, life and death all flow from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Now…….

Follow me……

As we…….

Add…………

A ……

Solitary ……

S.

You now get……..

Tiny error, huge change. Just thought that was worth exploring, plus it allowed me to really practice those full stops.

Next I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Below are some individual thank you’s for various scribosphereans:

In no particular order....

1. Billy Mernit(The Sultan of Swoon): Congratulations on your book deal Billy, thank you for all your insightful writing over the last year. It is always entertaining, interesting and educational to read. Plus you post photos of JA, so really that is just cream on the cream.

2. Jessica Alba: For being Jessica Alba and accepting the lead in Billy Mernit’s adaptation of his novel. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Billy you did manage to write in more of those bikini scenes didn’t you?

3. Craig Mazin: Thanks for the articles on your site about the WGA etc. It gets any of us hopefuls thinking about where the fence post sits before we (hopefully ) become members. Also, thanks for the Artful Forum, especially the Ask a Pro section….amazing and fantastic!

4. Bill”Mad Pulp Bastard” Cunningham: For the rants and information throughout the year. Always educational and always fun. The way I look at it, if I use the tips to reduce costs in the shoot, then it leaves more money for the fun bits! Merry Xmas Bill! Hopefully that thing will come off( and I am not talking about a body part)

5. John Rogers: For being able to accurately record and explain middle America and other countries thoughts on the responsibilities of our leaders, even though not enshrined in law, certainly in morality and ethics. Well done!

6. John August: For the endless amount of information and guidance he provides, plus the Death Star quote for SUV. That has given me numerous laughs, my wife hates you though.

7. Alex Epstein: Crafty Alex, another book out about TV. His blog is also a must read. Always some good information coming through and he is always willing to give advice to schmucks like me.

8. Jane Espenson: Wow, just wow. Amazing addition to the scribosphere this year. Between Ken Levine and Jane, what else could someone like me ask for? (Yes, Jessica Alba, but that has to wait)

9. Dennis(Dead Things on Sticks): Bill’s sparing partner and I love the debates. Two passionate and informed gentlemen waging an old fashioned war of the words. Great stuff. They even agree sometimes.

10. Ken Levine: Like Jane E, Wow. We all know how much we love his blog. Nothing else to say except a big sincere thank you.

11. Mac: Little known Mac. Thanks for those Aussie newsletters. I appreciate the time you take on them. Even got a lead off one :) Hopefully I will have the DVD of my short in my hand in February some time.

12. Todd: A kindred spirit. Battling plotholes and crappy dialogue. We’ll make it! :)

13. Warren: Warren has been quiet this year, but I am always thankful for his amazing blog. All the best for the new year to him.

14. Patrick Rodio: Patrick has been gracious enough to share his success and lessons(no matter how painful they were)with us to show us how hard it is, but all it does is make us more hungry. Best of luck for all your ventures in the new year.

15. Ted Elliot and Terry Rosio for Wordplayer and all those great movies. Saying anything else is really a waste of the alphabet.

16. Maryan for Fencing with the Fog: While all us other wannabes are slacking off, Maryan keeps blogging with much more grace and clear thinking than I could ever muster with all the best drugs available. Always a pleasure to read her blog and I wish her all the success.

17. Clarkblog: Damn good read that I wish I could get to more often.

18. Red Right Hand-Mat: Fantastic TV blog Shawn has got there. I hope he goes far, his knowledge and passion shines through.

19. Shawna: a big thank you to Shawn for her continuing updates on what show’s are happening, etc. Helps immensely in sorting the wheat from the chaff when the winds blow the shows Downunder.

20. Charlie & Dave: The B Dudes. A charming saga this year to follow. The Siege may end, but other stories will rise to replace it I’m sure!

21. Phil Morton: Looking forward to receiving Phil’s CD, it will be great I’m sure. His blog has been very helpful to me over the past few years. Thanks for that Phil!

22. Lee Goldberg: Love Lee’s blog more so just for his sense of humour and interesting articles and stories he shares. I love how he does show how hard the work is though.

23. Josh Friedman: For making Snakes and sweatpants cool. No small feat. Thanks for the laughs Josh.

24. Scott the Reader: Fantastic blog that is a must read. Scott, for all the tips which are too large to recall, a huge thank you. I am truly looking forward to using his notes service.

25. Fun Joel: Another big thank you to Fun Joel for all his great posts this year. Another blog I read often.

26. Bill Martell: Bought Bill’s book on writing action movies earlier this year, and he has the same knack as Phil Morton. They can break down complex ideas into easily understood terms and processes. Great book, helped a lot, going to re-read soon. Thanks for your blog and daily tips Bill, invaluable!

27. Danny in the UK: Showing that a Pom has brains and is a top bloke as well. Best wishes for the next 12 months.

28. Ras: She has been on a great ride this year, and hopefully next year will be her special year where she cracks it. Thanks for sharing!

29. Let Me In – Sal: Another person sharing their amazing ride. Thanks for all the stories Sal, intriguing and thoroughly interesting. Best of luck for 2007.

30. Do Cats eat Bats: Steve, knocking on Hollywoods door with a few successes, fingers crossed 2007 is his year. Certainly deserves it, he has a sharp mind.

31. The Constipated Writer-JD: Battling through a self funded feature Generator, I hope it goes well for him.

32. Writer Gurl: Moving to LA soon, I don’t think she is there yet. Another sharp mind who I think will crack it one day. Best of luck Rose!

33. Assistant Atlas: The “Deep Throat” of Hollywood. Great fun read, and educational about the goings on of the bricks and mortar industries of Hollywood. Hope his new media plans pan out for him. Thanks for the stories Atlas.

34. How to Write Screenplays Badly: Bloody funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the laughs guys!

35. Development Hell: Christine, IT guru and screenwriting wiz. Thanks for sharing your processes and here’s to a great 2007!

36. Security Dog: You’ve dropped off the earth, but I hope you are well. Top bloke from all correspondence I had with him. Merry Christmas I hope you are having a great time wherever you have landed.

There are heaps more people I would like to thank, but running out of time to get this posted before Xmas eve. Be assured if I have left a comment on your blog I probably visit as often as I can and I am either entertained or educated. Not a bad deal, so thanks for that.

To all, I hope you have a great Xmas and a fantastic New Year, may your plot holes be small, studio notes non-existent and your budget huge.

Talk to you again soon.

Cheers
Dave.
PS I have no illusions that most of these people do not read this blog. Just my own way of publicly thanking them for their input into my education as a screenwriter. They are all valued.

What happened?

2006-12-11T09:16:00.000+10:00

Don't know about you guys, but well, I'm stumped. The world is no longer balanced and I think my Christmas is ruined.

I received only two pieces of spam over the weekend!?

How the hell am I supposed to stock up on viagra for if this continues?

Moving on from this threat to world stability(I am sure Koffi has set up some sort of commission to deal with this problem, guessing it will be as effective as that marvellous Oil for Food program)

Onto more important things. I have been downloading the podcasts from CS web over the last few months(same ones as Maryanne and thousands of others), but I have not listened to them much, as normally if I am at the computer(dont have mp3 player in car) I am actually working(try to keep that to minimum) or working on screenplays and therefore don't want to concentrate on the excellant podcasts, too distracting.

Anyway, I have been trying to find a convertor that allows you to convert an MP3 to a form that will allow them to be played on a CD for when I am in the car during those long road kill laced trips I am taking lately. Anyone know of any? I have tried a few but they dont seem to be doing what I want. Would love some help.

By the way, BEST name for a road I have seen in my travels.....SPLIT SOLITARY ROAD...love it. How do you split solitary? Best town name....SOUTH KOLAN....its motto has to be "When you've had the shits with the world, move to South Kolan. Yeah, I know, but I had to, just push through it.

My own thought of the day: "The easiest money you will ever make is doing a job you love"

Hope everyone is well. Chat to you later.
cheers
Dave.

2006-12-04T21:24:00.000+10:00

Greetings fellow blogosapiens.

I hope you have been well and all your spelling errors small and your set-pieces huge and expensive.

With my the big-action-kill-all-who-breath screenplay, I have been wrestling with the villain. He is a sort of ex-pat terrorist, the other terrorists weren’t sort of focused enough for this guy, bombing schools was just too namby pamby for him.

The problem was coming up with a character that contained a flaw that would ultimately lead to his downfall. We all know he is going to fail as soon as the movie starts, he just has to be as interesting as possible during the process :)

I was speaking to an owner of a hotel last week who was, well, to put it bluntly, being a dick. All I was trying to do was help him and he didn’t want to listen. We finished the call, and BINGO! It struck me, here is my character, he has the perfect flaw, he is intelligent but can be too wrapped in his own ideas, so he doesn’t see Miss Venezuela for all the other countries in the pageant (that is a lot better visual than trees and forests :) ) So was very excited to make that breakthrough. So, someone who is actually pissing me off, now gets to die in a horrible way, sort of.

Moving onto other things, my wife and I have been watching Studio 60 and loving it. Like a lot of fellow bloggers, we are on the in as far as understanding how TV shows work(about as in as Pluto is to the sun). So having a little knowledge gleaned from people like Ken Levine, Lee Goldberg, etc. it has been fun to watch. I sort of understand what some people have been complaining about, but did not agree with them until the last episode B12.

With all the writers in Hollywood(and wanting to get in) they could only come up with one as a replacement? Ken Levine was unavailable :) ???? It could have been Aaron Sorkins chance to have a dig at Hollywood and bring in some more mature writers en masse with a wealth of experience made up and ratings could have gone go up.

Also, the Sarah Poulsen character not being able to tell a joke? What was that? Okay, like Ken was discussing the other day, not all good comedic actors can make up their own material, that is totally understandable, however, not being able to memorize and deliver lines? Me thinks that would fall into the sacking category for an actor? Am I wrong? Okay, unless they look like Eva Mendes crossed with Jessica Alba(only the good bits, that begs the question…..are there ANY bad bits there?)

In my work I’ve cracked 11000kms since I hit the road in early September, and my frequent flyer miles are up enough I can fly my wife and daughter to Cairns to see her family. Leaving me and the little man at home to eat ice cream and watch the Wiggles. In case you missed the bad news, Greg is leaving the Wiggles due to poor health. That update is a convenient message to all parents of young children. I still want to see a death match between the Wiggles and the Hooley Dooleys, the Wiggles would walk over them.

Started typing this on the plane and finishing up in the hotel room with the West Wing playing in the background. Time to hit the sack. Have fun all blogosapiens!

Cheers
Dave

Borat: Minister for Tourism and all things that keep him out of the country

2006-11-19T10:07:00.000+10:00

Borat, the man that has taken the world by storm and caused Kazakhstan to be trendier than Kahbala(sp?).

What the hell is that government thinking banning the movie and spending millions on another movie(I heard $40million) to showcase the history, etc of what a great country Kazakhstan is.

You idiots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EMBRACE BORAT!

Don't push him away and try educate people. Anyone worth educating already knows he is simply playing a character. Don't get so defensive about it.

EMBRACE BORAT!

Don't push, pull, make him an honourary minister, with a title something like I have named this post. Take him in, use him, turn the joke around.....use the millions of dollars of free publicity to do some good for your country. Let tourists come and see what a wonderful country it is.

Use your frickin brains to take advantage of the situation.

Arrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhh I hate when people dont think outside the square, but rather keep the square lodged fairly tight between their wallet and their hanky.

Just about at end of my first pass of 57 properties over two states. When you guys in the US think of states they are rather small, just have a look at Queensland. From where I live to the furtherest property is nearly 2000km. Furtherest I drive is about 7 hours away, other than that, I hop on a plane. No way I am driving that far, the risk gets to high. Already sussing out life insurance, my wife wants to put it up over a million.....I am not going that high, that particular risk gets way too high for my liking :)

One of the benefits of working from home, the printers they supply :)

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/18972-238444-410636-12004-f51-1140785.html about 22ppm for printing......much nicer! Plus unlimited supply of paper as I buy my own stationery and get reimbursed. Remember it's not stealing if it is tax deductible.

Hope everyone is well.
cheers
Dave.

Greed can be good.......

2006-10-30T14:38:00.000+10:00

Hi All,

Been an interesting time. Have been bouncing between Cairns in the north and Melbourne(sorry James, I knew I would not have time so did not contact you, hopefully will have a night off next trip). Out all day and most nights. Only nights off was answering emails, doing spreadsheets, etc for work, but it is calming down a bit now.

Anyone else besides the dashing Sultan of Swoon interested in swapping skills outside of screenwriting(Note Well: I have no skills within screenwriting to swap, therefore can only offer ones outside of it :) )

Had an amazing week in Melbourne last week, when I was down there for a week long course the company runs. I had to experience the course so I could tell Franchisee’s about it if they wish to go on it. Yes, nice work if you can get it. :)

The amazing thing however was not the course(surprise, surprise) but meeting a couple from New Zealand. The husband is Canadian by birth, and grew up in Toronto, they became professional dancers, ballroom style(the type the Sultan of Swoon would be able to flow into on a dancefloor :) ) . Back in their heyday(both around 60 now) they worked on a few movies in Hollywood…….a few being 22…..one of them was apparently Deliverance……yes that little flop :)

They also worked with the following:

Lloyd Bridges – very nice man
Beau Bridges – apparently the same
Kim Bassinger – nice even though the white powder seemed to be flowing
Robert Mitchum – again, nice……

The list goes on….

This information was not spouted in an arrogant display to showoff, but rather we were chatting quietly and I kept digging for further information after he mentioned they had worked on a movie. They were very down to earth, nice people who I hit it off with straight away, and I just have a gut feeling he wasn’t lying. Anyway, AFTER he had told me this, I started talking about screenwriting and how I trying my hand at a few ideas I have. He offered to let me read the scripts he has stashed away …somewhere …..he knows he can find them, but they are just not that important to him, that part of his life is over……except for one part of it.

The best part…..for me anyway.

He still has a number of contacts in Hollywood and offered (I did not ask) to make introductions when I have something I think is suitable.

Pick jaw off floor, change underpants without anyone noticing……….

“HELL YEAH” was my initial reaction, but my brain managed to lock my jaw until “that is an extremely kind gesture and I would love that opportunity” came out, plus about another 50 thankyou’s during the course of the night. I don’t think offering to zip him up after a trip to the toilet was going too far…..

So, there you go. An interesting trip to Melbourne that just got better.

To give you an idea, it was loud but at one point I am pretty sure he mentioned that he is still in contact with someone who believes that “Greed is good”.

Greed maybe good, but contacts are better :)

Later guys, off to write some more.

Cheers
Dave.
PS Does anyone know what happened to Security Dog? His blog disappeared and he is not answering emails. Hope he is okay.

Everyone needs one......

2006-10-21T12:23:00.000+10:00

a hip nick. Not a nip/tuck. During my quick 700km car trip home last night, which started at 3pm, I was wondering if we should refer to Billy as the Sultan of Swoon....

Thoughts? :)

This was towards the end of the trip around 10pm. Luckily the roads were wide.

cheers
Dave

Any doing TV spec's?

2006-10-15T19:23:00.000+10:00

Silly question I know but is anyone doing a Law & Order SVU spec? I am fairly sure this one is not a popular one, but if you are, I came across an interesting story in the paper downunder that I think would make an interesting storyline for that show. Could possibly work in the Criminal Intent franchise as well.

If you are interested, drop me a line and I will email it to the first person who puts their hand up.

cheers
Dave.

My Big Fat Greek Golden Retriever

2006-10-13T16:52:00.000+10:00

Hi All,

Yes I am alive.

Well lots has happened since we last spoke, including the untimely death of Steve Irwin. I’ll be the first to say that I was always ready to have a joke about Steve and his methods, but I always admired his passion, it was infectious and limitless. His kids are very similar in age to mine and it really hit home about what would happen if I was unexpectedly taken. There is no way known he would not want to be taken from his children when they are so young, he had too much to do, most importantly, seeing his kids grow up. Just very sad he wont get that chance, and his young son Bob will never get to know his Dad, even though he will have thousands of hours of footage, he wont ever get that chance to experience Steve himself.

I took my family to the zoo a few years back it was a couple of weeks prior to the “Baby Bob Incident” and it was a thoroughly entertaining performance he provided us. It was school holidays so Steve was about doing his thing. The zoo is about 30 minutes from where I live and he went to the same high school that I did, he was just a few years ahead of me. I never met him or knew him, but came across a number of people that went to school with him and knew him in, what was his current role.

No-one had a bad word to say about him. He was what he was. Passionate, definitely extroverted, but he got the job done. I was surprised how much I felt myself thinking about his family and the loss to the world due to his death, when you consider I was not a rabid fan like some people are. I can only put it down to the situation where he has left behind a young family, something I definitely don’t want to do. Reminder, more exercise, less beers.

His passion is something I have been thinking about. Do I have the passion for screenwriting that he displayed for his interests? I think I do. Simple statement that does not reflect his level of passion, but passion can be displayed in many forms. I have found this outlet in screenwriting, I love it, thoroughly enjoy it, and now cannot imagine not doing it. It is a gnawing, intrinsic feeling and desire that just wont go away.

When I was job hunting a few months ago now, it was an interesting situation, for the last decade or so I have hardly needed a CV, definitely not one that was anything well laid out or that “sells” me. Normally I would be contacted by someone who knew someone and an offer would be made. Technically headhunting, but I don’t want it to sound more than what it was. I worked hard, knew my job and was reliable, something a lot of employers a looking for, so I got offers.

During my recent bout of unemployment, which truly was a bucketload of fun, all my normal contacts had nothing at that moment. So I revamped the CV a bit and started applying for roles that appealed to me, not necessarily in my area of expertise of hospitality but jobs where I knew the skills I have acquired. Funny thing happened, I was not getting any replies, let alone interviews. I couldn’t understand it, quite perplexing really, no-one loved me anymore J

I then sat down and really looked at my CV and it struck me that, yes if you knew my capabilities, and I had been recommended, it would be fine, if you didn’t, I’d throw it in the bin as well. What to do? Rewrite J

Sharpened it up considerably, also went over the application letter with the proverbial fine tooth comb. What do you know? Next couple of jobs, the requests for interviews started flowing in. That’s where I was down to the final two for running the zoo near my place.

So, in effect I did a page one rewrite on my employment history. Yes, I could have done it without what I have learned through writing screenplays, but I truly believe that the techniques I have learned whilst writing screenplays where a major component in the success of that document. Also proves the point of the need for rewriting our screenplays with a fresh eye J

Moving on, I must congratulate James over at http://screenwriting101.blogspot.com/, one of his shorts was chosen in the Project Greenlight show here in Oz. How good is that!! I had the absolute pleasure of meeting James in Melbourne a few weeks ago. I was hoping to blog about that earlier but I have hardly had time to catch my breath. More on that shortly. If you don’t know, Project Greenlight is on Cable each Thursday night here in Oz. I don’t have cable at home so I am hoping to catch a few shows when I am on the road in my new job. Going to get my first chance tomorrow night! I am up in Cairns at present finishing off this long overdue blog. That’s blog guys, with an L. I read the short James entered about a year ago, and it was a very funny concept. I was going to say I hope the director is faithful to the script. Unfortunately, since I started this entry, it has screened and lets just say there was some minor changes. In the same way WWI changed the French countryside. Wasn’t much left. Some liked it, some felt the original was better. I feel the latter was much smarter and funnier. Still severely disappointed they changed Death’s name tag from Jim Reaper to simply Death. However, James has a screen credit, I am absolutely rapped for him.

So, what have I been doing after my little writing sojourn? Soon after that I started in my new role and first thing was a week in Melbourne for training. Early starts, late finishes and a case study to present on the Friday. It went very well, and I did well in the case study. Again, the techniques from screenwriting held me in good stead with the case study. I had a sort of Mentor in one of the existing Field Managers, and I chose to type out my case study rather than just have notes written down to present. My mentor and I were working on our case studies each night and he was having a chuckle, he remarked that it sounded like a newsroom over on my side of the desk and he was looking forward to reading my version of War and Peace. It was only about 4 pages but I was constantly rewriting as I was going along. It ended up a nice little document, and the MD of the company even ended up requesting a copy which I was quite chuffed about(and shitscared I might make a fool of myself J )

After presenting it Friday, that night James was gracious enough to travel about an hour and a half to meet with me. It was truly a pleasure to spend a few hours chatting with James about screenplays. I do hope that I get to meet more fellow ASS’s in the future. It was then he told me about his success with Project Greenlight and we had fun toasting to his success.
After Melbourne, I flew straight to Perth for the companies annual conference. A week of earlier starts and even later finishes, alcohol, and work. I had the chance to meet a large number of my franchisees that I will be working with, so I was on show as the new guy, and had to impress(see don’t be an idiot) So, no relaxing, always on show, and ended the week very tired. From there, flew home on the Thursday, had Friday to get ready for my mentor to arrive the next Monday and we were then off for several days around Brisbane, Gold Coast and Tweed Heads, part of my territory, for on the job training. After that back home for a few days with the family. Spent a few days getting the home office in as much order as I could, then was on the road for three or four more days, back home, then off again now around Northern NSW. I am was writing this in Coffs Harbour at 7am in the morning. First chance I had gotten to devote time to it.

In between all this we have had Father’s Day, our 10th Wedding Anniversary (my wife deserves a medal for putting up with me), and we have a new addition to the home. A puppy! Lovely little Golden Retriever. Since I will be travelling a fair bit, I wanted a dog at home for security and with the kids still young, they get to experience growing up with a puppy. Something that every kid should get I reckon. The title refers to my 2 year old son. We named the puppy Merlot. His pronunciation is Meelow……sounds Greek to me.

Here is our new attack dog in action.

I am settling into the new role, lots of driving,(really looking forward to receiving Phil Morton’s CD to listen to in the car, 6000km in about 6 weeks) lots of time to think about my screenplays and have come up with some new set pieces for the one I am working on at present. I have loaded Final Draft on the work laptop and now that I am feeling comfortable on the road, more time will be devoted to it each night.

After watching Red Eye recently I had an idea I wanted to throw out there to the Scribosphere. At the beginning of Red Eye there was a scene at the hotel where there is trouble with a checkin and they have to call Rachel McAdams character for assistance. Guess what? The way it unfolded was wrong. It would not happen that way in a hotel. So what I can hear you say. The sad thing is, if they had spoken to someone who worked in a hotel, they could have actually increased the tension and the conflict in that scene even further. They missed an opportunity because they did not know how a hotel works. It got me thinking, we all write about areas that we don’t actually have intimate knowledge of. We research, experience(where we can) and try and get it right. If we are tenacious and/or tricky we might be able to find an expert in that field and talk to them. As an example Todd from Moviequill asked for anyone that had worked in the banking area. I had worked in a bank when younger and was able to give some information to Todd. I think I was helpful there.

What struck me was there are dozens of people throughout the Scribosphere, each with their own unique area of expertise. Why not tap into that?

So my thought is, each of us could list our area of expertise and perhaps help each other with those particular area if one of us needs it. Personally, I can put myself forward as one to come to in the area of hotels and hospitality in general. If you want help with a hotel scene as far as what would or could happen, drop me a line. If anyone else wants to, put your hand up and let us know your area of expertise. The scribosphere is a network, lets use it to help ourselves.

First person to put their hand up for expertise in stripping wins J

I am at page 80 on my latest and getting near end of the second act with heaps still to go. I am thinking this is going to bloat out to about 140 odd pages. Then the rewrite starts, once I have it somewhere I am happy at, it will be the first one I throw over to Scott the Reader to massacre review. I am keen to get it finished and trimmed to get feedback from Scott. Once I have that done and implemented any changes (unless of course it is perfect J HA!) I would be happy to shoot it out to a few out there that enjoy action movies. Can’t hurt(too much).

Heading off now, have fun all, and will try and blog more often. My Outlook calendar has never been so full as in this job, but the best thing, loving this new role, and fingers crossed, so far it seems to be going well.

Cheers
Dave.

Sunday

2006-08-20T12:29:00.000+10:00

What else can you call a post posted on a Sunday?

Okay, starting new job tomorrow, heading to Melbourne to train for a week, then off to National Conference(timing!) to see how many brain cells I can destroy and still be able to remember my name.

Due to Richard at Scriptweaver posting about shorts at Inktip.com I posted one short I have up there. Have had a number of enquiries to date, and one guy who wants to produce it once he has his current short out of the way. So, nothing huge, but it's a start. :) If you have a short ready, give inktip.com a go, can't hurt, unless you want to shot it yourself of course. Thanks for that tip Richard!

Just watching Prehistoric Park with my daughter. Lots of fun etc, but I only want to see one thing. Steve Irwin guest starring one week. Tell me that would not be fun to watch! :)

Have fun, if I am light on posts over next two weeks you know why, not sure when I get new work laptop and leaving this one here for my wife.

cheers
Dave

Back, really, truly, madly deeply............

2006-08-09T21:59:00.000+10:00

Maryann was nice enough to point out that it was three weeks since I said I would be back soon. Time flies when you’re having fun. :) Plus, I truly did not realize it had been that long.

What the hell have I been doing? Certainly not getting drunk and calling cops Jews (especially when they are ) then blaming them for the little tiff’s going on around the world. More on that later.

Basically I stopped to smell the roses, whilst I was there, I hacked them down with a chainsaw replanted and watched them grow again. All in all, I have been writing my own stuff and spending as much time as possible with my kids and my long suffering wife. 10 years next month to be exact. As the old saying goes when your own your deathbed, you wont be wishing that you did one more blog entry, but missing out on helping your two year old climb around a tree, letterbox and retaining wall for about two hours is something that is unmissable( I know I made that word up, but it was worth it, trust me).

I have been giving my wife as much time to herself as possible, she is even away for a couple of nights at one of those spa resorty type places, where they shove mud into various orifices and shout “your cured!!!” I may be simplifying that process somewhat.

During the day I spend time with child number 2, or as we affectionately call him, devil spawn #2. Child number 1 is at school during the week so my wife and I have been spending time together as well, chatting, planning, romancing etc. When child number 2 goes down for midday nap, I have even been giving the old nudge nudge wink wink, “what you doing for the next 5.45 minutes?”. I know the wife was getting a bit over it, but I do think the restraining order was going a bit far.

Caught up on heaps of movies. By far, Walk the Line is the best I have seen in a while, looking forward to Inside Man as well. Security Dog reckons it is very good. For Rom Coms, found a nice little sleeper that I missed, Just Like Heaven with Reese W and Mark Ruffy the Dog. Great little movie, predictable to a point, but it's a fun ride. Best waste of time game I have played, Spiderman 2, what a hoot!!!!!!!!!!! If you liked Spidey as a kid and always wanted to swing around the place and climb around, pure heaven.

Writing’s been lots of fun, even took myself down the Gold Coast for a few days jut to write. Fantastic time by myself. Did not drink much, just wrote, ate and slept, with a fantastic view over Broadbeach from the 13th floor. If you want inspiration, vertigo and the 13th floor are a great incentive. New opening scene, new ending( I suddenly realized they would not get out of there without virtually the entire Iranian army descending on them, but you get that). Like I said, lots of fun. Came up with two more ideas that I actually like, well three if you include the one about Jessica Alba. One is a low-budget horror, one is cop/thriller, sort of a Death Wish meets Collateral type script, Jessica Alba is just Jessica Alba.

I have been thinking about the whole Mel Gibson drama, and I really think he is just simply misunderstood. As he was bought up in Australia (by American parents, let’s point THAT out :) remember, Australian's only claim someone when they are doing good things ) I think I should try and provide some insight that I think frankly has been missed by the tabloids and every other media outlet on earth. Lucky I’m here really.

Lets look at this rationally, and take the major points of the incident, bit by bit.

He got drunk. Okay, recovering alcoholic. Here in Australia we call them politicians and let them run the country. So what. He is only in charge of one movie and 16 kids at home when his wife has mild breakdown’s over that fact. How hard can it be to call 16 nannies? Would not be so much Dial n Angel as Dial n Drill Sergeant.

He drove drunk. He is a huge supporter of the LAPD, he was obviously testing them. Hasn’t anyone heard of quality control?

The Jewish slurs are the easiest part of the whole shenanigans to work out. He has obviously discovered late in life that he is indeed a method actor, and in his training to become an Australian parliamentarian he obviously had flashbacks to when he worked on Conspiracy Theory, and kablam…..international incident. How bloody easy was that to work out? He probably wasn’t even saying Jew? He was drunk and was asking if he was Juuuu (lia Roberts), his co-star on Conspiracy Theory. Two things, when you are drunk, you can’t speak properly, and here in Oz, we love to shorten words like you would not believe. Does it get any easier to work out?

Then there is the bit about the real truth coming out when you are drunk, that you would not say anything you did not truly believe. Hands up how many people have woken up next to someone and uttered those immortal words…. “oh shit”. Waking up next to my uni lecturer certainly had me doing that, and boy did it INCREASE the hangover I had. It helped a little that she was only 25 and blonde, but it did not hurt as much as when I only received a pass for the course! Couple of months prior to the grades coming out, I was scoring high distinctions, but I think the whole Fatal Attraction thing that came out of the closet after a little while may have contributed to the pass only mark, her not me, I was the one running for cover.

Next on the agenda is Sugar Tits, my favourite actually. My god people, he is just showing his imagination! Have you never heard of Sweet Cheeks. That was sooooooooooooooo 1995. Sugar Tits is soooo 21st Century!!! You want your screenplays cliché free? Take a lesson, Sugar Tits for everyone!!! Besides, being drunk, his sugar would be out of balance, he may be diabetic, who knows? Is it a conspiracy? Maybe the officers last name is Tits, and he wanted to say I need some sugar, Officer Tits, when in fact, due to writing, well okay. working with lots of screenplays and knowing the value of every word, he simply reduced it down to Sugar, Tits. The media has just left out the comma, and the man, who only wanted a candy bar to arrest a serious medical ailment is being crucified for it! How about a little open mindedness?

Okay, he is a guilty as sin, but it was fun to look at it from the antag’s side for a little while :)

What else, back to the real world. Some hotel chain was actually silly enough to hire me to be the Field Support Manager for Queensland and northern NSW(one and a bit states) so I have to travel around to the 55 or so hotels and help, assist, audit, etc etc (get drunk at bar) a couple of times each year. So as of 21st of August I am due to lose the rank of unemployed bum (parasite on the globalization of greed that is occurring) and once again become a member of society and a split pin in the cog of the economy.

I only have one thing to say to that.

Bastards!

So that’s me, what about you guys?

Cheers
Dave.

Hibernation

2006-07-14T14:22:00.000+10:00

Coming out of it soon. Billy Mernit is one funny bastard.
cheers
Dave

V-Day Update

2006-06-19T20:59:00.000+10:00

Well, that was fun. So, how has it been going I hear you ask? Well I thought rather than write a long boring blog entry on it, I would provide you with a visual journey of my last few days.

First off was this…….

V-Day.

I thought it went well.

Got lots of ….

Which put me in a nice….

state of mind.

Afterwards I applied the ever faithful….

Baby peas were on special…..no conjecture allowed.

Again, going well, but then …

morphed to……

And I started to feel like I had been…

Or by …

Or this…

I must say at this stage, I can normally stand a fair amount of pain. When younger, I woke up the morning after a bit of a kick to the hand at karate and went to my father asking if maybe I should see a doctor. I then showed him my finger, which closely resembled…

So, I think I have the pain thing covered. Anyway, after lying around for a few days like this…

And taking lots of ……

I am starting to feel better. I could not complete the second week of the 14DSP due to this handicap, as I could not sit for long, and no way anything with the word lap was getting anywhere near my lap. Next week I am by myself so I am doing my own 7DSP programme. Yeay me.

Hope everyone is well.
Cheers
Dave.
PS 12 photos at 1000 words per photo...a 12000 word plus post......not bad! :)

Big Feet?

2006-06-11T22:27:00.000+10:00

Following on from the last post, this thought struck me the other day.

We all know what the old joke (truth perhaps) about men who own these types of cars.

Well was just wondering......what do you presuppose about men who own these types?

Scroll down.

Just wondering.

cheers
Dave

Ouch!

2006-06-08T12:31:00.000+10:00

I am heading to a doctor this afternoon, a specialist in fact(he better be an extremely skilled specialist in fact) to discuss the snip.

So I thought that might be amusing to blog about. Yes, go straight to the dick jokes and you can't go wrong, generally. So, I thought I would see if these particular doctors have an important sounding name.

They may have, I gave up after the first article linked in the google response. I have posted the first thing I read below:

"If you want to locate a doctor who performs no-scalpel vasectomies"

Excuse me? WTF squared!

What the hell do they use if it is not a scalpel?

A spoon?
Two bricks?
You walk in, he kicks you in the nuts and says thanks that''ll be $200 bucks?

I did not research any further.

That's just scary...
cheers
Dave

UPDATE: Can I just make a small suggestion to all doctors? Can we get some sort of standard in place were a patient gets at least 60 seconds in the office before his pants are around his ankles and his scrotum is being scrunched?

I mean, really, is that too much to ask. A couple of how's the family, football was good on the weekend, rain would be helpful. I don't think I'm asking too much.

You could mention you were the doctor who has won a number of game shows like who wants to be a millionaire. Yes! That doctor is going to be my bestest friend next Thursday, which will now be known and celebrated as V-Day.

He should also turn down the air-conditioning, in that job, cold hands should not be allowed!
cheers
Dave
PS got an email tonight, a group wants me down the coast for an interview next week. If this came off it would be hilarious. You'll get the joke later, but lets just say it has everything to do with monkeys.

Need a break from the 14DSP

2006-06-08T00:36:00.000+10:00

There are many a self confessed geek out there in the scribosphere. Many of you are like me battling the writing demons over this 14 day pagan literary festival.

Everyone needs a break.

Go here, laugh, then go write some more. The true test of your geekiness is if you bookmark this site. :) The ultimate test is if you already new this site existed. I found it through this, so I can still claim amatuer geek status. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19393667-421,00.html

Enjoy
cheers
Dave

14 Day Screenplay Just Got Decidedly Easier...

2006-06-03T21:47:00.000+10:00

Yes, indeed it has. You may not remember, but I sell, software to hotels and resorts for a living. That was until Friday. Sales have been very hard this year with the new company I started with, and they informed me late Thursday that I would no longer be required.

Boohoo........nope.

Many reasons that sales have not been as strong as we all thought they would have been. Main reason is that majority of new projects that we can have a crack at over here, are what we call Trust properties, very similar to your condo's. For Trust in Oz, you need specialised software. The company I was working for, does not yet have that software..........soooooooooo trying to sell something that everyone (mostly) has and you don't, gets a little hard. Any new hotels that are not Trust, generally have one of the bigger hotel chains names attached and they all use a system called Fidelio, due to contracts signed at head offices in the US. Soooooo again, it gets hard, there are approximately 4 new software vendors around this year, and they all think it is a great idea to have a price war, so in addition to not having the right software at present, a number of competitors are coming in at 50% of my tenders.

I would rather be given the role of showrunner on Faith & Hope. :)

By the way, anyone who wants to correspond with me, best not to use my old work email anymore, my old boss is now using my old laptop and all email is directed to her, and I can assure you unreservedly, she will not be any help with a screenplay. She will miss me, guess who she volunteered to write many of her letters, and opening and closing remarks for major demos, after we discussed my desire to write screenplays :) ahuh.

Besides, in exit interview, my boss said she would happily be my referee, and would happily have me back if things pick up for them. So all good that way, it was purely a business decision, which is fine.

I have been wanting more time to write and finish a few of these ideas off, so now I have it.

Financially we are fine, we have some decent savings and quite a bit of equity in the house, which can keep us going for many, many months. It is different though, when you have children. Do you know what you can get for them on the black market? Damn, we're right for at least 2-3 years based on that alone. :) Angelina has got the market so excited, it's peaking at new heights!

In all seriousness though, it is no big drama, I have had many offers of help from guys in the industry already, there are things out there that I could start in tomorrow if I want to. At this stage though, I am going to just take a few weeks and write. I am looking forward to it so much plus getting some time with the kids. My daugher was just about doing cartwheels in the lounge because Daddy was on holidays!! My wife agrees, and is supportive(and excited to have me home to help with the kids in the mornings), and she knows I am going to go all nightowl on her :)

I have a note from my doctor that I have to go see him asap about my recent cholesterol. Obviously more good news. Yeah. So, excercise and healthy eating is going to be part of this rejuvination period. :)

Other than that, it is into the 14 Day Screenplay, my plan, well for me, is to finish the one I have been working on, which has quite a few pages written already, and then finish another of the ideas I have. I am torn between three ideas. If I can't decide which one by the time I am ready to start, I might put it up for a quick vote here.

Optimistic Reader, thanks for the good luck in the previous post, same to you and all people undertaking the 14DSP!! It is already 3rd June here, so I am off to write.

If at any time, this 14DSP seems overwhelming, just read the old Australian proverb (supposedly) I came across the other day. It is under my profile that is at the top right of the page.

Hmmmmmmmm shirts with 14DSP written across them.......no-one would know! It would be a secret society,......mwahahaha.......okay, time for that later......writing first.

cheers
Dave

Great Story

2006-05-31T08:57:00.000+10:00

I was reading Lee's blog, The Light, It Hurts (being in the UK, I can understand why sunshine hurts :) ) anyway, came across this story of a guy called Craig Robbins who loved a comedy series called Joking Apart, that ran for two seasons back in the early 90's so much he went and got himself the rights to distribute it on DVD. The series is about a comedy writer for TV whose marriage falls apart and he does not cope well with it.

He cut the DVD, with extras(!!) and has just released it the other day. Fantastic story, and hopefully it will be a success for him. I have not seen the series myself, but it sounds very funny, and I am going to try and get my hands on a copy. A more indepth rendition of the whole story here .

Website for the DVD is here .

Enjoy!
cheers
Dave

The clock is ticking.........

2006-05-24T12:04:00.000+10:00

We've all heard about it, cursed it, praised it, cried into our pillows thinking about it, and realised it is not a bad idea.

Matt at The Daily Pitch is organizing it. Yes, he most probably does push little children off their bikes for pleasure, there could also be a few babies missing their candy, but he is the organisor of this little fun two week hell hole. :) So big thanks to Matt for it. I may be able to do it this time, and will certainly try. Work and beers permitting.

Think about it, the guys down the mine, if they had a laptop, FD or MMS, they could have written the movie whilst they were down there. Easy! :)

cheers

Dave

Calling Casting Directors

2006-05-23T08:05:00.000+10:00

So there is talk of a movie on the Beaconsfield Mine Accident, which is not unusual, I think it could be quite a good movie myself.

My question is, which Aussie actors would you cast as these two?

I am having a hard time coming up with anyone suitable.

So far I can only think of Dave O'Neil(comedian) for Brant Webb(on the right),

and either Aaron Jeffrey (actor), or William McInnes(actor) for Todd Russell.

Any other suggestions???

cheers

Dave

Is someone is moonlighting????

2006-05-19T14:13:00.000+10:00

Saw this over at Pink is the New Blog......

Britney Spear's new bodyguard. Pic of him below..

One more for good luck...that's him on the right.

My question is, is Bill Campbell moonlighting in disguise??

You be the judge...

Have a good weekend, hope the writing comes easy!
cheers
Dave

He looked familiar.

Beaconsfield

2006-05-10T13:34:00.000+10:00

Well it only took 1 day.

Below is a picture showing who really rescued the miners in Beaconsfield.

I take my hardhat off for this one.

Nothing more to say on this one.

cheers

Dave

One for the Road......

2006-05-09T16:17:00.000+10:00

Yum, Yum, Rum, Rum......here is a nice twist to a horror story :)
cheers
Dave

Secret ingredient a bit rum
From correspondents in Budapest05-05-2006
From: Reuters
http://www.news.com.au/story/print/0,10119,19033672,00.html

HUNGARIAN builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel, a police magazine website reported.

According to online magazine www.zsaru.hu, workers in Szeged in the south of Hungary tried to move the barrel after they had drained it, only to find it was surprisingly heavy and were shocked when the body of a naked man fell out.

The website said that the body of the man had been shipped back from Jamaica 20 years ago by his wife in the barrel of rum in order to avoid the cost and paperwork of an official return.

According to the website, workers said the rum in the 300-litre barrel had a "special taste" so they even decanted a few bottles of the liquor to take home.

The wife has since died and the man was buried in a proper grave.

They're Out!!!!!!!!

2006-05-09T08:14:00.000+10:00

They walked out this morning looking pretty bloody good. Great news for them and their families.

They should even be able to attend the funeral of the bloke, Larry Knight who was killed in the collapse.

Read more here

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19073978-2,00.html

This guys story would be interesting as well.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19074868-1702,00.html

cheers
Dave

Safe from the Jihad

2006-05-05T12:14:00.000+10:00

You can all relax now....breath a sigh of relief and all that.

George Bush has instituted a crack A-SuperNinja-Superfast-Anti-Jihad Rapid Response Team of professionals.

Below is one of the members.

Ladies, he is apparently taken, so you will just have to be disappointed.

Trained on PS2 Socom, Ghost Recon and a master at Battlefield 2.

Enjoy your security.

cheers

Dave

hmmmmmmmmmm

2006-05-05T08:11:00.000+10:00

So, Richard at Scriptweaver wants us to post pictures of people of the same sex we would sleep with. Craziest request so far, but funny nevertheless.

Here's mine.

Yes, it is a guy, closest I would go! :)
cheers
Dave

This gets me right where it hurts.....

2006-05-04T11:21:00.000+10:00

Poor buggers, don't know how they will be able to live with themselves.

I reckon John Rogers might have to take up a collection for these poor suffering actors.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19021626-23109,00.html

Film star salaries lose shine
From correspondents in Los Angeles04-05-2006
From: Reuters

POOR Jim Carrey. His movies have raked in nearly $US2 billion ($2.6 billion) at box offices, but now a leading entertainment magazine says the comedian's asking price of $US25 million a film has become "a bit of a gamble".In its issue out this week, Entertainment Weekly magazine rates top stars on whether they are worth the money.

Among those whose asking prices have become too high are Carrey, Australian actor Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell and Eddie Murphy, the magazine says.

It says that after years of ever-rising star salaries, the prices for top talent are now coming down because the cost of making movies is going up, among other issues.

"It's long overdue," former Twentieth Century Fox chairman Bill Mechanic told the magazine.
Entertainment Weekly quoted several studio executives as saying the rising cost of production has led many stars to take large parts of their fees from revenue and profit participation that may never materialise if films flop at box offices.

Carrey, star of hits such as Bruce Almighty, had been a big beneficiary of the 1990s' salary run-up during which he saw his pay cheque hit the $US25 million mark.

However, his recent big-budget movies such as Fun with Dick and Jane barely topped $US100 million in domestic ticket sales, leaving his star tarnished, the magazine says.
Carrey's not the only one. Kidman is considered a risky bet after the box office failure of Bewitched and The Stepford Wives among other recent films.

Will Ferrell's $US20 million also made the list of risky bets given recent box office disappointments and Eddie Murphy's $20 million was considered downright "too pricey."
But Tom Hanks' $US25 million was thought to be "worth every penny" because he remains "one of the most bankable brand names in the world."

Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal, at $US5 million to $US7 million a picture, and Rachel McAdams, at $US3 million to $US4 million, were bargains.

OLAF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-05-04T08:09:00.000+10:00

OLAF GET YOUR PALE SWEDISH ARSE INTO GEAR AND SWITCH YOUR BLOG BACK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You aren't going to get us all cracked up on Olaf the Legend and then cut off our supply!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Vince DC for noticing this.

Someone in the UK track him down and force him back to the keyboard.......

My God........has Trixie kidnapped him and deleleted all record of his existence?

That is a truly evil character!

cheers
Dave

Aussie Humour

2006-05-03T13:59:00.000+10:00

These guys are trapped about a kilometre underground after an earthquake brought down sections of the mine. It was 5 days before they were found to be alive. It is going to take at least another 2 days to get them out. They are still there as I type this.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19007354-28793,00.html

Where's the humour?

One of the things one of them asked for was a newspaper, Saturday's paper to be exact.

Why?

He wanted to look for another job.........

Can't argue with that logic.

I wonder how long 'til someone buys the rights to the story off them(and they deserve it for surviving.....and I hope the family of the bloke who died gets some as well)

What music would you want on your ipod if you were entombed underground?

cheers
Dave

Anyone doing a medical show spec?

2006-04-28T09:26:00.000+10:00

I came across, what I thought was an interesting medical story, here in Oz. I am not sure if it would suit House, but you never know. I am not up on latest hot spec shows, so not sure if ER spec's are still being written. Could even suit Scrubs actually.

Shoot me an email if interested in reading the article. I wont post it here, otherwise there is a chance that more than one could use it, which would not be of assistance to anyone.

First email in gets a look. If that person does not want to use it, let me know, and I can pass it onto the next email, that is if I get more than one email. :)

Also, bit of parenting advice we learnt yesterday(My daughter never did this).

If your two year old ever walks into the kitchen, grabs a tea towel and walks out.

Follow him!

cheers
Dave

They actually found someone?

2006-04-26T13:29:00.000+10:00

I would have thought this would have been the same as asking whether you wanted to be the Social Director on the Titanic.

TONY Snow, a commentator and radio show host on the Fox News broadcasting network, has been selected to be the new official White House spokesman, Fox News reported today.Mr Snow would replace outgoing press secretary Scott McClellan, who announced his resignation last week as part of a shake-up of US President George W. Bush's top staff.

A career journalist and columnist, Mr Snow did a stint as speechwriter in the White House for Mr Bush's father President George H.W. Bush in 1991.

It's a great ship, don't worry about that huge iceberg sitting in the harbour, no-way we'll hit that.

Isn't that two different "CJ Craig's" he's gone through now?

Wonder if post-position counselling is included in the employment contract?

Where's Scooter when you need him?
cheers
Dave.

Kokoda.

2006-04-24T15:52:00.000+10:00

I managed to fit in Kokoda last night and I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I always have an uneasy feeling when saying that, in relation to a war movie that depicts the action realistically. I don’t take pleasure in the vivid image’s of young men and women being killed or maimed in combat, but I think it is important that people see what previous generations went through to ensure we have the freedoms we enjoy nowadays.

Nowadays, unfortunately, CNN shows these images in real-time.

Back to the movie.

The movie is timely, and this was planned, as tomorrow(25th April) is Anzac Day (Anzac: Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.). The day that Australia remembers the men and women who have fought and died for this country. I believe that the equivalent in the US is Memorial Day.

Is it similar to the breathtaking scope of Saving Private Ryan, where you criss-crossed miles of well known battlefields. No. Is it a good film, yes. Could it be a better film. Yes, however that applies to nearly every movie.

The main criticism of Kokoda I have read so far, is that it does not tell a large enough story, there is not much backstory to the main characters(therefore you don’t get to see their motivation), and that the Japanese are faceless(literally, I don’t recall actually seeing one face of the Japanese), therefore you cannot see the enemy as human.

Okay, fair criticism, but I believe it is also only true, depending on your point of view.

Not enough back story.
They were drafted and/or volunteered and ended up there as chocolate soldiers. That is covered in the VO at the start. Yes, of course it would have been nice to have more back story on each main character, but that would have led to more locations, more cost. Have I mentioned the budget they shot this on? $4.5 million. How much did SPR cost to make? $70 million. Did the director/writer want to put in more back story, possibly. Could he. I doubt it on that budget, when you consider all the action scenes and the number of bodies (I am not referring to dead bodies either, just the actual number of actors) in the film.

Motivation.
Drafted? Bad luck, no motivation, but it happened, that was the reality. Volunteered? Australia was definitely perceived as being under threat of invasion, and this was addressed during the movie. Yes, you could go on and on about each individual and give that as well, but, in most cases, every person who fights in a war does not particularly want to be there, they just are, and they deal with it, and that is what this movie shows, how they dealt with absolutely horrendous terrain, and an equally horrendous enemy.

Not a big enough story.
Again, see budget. Also, guess what? The director/writer picked this particular story to tell. If you want to criticize, go make your own(talking to critics here) huge sweeping saga. Just better make sure you can pay the bills at the end.

Faceless Enemy
You could relate it to the propaganda at the time, how the government’s portrayed the Japanese and even German’s as vile monsters who had no regard for human life. Again, you can look at the budget and think, well if you don’t see their faces you can use these same ten actors in every scene.

The only two criticism’s I think are justified, is that I could see was that some of the exposition covered with the VO at the beginning was rehashed (not expanded) during some conversations early on in the movie. If anything, the director(he was one of the writers) could have used this time better. Also, once or twice the dialogue was sounding forced….and I must admit, it seemed more so the actual words used, rather than the actor, was the problem I was having with it.

I am probably coming across as justifying the movie, rather than showing my appreciation of it, however, the criticisms I try and explain away above, bugged me, as I believe they attack it in the wrong way. The critics all agree the movie is enjoyable, the acting well done, the story interesting, the action believable, etc. so why try and tear it down. It just gets my goat. If you look at it from a purely dollar point of view, for $4.5 million, it is nearly amazing that it is this good.

The cinematography, fantastic. Beautiful scenery(ironic as that was one of the most horrendous parts of fighting there), realistic, gritty and seemed very authentic. The movie was shot at the back of the Gold Coast, rather than PNG as the budget would not allow the logistics involved in shooting in the Kokoda area. It is that bad an area. However, the back of the Gold Coast is one of the Army’s main jungle training areas in Australia and the director visited Kokoda and believed that the GC was a fair match for the Kokoda area in terms of beauty.

I thought the actors did a great job, both with the dialogue and the action sequences. The lead actor Jack Finsterer fitted his role. and should be popular with the ladies. Aussies will recognise some familiar faces in there, but all give a good account of themselves as actors.

Is it as good as Gallipoli? I don’t think it is quite there, but more so because it is different. Kokoda is telling a different, smaller story overall, and the director is mainly trying to give the audience some idea of what a hellhole it was to fight in over there.

Definitely worth seeing at the cinema though.

I give it 3.5 out of 5, and for any of the people who fought over there, they get 11 out of 5.

Tough buggers, my hat goes off to them.

Cheers
Dave.

I'm a SNAG......

2006-04-20T14:09:00.000+10:00

You can see by the following email conversation I'm a SNAG.

Me: So Kokoda (see below) is on this weekend, when are we going?

Ex-Army Friend(top bloke): possibly...will let you know...in perth (edit for info: couple thousand clicks away) now, and have a big weekend ahead...frankly, im tired just thinking about it...

Me: It's Kokoda...suck it up

Ex-Army Friend(still a top bloke): you know what....good point.....I'll clear it with the Adjutant, but yes, i'm in.

Kokoda is opening today, and I have high hopes for it. Shot on a $4.5million dollar budget, it looks great. Waiting to see what the story is like, but it is based on an actual event. These guys were known as chocolate soldiers, the regulars expected them to melt in the heat of battle.

Kokoda is a trail in Papua New Guinea that the allies battled the Japanese along. The story at the time was that the Japanese were going to fight to Port Moresby the capital and then use that as a staging post to invade Australia. Based on new information, this may not be true, but at the time, these guys believed they were fighting off a possible invasion of Australia.

Many claim it was the worst conditions for fighting in WWII. I cannot confirm that as I was obviously not there, and for me any place is a horrible place for a war. However, from what I have seen of the conditions they fought in, if it wasn't the worst, it had to have been in the top 5 suckiest places to fight. Steep hillsides, muddy, tropical, disease, etc. horrible conditions.

Here is a link to a map to show you how close Port Moresby is to Australia.

Will let you know what I think of it. It is a big change to the type of movies that have been made lately, as these have mainly been indie type productions that are more well, non-mainstream, drug addicts, people infatuated with death, etc.

Here is the link www.kokodathemovie.com

If you liked Gallipoli or The Lighthorsemen, you might like this one as well.

cheers
Dave
PS just read the tagline on IMDB for the Lighthorsemen....."They did what they were told...They didn't know it was impossible" great movie about an amazing bunch of blokes, last great cavalry charge in history, and first under machine gun and artillery fire.

Edit:

Just found this article. Sums it up well.

http://entertainment.news.com.au/story/print/0,10119,18868516,00.html

Unlikely heroes who turned tide on Track
By Julian Lewis20-04-2006
From: The Daily Telegraph

FEAR of invasion by Japan was a reality for Australians in early 1942. Darwin had been bombed and the only remaining Australian garrison outside Australia, at Port Moresby, which had also been bombed, was under grave threat.Australian Major-General Basil Morris, who had recently assumed command of Papua and the territory of New Guinea, told war correspondent and novelist George Johnston: "I suppose the Japs will try to capture Port Moresby because it would give them a marvellous striking base for air blows against the Australian mainland".
He said Australians must be prepared to defend the city valiantly.

But by the end of 1941, most of the experienced soldiers of the all-volunteer Australian Imperial Force, or AIF, were in the Middle East or Malaya, leaving only 168,800 troops to defend Australia.

Of these, 132,000 were members of the Australian Military Forces, or AMF, a militia of generally older citizen soldiers and new conscripts seemingly to be stationed on the home front. The AIF men called the AMF "chockos" - chocolate soldiers who would melt in the sun.

When the Americans applied pressure to the Australian government to extend the operational area for the militia, the "chockos" became liable to serve in New Guinea. In early 1942, the only force available there to mount the first effective stand against the Japanese comprised a brigade of three inexperienced, ill-equipped and poorly-trained infantry battalions, a battalion of Papuan infantry, the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles (white expatriate workers and administrators), an artillery regiment and an anti-aircraft battery.

However, many of these militamen were to excel in the theatre; in August of that year, hardened veterans of the 7th Division, who had returned from the bloody fighting in the Middle East, combined with elements of the militia, the RAAF and a small number of US army engineers to inflict, at Milne Bay, the first defeat of the Japanese on land in WWII. The Japanese landing force was destroyed and the victory boosted morale for Allied servicemen in the Asia-Pacific theatre, and particularly for those Australians who were still fighting the rearguard action against the Japanese along the Kokoda Track.

Many militia men had faced a baptism of fire. Some of the troops sent to New Guinea had never fired a weapon in training and arrived without rifles, mess tins or mosquito nets in a place rife with malaria.

Another of the under-strength battalions had seen 100 or so men virtually press-ganged in December 1941, rounded up around Sydney and taken to the docks without time to farewell their families.

The third battalion's mainly older officers had less than 10 weeks with their young troops and within five weeks of their arrival dysentery had reduced their effective fighting strength by a third.

Fortunately, however, the Battle of the Coral Sea, in early May 1942, turned back a Japanese convoy intent on attacking Port Moresby. The Japanese later landed troops on the northeast coast of Papua, and took the Allies by surprise by landing near Gona in late July.

They easily forced back the outnumbered Papuan Infantry Battalion and the Australian 39th Battalion, which had been sent earlier over the near-impassable Owen Stanley Range to the Kokoda area to prevent the Japanese setting up an airfield or moving on Moresby.

After capturing Kokoda, which was temporarily re-occupied by the Australians before the Japanese forced them to withdraw to Isurava, the outnumbered Australians dug in and awaited reinforcements over the mountain track.
It had an annual rainfall of 250cm and became a quagmire as thousands of soldiers tramped along it.

The track included the "golden stairs", where engineers cut more than 2000 timber steps and men got what they called "laughing knees" before climbing to about the height of Mount Kosciuszko, then descending into a nightmare world of mud and jungle to face an unseen enemy.
Four months of fighting in these rugged mountains, hampered by poor supplies and reinforcements, would result in 625 Australians killed and more than a thousand wounded, with the heaviest losses sustained in the early days.

For every battle casualty, perhaps two or three times that number were hospitalised by illness.
For many, the only way to medical help was to walk out of the jungle or be carried by their native comrades.

The gratitude of the Australian soldier was expressed in a poem written on the track by Sapper H. Beros that concluded: "May the mothers of Australia when they offer up a prayer, mention those impromptu angels with their fuzzy wuzzy hair". The name Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels stuck. Only days after battalions of the AIF began to arrive in Port Moresby in August 1942, they, too, were sent up the Kokoda Track as desperately needed reinforcements.

They carried the soldier's standard load of more than 27kg and were left shivering in their khaki shirts and shorts until warmer camouflage "jungle green" uniforms were issued in September.
Most supplies dropped from the air landed in the wrong place or smashed on impact. The weary men at Isurava, already weakened by dysentery, hung on for weeks without proper food or shelter until they were forced back in late August, with as many as 172 Australian soldiers missing in a single day.

The 39th Battalion, which had numbered 460 weeks before, was now reduced to below 200, while the AIF battalions had shrunk from around 1100 to half that number.
Further severe fighting saw the outnumbered Australians pushed back within 50km of Port Moresby.

But the tide of battle turned as the Japanese, hungry, exhausted and suffering from the same supply problems as their enemy, retreated back over the mountains. Back in Australia, though, US General Douglas MacArthur, who commanded the Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific, believed the Australians outnumbered the Japanese. In fact, at one stage there were about 400 Australians facing a force of about 5000 Japanese.

At another stage MacArthur's headquarters ordered the Owen Stanley Range be prepared for demolition, causing the Australian commander in New Guinea to ask wryly if it was "this week's funny story". Senior Australian commanders in New Guinea were replaced on the verge of victory - unjustly, as history now shows.

Australia's most senior commander, General Thomas Blamey, in a speech to the surviving members of the 21st Brigade at Port Moresby, gave some men the impression he was accusing them of being beaten by inferior troops in inferior numbers. This nearly caused the parade to erupt. But others who heard the speech believed Blamey had been misunderstood.

By October, fresh Australian troops had advanced along the track, where the Japanese had begun to retreat.

Despite further heavy losses, the first Australians entered Kokoda in early November, with the Australians beginning to attack the Buna-Gona area on the coast towards the end of November.

Blimps are Cool, Blimps are Gone?????????

2006-04-18T11:56:00.000+10:00

Stu, what happened? Where'd you go? Did the Scotch Monster get you?
Don't go, stay and rant. I enjoy your rants. They make sense to my muddled mind.
cheers
Dave

Further to Bill controlling Disney

2006-04-17T02:14:00.000+10:00

Just found this bit of info that follows on from the story by Disney the other day. I imagine if this is how the foreign model might work in Oz, Canada and the UK might be similar.

Except for cricket. The Pom's probably wouldn't want that shown this way. They wouldn't want their thrashings made so easily available to OS audiences :)

cheers

Dave.

Seven to trial hit TV shows over net
By John Lehmann17-04-2006
From: The Australian

KERRY Stokes's Seven Network is putting aside fears that the rise of internet television services will fracture its audiences by drawing up plans to launch its own shows in cyberspace.Executives at Seven are preparing to make hit shows such as Dancing With The Stars and All Saints available to be downloaded over a broadband internet connection for free.

Seven is also eager to strike a deal with US media giant Walt Disney, with which the network has an output agreement, to enable US hits such as Desperate Housewives and Lost to be able to be downloaded through Seven's joint-venture online portal, Yahoo!7.

Under one model being considered, all of the shows would be embedded with advertising and available online soon after each episode had been broadcast on Seven. One source said trials were likely within a year or earlier if broadband speeds quickened.

Disney's ABC Network announced last week a two-month trial through which episodes of Desperate Housewives, Lost, Commander in Chief and Alias would be able to be downloaded in the US for free.

Only people with an American ISP will be able to download the shows, however, to protect the value of international output deals with broadcasters such as Seven, which screen episodes weeks after their debut in the US.

Yahoo!7, set up in January as a competitor to James Packer's ninemsn joint venture, has been increasingly building up video options available for download.
In recent weeks, Seven News video, Sunrise segments, preview reels of upcoming episodes of Desperate Housewives and Lost and behind-the-scenes segments from Dancing With The Stars have been made available.

It plans to add more video content to its site, including old footage from TV programs such as The Great Outdoors.

Yahoo!7 says it distributed 2.3 million video streams in February and 2.7 million in March.
Yahoo!7 interim chief executive Rohan Lund has declined to comment on the possibility of entire shows being available.

But he said this month that he believed video online complemented rather than threatened free-to-air by allowing viewers to watch shows at a time of their own choosing.

"Rich media (such as video streaming) is the new battleground on the internet," said Mr Lund, who is also Seven's digital media and strategic investments director.

Seven executives believe the only "speed hump" to putting shows online is the strength of Australia's broadband network.

Broadband speeds of about two megabits a second are needed to allow movies and TV shows to be downloaded quickly, but Telstra reportedly caps the speed of its digital subscriber line network at about 1.5 megabits.

But hopes are rising that negotiations between Telstra and the Federal Government will be completed soon to finally enable the building of a $3 billion high-speed broadband network.
Australian network bosses will be closely watching the Disney experiment, particularly to gauge the reaction of the 10 advertisers taking part in the trial.

Mr Packer, executive chairman of Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd, has also been pushing for further integration between the company's Nine Network, its magazine stable and ninemsn.

Someone's listening to Bill :)

2006-04-11T10:26:00.000+10:00

They are listening Bill , now, can you just tell them to open it up to overseas as well?

cheers

Dave.

Disney shows free on web
By Michele Gershberg And Kenneth Li11-04-2006
From: Reuters

WALT Disney Co's ABC television network will offer some of its most popular shows, such as Desperate Housewives and Lost, for free on the web in a service supported by advertising, the company said today.US media companies have been experimenting with ways to deliver programs through new technologies while maintaining revenue as viewership for prime-time television schedules slowly erodes.

But ABC's venture, which starts as a two-month trial in May, goes a step further, potentially bypassing cable operators by bringing top shows straight to the consumer, analysts said.
"Going direct over a broadband (internet) connection is a very smart business and I think you'll see other broadcasters follow suit," said Rich Greenfield, analyst at Pali Research.
"This just continues to bolster our view that you should be investing in content and programming over pure distribution" like cable operators, he said.

ABC already sells digital downloads of its highest-rated TV shows for the popular iPod music and video player. Other networks have also tested digital and video-on-demand formats for airing shows soon after they first appear on broadcast TV.

Rival CBS Corp last month carried streaming video of the March Madness NCAA college basketball playoff games on a subscription-free, ad-supported basis, with much success.
"It's really an opportunity for us to learn about a different model," Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC television group, said at an annual cable industry convention in Atlanta today. "It's more importantly recognising that none of us can live in a world of just one business model."

Top ABC shows such as Commander in Chief and Alias, along with Lost and Desperate Housewives, will be available on the web at ABC.com in May and June, starting the day after they are first broadcast, the network said.

They will only be available to users with a US internet address to protect foreign broadcasting rights.

Viewers will be able to pause and move between "chapters" in an episode, but not skip ads that are technically embedded.

Advertising revenue will support the trial run on ABC.com, with 10 advertisers, including AT&T Inc, Ford Motor Co, Procter & Gamble Co and Universal Pictures, already signed up. Some will insert video ads into the content, while others will sponsor shows, with the idea of tailoring commercials to the internet experience.

Half Way There

2006-04-10T09:19:00.000+10:00

My son is saying all the right words, wee and poo, so we thought we would start toilet training. With those skills he could also chair the UN Security Council, but one thing at a time.

Anyway, so this morning my wife calls me. He was playing with his sister, he said wee, and hopped on the potty. Very clever, we are halfway there.

Next time he might take his pants off.

cheers
Dave.

TV influencing torture concerns?

2006-04-06T11:03:00.000+10:00

We have all seen the discussions online about the methods the govt’s are using to torture suspected terrorists. Maybe fly them over to another country or use sanctioned torture methods at Gitmo, etc, etc.

There is a school of thought that, hey, they’re terrorists, who the f**k cares. While I can often understand, and sometimes even sympathize with that view (generally when you hear of suicide bombers killing dozens of innocents), IF they are definitely terrorists. I am definitely more along the lines of thinking that we shouldn’t stoop to their level. It would be a lot harder for the people actually charged with that job of getting information if they have seen kids blown up, friends killed, etc. I am sure their viewpoint would be very different to my nice little safe, suburban view, I fully acknowledge that.

However, I have been wondering lately if, (and this is a pretty long bow to draw, I know), some people are viewing the torture as acceptable because they watch 24, and are swayed by the scenes where Jack has tortured people. They see the stakes that Jack is playing for, and he makes that decision to cross the line, for the greater good.

Is this influencing some of the public to then morph this into accepting/approving governments performing these acts in real life without questioning it too much, because it is for the greater good?

I am in no way having a go at 24, its staff, writers, etc. It is a show that is there for entertainment, and anyone who lets it blur their judgment definitely needs a reality check, as with any show on TV.

It was just a thought that has been bubbling away their for a while and thought I would put it out there.

Cheers
Dave.

The What Golf Club

2006-04-04T17:01:00.000+10:00

I really can't remember if I have posted this here before, and can't find it in the old posts, but my job is selling property management (PMS is it's short form, yes, I must be a good salesman if I can sell PMS :) ) software to hotels and resorts. Yes, it is a terrible job when you have to go onsite and demo. Spent 5 days in Samoa, a year or so ago. Someone has to do it you know.

Anyway, came across this golf club while researching, and I reckon it has the best name ever, I just can't pronounce it. Nor could the Kiwi who works about 2 metres away from my desk, so I am pretty okay about it.

I ain't even typing that.....go here .

Can you imagine how much extra sheets of paper would have been required in the call sheets for LOTR if they had filmed there. The mind boggles.
cheers
Dave.

This is so Star Trekkie....

2006-04-04T09:06:00.000+10:00

Further to my post about cool gadgets for movies, I can't believe this hasn't turned up in one as yet. Would suit something like The Bourne Identity, where your guy/ girl has to be highly mobile, and perform lots of cool computer hacking type stuff from their tiny PDA's, Blackberry, etc.

Much cooler than plucking away with the little stylus you normally have.

http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/

It is not much bigger than a pack of gum. Scroll down to the bottom of page to see photo.

Very, very cool.

cheers
Dave.

PSP Movies

2006-03-31T13:11:00.000+10:00

I have never really been a fan of watching movies on a PSP, they are small and portable, but to me you would just use those portable DVD players instead. I don't own one, but have seen one played. Was not overly impressed when I saw it. I am all for alternate distribution models, but I never thought this one would take off.

Interesting article about them, here .

They are looking at making the PSP capable of connecting to your TV to play the movies, but again I ask, you (well nearly everyone does) have a DVD player already, what's the attraction.

Will it save the PSP UMD movies? Not sure.

cheers
Dave

You know you want one.

2006-03-30T09:24:00.000+10:00

Anyone writing an action thriller? You'll probably want to put one of these in.

I love the remote bit, so casual.

Can't remember where I found this link, but thanks to whichever site it was.
cheers
Dave.

Interesting

2006-03-29T15:47:00.000+10:00

This post outlines how Lost producers have formulated the strategy of engaging the audience outside of the actual show, and they even have a visual map, so to speak, of how that information is disseminated across the internet and other areas.

If you open up that map to it's larger size, you can see one very interesting area.

They have actually factored in Bittorrents. I am assuming if they have included it, they see it as a positive....interesting.

I wonder if they see it as a positive, that people who may have missed it on TV and are therefore interested enough to download, will hopefully become regular viewers, etc.

Just interesting.
cheers
Dave.
PS it was interesting that I could not find one more way to put the word interesting in this post.

Don't annoy the Koala.............

2006-03-29T15:32:00.000+10:00

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/cranky-koala-meaner-than-stolen-croc/2006/03/29/1143441187263.html

Ever.
cheers
Dave.

I don't do this often

2006-03-29T15:15:00.000+10:00

I rarely posts out and out jokes, but I had a good belly laugh over this one and thought I would share.

Alice and Frank are Bungee-jumping one day. Alice says to Frank, "You know, we could make a lot of money running our own Bungee-jumping business in Mexico." Frank thinks this is a great idea, so they pool their money and buy everything they need: a tower, an elastic cord, insurance, etc.

They travel to Mexico and begin to set up on the square. As they are constructing the tower, a crowd begins to assemble. Slowly, more and more people gather to watch them at work When they had finished, there was such a crowd, they thought it would be a good idea to give a demonstration.

So, Alice jumps. She bounces at the end of the cord, but when she comes back up, Frank notices that she has a few cuts and scratches. Unfortunately, Frank isn't able to catch her and she falls again, bounces, and comes back up again. This time, she is bruised and bleeding. Again, Frank misses her. Alice falls again and bounces back up.

This time, she comes back pretty messed up - she's got a couple of broken bones and is almost unconscious. Luckily, Frank finally catches her this time and says, "What happened? Was the cord too long?"

Barely able to speak, Alice gasps, "No, the Bungee cord was fine... it was the crowd.

What the hell is a piñata ?????!!!"

Screenwriter's Showcase

2006-03-29T08:41:00.000+10:00

Just in case you missed it, a few of the boys from the Scribosphere, (Warren, Bill and Phil) are going to be on panels at this event. I obviously wont be there, but if you can make it, check out this link for further information.

http://d2dvd.blogspot.com/2006/03/script-showcase-goes-mad-for-your-pulp.html

There is no truth to the rumour that there will be a sharpened, spinning-DVD duel to the death between the Mad Pulp Bastard and Sid "Silly" Ganis in the carpark. Mind you, if there is, can someone put $100 on Bill for me, I reckon he's a shoein! :) I'm good for it.

cheers
Dave
PS damn I've posted a bit over the last few days......time to up the meds again.

Aeon Flux Review....and a few more.

2006-03-28T11:34:00.000+10:00

Got to see Aeon Flux last night. It was certainly worth every cent we paid to see it :). We had been planning a movie and dinner night for a few weeks, so the double pass I won was just a bonus.

I didn’t feel the movie was that bad, my wife actually enjoyed it. She does enjoy movies where there is a kick-ass female hero, so that was in her favour. It is the type however, that you won’t miss anything by waiting for the DVD.

It just seemed to me, that they were working through the good old 3 act structure, ticking things off as they went.

***SPOILER ALERT****

That scene near the beginning were she and a bloke swap a metal pill by kissing and playing dance of the tongue fairies actually made me grimace a bit. It looked like two flesh coloured, naked Jabba the Huts wrestling on screen.

I have not read the source material so I went into it with an open mind. I enjoyed the story, some of the dialogue was okay, at best. I never figured out Frances McDormand's character though.

I found it funny that you call the chairman and saviour of your world....Trevor......gday Trevor, got anymore of that life saving anti-virus stuff hanging around. It just seemed slightly odd. But again, that could come from the source material, and there could be a good reason for it. I realise it may have meant to portray all those leaders as close buddies, and familiar with each other, but it didn’t quite work for me.

Not the worse movie I have seen lately, Kingdom of Heaven wins that one hands down, I made it through about 20minutes on the DVD before more important tasks could be had, like writing my own script.

I finally got around to seeing Wedding Crashers as well the other day as well.. It was a lot of fun and I can see why people enjoyed it. The only part that I didn’t enjoy, and this is more of a personal issue is that I detest people who imitate, in any form, war hero’s or wear false decorations. Those guys and girls who earn them do so in often horrific situations, and to use that method is deplorable. It had the effect of making me have to get over that issue to enjoy the characters.

One thing I realised in the movie is Bradley Cooper, who I first saw in Alias, and recently he has been in Kitchen Confidential, made a great antagonist. I can see him when he is a bit older filling the role of some sort of mad evil criminal very well. Great eyes for evil. In saying that he did a great job in Alias and was totally convincing as the lovable goofball friend to Sydney.

I mentioned this on Richards site, Scriptweaver, Rachel McAdam’s could play Jennifer Garner’s sister. Very similar mouths and dimples. Could be a successful movie if you could team those two up!

Pity about Kitchen Confidential being axed, but I can see why. I had read the book and was looking forward to it, but caught one episode here recently and it just didn’t capture what I felt was the spirit of the book, the grittiness and craziness that is a busy kitchen.

That’s it.
Cheers
Dave.

My writing area.

2006-03-28T09:20:00.000+10:00

Lee Goldberg asked people to post pictures of their writing areas, just got a digital camera so thought I would try it out. Apologies for poor lighting.

My Dad who is a retired builder helped me build, and install that bookcase. It's my favourite place in the house.

I like to call it My Wall of Knowledge. :) Yes, it may be the Wall of Crap, but it is cosy. Yes, Twister does get a workout sometimes. Love my joystick longtime :)

I now give you, opposite the Wall of Knowledge, the Couch of Inspiration, where many a good idea has come from. :)

BR>

The couch is low enough that my children can hit me in the face to wake me in the event I have too much inspiration. Yes, that is washing at the end. It doubles as the Couch of Anything. It has a busy life.

cheers
Dave.

Memed by a Westie

2006-03-28T08:21:00.000+10:00

How's that happen?

Four Jobs I’ve Had
Company Director/Sales Director
Front Office Manager
Banquets Manager
Business Development Manager

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over Again
Apollo 13
Something’s Gotta Give (I agree with Konrad on this one)
Grosse Point Blank
The Matrix (not the sequels)

Four Places I’ve Lived
Normanton, Queensland (find nearly the most remote place in Qld, then turn left for a few hundred k’s)
Cairns, Qld
Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Sydney, Australia (glad to leave it)

Four TV Shows I Love
MASH
Scrubs
West Wing
Frontline (Aussie Current Affairs comedy from mid-late 90’s, get it if you can)

Four Places I’ve Vacationed
Port Douglas
Canberra (luckily I was extremely young and therefore cannot recall much, it’s our capital)
London
Cairns

Four of My Favorite Dishes
Steak (MSA –Nolan’s, same steak as at the Breakfast Creek Hotel, follow this link to see where you can buy it, part of my research when looking at buying that restaurant http://www.nolan.com.au/where/ , don't you love research like this!)
Curry – virtually any
Atlantic Salmon
Cheese plate, creamy, blue, and smelly!

Four Blogs I Visit Every Day
Ken Levine
Bill Cunningham
John Rogers
Phil Morton

I am not providing links, because if you are reading this and don’t know them, and you want to write screenplays for film or TV, FIND these blogs NOW(all links on the right) and start reading yesterday!

There are many additional ones that I visit everyday as well, but these are the first four that popped into my head.

Four Places I’d Rather Be Right Now
Celebrating sale of first screenplay
Movies.
Restaurant with Jessica Alba/Angelina Jolie/Wife (so would my wife, so I ain’t in trouble)
At home writing, rather than here working.

There you go, nothing earth shattering, I don't prefer to eat babies to cheese plates or anything like that.

cheers

Dave.

First Drafts

2006-03-27T21:55:00.000+10:00

As we all know, first drafts of anything are shit, someone famous said that, may have been Hemmingway, may have been Haliburton talking about contracts to Iraq, not sure.

You may have seen the trouble that has been stirred up in the UK, Canada and the US about the latest tourism ad from Australia. Basically, the trouble is over the last line spoken by a beautiful girl in a bikini, "so, where the bloody hell are you". Why anyone is actually listening to her is beyond me, but I digress.

Well, if you want to see what the first draft looked like, click here. I think you'll agree the second draft was much better.

Edited to add: If you haven't found this already, go now and download it. Recording of time in the writers room for Battlestar Galactica.......big shout out thank you to Michael at http://redrighthand.net/ for this one. He comes up with some great finds.

cheers
Dave.

The Future?????????

2006-03-27T16:35:00.000+10:00

Read this article recently.

I have printed it below as well.

Bill over at DISC-ontent has, for as long as I have been reading him, been discussing new methods of delivery and what impact they will have. I agree with what he says. New ways will be found, and I have been saying to my friends and family for years, once most of the world has access to broadband, it is going to be huge, not just for movies and TV, but it will impact many areas of our lives. Blogs, email have already altered so many things. That time is coming very fast(not including the developing nations) and we are getting a taste of things to come.

One example is this idea of thinking global, act local.

When I was in the process of buying that restaurant, one idea I was going to put in place was the following. Setup a broadband hotspot....(wow, so original Dave),..just wait. The next phase was a computer with webcam setup somewhere quiet, and contact a similar restaurant/bar in the US or England. Have them setup computer and webcam. You can now tell your mate in that part of the world, go into that pub, and we'll have a drink together. Yes, video conferencing, but on a personal level, and accessible in a public place.

Now, take this one step further. Thousands of restaurants and bars throughout the world linked via say a website, touchscreen at the bar, with plasma, you click on the link of the bar you want and hey presto, maybe even conference with a few friends. Global drinks with friends, real time in comfort. yes, there would be background noise, so you might have it in quiet place in bar. Whatever, those little problems can be overcome, the technology and infrastructure are here now. Just needs someone to do it.

Think how popular the independant film festivals are nowadays. What happens when Yahoo, with their reach through the search engine, decides to run a film festival, hell for all I know they are already doing that, and which everyone with a computerm and broadband, can view AND vote for? I reckon there is one word to cover it ....HUGE.

Food for thought. buurp.

cheers

Dave.

story below if you don't want to click the link.

Terry Semel, the former movie studio chief who now leads Yahoo Inc., is back in show business. His Web portal has filmed a pilot for a reality series called "Wow House" that will be broadcast online within the next few months.

The program, which follows two families as they refurbish their homes with $10,000 in new electronics, is the most concrete example yet of Yahoo's Hollywood ambitions. It's just an early step, analysts said, in Yahoo's ultimate goal: creating television of the future.

Semel is betting that online video's popularity is about to take off. Internet users would flock to Yahoo to watch shows on their computers or other Internet connected devices, creating a potentially lucrative opportunity to sell advertising.

No longer would show times be dictated by television networks. With online video, Yahoo's millions of users could stream or download programs whenever they want from a range of channels.

"You can go to news, to finance to sports -- almost one-stop shopping for your entertainment needs," said Ira Kurgan, chief business officer for Yahoo's media group.

The idea isn't new. Music videos, Victoria's Secret fashion shows and the C-SPAN public affairs channel have been available online for years, including on Yahoo.

What's different now is the convenience. A proliferation of high-speed connections has made downloading or streaming video much faster, opening the door to a wider audience.
Semel will probably address Yahoo's video strategy in a speech Friday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Until now, he has spoken mostly in broad terms about his company's plans.

Yahoo, in Sunnyvale, is up against a host of others in its Web television dreams. Rival Internet companies are all starting online video initiatives.

Noticeably distant in the competition is Google Inc., in Mountain View. Although a juggernaut in search, the company was late to online video and started offering streaming only six months ago.
"Wow House," Yahoo's new show, will be broadcast in an area for technology coverage that the company is carving out on its Web site. Families participating in the show compete to outfit their homes with the latest electronics, such as theater systems, high-definition televisions and stereos. The family that wins, as voted by viewers, will keep the merchandise.

The pilot cost around $100,000 to produce, far less than the millions it usually costs for a scripted, star-studded show such as "Desperate Housewives." Revenue will come from advertising and, potentially, companies paying to place their products on the show.

Video is also a component of other Yahoo initiatives, including a war correspondent, an adventure writer, a weekly NFL football wrap-up show and exclusive rock music performances.
Kurgan said more original programming is coming. Most, he said, will be in short form, in bites of only a few minutes, which makes them quick to download and more digestible for people who are multi-tasking.

Don't expect Yahoo to morph into another major Hollywood studio that creates 60-minute dramas, at least for now. And forget about big budgets.

"The audience isn't expecting the helicopter shot and a mass of special effects," Kurgan said. "It's an opportunity for good writers to show what they can do."
Television, cable companies and small production companies are expected to contribute some shows in partnerships with Yahoo. Videos created by users will round out the selection.
For years, Internet industry executives have predicted the coming of Web television. But the reality never lived up to the hype.

To get to this point, Yahoo has made some notable stumbles, including the $5.7 billion acquisition of Broadcast.com, a video streaming service that failed to catch on. FinanceVision, a business news program hatched during the dot-com boom, was canceled.
More recently, in 2003, Yahoo started a subscription-only streaming video service called Yahoo Platinum. It was shuttered a few months later.

At the time, relatively few Internet users had broadband connections, a situation that has been reversed, with high-speed connections in nearly 60 percent of households. Quality shows were also in short supply because entertainment companies were unwilling to make them available.
Yahoo executives admit to being too early. Meanwhile, they have continued to focus on entertainment (albeit in a more modest way), a strategy that may bode well in this latest renaissance in online video, according to analysts.

Simply streaming video online isn't enough, analysts said. Chat, sharing and interactive advertising need to be incorporated into the picture to make the experience more compelling than simply watching traditional television.

"We have all been waiting for someone to figure out how to do video online," said Andrei Jezierski, an analyst with i2 Partners, a research firm specializing in the Internet and media industries, said. "People say, 'It's going to be like an interactive video game.'

"But when you ask to see the experience, you can't," he said. "These guys at Yahoo seem as able as anyone to crack the problem."

Internet executives are newly excited about online video partly because of the potential for advertising. Spending on video ads is expected to nearly triple to $640 million in 2007, according to eMarketer, a research firm.

The business could get bigger if it becomes common for televisions to be connected to the Internet, as many analysts predict. If that happens, online ads and commercials could become one and the same.

Semel's hiring nearly five years ago foreshadowed Yahoo's embrace of Hollywood. One of his contributions has been to fill Yahoo's ranks with other Hollywood veterans, most notably Lloyd Braun, a former head of ABC television.

Braun, who engineered the blockbuster television series "Lost," among others, oversees Yahoo's sprawling media group, which is based in Santa Monica, to be near the major studios. His team has landed some notable deals lately.

In December, Yahoo broadcast shock jock Howard Stern celebrating his departure from FM radio to Sirius satellite radio. Viewers watched 4.4 million video streams on the day of the event, 214,000 of them at one time, a record for live Webcasts on the site, according to Yahoo.
Last week, Yahoo scored another coup by joining with CBS to stream some reruns of the network's prime-time comedies, "Two and a Half Men," staring Charlie Sheen, and "How I Met Your Mother." The programs, shown without commercials, will be available in Yahoo's television area until Monday afternoon.

"We are going to put our content in every form on every device," said Larry Kramer, who leads CBS' online arm. "We're testing them all."

Television network executives are torn about making shows available to the likes of Yahoo. Are the portals friends, enemies or something in between?

Network executives would prefer to have users go to their own Web sites, where they can offer more bells and whistles like games and splashy graphics and don't have to share advertising revenue. But Yahoo's has far more traffic.

"That's the dilemma we have with the portals," Kramer said. "I want a younger and bigger audience, but I don't have an instant messenger or e-mail to build as much of an audience on my own Web sites."

So far, the networks have been cautious. Until recently, most avoided putting entire shows online because of piracy, complex ownership rights and a fear of cannibalizing television viewers.
For them, online revenues today are minuscule compared with those of television. Plus, putting shows on the Web could hurt future syndication deals.

An obvious way to make money is online pay-per-view, which has gained some traction through the new iTunes video downloading service by Apple Computer Inc. It now sells some ABC and NBC hits for $1.99 an episode. But the business is still in its infancy.

Television has been more comfortable going halfway with Yahoo. The portal has struck deals to host the official Web sites for "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Apprentice" reality show, where visitors can get video outtakes and short clips -- not entire shows -- plus games and blogs.

Kramer says that it will be a long time before television goes full throttle on the Web. But even then, he doubts hat his company will put all of its shows online.

For now, Robert Hayes, senior vice president of new media for Showtime Networks Inc., the cable channel, doesn't consider Yahoo to be a rival along the lines of traditional television networks. Indeed, he made a landmark deal to stream the pilot episode of the now canceled comedy series "Fat Actress," staring Kirstie Alley, on Yahoo for five days.

Viewers could also watch the show online simultaneously with its television broadcast premiere.
But he's unsure about Yahoo's threat over the long run.

The evolution of online television has been extremely fast, he said, even just during the last 90 days.

"Right now, we don't see Yahoo as a rival, Hayes said. "In the future, that may change."
Source: Yahoo, Chronicle Research

The Matrix

2006-03-27T14:32:00.000+10:00

A lot has been shooting around lately about the Matrix and the sequels, whether they be good, bad, terrible etc. Not going to go into that, but it brought it into the forefront of my mind(a very empty space normally) when I was reading a post on Phil's blog about structure, and Maryann asked a very pertinent question regarding spirtual reality.

I was thinking about this, and related it to the Matrix as it has a number of "rules" that you must accept to enjoy this movie, and I realised something (you guys and girls must have realised this as well, but I am just catching up, so bear with me) I don't know if it was intentional, but when the movie was establishing the rules, ie Trinity's scene at the beginning was one part of this, and then the training section was another, I just realised that not only did these scenes establish the groundwork for us to believe in this set of rules, (well for now I will say my, don't want to drag all you guys and girls into it unless it also applies) but my sense of anticipation was also heightened, because i am watching all of this and thinking, if these guys can accomplish these feats, with the standard set of rules, and Neo is the chosen one, the super-special one, what the hell can he do? Hell I NEED to see this! That was what really hooked me, I can see it clearer now, even though I saw it a long time ago.

So with the boring rule setting, exposition, whatever you want to call it, they turned that into a way of increasing the anticipation. Nicely done.

That's all.

cheers

Dave.

PS Try the veal.

Woooohoooooooo

2006-03-22T13:17:00.000+10:00

My wife just called, I won a double pass to Aeon Flux.

That's a good thing right?
cheers
Dave

First there was Numbers...........

2006-03-20T17:14:00.000+10:00

the TV show, or you could do a thriller movie, she'd make an excellent witness on the run! :)
cheers
Dave.

Woman declared a 'human calendar'
20-03-2006
From: The Daily Telegraph

SCIENTISTS have been left astounded by a housewife dubbed the "human calendar" because of her remarkable ability to remember absolutely every detail of her life from the past 25 years.The woman has such a powerful memory that given any date since 1980 she can instantly remember whom she met, what she did - and even the weather and what she ate for dinner.
Scientists have never encountered anyone with a similar ability before, and have had to devise a name for her condition: "hyperthymesia".

Yesterday, the 40-year-old American woman, who asked to be identified only as AJ, told Britain's The Mail on Sunday: "Let's say someone asks me about March 1, 1981. All they have to say is the date and then - boom - the day appears in my head just like that.

"No tricks, no counting backward or forward. It is as if I put a video of Sunday, March 1, 1981 in the VCR and then watched the day."

Her ability to recall events accurately and in such detail, without the use of any memory tricks, stunned Californian researchers.

Asked for the dates of Easter from 1980 to 2003, AJ produced a faultless list, and even wrote down what she did each Easter. Because she had kept a diary scientists were able to check her recollections.

Given the date October 3, 1987, AJ said: "That was a Saturday. Hung out at the apartment all weekend, wearing a sling - hurt my elbow." She was also able to tell researchers immediately the dates of world events, including a minor earthquake and the final episode of television show Dallas.

AJ first became aware of her skills in 1978, when she was 12.

It was not until 2000 that AJ, fed up with the "running movie" in her head, decided to find out why.

She wrote to James McGaugh, a Californian expert on memory, describing her case: "It is non-stop, uncontrollable and totally exhausting," she wrote. "I run my entire life through my head every day and it drives me crazy."

Although initially sceptical, Dr McGaugh recognised AJ's near-perfect powers of recall were unique. "She never looks at the sky or puts her hands to her forehead, as people often do when remembering something. It is very relaxed," he said.

Dr McGaugh's research has shown humans have vivid memories of emotional or traumatic events because the body releases stress hormones that enhance memory. This explains why people can recall where they were on occasions such as the 9/11 attacks. But it does not explain AJ's case.

Scientists believe she may have a disorder of the same part of the brain affected by autism, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia. They hope brain scans will provide answers.

For AJ, her talent is both a blessing and a curse. "I never forget anything, good or bad, so it is hard to move on - but the flip side is I am comforted by my memory," she said.

Wonder no more........

2006-03-17T09:58:00.000+10:00

...as to why new shows have it so tough downunder. This article relates to Channel 9 here in Oz. Think CBS, NBC as relative comparison(only in percentages, not actually size). ABC here is our Public Broadcaster, think PBS(I presume), CBC, BBC as comparison.

New Drama development budget down from $1million to $100K.

WTF are you going to get with $100K?

Enjoy, don't cry too much.

cheers
Dave.
PS also interesting about the battles fought inside the TV network.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18480212%255E7582,00.html

Why Sandra Levy has had enoughWhen the programmer traded the ABC for Nine, she got less than she bargained for, Errol Simper reports

March 16, 2006

SANDRA Levy was Sam Chisholm's trophy. The Nine Network's then boss didn't poach the ABC's former director of television because he desperately needed her.With no great love for the ABC or its managing director Russell Balding, Chisholm pinched Levy because he could and because he figured it would weaken a rival broadcaster.

Levy, who left her position as Nine's head of program development on March 10 - after just six months at Nine - to become a drama consultant for the network, was a disillusioned trophy almost from the beginning. Her move from the ABC didn't work and, sources say, never looked like working.

Her abrupt, unexpected change of workplace didn't succeed on any level. Chisholm had wooed Levy with pledges of vast, if unquantified, riches with which to make the kind of programs that would all but obliterate the Packer-controlled network's commercial rivals. The reality was that Nine was reluctant to grant Levy even a secretary or personal assistant.

Levy's prime interest has always been drama. Conveniently, Nine's head of drama, Posie Graeme-Evans, was swept from office within a few weeks of Levy joining. But the money Levy envisaged Nine was preparing to spend never materialised. As Chisholm cut costs, there always seemed to be a financial hitch. Money for creative purposes came to resemble a desert mirage. Levy is said to have concluded within six weeks at Nine that her practical, day-to-day role bore little relation to the job description painted for her by Chisholm. It seemed to be less about creativity and ideas than about fast ratings and a quick buck.

Levy didn't even feel needed. She is said to have rapidly discerned that the independent program producers who mattered had long ago forged channels through which to approach Nine with programming ideas, not least to its chief scheduler, Michael Healy, or Chisholm. Thus she could easily be by-passed, her bulging contact book all but useless.

There was also a culture clash. It's understood Levy had been at Nine only a few weeks before she was being asked what was coming up in the way of new, ratings-friendly program ideas. Levy, as a drama producer for the Southern Star group and as head of programming at the ABC, was used to developing projects over time and with some care. Levy liked to view pilots and to review and revise scripts. At the ABC she was wont to assess material, do a critique, then send producers back to the drawing board to get it how she wanted it. She found it difficult to sell this concept to executive colleagues at Nine.

Almost as a retaliation against such elitist principles, her development budget is said to have suddenly shrunk from a projected $1 million to $100,000. Nine simply wanted ratings-winning material and it wanted it yesterday.

The sharp-tongued, polarising Levy is also said to have had regrets at the personal level; in terms of her working environment. She found Nine just as political as the ABC had been.
The work environment was no small factor. Because Levy, 59, had told the then managing director of the ABC, Jonathan Shier, she'd resign as director of program development if she didn't become head of television in the wake of Gail Jarvis's abrupt resignation in June 2001. Shier promptly appointed Levy to what is effectively the corporation's No.2 position. But it was a rough road to travel. Levy, along with other executives - notably the then head of news and current affairs, Max Uechtritz - found Shier difficult to work with. He lacked a public broadcasting background, his decision-making was erratic and his fuse was short. The ABC became faction-ridden and internal political skills became as important as job competence.
Well-placed sources suggest Levy almost immediately experienced an uncomfortable, disconcerting feeling of deja vu at Chisholm's Nine. Having replaced David Gyngell in May, Chisholm had promptly informed several people the network had more individuals trying to run the place than the European Union had bureaucrats in Brussels. Out went senior people such as the news director, Uechtritz (who had preceded Levy in defecting to Nine), Glenn Pallister (the head of variety programming), Steve Wood (in charge of daytime television), Stuart Clark (director of lifestyle and reality programming), Paul Barry (a well-regarded 60 Minutes reporter), Graeme-Evans and numerous other Nine stalwarts with less public profiles. Some insiders claim Chisholm's decision-making process began to resemble that of Shier.
Employees spoken of in glowing terms on the Wednesday were unceremoniously fired on the Friday as Chisholm racked up what some estimate as about $20 million worth of redundancy payouts.

In short, Nine often had a similar atmosphere to that which Levy had experienced at the ABC under Shier and she enjoyed very little of it. She had made up her mind to go long before the more popular Eddie McGuire took over from Chisholm last month. Levy is said to have told McGuire she wanted to leave during their first meeting. McGuire is understood to have pressed her to reconsider. They compromised on a consultancy. They'll talk again.

The question some have been asking is whether Levy is due to eventually resurface at the ABC, this time as its managing director. And the job she has eyed from time to time became available in January when Balding announced he would leave later this month to become chief executive of the Sydney Airport Corporation. Though Levy may like the job, there are at least two solid reasons she won't get, and probably won't seek, the position.
Levy has been unavailable to Media this week but you can assume, with some certainty, she'd agree to be Balding's successor only on her terms. She's believed to have strong reservations about some recent ABC boardroom machinations. And the board is extremely likely to have strong reservations about the waspish Levy.

Whatever her perceived faults, Levy is credited with loyalty to the fundamental concept of independent public broadcasting. Strangely enough, that may not be seen as a strength just now at board level. There's a pervasive view that after five years of calm and stability under Balding, a strongly political, right-leaning board is in the mood for what some bluntly refer to as "a head-kicker". Levy is quite capable of kicking heads. But she'd be unlikely to kick them to order. This is a board that was extremely unlikely to have granted the accommodating, pragmatic, apolitical, competent Balding a second contract. The likelihood of it now endorsing an outspoken, single-minded former Balding executive as its managing director of choice is pretty well beyond the bounds of all reasonable credibility.

Suggesting future boards may want to consider the national broadcaster accepting advertising, Communications Minister Helen Coonan told yesterday's The Bulletin: "It won't be the same ABC it is today in a year's time. We are in for some very exciting changes."
It's unlikely that Levy would ditch the concept of commercial-free, independent public broadcasting. She probably won't even enter the starting-stalls.

Someone's pissed........

2006-03-14T15:23:00.000+10:00

If you want to learn what else you can use sparkplug's for go here...is funny.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/27499971.html

cheers
Dave.

Next Years Oscars

2006-03-13T16:34:00.000+10:00

Occured to me the other day whilst reading Ken Levine's blog, since there seems to be this idea that the Oscar's were not very compelling this year(some say every year), one way you could liven the whole show up, is to have Ken use his skills from baseball announcing, combined with his observational powers as shown in his Oscar wrap up's...and well,.... you would have an interesting night that no-one would be missing!

Sure, stars leaving and never returning would be the norm.....but what a hell of a way to go out! :)

You could add to the atmosphere by having Tom Cruise, cruising the carpet throwing packets of peanuts up into the crowds. He would probably attach scientology pamphlets, but hey, we all make sacrifices for the greater good. What about Arnie with one of those shirt shooter things, yelling I'll be back.....Ken in the background....that's what you think.....

cheers
Dave.

24, 23. 22, 21...........

2006-03-08T12:20:00.000+10:00

Unfortunately I have not had the time to be devoted to this show as much as I would like to be. Instead of missing some, I'll just grab it on DVD one day in the future. However, I did just read that CTU was having nerve gas injected into it.

Now, isn't this the same CTU that got bombed?

Is it just me, or should they move addresses? Every terrorist in town must know where they are by now.

Even the guys from the Cell, could find these guys. Big thankyou to Michael Patrick Sullivan at Red Right Hand for the link to this script. I was hoping it would pop up somewhere. Apparently, it did the rounds of Hollywood, keeping many a development exec laughing. It is funny, so if you want a laugh, grab a copy while you can!

Charlie and Dave at B Movie Writers are having some success, I only found their blog recently, and they're a funny read, so drop by there as well if you like. They put me onto the best blog, Waiterrant.net , if you have ever waited on tables, go read, is good, is funny, is sad, is funny, and enlightening. The guy studied to be a priest and ends up as a waiter in New York. A waiter who has studied theology writing a blog....fantastic combination! Thanks for that link you two! It brought back many memories of when I started out in hospitality. I might post some of the funnier ones here for a laugh. I'll get round to updating my blog list one of these days.

Unfortunately I did not get home in time for the Oscars the other night, as I was starting my first exercise class in quite a few years. Had to start sometime, and Oscars is on Monday nights here. My exercise....well tried gyms, but I get bored too easy at them. I like the idea of TV's there, but can they at least turn the sound on, current affairs shows are not improved by trying to read their lips, even though Naomi Robson has nice lips(and she likes rally cars, so she can't be too bad :) ) even though current affairs here in Oz like to concentrate on the little scams, etc. rather than going after big stories(except for some on ABC and Sunday, there is always an exception to the rule!)

So, what do I do instead of gym, well, I went back to my old karate school. I looked at some others but there are too many bad instructors and meat heads out there. I saw one class where this guy was teaching beginners quite dangerous choke holds, etc. They are beginners, who could not even kick or punch properly, and you don't really know if they are lunatics or not yet, but hey, lets teach 'em the old grand master from ancient china, monkey-crane-cockroach- death choke hold so they can go home and practice on the missus.

Just rubs me the wrong way. My old school is quite traditional, friendly and they hammer you with the basics. It has been 20 years......(oh god) since I trained seriously, and yet I was not a total embarrassment the other night. Okay so I nearly puked a couple of times, but that is my horrendous fitness level......damn office jobs! :) All in all, did okay, the basics are still there, and I still have the desire to keep going back for more. I can still walk and type so I am doing okay today.

Who should have won the Oscars? Well, everyone who got one. Seriously, every movie ever made has people who either love it, or hate it (except Gigli I believe, that one is universal, even friendly Aliens would destroy us if that was the first signal in outerspace that they received) so it has to be the same with the Oscars. It is great for those who were nominated, and even more so for the winners. Congratulations to them all.

Warren and Neal were fortunate enough to actually attend the Oscars,and provide wrapups on all the coke they did with various starlets, and whatnot at their blogs. I believe Neal was embarrassed as he turned up in the exact same outfit as David Straitharn, he may have left early due to this social fau pax.

There is also no truth in the rumour that they were seen prostrating themselves in front of Jessica Alba, and chanting please be my Dark Angel.

cheers
Dave

Stop licking the mirror

2006-03-04T08:52:00.000+10:00

is a phrase I never thought I would use in my real life.

Kids bring variety. :)

cheers
Dave

Not a bad job if you can get it........

2006-03-02T15:59:00.000+10:00

Nice lifestyle this guy has. I know the Howard Stern move to Sirius has been a fairly big discussion over in the US, so thought you might find this interesting.

cheers
Dave.

Radio Waves
By Sue JavesMarch 2, 2006

WHEN American Howard Stern announced he was switching to satellite radio service Sirius for a gobsmacking $US500 million ($675 million) over five years it was big news.
For an Australian comparison, think Neil Mitchell moving to the ABC and multiply by 100. And that doesn't come close.

So it's extraordinary to consider that much of the audio theatrics that American listeners heard in the build-up to Stern's dramatic debut on satellite radio last month were produced in a small recording studio in the Sydney suburb of Newport.

Dressed in baggy shorts, T-shirt and thongs, audio production whiz Jeff Thomas begins his day with a surf at the local beach before heading to his modest studio above a surf shop to produce and mix the sounds that punctuate Stern's performances 12,000 kilometres away in New York.
It's difficult for Australians to understand just how big Stern is in the US.
About 13 million people tuned in to his nationally syndicated show when it was on free-to-air radio.

He is both the highest-paid radio celebrity in the world and the most controversial. The so-called shock jock has often been in strife with the US Government broadcasting watchdog for his outlandish sexual and racist comments.

His huge American fan base has been eagerly anticipating his new satellite show, which is free of broadcasting restrictions.

Thomas was production manager at Triple M in the early 1990s before moving to London to help Richard Branston launch Virgin's London FM station.

From there he moved to Los Angeles as creative services director for KIIS FM, before returning to Australia in 2000. KIIS allowed him to bring his job back with him, which he did for the next five years, combining a Sydney beach lifestyle with a job in the world's biggest radio market.
His company also delivers an online sound design service to FM radio stations in the US, Europe, Africa and Australia.

"We provide the packaging or imaging for stations, which is basically all the audio that gets played around the commercials and songs," he explains. "It's that indefinable sound which can create the same sort of emotion you get watching a movie trailer."

Thomas has signed for one year to produce material for Stern's two channels on Sirius.
Leading up to the January launch, his audio creations featured breathless news anchors crossing to hysterical crowds chanting, "Howard, Howard". Each segment ended with an ominous voice announcing, "The revolution is coming".

Thomas drew inspiration from the opening scene in Blade Runner to create the final countdown. Normal programming was replaced by the sound of a throbbing heartbeat.

As the heartbeat grew stronger, it was interspersed with eerie sounds, a baby's cry, static, subliminal messages, archival clips from Stern's early life, building to a climax.
Extraordinary production for a mere radio program. But very Howard Stern.

Happy Birthday..

2006-03-02T09:02:00.000+10:00

to my son. He has reached the grand old age of two, and hasn't been in trouble with the police at all so far. Good parenting I reckon.

We are celebrating with milk shots and cake. We know how to party downunder.

His favourite gift so far is a close race between the Wiggles guitar and the Tigger that does cartwheels and sings. He has crash tackled Tigger once mid-cartwheel, so my bets on Tigger becoming firm favourite. Either that, or he'll be playing for the Bronco's or Qld Reds when he is older.

Cheerios and fairy bread for the party on the weekend..wooohooo! :)

cheers
Dave.

Seperated at birth.......?

2006-02-27T09:00:00.000+10:00

Katie........

Courtney.......

If they had a catfight it would look like they were wrestling a mirror.

Enjoy,
cheers
Dave.

Piracy

2006-02-24T22:21:00.000+10:00

We have all seen the ads, but I think there is something missing, they are not really working. They just don't seem to be getting through, so I thought of another angle they might want to try.....see what you think.
Scroll Down
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

BURN DVD'S
&

BURN IN HELL

I thought it was catchy, and would have a good chance of stopping the Christian Piracy conspiracy (those Stacey Orico DVD's would be smoking from all the burning).

cheers
Dave.
This has been another public service announcement.

Contract Example

2006-02-23T18:03:00.000+10:00

Got this from Industry Whore's comments on latest post. Great example of a contract you could use for sale of screenplay. I think most producers would see this as reasonable.

Example Contract

Don't say I don't try and help.
cheers
Dave.

Interesting side effect of Screenwriting….

2006-02-23T15:58:00.000+10:00

I have noticed a nice little side effect of screenwriting……my correspondence/report writing/proposal writing is improving. Now, you might think that any form of extra writing would assist in business writing, and learning how to write screenplays is no different, but I would disagree. Why?

In screenplays you try and give the reader the most information, with the minimum amount of words. Hopefully, those words are also interesting and make sense as well. This is exactly what you want to do in business writing, as you need to get your information across in the most efficient manner, as you don’t want to waste their time. Time is money, so if you can get your message across in one paragraph, as opposed to 2-3, fantastic. Job well done, and you save time as well.

Anyone else found this?

I may never sell a screenplay, I am extremely realistic about that, but as the title of my blog explains, I want to write, it is not titled “I want to write and sell screenplays”. :) I have found a writing medium that suits me, and I enjoy immensely, so I am very happy. I enjoy the process. If something comes of it, I would be ecstatic. I would love to write as a living, as I’m sure all of us in the Scribosphere would. Am I concerned about never selling one, no. Why, because I have a job that provides for my family, which is infinitely more important to me at this stage of my life, than following my muse, sleeping with my muse, or doing anything kinky with my muse. :) I take my responsibility as a father seriously, and if I was young and single (or even in a relationship, but no kids), it would be a totally different matter. I can’t ask my kids to do without, so I can go off chasing dreams. Others may, I can’t. By the way, no judgment on anyone else, that is just me. Also, don’t take this that I don’t sit here sometimes saying “this job sucks”. Do I have respect for people who are following their dreams, absolutely, more power to them, and I hope they make it, I seriously do. I wish them all the best.

Don’t take this lack of concern for not selling, as lack of motivation or drive to become a better writer and eventually sold. I am learning more, each time I sit down to write, which is more often than I may imply here on this blog. I have learnt so much in the last year or so reading all these blogs, for which I am always extremely grateful. My job does allow me a degree of security, and allows me to relax a bit when writing, and I think reduces some of the frustration you experience as a writer.

The start to this year has been hectic. My wife and I took another pass at buying that restaurant, came damn close, but the due diligence came up with some whoppers that would have put us in the position of gambling large amounts of money (against our house, and personally guaranteed) on dodgy equipment. I know how often kitchen equipment breaks down, so we pulled out. Also, the current owner was slow in producing figures and information we required, and I caught him out on a few porky pies as well.

I did not write about this at the time, as well, I was busy. :) Working long hours as normal, and forming companies, meeting with solicitors, accountants, doing business plans, creating menus, marketing plans, etc., etc. On top of that, I made sure I was still spending time with my kids, as they mean the world to me, this did however, result in quite a few late nights! In between all of this, I still managed to punch out about 60 pages of a script I am working on. Not sure when exactly, but they were written. Hey, I’m not saying it was any good, but I still managed to churn the pages, and as I said above, enjoyed it immensely, and learnt something with each page produced.

Another little project I did was to contact Dylan at the Canadian university about the short they want to produce, which Warren mentioned on his site, the Screenwriting Life, a couple of weeks ago. An idea that I quite liked had popped into my head a couple of weeks previously, so I sent off the idea, and luckily Dylan agreed, and wanted to see more, so I whipped up about 12 pages, couple of rewrites also, but alas, was not the chosen one. The force must be weak in me. :) Name of short, “Housewife wants Hitman, must have own gun”. I blame Richard at Scriptweaver for getting me thinking about hitmen :) It was fun to try, as even though I may not be ready (or ever) to be produced, it is getting me used to rejection early. I thought I had enough experience from my single days but apparently not. :) I sincerely hope that Dylan and his crew do well as he seems like a nice bloke all round.

I have been playing with another screenplay, my big action sci-fi one, Fourth Spectrum Warrior is the title I am going with, working title till a month or so ago was Desktop Soldier, but I like the latest incarnation more. The plot has really been done before (which one hasn’t) but I think I have some original ideas for it overall. I am sure when it is finished, I will be begging some of you to read it and provide notes in the future. Be gentle!

So, there you go, a bit of an update on what I have been doing. Oh, and I bought my first ever laptop (have used the company one up until now), I am still on the darkside, windows, not mac, so feel free to flame me J Nice little 15.4” widescreen, 1Gb Ram, x600 128mb ATI vid card, 80gb SATA HDD, and it has a little DVD remote that resides in the PCMCI slot for safekeeping….very cool and handy! Also has 5.1 surround. I am a very happy camper, lots more space on the desk now. Lee Goldberg was asking people to put up photos of their writing area. I am going to do that in the next few weeks, when I finally buy a digital camera and come into the 21st century.

I don’t write much about writing, as I learn more by doing, and asking questions where I can, and of course, reading as much as I can. However, there is one thing I can say from my experience in my role in Sales, and this relates to queries, both on the phone, and by letter, or email. Okay, so you get to the stage where you are going to send them out, don’t worry too much, seriously, the worst they can say is NO, they might be a bit condescending, they may even be slightly rude (not often from what I am reading) but that is it. They wont call you a talentless hack, (well not to your face probably)….so, again, don’t worry too much. I get “no” quite often in this role, so maybe I am used to it, but they definitely aren’t going to track you down and slaughter your first born, or key your car, so again, don’t worry or fret too much, just do it, and if it doesn’t work, re-evaluate, and move on, and try again. That’s about the only advice I can give you, that I feel slightly qualified to provide.

Have fun, may the writing gods be sitting on your shoulders, and back to more fun posts shortly, this post has been far too serious, and far too long for my liking.....brrrrrrrrrrrr.

Cheers
Dave.

PS weird thing is, I wrote this prior to Fun Joel’s latest post. FJ, I hope you can find something that allows you that bit of financial freedom or the security that you are looking for. You deserve it for what you give to the Scribosphere.

PPS Does anyone else have trouble with blogger not remembering you as signed in even though you tick the little box?? I know my cookie setting is okay, I just can’t figure it out.

Oh Crap......

2006-02-16T12:55:00.000+10:00

So, my little girl is growing up, she is 6 going on 27. When I make it home from work on time, we’ll read a book(mostly), sometimes play a game(it was teacher the other night, and boy is she tough, mind you I was the joker in the class, the dog and the horse next to me were real teachers pets). She is a girlie girl, Barbie, horses, pink, purple, my testosterone level drops, just walking into her room.

Anyway, last night, she wanted to play a computer game, no worries, she doesn’t play them all the time and she has a few of her own. So Dad’s told to sit on the sofa and watch her play Spirit, which she has not played in some time. She was a having a little trouble chasing the rabbit to get a carrot, so she can gallop faster. There’s always another carrot to get, isn’t there?

So, whilst she is wrestling the controls(Dad's help was not wanted) Dad is thinking about some stuff to do that night, whilst comfortably reclined on the sofa. Thoughts of sugarplums and beers dancing in my head.

Daughter: Oh craps…..

Dad: huh? Sweetie, did you learn that word at school?

Daughter: Which one?

Dad: Crap

Daughter: Yes…

Dad: Well sweetie we don’t use those words, they aren’t very nice.(I don’t swear in front of my children, which is hard sometimes being a father, having testicles which tend to get jumped on)

Daughter: Okay.

Did not want to go hard on her, as I had done something similar as a kid, when I had no idea of the meaning of the word. I said shit…..and soap does tend to taste like that.

A few minutes later.

Daughter: Oh craps…….

Dad: (more serious) Samara……what did I tell you?

Daughter: Sorry….

Dad: Don’t use it again, or the game is off straight away.

Daughter: Sorry Dad.

And she was good, and it was all I could do not to burst out laughing. She actually used the plural which made it funnier. She is a sweet girlie girl in her nightie carrying on like the proverbial fish wife.

Ahhh, what are the teenage years going to bring?

Cheers
Dave.

Someone is having a birthday.....

2006-02-10T17:24:00.000+10:00

Go here and wish him happy birthday. Don't know exact date (I tried threatening to send George Bush around to do a banjo solo, but, he had bolted to Perth to celebrate), it is around this time though.

Happy Birthday Xander!

cheers
Dave.

It seemed like a good idea at the time boss.........

2006-02-10T16:10:00.000+10:00

I love it…..I truly do……
Let me guess……all these assistants were really called Scooter…..
cheers
Dave.

Capitol Hill caught wiki-cheating
From news.com.au
February 10, 2006

US Senators' staffers have been caught editing their bosses' entries on the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia, according to an investigation by news website Wikinews.

Reporters from Wikinews collected a series of IP addresses which were the source of the edits, and with the help of people who emailed Senate offices and collected the IPs they received in replies, were able to match individul addresses to computers in a brace of Senator's offices. IP ( Internet Protocol) addresses are the unique numbers used to communicate between individual computers.

Wikinews investigation uncovered more than 1000 changes to the Senator's pages, with many edits fairly minor changes to Senator's pages.

Other changes were more significant: Democrat Senator Joe Biden's entry had details of a 1996 plagiarism scandal erased, and his intention to run for President in 2008 backdated to mid-2005.

Republican Senator Conrad Burns use of the word 'raghead' was erased from his entry.
Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein's staff removed an entry about her support for dropping trade sanctions against China, at a time when her husband was heavily investing in China.
An intern for Democrat Martin Meehan altered his profile to remove a promise he had once made to limit his term in office to four years. The senator is currently serving his 7th term in office.

Some edits were on the level of student pranks, with one senator's age changed to 180, and another's entry edited to read that he was voted "was voted the most annoying senator by his peers in Congress."

Wikipedia has temporarily blocked access to its pages from Capitol Hill IP addresses
More detailed analysis from bloggers on the BoingBoing site suggested that some of the culprits were naive enough to believe they could get away with their edits, considering that edits were traced through to an IP address identified as 'housegate10.house.gov', which blogger Andrew Gray described as "a proxy through which huge chunks of the House's traffic passes".

"My understanding is that Senator Meehan got identified because someone guessed it was his office - the edits to his page were pretty clear whitewashing - and they owned up when challenged; any other congressman would be much trickier to pick out", wrote Gray.

Other bloggers are less concerned about the issue, with Gleeful Gecko writing: "Of course politicians and celebrities are going to edit their entries, they have massive egos how could they be expected to reisist?

Interesting

2006-02-10T12:49:00.000+10:00

Just read where Judi Dench was refused an appearance on Today, Good Morning America and one other show, because she did not fit their demographics. Very sad. Harvey Weinstein was quoted in the article, so I don't think he would have much cause to annoy these shows unnecessarily, but could be wrong.

The next one I read was Francis Ford Coppola comparing making good movies to making a fine wine. He said with fine wine you start with the grapes, for movies, you start with the work you do with the actors. Call me crazy, but I would have thought the script was the foundation. :) What do I know? Does that mean the script is the manure maybe? :)

cheers
Dave.

Just Ethan

2006-02-10T09:09:00.000+10:00

Will this film be the greatest thing since that masterpiece "Just Jack" on Will & Grace? Only time will tell. Bet Uma is cringing, and happy :) There is no bias here either, my son is called Ethan.

Clever kid, figured out at 12 months old, how to annoy the hell out of his 5 year old sister, and send her running and crying to her room. Proud of you son! :) Banjo's can twang now.

Is it just me or is Uma getting better looking with age? Hers, not mine, yes, my eyesight has deteriorated in the last few years but not that bad, back in your box. Maybe it is motherhood, don't know, just did not see what everyone raved about when she was younger.

Some funny news here in Oz, Eddie McGuire has been announced as head of Channel 9. Think equivalent of NBC, CBS, etc, network. Big. Kerry Packer, who just passed away, owned it, you may have heard of him, runs in same circles as our mate Murdoch. Why is that funny you ask? Well over here he hosts Who Wants to be a Millionaire. So, it is nearly the same as Regis being put in charge.

The lunatics are now running the asylum.

cheers
Dave.

The Greatest Love Story of All continues....

2006-02-10T07:58:00.000+10:00

Be still my beating heart.

Maybe these girls can offer their opinion on this recent turn of events.

cheers
Dave.

Ken gets a makeover, hopes to win back Barbie
From: Reuters
From correspondents in New YorkFebruary 10, 2006

Ken and Barbie ... together again?

HE'S been to the gym, looks buff and stylish, and now Barbie's boy toy Ken wants to win back the doll he split from two years ago.After a two-year separation, Mattel said that Barbie's long-time suitor wants to rekindle his decades-long romance with his plastic paramour.

Mattel is hoping Ken's return to retail stores can also revitalise the company's overall fortunes. In January, the company blamed sagging Barbie sales for sagging profits.

"Ken has revamped his life - mind, body and soul," Hollywood stylist and Mattel consultant Phillip Bloch said in a statement. "Everyone knows how difficult it is to change, especially when you've lived your life a certain way for more than four decades."

Mattel said in February 2004 that Barbie and Ken had split after 43 years because they wanted to spend some time apart.

Ken, who appears to have spent time in the gym and at the stylist, returns wearing a beach-wear ensemble complete with board shorts and white T-shirt.

For her part, Barbie publicist Lauren Dougherty said Barbie "appreciates the new look Ken is sporting. He really looks great. But we'll have to stay tuned to see whether these two will get back together."

At a press conference unveiling Ken, Mr Bloch said the company was going for a "worldly, European thing", and "definitely wanted to be looking hot".

Mattel's fourth-quarter results in January showed an 18 per cent decline in Barbie's US sales. The company said that in addition to "tweaking" the Barbie line this year, more dramatic changes would be made in 2007.

If you're dumb, good looking and drink too much, have I got the country for you!

2006-02-08T12:54:00.000+10:00

Yes, right here in Oz!

It is stories like these that swell my heart with national pride. It really boils down to the fact Aussie men totally agree with equality. If both drink enough, then both are too drunk to make any sort of rational decision. See equality.

cheers

Dave.

(going home to pour the wife a drink)

Minds don't matter to our boozy daters

By Jade Bilowol
February 08, 2006

AUSTRALIANS are among the world's booziest daters and the least likely to say intelligence turns them on, an international survey has found.

Eighty per cent of Australian men and 70 per cent of women admitted to drinking too much to try to impress potential partners, according to the annual Romance Report by publisher Harlequin.

The survey of 1500 men and women on the dating scene in 16 countries was released in the lead up to Valentine's Day.

It also found that Aussies, 100 of whom were included in the survey, were the least likely to nominate intelligence as their top turn-on. (which 100 did they select? I mean did they use the NRL or AFL teams or something??)

No Aussie men and only 10 per cent of their female counterparts thought intelligence was more important than physical appearance, a sense of humour and confidence.

Romance Report's Margaret Lawson said Australia emerged as the nation with the booziest daters, just ahead of Britain.

A sense of humour was more appealing to Australians than financial status - a trend reflected worldwide.

Who's a Happy Chappy?

2006-02-06T16:45:00.000+10:00

Highlight of weekend.....finding first two seasons of Scrubs on sale for $32.95 each (no-one up here had them, was going to mail-order them).....best part was when they got scanned and came up as $16.95 each.......I love hungover retail staff:)

Settling in for some Scrubbing good times.
cheers
Dave.

Freedom of Speech and all that.......

2006-02-06T16:12:00.000+10:00

Don't care......this is funny.......the others, whatever, but I liked this one. :)

A sense of humour is never a high priority for fanaticals is it?

Maybe we could find a way to put a sense of humour in the water supply, or maybe a little acceptance?

cheers
Dave.

Wow.....

2006-02-06T09:03:00.000+10:00

It just seems like yesterday, it was just a jumble of 26 letters...they grow up so quickly nowadays...

cheers
Dave.

English to welcome one-millionth word
The Sunday TimesFebruary 06, 2006

CHAMPIONS of the English language are about to mark a momentous point in its 1500-year history: the creation of its millionth word.The growing use of Chinglish (Chinese-English) and dozens of other ethnic hybrids has pushed the number of words in the language to 986,120, says Paul Payack, a Harvard-educated linguist monitoring its growth.

Chinglish terms include "drinktea", meaning closed, derived from the Mandarin Chinese for resting; and its opposite, "torunbusiness", meaning open, from the Mandarin word for operating.
While some are amusing, others are abrasive. Disabled people's toilets in Beijing are marked "deformedman" and in Hong Kong a "kweerboy" is a homosexual.

Mr Payack, who works for Global Language Monitor, a San Diego-based consultancy, said 20,000 new English words were registered on the company's databases last year - twice as many as a few years ago. About 20 were in Chinglish.

According to Mr Payack, the millionth word is likely to be formed by mid-year, confirming the domination of English in the global linguistic order.

French, which was the language of diplomacy in the 19th century but went into decline in the 20th, is said to contain just 100,000 words.

"Global English is no longer just dominated by either British English or American, but is running free and developing uniquely regional forms," said Mr Payack.

Chinglish and up to 60 cousins such as Spanglish, Japlish, and Hinglish (Hindi-English) owe their rise largely to the internet. Thanks to its influence, a language that evolved in Anglo-Saxon England now reaches billions of homes in the developing world, where it is transformed for local taste while remaining recognisably English.

Mr Payack's databases are compiled by computers searching sources such as newspapers, television programs and internet blogs.

He claims to have identified a "tipping point" in 1994, when the trickle of new English words became a flood. Mosaic, the first user-friendly web browser, was invented about the same time.
English has triumphed because it is open to change, Mr Payack said. French is less so: its purity is guarded by the Academie Francaise.

David Crystal, the author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, said the statistics spoke for themselves. "In the 1960s, 250 million people spoke English, but now it's closer to two billion, or one in three people in the world," Professor Crystal said.

"But there is debate about where it goes from here. Does it splinter into a loosely connected family of English languages, that become mutually incomprehensible again, like old Latin, or do we develop a standard global English that can be understood by all? We don't know what will happen."
From The Sunday Times

Only in Australia...wait damnit, that's supposed to be America....what the hell? We have moron's as well? Bugger!

2006-02-06T08:09:00.000+10:00

The post below explains it all. I cannot ad anything to it.

Out of the closet
From:
By Ben SharkeyFebruary 06, 2006

WANTING to dress up as a wardrobe to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe seemed like a reasonable request for one avid fan.After writing to Greater Union, Hoyts and the Dendy cinemas in January, asking for permission to sit in a theatre in his obstructive outfit, Milton Soskin did not receive a serious reply.

In his letter, the 25-year-old said he understood his 3mx4.5m costume might cause a problem for other viewers but he required a seat "in the middle, close to the front".

"Even though I will be sitting in your cinema dressed like a bedroom ornament, I promise not to draw any unwitting attention to myself," he wrote.

"I will not talk during the film ... my mobile phone will most definitely be turned off ... In short I will be the perfect cinema patron. It's just that I will be wearing a wardrobe."

Mr Soskin said yesterday: "I never heard back from Hoyts. The Dendy told me they weren't screening it but if I wanted to come out of the closet I could come and watch Brokeback Mountain."

When The Daily Telegraph contacted the Greater Union Megaplex in the Macquarie Centre, North Ryde, a spokesman said he could watch a screening yesterday dressed in his outfit made of plywood, gaffer tape and IKEA door handles free of charge.

But Mr Soskin had to go by himself.
"My friends said they wouldn't be in it. They were pretty emphatic," he said.
"I chose the wardrobe because ... when you first see it there is a real sense of wonder about what is on the other side."

Link below in case you want to actually see his costume. This proves there are people with too much time on their hands, and way too many drugs in this world.

http://entertainment.news.com.au/story/0,10221,18051486-7485,00.html

cheers
Dave.

Aussies VS Kiwis

2006-02-02T08:32:00.000+10:00

If you don't know, Aussies and Kiwis love to put shit on each other. It is sort of a national past-time, similar to US VS Canada but substitue Rugby for Ice Hockey.

Here is a good example of why we love to put crap on the Kiwis.....true story.

Guy I work with is Kiwi, great guy, really enjoy his company.

Yesterday he told me about when he was younger, he was at beach party in NZ, he was tired and went for a quick kip.

He woke up from a noise, and sat up, saw this glowing thing hurtling towards him.

It was a petrol can that was on fire. They had stoked up the fire with the petrol, the fire had raced back up the flow of petrol and the can had caught fire, so being Kiwi's they decided to play soccer with it.

Hence the glowing thing hurtling towards said Kiwi co-worker.

It hits him in face, and his face is on fire(quick cut: it ended up okay, he was not scarred for life luckily, skin grew back well in a few weeks).

What do you do when something is on fire?

You put it out.

How?

You could take off your shirt and smother it.
You could throw sand on it..
You could throw water on it, not great with petrol, but might be okay..

Or

You can stamp on it.

Unless it is a person's face, of course.

Of course.

Most people wouldn't, unless they are a Kiwi.

That's how they put it out. They stomped on his face. I love Kiwi's.

Mind you, if I ever need medical assistance over there, I hope to hell I am standing up and the person helping can't kick too high.

cheers
Dave.

Sherry oh Sherry am I to be a Viktim to?

2006-01-31T08:38:00.000+10:00

Warren at The Screenwriting Life has been having some fun, and did not invite us to do the same :)

I quietly put in my best effort logline and low and behold, they want more of this literary gold.

Title of Work: The Venus Trap

Synopsis: A young women ensnars her older gargantuan lover in her wiley,
unsuspecting, forcibly recaltricant, web of lies, deceits and more dammning
lies, before swalling up his life, family and possessions, before moving
onto the next viktim.

NYP-Bio: aspiring Australian screnwriter still working the old 40hors to pay
the bils.

From this obviously brilliant logline, they want more, see below, copy and pasted from the lovely Sherry's email. She can obviously spot brilliance.

Also, I must disagree with Warren on one point. I think my logline is much worse than his :)

cheers
Dave.

Thank you for your query to the Screenplay Literary Agency. Based on your
query form information we would like to see your work and learn a little bit
more about your goals and your work.

1) Would you please send us an electronic copy
of your screenplay for further evaluation?

Please email your manuscript to
manuscript@thescreenplayagency.com .
(We accept Final Draft, Movie Magic, Screenwiter, and pdf, doc, and
rtf)

2) Would you please answer these 2 questions
in the body of the SAME email? (Just copy and paste
the questions).

A. How long have you been writing, and
what are your goals as a writer?

B. Do you consider your writing 'ready-to-go',
or do you think it needs some polishing.

You may send either 30 or so pages, or the entire screenplay, whichever you
are more comfortable sending to us. Your screenplay is completely safe
within our company. We take care to properly manage all access and if we
don't end up working together, we delete all files.

Please DO NOT include any questions with your submission. If you have a
question, please send it to question@TheScreenplayAgency.com where the
proper people may address your question. Most of the questions you may have
are answered on the website and at the bottom of this email. Please see the
FAQs below.

Our preference for receiving your screenplay is via email.
================================================================
If the file size is greater than 5 megabytes you can mail it to us, but
please only send it once, either by email or snail mail (we prefer email).
Our mailing address is: The Screenplay Agency, 275 Madison Ave., 4th Floor,
New York, New York 10016. If you decide to mail your screenplay please be
sure to INCLUDE your email address (very clearly) so we may reply and
process your screenplay. Mailed screenplays may take up to 30 days to
reply/process. Emailed manuscripts are processed much more quickly.
We also just recently found a free service that will move large files. Take
a look at www.yousendit.com. We've used it successfully in the past. Just
use my email address.

We believe we are very different than other agencies.
==========================================================
We believe that we are unique in that we are willing to develop an author
and their talent. We like the metaphor of a business incubator as a
description of how we will take time to bring an author's work to the proper
quality level, even if it takes months to do so. We take pride in the fact
that we answer every email personally within 2-3 days.

Also, you may understand how a Literary Agency works, but many authors
don't, so please excuse me while I take a minute and let you know how the
process works. As your Literary Agent, our mission is to assist you in
finding a buyer for your work and to coach you along the way in various
options available to you. We don't edit your work, our mission is to sell
for you. As for compensation, get paid on success only, meaning we only get
paid if you get paid. Typically we will receive 10% of what you receive if
we are successful.

We do not charge fees, so our compensation is based on success only. Along
the way, we may suggest that you improve the quality of your work and or how
it is presented. Once your work is deemed 'presentable', then we'll start
shopping it to buyers. We never promise a sale, but we can tell you that we
have a model that works.

We look forward to receiving your materials.

Best regards,
Sherry Fine - V.P. Acquisitions

Frequently Asked Questions
=============================
Q) Do you return screenplays?
A) Sorry for the inconvenience however, WE DO NOT RETURN SCREENPLAYS due to
the volume of submissions we receive. Please do not send us anything that
you can't replace easily.

Q) Would you prefer me to email or mail my manuscript?
A) WE MUCH PREFER EMAILED MANUSCRIPTS.

Q) How should I attach my manuscript?
A) PLEASE DO NOT PASTE YOUR MANUSCRIPT INTO THE BODY OF THE EMAIL. Please
send it to us as an attachment, otherwise it hangs up the mail system. If
you can't create an attachment, please get a friend to help you do so.

Q) Is my screenplay safe with you?
A) Your materials are safe within our company. If you are uncomfortable
sending your entire manuscript, please only send 3-5 chapters. If we do not
end up working together we will destroy and delete any copies of your work
that we have.

Q) How long does this review take?
A) About 7-10 days. We're faster than most other agencies.

Q) Why is there no phone number? I want to talk to someone...
A) Quite frankly, we are deluged with submissions. It is our policy to
provide a contact number later in the process, assuming we would like to
proceed with you.

Q) Where are you located?
A) We maintain executive suites in Los Angeles and New York and we have
various relationship partners in Los Angeles where we meet with clients and
buyers. Other than that, we travel often and have the good fortune to live
in Florida and California depending on the time of year. Sometimes we think
that we live in airports.

Q) Tell me about your company.
A) We are bigger than a small agency and smaller than a large agency. We
have about 15 people total and as of 2nd quarter, 2005 we have over 60
active conversations ongoing with buyers and 3 option agreements in
negotiations. We market to the larger and medium sized publishers and
producers. None of the options have made it to production yet, because
we're on the newer side, but it should be a good year for our authors this
year!

Q) How do I know you are for real?
A) All we ask is that you judge us on the professionalism of our
interactions together. We will never ask you for money, so that's one way to
judge for yourself. Our commitment to you is that we believe that we should
get paid only if we sell your work. Your commitment to us is that you will
do what it takes to make sure your manuscript is the best it can be and that
it meets or exceeds industry quality standards.

Q) What are you looking for during your evaluation?
A) We mainly look for COMMERCIAL VIABILITY in the work coupled with good
solid writing skills. "Is it something that will sell?" is of paramount
importance to us. (We ARE NOT scrutinizing every word, spelling, and grammar
usage. There's plenty of time later for that.) We believe that great writers
are made, not born at least 99% of the time. But if a work doesn't have
commercial potential, then we want to let you know as quickly as possible.
Being willing to grow talent, we believe in the old adage, "luck is when
opportunity meets preparation and hard work".

Q) What if you find errors or problems with my screenplay? Should I spend
time revising now, or later?
A) We receive very few 'ready-to-go' screenplays. We believe we are unique
in that we are willing to work with our authors along the way. Most that we
receive need some level of polishing before we can submit them to buyers.
Some need very little polishing. Some need a lot. Over the years, we've
learned that it is worth our time and effort to do what it takes to develop
new talent. We've learned that incubating new talent makes good business
sense.

Q) My screenplay isn't finished....
A) As long as there is enough finished to determine your skills as a writer
we are willing to look at your work. As mentioned previously, we take a
long term view and we are willing to develop talent.

Q) Is this an automated email? Is there a real person out there?
A) Yes, and yes, and yes... We personally review each query form to
determine whether the story idea/synopsis sounds interesting. This tells us
which screenplays we would like to receive.

Then, yes, we do use form letter emails to provide these FAQs. Can you
imagine typing this time and time again? We pride ourselves on using
technology to be as efficient as possible. This allows us to work with
authors from anywhere in the world. By automating certain elements of our
communications we can spend more thoughtful time on your questions that are
specific to you and your situation.

Best regards,
Sherry Fine - VP of Acquisitions
We Grow Talent

PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM BLOCKERS. We do not click on whitelist links

I am disappointed in the US

2006-01-29T15:44:00.000+10:00

I mean the guy has now admitted on TV that he lied.....and I have not heard one word about Class Action suit against, him, Oprah, Random House.... :)

I mean .........CMON!! Where are all the whimpy lawyers in the US??? Asleep at the wheel?

Where's Erin Brokervich when you want her, chasing down some community that is having their health affected......she should be concentrating on the real issues!

cheers
Dave.
PS, can I claim 2% of the gross for the idea? :)

PPS forget fun rant if class action has been talked about and started, thus my faith in the US legal system will have been restored. But, can I still get my 2%?

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!! cough cough!!

2006-01-28T13:18:00.000+10:00

Been crook, feeling like crap, and flat out unfortunately.

Hope you are all well.

Paul Guyot the inkslinger....link on right, has decided to stop blogging, something along the lines he felt it was sort of spotlighting himself. I have the flu, so forgive any wrong interpretation.

It will be a pity, he was entertaining and interesting to read.

As a newbie, it was good to read what seasoned people have to say.

I always think that if I ever get to meet people like Paul, Lee Goldberg, Phil Morton, etc. and if I acted excited to meet them, they would probably say, stop being stupid, why waste time with us when you could be writing, but make sure you buy a drink before you leave to get back to writing.

They seem more concerned with writers getting it right, rather than all the crap associated with Hollywood, movies, TV shows, etc. which is always a good grounding.

Paul, if you ever want to step back into the spotlight, please feel free.

cheers
Dave.