The Week in Review
It’s been a busy week, and the next few days promise to be equally action-packed. So I thought I’d do a quick recap before two weeks go by without any real updates.
Boulder
I gave a lecture on screenwriting at the Boulder International Film Festival. It’s always weird going back to your home town, and even stranger going back as the resident expert in a field. The talk went well, with many good questions in the follow-up.
Family obligations kept me from seeing any movies at the festival, though my brother enjoyed Air Guitar Nation.
Obama
Barack Obama’s campaign visit to Los Angeles included a fundraiser at the Beverly Hilton. All of the articles about it somehow overlooked that I was there too, elbow-to-elbow with billionaires and movie stars. But that’s probably a good thing. After my trip to Boulder, it was nice to be reduced to my proper role: observer.
And from what I observed, Obama’s wife Michelle is the underestimated force here. Yes, Barack Obama is a terrific speaker, but Michelle is funnier. Together, they feel like they came from an alterate-universe Earth where hope prevails.
Dugg
My article about what I learned from World of Warcraft got linked on Digg, which predictably overwhelmed the poor servers and made the site run very slowly for a day or two.1 The graphs tell the story:
The fact that I was out of town was an added complication, particularly when I found I had linked to the wrong David Allen, who was upset to be getting false hits.
What did I learn from being Dugg? First, it’s important to have the right initiator. The first Digg-er put the article in the video category, which was clearly a mistake, but that led all future hits that way. Fortunately, frequent commenter Andreas Climent got it set right.
Second, the discussion on the Digg thread inevitably focuses back on itself, rather than the story being linked. One commenter posted a highly-edited summary of the article which completely missed the point, and no amount of correction on the part of other readers could get it back on track.
The Nines
Optimum Releasing bought the movie for the U.K., with other deals set to be announced soon. It’s this post-post-production phase that I hadn’t anticipated being so busy. This week, we’re working on French subtitles. Comment dit-ons “nervous breakdown”?
The Next Movie I’m Writing
The deal’s not done, but my earlier allusions to D.C. mythology (and alternate Earths) were project-specific. I hope to be able to say what it is soon. And yes, it’s cruel of me to leave it floating out there.
- It would have been a lot worse if I hadn’t installed a [plug-in](http://elliottback.com/wp/archives/2006/04/21/digg-defender-a-plugin-for-wordpress/) which automatically cached the page on Coral. ↩
Articles
February 22nd, 2007 at 11:33 am
Quite a week, can’t wait to hear more. BTW, isn’t it Barack, not Barak?
February 22nd, 2007 at 11:38 am
Hmmm….does the alternate earths comments mean you’re jumping on the Barrack Obama express? He’s one politico who doesn’t need a speach writer :-)
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Nervous Breakdown peut se dire en français “dépression nerveuse”
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Chris (#1):
You’re right — there’s a “c” in his name. Fixed.
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I’m sorry that your server took a hit from the Digg submission, I almost feel a bit bad, hehe. But hey, the Digg crowd really appreciated the post!
From what I’ve seen and heard of Obama he seems like a very smart and “down to earth” guy. Even though I don’t live in the US, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
The Flash could be a really interesting project so I hope things go well!
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Another Unamerican here crossing his fingers for Obama to be elected in 2008. You guys need someone normal in the lead, pronto.
I’ve noticed ths site was running slowly-er in the past few days, but I had no idea why. And I have no idea what Digg is, either. I’m not 1337 enough for those things. I still get lost in MS Word from time to time…
And it would really be reat if John wrote Flash. It would be great having a comic-book movie with a good script, for a change…
Peace out.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:35 pm
As the token conservative reader, while I vehemently disagree with Obama’s politics, I really like the guy. He seems honest.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:54 pm
“The deal’s not done, but my earlier allusions to D.C. mythology (and alternate Earths) were project-specific…”
I KNEW IT! My bet is WONDER WOMAN – which just lost a high profile A list writer AND is a female hero franchise ala CHARLIE’S ANGELS. Unless Dr. Reynolds introduced you to the FLASH peeps… Hmmmm.
February 22nd, 2007 at 11:27 pm
My guess is John’s working on “The Hobbit” for New Line ;)
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:58 am
Good luck with the subtitles. Almost all films that reach Iceland have subtitles….As the thousand year old language “icelandic” is currently spoken by me and my three buddies (http://www.populationworld.com/Iceland.php) the few films produced in Iceland will either become dubbed or given subtitles. As subtitles are done so late in the process of making a film invariably there will be no money left and thus I have seen many, many films that sadly loose a lot of juice in translation. It is essential to find a good, ney, great translator and one that has a sense of humour and actually likes the film he is working on.
I have seen jokes fall flat because of poor subtitles, I have seen punchlines and suspense sentances delivered hours before the actor on screen delivers them. I have seen lack of style and touch…..But I have also seen subtitles that actually make the movie funnier than it was originally. So let´s hope who ever comes near your film both likes it, is creative and very good at his job.
February 23rd, 2007 at 5:26 am
I’m really glad you’re site got submitted to digg. This was the first time I had seen it. You give a lot of great (and free) advice, and I really look forward to seeing “The Nines”.
February 23rd, 2007 at 8:02 am
Gary, I agree with you. I think the D.C. stands for “Middle Earth”. Unfortunately, I think this means my personal Hobbit script is doomed. Drat!
February 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 am
Wonder Woman? Puhleaze. I’m holding my breath for THE WATCHMEN. Just thinking about seeing that movie makes my head spin.
-M@
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Isn’t Google Analytics just the bee’s knees?
February 23rd, 2007 at 9:06 pm
“Watchmen” already has a script by David Hayter and Zach Snyder is attached to direct. So depending on how good 300 is, I’ll either be very excited or very worried about that one.
February 24th, 2007 at 10:14 am
hi john, your screenwriting workshop in boulder was excellent – thank you so much for taking the time to do it, and for standing in the lobby an extra 45 minutes to answer every last audience question! it was great to finally meet you.
hmm.. could it be… ‘justice league’?!?!
February 24th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Like many around the world I find American politics fairly interesting, especially now that my West Wing addiction will remain forever hungry. But being cynically British, I can’t help but think that a Democrat in the White House won’t make a huge difference to American foreign policy.
There is a lot more to US foreign policy than Iraq. Obama may be a very smart cookie but knowing where a particular third world country is doesn’t stop it getting screwed in a woefully one-sided trade agreement. (I know we’re at it too but you’ve been a lot bigger than us for a while now).
February 24th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
p.s. Please tell me I’m wrong.
February 24th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Obama certainly seems sharp. He got the better of his spat with Australia’s PM John Howard. And that’s no easy feat – Howard is as cunning as an outhouse rat and a very experienced politician. Can’t wait to see Obama in a debate.
February 25th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Thankfully Lee…you’re not wrong :-)
February 26th, 2007 at 8:05 am
Is it just me, or other than the obvious, does Barack Obama look more than a little like one John August?
February 26th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
On dit ” crise de nerfs” for “nervous breakdown”… Good luck with it!
February 28th, 2007 at 8:49 am
You know, with the announcement that Warner Bros. is planning to produce a Justice League movie (which is just lame reactionary thinking in the rise of Marvel Pictures) I think you would be better off working on a Marvel spec.
Write the Secret Wars script. It is hands downs the best crossover series in comics and as epic as Lord of the Rings. We’re talking Peter Jackson dollars (or whatever they use in New Zealand) here…
March 1st, 2007 at 11:58 pm
“Wait…what?!” say I, as I read the words “D.C. Universe” and “multiple earths” in this post and look about me at all the D.C. comics in my room. Now I’m just puzzled. But incredibly intrigued.
Does anyone get thrown into the sun in this one?
March 4th, 2007 at 6:47 am
Justice League is hopefully gonna include the best of everything. And if it’s what you’re doing, I think it will. Good luck!