Guy behind ‘BennyBob12’ and ‘TheFuzzy1’ adopts ‘ScribblyGurrl’ persona
Monthly Archives: March 2010
Studio exec stops reading Shane Black script because of too many wrylies
Also turned off by bolded sluglines
Sony executive Brent Albertson recently tossed out a Shane Black action spec after reading only seven pages.
“I was totally into the concept and execution, but it had way too many wrylies,” said Albertson. “How am I supposed to take this script seriously? The industry has adopted these guidelines for a reason.”
Despite the fact Sony has already committed $1 million to the script, Albertson claims he’ll do everything in his power to derail the project.
“That script is dead to me,” he said. “What I’m more excited about is this perfectly formatted spec by some vacuum salesman in Ohio about a killer ant infestation. Not a single typo in the whole thing.”
Black, one of Hollywood’s most respected action writers, understood the decision.
“I really should’ve cleaned that shit up,” he said. “I could get away with all those off-handed comments to the reader back in the 80s. Now that everybody and their sister has screenwriting software on their laptops, I need to rein it in.”
Filed under Industry News, Writers
THR Classic: Your awful spec script causes reader to quit business altogether
ICM script reader Josh Danali vowed to give his Hollywood dream at least four years to come to fruition. Then he read your awful spec screenplay about alien robots from the past, and he decided to quit the business after just six months.
“I knew I was going to move back to New Jersey by page 30,” he said of your screenplay, Robot Martians. “It was truly that bad.”
According to Danali, he suddenly realized that he didn’t want to be associated with an industry that even remotely entertained idiotic ideas like those found in your script.
“It wasn’t even the fact that the script was the worst piece of shit I’ve ever read,” he said. “I mean, it was. But the real worry was that I could actually see some agent or producer reading it and thinking ‘hey, this alien robot thing could work.’ That’s when I knew it was time to leave the biz.”
When asked whether you should continue writing, Danali suggested you may have a future in crafting direct mail copy for a marketing services firm.
** This THR Classic was first posted in October 2008 **
Filed under Industry News, Writers
Creative Screenwriting doesn’t feel like fulfilling your subscription today
‘We’ll send you one or two copies next year…maybe’
Filed under Industry News
Script Track – March 23, 2010
Littler League
A 30-year-old little person goes undercover as a Little League baseball player to catch a coach suspected of dealing drugs to minors.
Writer: Allan Jackson
Sacked
When a school president decrees that all student-athletes keep a 3.0 GPA to stay on the team, the football coach hires a former player to kill the new administrator. Taut thriller.
Writer: Leroy Tillman
Peanut Butter Jelly Time!
Based on the popular web video. Plot being kept under wraps.
Filed under Industry News, Script Track
THR Radio Report: Writer queries same script under new title for fifth time
Filed under Industry News, Radio
Agent immediately reads script after plucky writer emails to check on status of submission
‘It wasn’t annoying at all’ says ICM lit agent
Filed under Agent Talk, Industry News
Script Track – March 16, 2010
Yo-Yo Momma!
A smart-alecky inner city kid is forced to learn the cello, and it becomes his salvation. Very touching story.
Writer: Anthony Brown
Double-Fault
Romantic comedy about two tennis coaches who fall while mentoring rival players at Wimbledon.
Writer: Henry Allen & Teri Ostraguard
Stingin’ In The Rain
Animated tale of a killer bee that falls in love, set against the backdrop of South America’s rainy season.
Based on the 2002 National Geographic article.
Filed under Industry News, Script Track