Archive for the 'Projects' Category

e 2 Variant cover artwork
Since you released “The Variant” independently, how’d you get the nifty cover art?
e 24 Per-screen average
Indies have high per-screen averages because they’re on so few screens, not despite it.
e 9 Go on Blu-ray
My first movie, Go, will finally be coming out on Blu-ray on August 18th.
e 55 A hard time to be an indie
As a counterpoint to the utopian bliss of the Sundance Filmmakers Lab, I’ll direct your attention a speech given by James D. Stern] last week on the present and future of indie film.
e 1 NPR on Twitter and The Variant
NPR’s All Things Considered tonight has a piece by Alex Cohen about how artists use Twitter, including me with my short story The Variant.
e 13 Variant mid-month sales figures
Since the last update, sales for The Variant have been much stronger for the Kindle version than the downloadable version.
e 42 Greeks
This comes from Greeks, a comedy I never finished — and barely started, honestly. It’s set in ancient times, and would have retold several of the great myths in significantly less epic ways.
e 19 40 reviews in 24 hours
If we can get to 40 Amazon reviews of The Variant by noon (LA time) on Thursday, I’ll share a scene from my never-finished comedy Greeks, a collegiate buddy comedy set in mythological times.
e 17 Spelunking the Kindle market
How many books does Amazon sell on Kindle each day? Is there a classic long tail — and is it even worth being on it? Amazon is incredibly opaque with the details, even when you’re publishing on their system.
e 18 How much does a short story earn in a magazine?
I really had no idea what people were getting paid for short stories, so I asked Matt to dig up some numbers.
e 3 Welcome, NY Times readers
The NY Times has an article today about The Variant, the Kindle, and my Twitter followers.
e 15 A week of The Variant
My short story has been on the market for a week. As promised, here’s an update on how the 99-cent experiment has gone.
e 11 Mapping The Variant
Partially-redacted sales data for The Variant is available for curious data-miners.
e 43 Take away the questions
You shouldn’t just answer questions. Get rid of them before they’re asked.
e 32 Writing on demand
Screenwriting isn’t a career that only happens in hermit-mode.
e 35 What does “execution dependent” mean?
What makes one high-concept idea more execution-dependent than another?
e 7 Crowdediting The Nines
Norman Hollyn, head of the editing track at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, has a blog post up about “crowd-editing,” the post-production equivalent of crowdsourcing.

Right now, the Advanced Editing class at USC is made up of 11 students who have each taken the dailies of the feature film THE NINES (the really [...]
e 10 Fansubbing
It’s time for the studios to meet the demands of the international audience and avoid piracy at the same time.
e 19 What should I do in a general meeting?
Taking generals: how to turn a get to know you meeting into paid work.
e 26 Which project should I write?
I’d recommend writing the one that has the best ending.
e 69 Preacher
I might as well confirm the news: I’m writing a big-screen version of Preacher.
e 19 More Remnants
I was happy to get such a strong reaction since posting the pilot for The Remnants. Every few days, we get a surge of hits as new sites link to it. A fan even set up Draft The Remnants to get people to pledge their love.

For something that’s been sitting on a shelf for [...]
e 8 10 Sundance shorts on iTunes
Ten of the 80 short films featured this week at the Sundance Film Festival are available free on iTunes until January 25th. It’s a great way to see some work you’d almost certainly never catch.

Visit itunes.com/Sundance to check out trailers and download. (Link opens in iTunes store.)

I’m happy to see shorts featured this way, and [...]
e 5 Audition scenes
When you’re auditioning actors for a role, the scenes as scripted are sometimes not especially useful. The solution: write new material specifically for casting.
e 36 The Visitor
On Wednesday morning, we came into the kitchen to find an orange slice on the stove and a tomato that seemed to have exploded. This was obviously troubling.

My initial thought was that one of us had sleepwalked, and acted out some rage issue against fruit. I realize this is a strange explanation to [...]
e 125 The Remnants, in full

I showed a snippet back in October, but here is the full web pilot I shot during the strike. If you click through to Vimeo, you can see it in full-screen HD.1

For the past few months, the pilot has been shopped around to advertisers and other possible sponsors, but given the economy and my schedule, [...]
e 4 The Nines on Netflix
Several readers wrote in this morning to point out that The Nines is suddenly now available on Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” feature. If you have a Netflix account, that means free streaming in roughly two clicks.

I’m not sure how the Netflix streaming gets accounted for in terms of residuals, but I’m glad to see another legal [...]
e 49 Shazam! It ain’t happening.
Before the holidays, I promised a post-mortem on Shazam!, the big-screen adaptation of the DC comic I’ve been working on since early 2007. In case you’re not familiar with the character, here’s what I wrote when I first announced the project:

Captain Marvel is a superhero roughly as powerful as Superman, minus the heat-vision and [...]
e 18 The Nines on Amazon VOD
The Nines is now available through Amazon’s video-on-demand, with options for download or streaming within the browser window. It’s very straightforward, and I’m always happy for another outlet.

But it costs $14.99. That’s simply too much.

Amazon sells the physical DVD with all the special features for the same price, at considerably more cost to the [...]
e 29 Go on Hulu
Online video service Hulu is now featuring my first movie, Go. If you haven’t seen it — and you live in U.S., and you’re over 17 — it’s worth a look.
e 14 Rewriting the rewriter
Sometimes there’s good reasons why original writers leave and return to their projects.
e 45 How long should it take to write a script?
Knowing the answer is part of the craft, just like a cabinetmaker promising a delivery date.
e 26 Trifecta
The combination of family travel, lingering illness and Fallout 3 has kept me away from the blog this week, but I should be back to a normal schedule beginning Sunday.

There’s actual news, including my next writing project and an update (post-mortem?) on Shazam!. Plus, I really want to write something about this misguided memo from [...]
e 19 The Nines, recut
An editing class will recut The Nines from scratch. Final film unseen.
e 11 Prince of Projects
Friend and occasional writing partner Jordan Mechner has been tinkering on a website for a few months, and is now ready to invite the world in. He has a lot to share about 20 years in the videogame industry, and the transition from designer to screenwriter.

Basically, my plan is to blog, post [...]
e 8 Indie film, cont’d
How some are navigating distribution of indie fare.
e 7 The Remnants, in script form
The complete script for The Remnants pilot, along with the accompanying character bios, are now up in the Library.
e 35 The Remnants
Yesterday, a Google News alert informed me that the web pilot I wrote and directed way back in February has been dis-embargoed. I’ve been deliberately sketchy on details about the project, but since Variety has the story, there’s no reason to be coy.

It’s called The Remnants.

It’s a comedy about a group of squabbling survivors [...]
e 19 On creating emotion
How the writer, actor, director and audience work together.
e 40 Aquaman is a Pescepublican
Superhero politics should remain abstract.
e 13 Time jumps and oil drilling
Two unrelated questions answered. 1. Clarifying young and old versions of characters. 2. How much research to do before writing.
e 72 Why it’s called “Go,” and not “Call”
IMDb has message boards for every film and every filmmaker. I would strongly advise you to never read them, and in particular, don’t read them for any film you’ve worked on. You will walk away feeling a little worse about yourself and humanity.

But today, while looking up the name of an actor in Go, [...]
e 14 Packing light
I’m headed to Seattle tonight for a quick screening of The Nines. I’m packing almost nothing: my iPhone, my Kindle, toiletries and a change of undies. Over the past year, I’ve found I am packing less and less, to the point that it’s become a sport to see how little I can get by with. [...]
e 34 Five quick questions
One writer, five questions.
e 38 Simple is better than accurate
Simplicity is not the same as idiocy, or pandering.
e 6 A look back at Go
This Distracted Globe has a new look back and review of my first movie, Go.
e 8 Short questions, short answers
Why did Edward Bloom leave Ashland? Does beginners luck exist? Shocking answers revealed, inside!
e 81 Sundance, The Nines, and the death of independent film
A long hard look at distributing independent films.
e 36 How to cut pages
Just as important, what NOT to do when trying to cut length. Don’t cheat.
e 26 Are animated specs worth the time?
Short answer: yes. But be realistic about the chance of it getting made.
e 25 Writing silent scenes
Always treat your readers like audience members, and think about it from their perspective.
e 42 How not to choose a movie title
I’ve written about the importance of a good title before. A great script with a crappy title faces an uphill battle. That’s why I always make sure I have a title I like before I type “FADE IN,” even if I later change my mind.1

So yes, I’d pay for a great title. Today’s LA [...]
e 18 Secret history of the Kleinhardt Gambit
Done just right, jargon helps ground characters in their setting, much the way medical-ese makes you think those pretty people on TV could actually be doctors.
e 13 Return to Spectre

Derek Frey recently traveled back to Montgomery, Alabama, and took some great shots of the remaining sets from Big Fish. You can see them all here.
e 7 The Nines on iTunes
Just noticed that The Nines is now available for rental on iTunes.
e 22 Northeaster
I spent five days in Maine, writing and researching my next project.
e 49 Rethinking motivation
Try replacing the question of what the character wants/needs with, “Why is the character doing what he’s doing?”
e 5 Shot an indie pilot. What’s next?
How to expose, fund and distribute your pilot appropriately.
e 14 Test screening questionnaires
DIY audience screenings help your product and save you money. Here’s what to ask.
e 40 Post-strike update
Last night I went out for beers with my picketing team from the Van Ness gate. I hadn’t spoken with any of them since the end of the strike, so it was nice to catch up, and see them in clothes not specifically chosen for walking in the cold.

Remarkably, it was the first conversation I’d [...]
e 15 Saturn Award nomination
Matt Venne emailed me this morning to point out something I would have otherwise missed: The Nines just got a Saturn Award nomination for its DVD.

It’s a clichÃ© to say, “It’s an honor just to be nominated,” but really, it is. And surprising, too. The Nines isn’t an obvious choice at all.

The Saturn Awards are [...]
e 29 Pack-saddles to listen
After reading this Italian blog review of The Nines, I’m convinced that the translation technology behind Babelfish is actually Icelandic singer BjÃ¶rk.

I confess. They are remained struck by lightning from the film The Nines, of which for other I do not have news regarding the distribution in Italy. To the foreign country it is already [...]
e 24 Facebook, a hive mind question
Once upon a time, I had a MySpace page, to which I happily added anyone as a friend. But right around hitting the 1,000 friend mark, I realized my patience for the site’s embedded idiocy — the 1998-style formatting, cheesy graphics, junior high demographics — was finite. I left it sitting fallow,1 even while recognizing [...]
e 16 And I barely know who she is now
At the Grammy Awards last night, my friend Jen pointed to presenter Miley Ray Cyrus and said, “You know she was in Big Fish, right?”

I insisted that was impossible, and immediately tried to pull up IMDb on my iPhone in order to prove her wrong. But the network inside Staples Center was massively overwhelmed, [...]
e 9 Strike, days 94 and 95; Production, day 3
Our final day of shooting consisted mostly of chasing actors with cameras, my brief homage to Point Break. We also had our first and only company move — just two blocks, to a tiny medical clinic in Eagle Rock. One by one, we wrapped our actors, until we were left with just one regular and [...]
e 12 The Nines drinking game
Saw a link to this in the comments section at IMDb.

1 drink â€“ every time someone drinks 1 drink â€“ every time someone says â€œNineâ€? 1 drink â€“ every time you see the number nine or can make the number nine from something on screen 1 drink â€“ every time you see a pug dog or a [...]
e 15 Strike, day 93; Production, day 2
With all eyes on yesterday’s primaries, the announcement of the big, bi-coastal WGA membership meeting this Saturday was easy to overlook. But it’s certainly a welcome development. It’s widely expected that the WGA boards will discuss the status of the agreement with the AMPTP, and outline the steps needed to get back to work.

I anticipate [...]
e 16 Strike, day 92; Production, day 1
Instead of picketing, I spent today in production on the short-film-slash-web-pilot, details of which I’m keeping infuriatingly mum so that there’s some tiny bit of surprise when I can start showing it to people.

Today went really, really well. We’re shooting two cameras — the HVX-200’s I was all a-twitter over before they came out — [...]
e 10 Seeing other people
As I write this on Sunday afternoon, I have no confirmation whether a deal has been reached to end the strike. Rumor and reality have been scrambled and beaten throughout this ordeal, so now seems a particularly bad time to be counting unhatched chickens. (To strain an egg metaphor.)

For any writer — WGA or otherwise [...]
e 7 Shucks
“Every now and then itâ€™s nice to encounter a movie that just cracks open your skull and has rough intercourse with your brain.” — Jason Adams on The Nines, via JoBlo.
e 36 The Nines on DVD
In North America, The Nines is now available on DVD. So I thought I’d explain what’s on the disc and why, and the process behind it.

The cover art

The original one-sheet for the movie featured Ryan Reynolds tying the green string around his wrist. Even as we were preparing for the theatrical release, we [...]
e 6 The Nines, Unboxed
I’ve never tried Amazon’s Unbox service, which works with PCs and TiVos. But as I was checking the stats this morning, I noticed a few readers had clicked through and purchased the Unbox version of The Nines.

I’m assuming the $14.99 gets you just the movie, without any of the special features or alternate languages/subtitles. But [...]
e 9 Upswing
IMDbPro’s MOVIEmeter charts how often people are looking for a specific film. This week, The Nines climbed from 1539 to 11 on the charts. Since we’re not the only DVD coming out this week, I have to assume that means a lot of people saw the torrent and wondered what the hell the movie [...]
e 2 Charlie on ABC
In the U.S., ABC will be “network television premiering” Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Saturday, Feb. 9th. Theatrical movies aren’t showing up on free television much anymore, but Charlie should work well. It falls into TV act breaks fairly naturally.
e 7 The Nines quiz on Facebook
How awkward is this: I got a 93%. It’s full of spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the movie, you might want to bookmark this for later.

The Nines quiz

Based on the syntax, I think it’s made by a non-native speaker. And I’m still not clear what the final (and missed) question is referring to: the [...]
e 11 Mysteries of Pittsburgh
The story behind former assistant Rawson Thurber’s second feature.
e 64 More on the torrents
There’s been a lot of feedback and reaction on this site and others about my c’est la vie attitude towards The Nines showing up on BitTorrent. Some felt I was tacitly endorsing piracy (no), while others wondered if I’d feel the same if I had financed the movie, rather than writing and directing it. So [...]
e 69 The Nines on BitTorrent
Since well before our Sundance debut last year, I’ve been curious-slash-paranoid about when The Nines would start showing up on the BitTorrent trackers, the online repository of pirated movies and a few legitimate wares.

It was inevitable that the movie would get bootlegged at some point. The timing was the delicate issue. If it showed up [...]
e 22 Blu-ray on a cold day
With Warners picking Blu-ray, and Paramount rumored to have an escape clause letting it follow right behind, I finally bought my first Blu-ray disc: Big Fish. And a PS3 to play it on.1

Movies I’ve written are available on both formats, so I didn’t really care who won in the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray battle. I [...]
e 17 For Your Consideration
How some scripts get an awards push.
e 16 The Nines, as planned

Digging through the files this afternoon, I came across this document I’d written for The Nines three years ago, which outlines a lot of my production philosophies at the time. To complete my process-geekery, I thought I’d annotate it to show what we did versus what we planned.

You can download it here (.pdf). Note: Attentive [...]
e 22 Tin Fish
I knew that the Tin Man poster looked familiar.
e 8 Frankenweenie
Although IMDb says otherwise, I’m not writing Tim Burton’s recently announced Frankenweenie feature.

Here’s the long-ish version: I had a meeting with Disney Animation about a year ago, in which they pitched the idea of doing a feature version of Tim’s Frankenweenie short film. They even had production art for it. Then, separately, I had a [...]
e 19 The Nines, U.K.
I spent the morning doing phone interviews for The Nines, which gets its theatrical release in the U.K. this Friday. We’re playing at three locations in London…

West India Quay Cineworld Cineworld Chelsea Cineworld Shaftesbury Avenue at The Trocadero

…plus other screens throughout the country. It’s a bit frustrating that in this age of Google, it’s so difficult to [...]
e 22 Heroes: Origins: Gone
The WGA strike kills a spin-off, and my episode with it.
e 18 The Nines, scripted
I promised that as soon as The Nines had reached its widest U.S. opening, I’d be putting the script up in the Downloads section. That time has come.

You can find a .pdf of the screenplay here.
e 23 Summing up The Nines
We have a bunch of overseas dates coming up for The Nines (starting with the U.K. on November 30th), but in terms of North America, we’re basically done. There are some one-off screenings on the books, but nothing resembling a true expansion.

We ended up playing in Los Angeles, New York and Austin.

Am I bummed? Yes. [...]
e 21 Easter Eggs for Halloween
Although we’re still in theaters, we’re busy at work on the DVD for The Nines, which should hit store shelves sometime after the New Year.1 There are going to be quite a few special features on the disc, but it’s the Easter Eggs that have me blogging today.

My question for the DVD gurus out there: [...]
e 4 The Nines in the U.K.
The U.K. release date for The Nines is apparently November 30th. More info when I have it.
e 5 Remembering the Alamo
The Alamo Drafthouse is what you wish every movie theater could be: laid-back, but on its game, and run by people who genuinely give a shit about movies. Plus beer! My thanks to them for hosting The Nines last night. (And every night onward, as long as people keep coming to see it.)
e 29 Trailer Competition: The Winners
We had 57 official entries. That’s a lot, and it’s about the most I could handle without my eyeballs exploding.1 I’m happy to report that many of the entries were quite good, and it was genuinely a pleasure to watch them. Most of them.

I feel like I should pad this opening bit with [...]
e 8 Trailer competition judging in progress
Wow, that’s a lot of entries. I’ll be announcing the winners tomorrow morning.

Erik Beeson, who so generously helped with the hosting and torrenting, sent along stats:

total torrent file downloads for both torrents combined: 808 (includes search engine crawlers) dv torrent: 162 completed downloads mpeg4 torrent: 79 completed downloads mpeg4.zip: 242 (the direct download) total completed (torrents+direct): 483

Thanks [...]
e 22 T-Minus one day
The trailer competition is nearing its end, and entries are starting to stream in. Some are quite good.

If I have one general observation, it’s that many of the trailers are trying to be respectful to the (supposed) tone of the movie. That’s fine, but it’s hard to distinguish yourself when aiming for the same [...]
e 1 Reminder: The Nines in Austin
If you’re in the Austin area, be sure to check out The Nines when it begins its run at the Alamo Drafthouse this Friday. Ryan and I will be on hand for a Q&A after the 7 p.m. screening on opening day.

Since Austin is sort of ground zero for film geekdom, we’re both figuring [...]
e 21 Trailer competition FAQ
What should the tone of the trailer be?

Whatever you prefer. It can be funny, scary, dramatic or simply weird.

How long should the trailer be?

Most trailers are between one and three minutes, but if you feel like cutting a 30-second spot, or a half hour masterpiece, go for it. I reserve the right to [...]
e 22 Trailer competition details
Call in sick, ignore your loved ones, and put on a pot of coffee: the trailer competition for The Nines begins today.

The delay in staging the competition has probably led to some over-thinking: What about people who haven’t seen the movie? What about film school students? What about people who are [...]
e 13 Trailer competition, teaser
Tomorrow, full details of the long-gestating trailer competition will be announced here (and at the lookforthenines site). You’ll have two versions of footage to choose from: DV and MPEG-4. The DV is big and beautiful. The MPEG-4 is small and nimble — and not as bad as you’d think.

To get ready, Erik Beeson [...]
e 58 Quitting, and the age question
A tough question. Here are some signs that you should quit or stick with it.
e 12 String theory
While in Venice, I had dinner with several journalists, buyers, and Gabriele Veneziano, who is the father of our international sales rep.

Veneziano, a physicist, is one of the pioneers of string theory — which is ironic, considering some of the related issues in The Nines. In fact, there used to be a scene [...]
e 20 The Nines expands
We did well on our opening weekend, racking up a per-screen average of $14,586, the highest of any movie in the country. That, along with some really good reviews, is allowing us to expand to new theaters for week two.

For Los Angeles:

Laemmle’s Sunset 5 in West Hollywood Landmark’s NuWilshire in Santa Monica Laemmle’s One Colorado in [...]
e 9 Back from Venice
I’m back from the Venice Film Festival, where The Nines had its international premiere.

The movie screened three times, but the main public debut was 2:30 p.m. on Monday. At lunch that day, both the sales agent and the publicist separately pulled me aside to say, “So, John, you should know that if the audience [...]
e 8 The Nines soundtrack
Since Sundance, we’ve had a lot of questions (and compliments) about the music in The Nines. We didn’t end up making a conventional soundtrack deal, mostly because the film distribution situation was complicated enough. But you can find most of the music online. Alex Wurman has a lot of the score available for [...]
e 27 Nines news, reviews and updates
Briefly, because there’s a lot going on and I haven’t started packing for Venice.

1. Sellout at the Nuart

The 7:30 p.m. Q&A tonight with me and Melissa (and others) apparently sold out yesterday afternoon. But there’s also a 10 p.m. show that I’ll be introducing. I haven’t gotten an update about the NY screening at [...]
e 19 The Nines audio commentary
If you’re going to see The Nines this long weekend, you’ll be in a movie theater. You’ll have the benefit of a giant screen, good sound, and fellow patrons with which to partake (and debate) the film. There’s nothing like watching a movie with a crowd: it’s participatory and immediate.

One of my [...]
e 51 The Nines opens Friday
I feel like I’ve done so much publicity on it that everyone probably sick of me talking about it, but here’s the direct appeal:

My movie THE NINES opens this Friday, August 31st, in Los Angeles and New York.

Please come see it. And if you can’t, keep reading to find out how to get it [...]
e 20 The Nines trailer, HD
The super-deluxe HD version of the trailer is now up at Apple. Me like.

Check it out.

It’s not showing up on AppleTV yet, for whatever reason. I don’t know what subset makes it through, but I presume it’s coming at some point.
e 12 Trailer competition, second update
Just so you know, the radio silence around the trailer competition is not for lack of interest or intent. Stuff got very crazy, very quickly, and we had a hard enough time getting the real trailer finished up. (Plus there was other stuff going on.)

We have all the clips ready to go, but we’re [...]
e 18 Press Day
Today was press day for The Nines, which meant six solid hours of talking about the movie. And it was fine. I conducted all of my interviews sitting next to Melissa McCarthy, so it was a good excuse to exercise our pact of mutual appreciation.1

The event was held at The Four Seasons. [...]
e 21 The Nines in Austin
I’m happy to announce our first expansion outside of New York and Los Angeles: Austin. The Nines will be starting at the Alamo Drafthouse (South Lamar) on September 28th. There’s a Q&A in the works for that weekend with me and Ryan — most likely on the 28th — so be sure to [...]
e 7 Cannibals in canoes
Honestly, I feel like I’m cheating on all of you when I guest-blog for EW.com. But I did it again.

And then there are the non-Nines variables: babysitting grandparents, geriatric pugs, and the Tim Burton retrospective I want to attend. Plus eight more lessons of Pimsleur Italian, so I can politely explain why I’m throwing [...]
e 23 Me in Men’s Health
I have a long essay in this month’s Men’s Health, the one with Jamie Foxx on the cover. It’s not specifically about The Nines, but that’s the main reason I agreed to do it. To buy a single-page ad in the magazine would be more than our entire marketing budget. But for a [...]
e 16 The Advocate
Ryan and I did an interview for The Advocate about the movie, the business, and our trip to Malawi. It should be on stands now (or soon), with Ryan on the cover.

Yes, the headline reads, “Hollywood’s hottest young star runs off with his gay director.” They conveniently left off, “…to help paint an [...]
e 8 The Nines at the Nuart
Wow. That was quick. Tickets are now available for the exclusive LA premiere of The Nines at the Nuart.

It’s three weeks away, but when you’re playing on one screen in a city of four million people, there’s a fair chance some of those screenings are going to sell out. So if you’re keen on [...]
e 24 The One-Sheet

At last. There’s a long blog post to be written about how this all came to be, but I’ll save it for a future edition.
e 43 Technical details on The Nines
As promised-slash-threatened, here’s a not-brief write-up of some of the technical aspects of making The Nines.

The movie is made up of three distinct sections, each of which was shot in a different format. That was always part of the plan. The movie is really like three short films back-to-back, and each of them [...]
e 62 The trailer for The Nines
It’s up. IGN has an exclusive first look. Stop reading and…

Click Here

Then come back and tell us what you thought. Or better yet, check out the Forum at lookforthenines.com.

Update

There’s a YouTube version as well. Not as big or sharp, but handier.
e Comments Off Getting shot
I have another post up at EW.com, this time about being photographed for the New York Times, and the parental decisions therein. You can check it out here.
e 29 Look out! He is a Spider-Pig
MPAA carries water for The Simpsons movie.
e 11 Location scouting vs. reality
Looking through my YouTube account, I realized that I’d actually posted (and blogged about) our location scouting footage more than a year ago, shortly after we’d wrapped shooting.

I thought I’d go back and grab screencaps from the movie to show you what some of these places looked like as shot. (The following are in [...]
e Comments Off Guest-blogging on EW.com
Because I’m just not busy enough, I’ve started guest-blogging on EW.com’s PopWatch blog, detailing some of the madness related to launching The Nines. You can read the first of these entries today.

One observation so far: I’m snarkier on other people’s blogs than my own.
e 11 Three from The Nines
In preparation for the trailer competition, I wanted to see how footage from the movie would hold up when subjected to the Flash compression of YouTube and the other video-sharing sites. So I uploaded three clips in various formats to experiment.

The results? Two clips look surprisingly great. The third looks like ass.

The difference [...]
e 16 Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician
Daniel Wallace, the dashing and talented writer who wrote Big Fish (the novel), has a brand new book in stores for your purchasing pleasure: Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician. I read it a bazillion years ago — books take a surprisingly long time to go from manuscript to shelf — so I’ll let [...]
e 22 The Nines goes to Venice
A reader alluded to it in the comments of an earlier post, but today we can officially announce that The Nines was chosen to play the Venice Film Festival as part of Critics’ Week.

(At least, I assume we can announce it. We were sworn to double-super secrecy, which is presumably now over, since it [...]
e Comments Off Prince of Perhaps
Several sites have reported that Disney has picked July 10, 2009 as the release date for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. My guess is that this got written on a whiteboard at some strategic planning meeting, in answer to the question, “Hey, if we made that Prince of Persia movie, when would [...]
e 5 Changes while directing
When the shoot begins, the real world comes to play.
e 13 Trailer competition update
Thanks to many readers, I think there’s a pretty clear game plan emerging for how to do The Nines Trailer Challenge. Several people have offered specific help, both advice and hosting. Bless you. Your email addresses have been duly noted for future follow-up.

Here are the questions I asked, and the answers I [...]
e 87 Calling on the hive mind
One advantage of having a brilliant and devoted readership like mine is that I can occasionally reverse the Q&A process and appeal for your insight. Here’s the situation…

At Sundance, I talked about my plan-slash-pipe-dream of releasing the underlying footage of The Nines simultaneously to its DVD release. Essentially, you could load it into [...]
e 18 The Nines at Cannes
In case you’re wandering La Croisette, wondering where all the interlocking three-part dramas with unexpected science-fiction elements are, you might want to check out The Nines, which has three market screenings scheduled this week:

Wednesday, May 16th at 12:00pm – Palais K (Market) Friday, May 18th at 8:00pm – Palais K (Market) [...]
e 9 Fish food for thought
One benefit of leaving the comment threads open is that sometimes a long-dead post gets a surge of new activity. Over the past month, I’ve noticed a few new comments on a 2004 post featuring this photo…

…which is, according to Snopes, probably real in the sense that it’s not Photoshopped — though it’s probably [...]
e 33 The Nines gets all domestic
Ever since Sundance, when I announced that GreeneStreet scooped up international rights to The Nines, I’ve been faced with many questions. I knew the answer to the big one but couldn’t say. The answer to all the others depended on the first. So I’ve been sitting patiently, feigning detached acceptance, when I [...]
e 72 On the topic of old things sucking
My post on Captain Marvel/Shazam! generated a lot of comments, both on this site and AICN, primarily because of a single observation…

If I were writing a dissertation on the evolution of the Captain Marvel character, [hardcover anthologies] would be invaluable. But Iâ€™m not. So every time I read one of these, Iâ€™m struck with the [...]
e 90 A Captain Marvel Reader
Ever since I announced that I’m writing Shazam!/Captain Marvel, I’ve gotten some great questions and comments from longtime fans of the character, many with detailed pleas to include a specific cherished piece of the mythology.

But when I tell people face-to-face that I’m writing a Captain Marvel movie, I often notice a specific micro-reaction. Their eyes [...]
e 46 Goodnight Moon, Hello Movie
I’m happy to finally be able to announce the next thing I’m writing after Shazam!/Captain Marvel — an adaptation of one of the best-selling children’s books ever: Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown.

Anyone who’s ever had a baby has probably read this book, so it’s no surprise that Hollywood’s been trying to adapt it [...]
e 9 Renumbering when moving a scene
It takes both a letter and an omit.
e 54 Regarding the Gyllenhaal rumor
According to the internet, Jake Gyllenhaal is playing Captain Marvel. I’ll be sure to let the studio, producers, and director know.

Sigh.

It’s frustrating how in the digital age, random speculation turns to fact in about .003 seconds. And once it starts, it’s like a tire fire: any attempt to extinguish it merely creates a [...]
e 11 Publicity 101
It would be nice if the general public had some sense that movies are actually written, and that the actors aren’t making up their dialogue.
e 78 The Big Red Cheese
And now, the answer to speculation about why I was busy reading up on DC Comics mythology. As announced today in The Hollywood Reporter, I’m writing Captain Marvel. And I’m very, very stoked.

The movie is set up at New Line, with Pete Segal attached to direct. For those who aren’t rabid fans [...]
e 25 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 [...]
e 25 GreeneStreet acquires The Nines
At the Berlin Film Festival this morning, GreeneStreet Films International announced that they’d picked up the movie for all markets outside North America. It’s news I’ve been sitting on since basically the day after the Sundance premiere. The company really dug the movie and were very aggressive about getting it, so I’m happy [...]
e 3 Nope, not my Barbarella
A few readers have written in asking about the announcement by Dino De Laurentiis that he intends to make a new Barbarella. Specifically, will he be using my script?

As far as I can tell, no. The rights to my script are incredibly murky–it was a shared project between Warner Bros. and Fox 2000, [...]
e 25 Music of The Nines
Alex Wurman, the composer for The Nines (as well as many other great scores, including March of the Penguins and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) has posted five tracks from the movie on his website.

Of them, “Cold Turkey” is probably the most interesting without a visual to go with it. The “Knowing Theme” is [...]
e 20 MTV Overdrive on The Nines
Josh Horowitz from MTV News wrote in to point out that The Flash business wasn’t the only thing they ran from our Sundance interview. In fact, the full version, now up on MTV Overdrive, succeeds in making both Ryan and me sound coherent, which is no small feat.

Here’s what you can’t see in the [...]
e 31 Sundance, expanded edition
Throughout the week, I’ve been trying to convey the Sundance experience with the Twitter feed, but there’s only so much one can communicate in a sentence or two. So I thought I’d fatten out a few entries to give a better sense of how Sundance really went.

Checking through the itineraries and packing lists. Do [...]
e 6 Best editors
In this morning’s Oscar nominations, I was delighted (but not surprised) to see Doug Crise and Stephen Mirrione nominated for Babel. Stephen Mirrione cut Go, and Doug Crise followed up his work on Babel with a little movie called The Nines.

Huge congrats to both of them.
e 26 Some of The Nines
As promised, here’s your first look at The Nines, as scripted. The following represents roughly the first three pages of each section.

Part One: The Prisoner

A MANâ€™S HAND unwinds a short length of green string. Weâ€™re extremely close, with a shallow, blurry focus. Itâ€™s like the first moments after a dream — just fragments. Scissors [...]
e 17 The Nines, in script form
Since some most readers won’t be able to catch the premiere in Park City, I’ve decided to give you the literary equivalent by posting the script online. Not the whole script, mind you, but enough of it so that you’ll get a sense of what you’re not seeing.

The script will be available on this [...]
e 4 That’s one expensive paper clip
Sundance frowns upon selling festival tickets on Ebay. But looking through the ads, I’m heartened to find that most sellers are technically selling “Sundance guides.” And when you buy the guide, you get one free ticket!

The best disclaimer, however, was this one:

Note: These tickets are free with the purchase of the paper [...]
e 7 Forums are fun!*
*Unless you have to moderate them.

Over at Look For The Nines, the official-for-now site for The Nines, I set up a forum to handle discussion about the movie. I had deep ambivalence about doing this.

Forums pre-date blogs, instant messaging, and even email as we understand it. Stretching back to their BBS roots, forums [...]
e 12 Sell out
No, that’s not my advice to aspiring screenwriters.

The Nines sold out its first three screenings at Sundance, including the 1300-seat premiere. As of this morning, the only tickets available are for the final screening on Sunday, January 28th at the Rose Wagner.

Keep in mind, everything sells out at Sundance. That Ukrainian documentary about [...]
e Comments Off MTV News on The Nines
As we get closer to Sundance, I promise not to besiege you with blurbs about The Movie–that’s what the other site is for. But here’s one. From MTV’s “Ten Most Anticipated” list:

6. “The Nines” Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis star in this “Magnolia”-like drama, praised by some Hollywood insiders as the best script [...]
e 12 Found
e 8 Sundance catalog is out
The catalog for this year’s Sundance Film Festival came this week, which was my first chance to see what everyone else’s first impression of The Nines would be. The festival organizers write the descriptions for the films, so you’re sort of at their mercy. Fortunately, John Cooper wrote up a very nice blurb [...]
e 14 Seeing The Nines at Sundance
I’m not going to suggest that devoted readers fly thousands of miles to see The Nines at Sundance. But I’m not going to not suggest it.

I’ve long been of the mindset that there’s no reason to go to Sundance unless you have a movie there. I haven’t been since Go debuted there in 1999. [...]
e 10 Lost Rooms and American Zombies
When other people have the same ideas and act on them, it helps me clear my slate.
e Comments Off I would have gone with “catfishscan”

This from Daniel Wallace, the author of Big Fish:

Big Fish is taking over a small town in Alabama (link). And in this spirit when, just the other day, someone caught another one of those big catfish you hear about. They took it to the hospital and put it under a catscan. I am [...]
e 20 I heart WriteRoom
For the past few weeks, Iâ€™ve been working on the production notes for The Nines. The document will end up being about 20 pages, detailing the backstory of how the movie got made, from inspiration through editing, along with everyoneâ€™s bios. Itâ€™s part of the press kit for the film, helping the journalists [...]
e 98 Clive Cussler really, really dislikes Sahara
An author rails against his Hollywood adaptation.
e 6 The Nines screening schedule at Sundance
The good folks at Sundance just sent out the screening times and locations for The Nines. Their website doesn’t show the schedule yet, but I presume it will be up soon.

Sun. Jan 21, 9:30 pm Eccles, Park City

Mon. Jan 22, 8:30 am Prospector, Park City

Tue. Jan 23, 9:00 pm Sundance Village

Sun. Jan 28, 3:30 pm Rose Wagner, Salt [...]
e 4 Why isn’t The Nines in competition at Sundance?
I was wondering if you could explain the difference/reason for competitive and non-competitive categories at Sundance and why you chose the latter?

– Steve Lakeland, FL

It’s the Festival’s call. They decide whether or not they want to show the movie, then which category they’re going to put it in. They don’t explain their logic, but [...]
e 31 The Movie is premiering at Sundance
After months of vague hints, I can finally reveal information about The Movie I wrote and directed this summer.

It’s called The Nines.1 It stars Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis and Melissa McCarthy. It’s a drama. Funny in places, suspenseful in places, but basically a drama. It will be premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.

This last point was the [...]
e 5 When do you walk away?
Often, the only power a screenwriter has is to walk away, and the decision whether to do it is almost never straightforward.
e 15 Is the Slamdance script competition a bad idea?
No. But getting a movie made is worth a lot more than any award.
e 8 Chicago: The Musical. No, not that one.
I spent a few days in Chicago to see the workshop of my friends’ new musical, Asphalt Beach. And then I wrote a play.
e 24 Movies look nothing like reality
The disorienting effects of movie magic.
e 51 As it turns out, I could care less
And both the film and I were better for it.
e 6 Do screenwriters get a chunk of foreign TV money?
When writers do and don’t get paid residuals.
e 20 How to Revisit Fried Worms
Ten years ago, I got my first paid screenwriting job, adapting Thomas Rockwell’s How to Eat Fried Worms into a script for Ron Howard and Universal. I went through four paid drafts over more than a year, and loved it.

Thomas Schlamme signed on to direct it. At the time, he was a mid-level [...]
e 21 Previewing score with GarageBand
Alex Wurman is busy writing the music for The Movie, which in this digital age means a lot of files shuttling back and forth. Rather than tapes, we have QuickTimes for each reel, with timecode burned in for reference. When Alex wants us to listen to a cue, he sends an mp3 with [...]
e 13 Helicopter day
Today was the first and only day of aerial photography for The Movie. We rented a helicopter, a Wescam mount, a pilot, an operator, a camera and burned two thousand feet of film. Minute for minute, it was the most expensive part of the entire production.

How was it, you ask?

Pretty effin’ cool.

I’d been [...]
e 27 Additional photography
In Hollywood parlance, “additional photography” is the polite term for what used to be called reshoots. It’s a rare case where the new word is better. Most of the time, you’re not reshooting anything. You’re getting new things you didn’t know you needed the first time around.

Woody Allen is famous for [...]
e 89 Test screening The Movie
Test screening is important but potentially dangerous in the internet age.
e 33 Temp Music
This week’s work on the The Movie is largely about music. Our composer, Alex Wurman, has already composed one piece that plays on-camera, but most of the music at this point is temp — stuff grabbed from other soundtracks that roughly approximates what we’re going for.

There’s one piece of temp music that works really [...]
e 24 Monovision
About halfway through shooting The Movie, the propmaster asked, “Hey, where are your glasses?” I had taken them off to check my email, and left them sitting on the dining room table. It’s part of his job to recognize continuity issues, so it’s natural he noticed something was off.

But it was only his [...]
e 7 Because really, he should drive a Chrysler LeBaron
Clearing (and not worrying about) brands, artwork and monikers for your movie.
e 4 Update on the promiscuous player problem
My plea for a DVD player with loose morals and low standards was answered by many thoughtful readers. I ended up picking the Philips DVP-642 ($49 at Amazon), which not only zips through questionably-recorded dailies, but even Peixe Grande e Suas HistÃ³rias Maravilhosas, the Portuguese version of Big Fish.

Thanks again.
e 11 Location scouting
One of the first tasks in getting The Movie on its feet was picking locations. We spent about three weeks scouting — almost as long as we shot.

I didn’t think I’d written a very location-driven movie, but it ended up being a bit of a monster. Part of that was budget — if [...]
e 22 What’s it like being the writer and director?
There’s little time or room on set for the writer in me once the director in me takes over, but he’s good to have around.
e 44 So I made a movie
My extended absence from johnaugust.com can now be explained: I’ve just finished shooting a movie, an honest-to-God feature film. A tiny film, to be certain, more likely to be seen at festivals than fourteen-plexes, but a movie nonetheless.

Officially, it’s my directing debut, but it hasn’t really felt like it.

As screenwriters go, I’ve always [...]
e 42 Writing what can’t be shot
Movies are about what characters do and say, not who they were before the story started.
e 26 Cut-scenes do not a videogame make
Videogame-makers need to stop trying to ape Hollywood blockbusters, and instead focus on creating playable stories. A link to an article detailing the differences between the storytelling needs and styles.
e 20 How accurate is the page-per-minute rule?
Most screenplays are about 120 pages, and most movies are around two hours. But the conversion rate between paper and celluloid is rarely one-to-one.
e 18 Prince of Persia retrospective
Jordan Mechner forwarded me this Ubisoft-created look back at the Prince of Persia series. It’s in sucky .wmv format, but does a nice job showing the evolution of the franchise from its humble PC roots.

Anticipating your inevitable questions:

No, I don’t know when the movie will come out. No, we haven’t cast anyone. Yes, the movie is [...]
e 16 The answer is…Bob: The Musical
When I spoke to classes at Trinity University last week, a frequent question was, “What are you going to write next?”

It was a well-timed question, because I wasn’t entirely sure. There were two projects on the radar screen, both of them rewrites. I had a week to decide whether to do either.

The first [...]
e 31 Ops stops
One strange aspect of writing a blog is recognizing that one’s online narrative doesn’t always match up very well with reality. There is a lag between when events happen and when you write about them.

Take for example Josh Friedman’s recent and scary brush with kidney cancer. As his real-life neighbor, I knew he [...]
e 42 Armageddon is bad. Near-Armageddon? Damn entertaining.
Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S., a refreshingly under-commercialized holiday set aside to acknowledge the many things in life for which we’re grateful. I’m home in Colorado with my family, doing the traditional activities: stuffing a turkey, setting a table, and wondering how many minor celebrities they can squeeze into one Macy’s Thanksgiving Day [...]
e 24 Two sides to the story
Right now, we’re starting casting for Ops, the Fox pilot we’ll hopefully shoot after the holidays. Since most readers out there have never been through network casting — or any casting — I thought I’d talk you through the process. Or at least, the start of the process.

The first thing we had to [...]
e 17 Charlie out on DVD
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is out on DVD today (at least, in North America). There are three versions available: a widescreen version, a full screen version, and a two-disc set with bonus features.

Obviously, don’t get the full screen version.

It’s frustrating that they even sell one, much less call it “full screen.” In order [...]
e 17 Does Corpse Bride have a happy ending?
I know you were brought in late on Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride and from what I gather, werenâ€™t responsible for much of the story, but Iâ€™m curious about your thoughts on one particular story element.

Is the ending a happy one for Victor?

The way it plays, it seems as though it is intended to be a happy ending for him when [...]
e 16 Where I’ve been hiding
My blogging-to-actual-work ratio has tipped decidedly to the things-I-get-paid-for side over the last few weeks, as a number of projects have commanded a lot more of my time. So I thought it only fair to explain what’s pulled me out of my beloved bent-brad bunker.

Here’s an update on my previous post, about my current [...]
e 19 I am a white male of European descent
My last normal job — the 9-to-5 kind — was as an assistant at Oliver Stone’s production company. At the time, he was in post-production on Natural Born Killers, and developing future projects, one of which was a remake of Planet of the Apes.

Any version of Apes must tackle the basic question of, “How [...]
e 47 Why is Charlie so passive?
In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, why is Charlie so passive in the movie?

As the main character I would think he would do something during the big adventure in the factory but he does nothing. He faces no challenges. He is not tested in any way. He doesn’t even have the opportunity to make [...]
e 7 Corpse Bride has risen
<img class=”alignleft” src=”http://johnaugust.com/Assets/corpsebride_small.jpg” alt=”Corpse Bride /> Corpse Bride is in theaters starting today — if you live in Los Angeles, New York or Toronto. For the rest of North America, and other parts of the world, you can begin seeing it next week, September 23rd.

Last night, I spoke at USC’s 466 class, which screens [...]
e 15 Corpse Bride article in Script magazine
<img class=”alignleft” src=”http://johnaugust.com/Assets/corpsebride_small.jpg” alt=”Corpse Bride />The new issue of Script magazine has a long-ish article about Corpse Bride, interviewing both Pamela Pettler and yours truly about the story and process. Pamela, Caroline Thompson and I share writing credit on the movie, but I was never really clear who wrote what and when. From [...]
e 18 Project update
After a month of baby duty, it’s back to work. This seems the perfect time to take stock of all the projects I have out there, and figure out exactly what their status is.

★ ACTIVE ★

Prince of Persia Jordan Mechner, who created the videogame, wrote the movie adaptation, which he and I are [...]
e 17 Big Fish’s Karl the Giant has died
Matthew McGrory, who played Karl the Giant in Big Fish, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 32.

While his character in the film was about eleven feet tall, in real life, Matthew was “only” a bit over seven feet. While he was big, you didn’t really sense he was a giant until you [...]
e 66 Two big debuts
This past weekend, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opened to strong reviews and a hefty $56.2 million at the box office. I’m happy, of course, but that good news was eclipsed by even better news: the birth of my daughter on Monday.

Her long-awaited arrival explains my lack of posting this past week, and the [...]
e 15 Is that how the line was supposed to go?
Something that’s always bothered me about Go. When Ronna is in Todd’s apartment she says “Todd, I would never fuck you like that.” And he says, “How would -you- fuck -me-?”

Like, how would a nothing like you ever screw over a big drug dealer like me? But he just explained how she could fuck [...]
e 16 New, longer Corpse Bride trailer up
There’s a new trailer up for Corpse Bride, which tells a lot more of the story than the teaser trailer did.

I have mixed feelings about the new trailer. Visually, it all looks great. This one shows a lot more of what makes the animation so distinctive. For instance, pay attention to Corpse [...]
e 16 Ton of Charlie clips online
Reader Francois just pointed out a large selection of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory clips hosted at IESB. I’m sort of surprised Warner Bros. made so many available, but they all look authentic and authorized. (CUT TO: Me furiously deleting any reference to their existence after WB says they’re not allowed.)

Presumably, these clips [...]
e 18 I didn’t get here on my looks
The summer issue of Written By magazine is out, and the cover story is about my involvement with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

First the good news. The story by Mark Olsen is terrific, everything I could have hoped for. Often with reporters, you hold back a bit, because you’re nervous about being misquoted [...]
e 15 Back from the Charlie press junket
This weekend, I travelled to The Bahamas for the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory press junket. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, a press junket is a two or three day period during which the stars and filmmakers of a movie meet with the press (both domestic and international) to answer questions about [...]
e 18 Deciding which parents get to visit the factory
I have a question about your upcoming film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. What made you decide to have each child bring only one guardian to Wonka’s factory, and how did you choose which one would go?

–Michael Daphne, Alabama

In Roald Dahl’s book, each of the four rotten kids (Veruca, Violet, Augustus and Mike) brings both of [...]
e 11 Cheaper Charlie shirts
Reader “Bri” was thoughtful enough to point out that Hot Topic has started selling less-expensive Charlie and the Chocolate Factory t-shirts. They’re perfect for your your rebellious kid sister who wants to express her individuality in a completely conformist way.

The “Life Had Never Been Sweeter” shirt comes from a line of dialogue (narration, actually) [...]
e 8 More Charlie goodness
A sharp-eyed reader wrote in to point out that the flash site for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is now open for business. You can find a lot more downloads, but still no “Cast and Crew” section yet. Ahem.

Also, the full trailer is now up at Apple, without any of that AOL baggage [...]
e 18 Holy Buckets! It’s the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory trailer!
The full trailer for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is finally here in all its Quicktime glory. For now, it’s exclusively at Moviefone, but you can see it in theaters starting on Friday. It should be attached to Madagascar most places.

But why wait? You can see it here.

Hint: Click on the [...]
e 14 Official Charlie site updated
A helpful reader named Ethan pointed out that the official site for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been updated with new graphics and photos.

Unfortunately, a quick mousing-around reveals that way too much of it is still “coming soon.” But at least there are now placeholders for some crucial omissions, such as filmmaker bios [...]
e 9 An afternoon at E3
Yesterday, I went to the giant videogame confab E3 with my friend Jordan Mechner, who created Prince of Persia and is writing the movie version for Disney. We were there to see footage from the next Prince of Persia game — which looks damn good, what with the chariots and Babylonian rooftops and all. [...]
e 12 Buy clothes Charlie Bucket couldn’t afford
My best-dressed friend Jen sent me a link to Kitson, which has started selling a line of exclusive, and expensive, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-related merchandise.

I certainly don’t lay any claim to the idea of Golden Tickets or t-shirts, but I was a little giddy to see that three of the slogan shirts feature dialogue [...]
e 11 Good interviews about Father Knows Less
The step by step process of making a Hollywood movie.
e 25 Mongolian characters speaking Chinese
Iâ€™ve been thinking to write you this letter for a while. I saw the movie Charlieâ€™s Angels: Full Throttle on a movie channel recently. As a Mongolian, Iâ€™m deeply offended by your knowledge about my country.

In the beginning of the movie you show a scene that something is happening in Northern Mongolia and the [...]
e 10 Annoying Trend Watch: Technorati spam blogs
I use a Technorati watchlist to keep track of mentions of me, this site, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (Note: last three links are feeds.) Technorati follows blogs, so it’s a nice way to gauge what topics people find interesting enough to write about. For instance, teenage girls tend to point out [...]
e 1 New Charlie posters up
Ain’t It Cool News has the six new one-sheets for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Five of the posters feature the young Golden Ticket winners, while the final one has a new image of Willy Wonka, with the appropriate tagline, “semi-sweet and nuts.”

I hadn’t seen any of these one-sheets before this morning, but I [...]
e 9 New Charlie poster
I haven’t seen a physical version of it yet, but JoBlo.com has the artwork for the second Charlie and the Chocolate Factory poster. This one shows Freddie Highmore as Charlie, along with his four rotten tour-mates (Mike Teavee, Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregarde and Veruca Salt).

Before you ask:

No, I don’t get any input on posters. [...]
e 2 Wonka Industries open for business

It’s easy to overlook, but on the main webpage for this summer’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, there’s an icon for Wonka Industries. One click takes you to the corporate site for the world’s most beloved chocolateer. A lot of stuff is still to-be-added, but click around and you’ll find some new images I [...]
e 17 German (and French) Charlie teasers now available
Warner Bros. Germany has their own version of the teaser trailer up for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or Charlie und die Schokoladen-Fabrik. I wouldn’t normally single it out, but they went through the effort to re-do the “Willy Wonka” song in German, and, well, it’s kind of amazingly great.

Any Deutsch-speaking readers who’d like [...]
e 18 UK Charlie teaser now up
Warner Bros. UK has a new teaser trailer up for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s almost exactly the same as the US version, with the addition of some burning puppets about two-thirds of the way through, right after the lyric, “A magician and a chocolate wiz.”

“What’s the deal with those flaming puppets?” you [...]
e 21 Corpse Bride trailer up
The trailer for Corpse Bride is now up at Apple. Before you ask, I don’t know if this is a teaser or the final trailer. It does a good job setting up what the movie is about, so I’m not sure they’ll need to cut a longer version.

Corpse Bride is the second animated movie [...]
e 4 New photos up
Courtesy FilmForce, there are new photos up for two projects. Click on each for a larger version.

The first is from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, showing most of the principal cast in the Chocolate Room.

From left to right, the characters in the photo are Charlie Bucket, Veruca Salt, Grampa Joe (Charlie’s grandfather), Mrs. Gloop, [...]
e 18 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory teaser up
The teaser for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is now up at Yahoo!, for those who are interested. It should be attached to movies beginning this weekend.

One good thing about a movie like this is that you don’t have to worry about the trailer spoiling the movie, because the story is already familiar to [...]
e 11 Back to work
After the trip to Miami for the Urban Challenge, and an extended Thanksgiving weekend, it’s finally back to work. That is, if I can avoid the life-destroying forces of World of Warcraft.

For those who are curious, I’ll eventually get the full write-up of the Miami race posted. The short version is that we [...]
e Comments Off What became of American McGee’s Alice?
Update query on the video game potentially becoming a movie.
e 13 The Dead File
While writing about the non-existent Columbia thriller on my resume, I got to thinking about all the other scripts I’ve written that haven’t been produced. I thought it might be alarming comforting for aspiring screenwriters to see how much work never makes it to the screen.

This list is only projects for which I’ve written [...]
e 4 Whatever happened to…
Follow up on a pitch I sold.
e 3 Big Green Envelopes
The WGA tracks down money owed, even for my failures.
e 12 Avoid CUT TO’s in a busy sequence
Think like a reader, not like an editor.
e 3 Good Daniel Wallace interview up
Strange Horizons has a new interview with Daniel Wallace, the novelist who wrote BIG FISH. It’s definitely worth checking out his perspective on the movie, and how the original writer deals with seeing his work changed in the process of adaptation.
e 4 Where to find Natural Born Killers novelization
Two stories of letting down a great script.
e 7 New Fox show announced
Announcement for a FOX pilot in the works.
e Comments Off Good book vs. movie comparison for ‘Big Fish’
Boxofficeprophets has a well-considered article by Kim Hollis that looks at the differences between Daniel Wallace’s book and the movie version of Big Fish:

John August’s screenplay does take great liberties with the story detailed in the novel. Much is added or embellished, which is almost necessary given the brevity of the book. None of the [...]
e 6 More D.C. stuff available in the Downloads section
Chris Landa of Salt Lake City, Utah, wrote in to say:

I just finished reading your scripts of D.C. Do you have a series bible that you could put on your site? I’m trying to find examples of series bibles and would love to find out what happens to the characters of D.C.

A series “bible” [...]
e 45 A very, very big fish
This from Daniel Wallace, a photo of two guys who have apparently caught Edward from BIG FISH.

Like Mulder from X-Files, I Want to Believe, but in the age of Photoshop, pretty much anything can be faked. But I welcome your opinions. Maybe this really is the biggest catfish in the Ashton river.
e Comments Off Get yer Downloads here
I’ve moved all of the .pdfs from the old site into one handy repository: the new Downloads section, which is available on the right-side menu.

All of the scripts and outlines from Go, Big Fish and The Circle are there. You’ll also find the scripts for my first ill-fated TV show, D.C., which staggered through a [...]
e 4 Transcript of my first meeting with Daniel Wallace
I first met Daniel Wallace, the author of BIG FISH, on October 26, 1998. We met at an IHOP in Richmond, Virginia, and talked about his book and the prospect of making a movie from it.

I had this interview up at the old site, but it was kind of buried. So here it is, reformatted [...]
e 4 Two scripts for “The Circle” now up
I’ve added two additional television scripts for download, from my show “The Circle.” The first is the pilot, titled “My Three Sons.” The second is “Gravedigger,” which would would have been the second or third episode.
e 3 History of Confederated Products
Congratulations on Big Fish. I have a silly question concerning the “Confederated Products” throwaway about halfway through that movie. Since that’s a reference to your previous work, rather than Tim Burton’s, how did it get there? That is, did you include it in the script, or did someone else suggest it?
e 22 Everyone in London smokes
For the past week, I’ve been in London working on the last details for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My eyes have been really dry and scratchy, which made me worry I was geting conjunctivitis (a.k.a. “pink eye”) or a stye (a.k.a. “who hit you?”). For various reasons — stress, lack of sleep [...]
e 29 Did I ever watch the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
I remember reading on IMDb, that you told Tim Burton that you had never seen the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I don’t think I have read anything on your site about that subject. Have you in fact seen the original Willy Wonka? What do you advise on that anyway? And is Charlie [...]
e 2 David Kelly to play Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Continuing my policy of only reporting stuff after it’s already public knowledge, I guess I’m now allowed to say that the role of Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will be played by David Kelly.

(No, not the guy who writes “The Practice.” It’s the guy who was in Waking Ned Devine.)

I haven’t [...]
e 2 The status of Barbarella
Paul Wood from Essex, England writes:

I contribute to a Drew Barrymore fan site (The Drew Barrymore Collective). I was looking for updates on Barbarella because that’s the film I want to see more than any other. Would you be so kind as to give us an update on how the script is coming along? I’d [...]
e 8 Everything is turned in
For the first time in almost a year, I’m caught up on all my writing.

Yesterday, I turned in the oft-delayed Tarzan, and this morning I emailed revisions on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Adding to the joyous feeling: this is a three-day weekend in the U.S. (Monday is Memorial Day), so I won’t [...]
e 43 Freddie Highmore cast as titular Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
I’m always reluctant to talk much about CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, because I never know what’s been approved by the studio for public release, and what’s supposed to be kept secret. But since this item showed up in Variety this week, I’m probably in clear mentioning that Freddie Highmore has been cast as [...]
e 7 Big Fish sells 2 million DVDs in its first week
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Big Fish sold 2 million DVDs in its first week of release. Many thanks to all of those who bought a copy. Or three. And if you haven’t bought one yet, you can click the pretty picture to buy one through Amazon.

The screenwriter averages about five cents [...]
e 3 Big Fish now available on DVD
BIG FISH came out on DVD yesterday for the U.S. and Canada, and it’s a helluva disc. For starters, it’s prettier than your average DVD: the case is translucent and frosty, the artwork is printed on the reverse side of the cover, and the animated menus are gorgeous. While you’re navigating those menus, [...]
e 8 Writing on the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle
Last week, I took Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train from Los Angeles to Seattle, which meant 36 hours on the rails. That’s a very long time to spend in linear motion, but it was worth it.

My goal was to get some quality, uninterrupted writing time for the oft-delayed Tarzan, and I got it. I [...]
e Comments Off Working on multiple projects
How to juggle multiple ideas. First, avoid it if you can.
e Comments Off AICN Charlie and the Chocolate Factory faux-review noted
This morning, the good folks at Ain’t It Cool News put a correction up, stating that yesterday’s review of my CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY script was in fact bogus. I want to thank them, and especially Mr. Beaks, for taking care of it.
e 21 AICN review of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory script is completely bogus
This morning on Ain’t It Cool News, someone using the pseudonym Michael Marker posted what he claimed was a review of my CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY script. In fact, it was an elaborate and tedious piece of fiction. Not only did this guy not read the current draft, I suspect he’s never [...]
e Comments Off I’m not writing The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
A few people have written in to ask if I’m working on the upcoming adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. I’m not. A few months ago, I had a few phone calls with the director, Andrew Adamson, and read through some of the materials. Although I [...]
e 192 Prince of Persia announced
This morning’s Variety has an article announcing PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME, a feature film I’m executive producing. It’s an adaptation of the bestselling videogame created by Jordan Mechner. The project is set up with Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney. Technically, the deal isn’t finished yet, but it’s close enough to [...]
e 1 Leonard Maltin’s mid-term exam
I was hoping you could clarify something for me–well actually, a bunch of us from Leonard Maltin’s film class at USC have the same question. One of our potential midterm questions asks: “John August commented that Big Fish differed from typical family films in one specific way. What was the difference he spoke about?”

Nobody seems [...]
e Comments Off Big Fish available on DVD beginning April 27, 2004
In the U.S. and Canada, BIG FISH will be coming out on DVD (and presumably, VHS) starting April 27, 2004. You can already pre-order Big Fish from Amazon and other sites.
e 1 British Film Awards in London
I just returned from London, where I was attending the Orange British Film Awards, also known as the Bafta’s. Big Fish was up for seven awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay. We won exactly zero. But it was a very fun time, and truly an honor to have been nominated.

A few observations:

Stephen Fry is [...]
e 26 Metaphors in Big Fish
My wife and I just saw Big Fish and loved it. We spent hours talking about the metaphors you used, especially what Spectre represented. How do you decide whether to hit people over the head with it or leave it up for interpretation? And are you okay with people coming up with different interpretations?

–Pete Safran

Like [...]
e 9 Go scripts added
Although it’s available elsewhere on the net, I’ve decided to make the screenplay for Go available on the site. There are two variations to choose from. The first is the original spec script I wrote in 1997. The second is the final shooting draft, which incorporates the changes that happened during production.

As [...]
e Comments Off Early Daniel Wallace interview added
In an effort to finally get the Projects section updated, I’ve added the transcript of my very first meeting with Daniel Wallace, the author of Big Fish. It’s interesting looking back at the project before there was a script. (In fact, the book itself hadn’t yet come out.)
e Comments Off Paperback version of shooting script now available
Newmarket Press has published a paperback version of my screenplay for BIG FISH. You can order it here.

How does the paperback compare to the .pdf version available on this site? Well, it’s the same script, but it adds a kind foreward by Daniel Wallace (who wrote the novel), a very long intro by [...]
e 4 Big Fish receives Oscar nomination for Best Score
This morning, Danny Elfman’s score for BIG FISH was nominated for an Academy Award. It’s well-deserved. His score is subtle, never flashy, and really works to support the movie rather than call attention to itself.

While I’m delighted we got this nomination, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed [...]
e 30 Big Fish script
Newmarket Press will be publishing a paperback version of the BIG FISH screenplay in February. It will be loaded with extras, including photos, production notes, and intros by Daniel Wallace and John.

In the meantime, you can download a .pdf version of the final shooting script here. Print it out on three-hole [...]
e 4 Big Fish receives seven BAFTA nominations
Yesterday, BIG FISH got seven nominations from BAFTA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The BAFTA awards are the closest thing to a British Oscar. Our categories are Film, Direction, Adapted Screenplay, Actor in a Supporting Role (Albert Finney), Production Design, Visual Effects and Make Up & Hair.

I love how [...]
e 5 Getting a pitch meeting
Getting the meeting, but also what to do in the room.
e 11 Big Fish opens at #1
According to Sony’s figures — which agree with most of the others I’ve seen reported — BIG FISH came in at number one for the weekend, earning about $14.5 million, compared to RETURN OF THE KING’s $14.1 million.

Since it’s only now Sunday, how can studios say how much they earned for the weekend? Well, [...]
e 2 Big Fish opens wide
No matter where in North America you live, BIG FISH will finally be “at a theater near you” beginning this Friday, January 9th, 2004. For the last month, the movie has been in very limited release — first in just six theaters, then in 125. We’ve done remarkably well, racking up $20,000 per [...]
e 3 Big Fish opens in more cities
Up until now, BIG FISH has only been playing in a total of six theaters in LA, New York and Toronto. On Christmas Day (tomorrow), the movie will expand to 25 cities, with about 125 theaters altogether. (For a point of reference, RETURN OF THE KING is now playing at 3,703 theaters.)

If BIG [...]
e 7 Big Fish gets four Golden Globe nominations
On Wednesday at about 5:36 a.m. Pacific Time, we found out that BIG FISH received four Golden Globe nominations: Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), Best Supporting Actor (Albert Finney), Best Song (Pearl Jam’s “Man of the Hour”) and Best Score (Danny Elfman). We were happy. Sony was happy. The marketing people [...]
e 3 Big Fish gets five Broadcast Film Critics Award nominations
Earlier this week, we were happy to learn that Big Fish got five Broadcast Film Critics Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Tim Burton), Best Writer (John), Best Song (Pearl Jam’s “Man of the Hour”) and Best Score (Danny Elfman). Although I never believe it when I hear other people say it, it’s [...]
e 1 Big Fish opens tomorrow in NY/LA/Toronto
Although it seems impossible that the date has already come, BIG FISH opens tomorrow (Wednesday, December 10th) in New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto. It’s only on two screens in each market.

For LA, these are The Grove and AMC Century 14. Advance tickets for the Century 14 can be found [...]
e 1 Jinks/Cohen Big Fish interview in The Hollywood Reporter
BIG FISH producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen did a lengthy interview with Martin Grove from The Hollywood Reporter, in which they lay a very good history of the project, and the many challenges involved. It’s a good read if you’re interested in the film’s backstory.
e 7 Pearl Jam’s “Man of the Hour” in Big Fish
Pearl Jam has recorded a brand new song called “Man of the Hour” for BIG FISH, which will play over the end credits. I haven’t gotten a legitimate copy of it yet, though I just heard an acoustic version taken from one of their shows earlier this week. This was from a bootleg [...]
e 2 Interview up at charliesangels.com
Mike Pingle, who runs the Angelic Heaven website, has posted the transcript of a recent phone interview he did with me regarding the new FULL THROTTLE DVD, which came out last week.
e Comments Off GO at Arclight tickets available
Tickets for the special screening of GO at Arclight in Hollywood on November 25th are now available for sale. The movie starts at 7:00 p.m., followed by a Q&A with John, hosted by MENACE II SOCIETY screenwriter Tyger Williams.

A couple of nice coincidences: the Arclight is just down the street from the supermarket [...]
e Comments Off Big Fish trailer in QuickTime
The Apple website now has a much better QuickTime version of the movie trailer, available here. Since it’s in QuickTime, you can easily stop it to see some of the stuff that moves by too quickly in the streaming versions, such as conjoined twins Ping and Jing.
e 3 Big Fish website is up
Columbia has launched the Big Fish website, although there’s not much to see right now.

Apparently, the movie received its PG-13 for “a fight sequence, some images of nudity and a suggestive reference.” And while that’s all true, it’s hard to imagine anyone taking offense to these moments. For instance, the “nudity” is [...]
e Comments Off Big Fish trailer up at Yahoo! Movies
Daniel Wallace just tipped me off that the Big Fish trailer is now available on Yahoo! Movies. You can find it, and a lot of photos from the production, here. For right now, it’s only available in Real Player and Windows Media Player formats, but Sony is good about getting Quicktime trailers up, so [...]
e Comments Off Big Fish on Entertainment Tonight
On Monday, October 6th, there is supposed to be a segment on Entertainment Tonight about BIG FISH, including the first look at the trailer. In all likelihood, it will be little chunks of the trailer with Bob Goen (or whoever the host is these days) talking over it. But hey, footage is footage.
e Comments Off Big Fish trailer to debut on Wednesday
The theatrical trailer for BIG FISH is finally done, and should be available starting Wednesday. You can expect to see it attached to movies beginning Friday, October 10th.
e Comments Off New Big Fish image from Yahoo! movies
Yahoo! Movies has a posted a few new photos from Big Fish, including this shot that opens the trailer.

The trailer, by the way, is nearly finished. I’d hope to see it attached to movies within the next few weeks.
e Comments Off New Steve Buscemi photo from Big Fish
The print edition of today’s Variety has a story on Steve Buscemi and the IFP Gotham awards. Along with the article is a new photo from BIG FISH, showing Buscemi as Norther Winslow, the greatest poet of both Ashton and Spectre, who later became a robber and tycoon.
e Comments Off Special GO screening Nov. 25th at the ArcLight
On Tuesday, November 25th, GO is being screened as part of the “Story to Glory” series at the ArcLight Cinema in Hollywood, followed by a Q&A with me. Will I say something profound and brilliant? No. But I’ll hopefully be coherent.

I haven’t seen GO on a big screen since 1999, so I’ll probably just watch it beforehand so I remember the plot. Plus, the ArcLight is by far my favorite movie theater in Los Angeles, since they let you reserve your individual seat. Along with my TiVo and my Prius, the ArcLight is one of my favorite modern conveniences.

The ArcLight theaters are big, so I’m not expecting it to sell out. But as soon as there is ticket information, I’ll put it up.
e Comments Off Big Fish release date now December 10th
After absolutely, positively deciding on December 18th as the opening date for Big Fish, Columbia is now apparently moving the release date up more than a week to Wednesday, December 10th. The same release pattern still holds: the movie will start out only in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto, before expanding into more [...]
e Comments Off Daniel Wallace website now open
Daniel Wallace, author of the novel Big Fish, has opened his own website with information about his books, illustrations and screenplays. It’s great. In fact, it has me sick with envy. Daniel even has links through which you can buy his books from Amazon — which you should, because that way he’ll get [...]
e 2 The Problem of Multiple Screenwriters
On the first CHARLIE’S ANGELS, you came on after the original writers, and, though numerous writers worked on the script, you stayed on the whole time and were credited along with the first team (whose script, save for the opening scene, has no resemblance to the movie). On the second film you were the original [...]
e Comments Off New Big Fish paperback

Penguin is issuing a special paperback version of Daniel Wallace’s “Big Fish” with the new cover artwork. (You can see the bigger version of it here.) The cover is essentially the same as the upcoming one-sheet poster.
e 1 More copyrights and changes
How important is it to register your screenplay?
e Comments Off Writers on art direction and cinematography
I am a film school student in southern CA, and I just saw a preview for CHARLIE’S ANGELS. I was very intrigued with the mis-en-scene of the picture and I wonder: How much influence does the writer (in this case) have over the art direction and style of photography?

–Anonymous

Well, clearly you’re a film student because [...]
e Comments Off Do writers have a say in the music?
Once your screenplay has been sold, do you (the writer) have any say in the music that is used?

–Joel Norn

Almost never. The music in a movie is ultimately the decision of the director and a contentious committee that includes the composer, the music supervisor, the editor, the producer, the studio, and the soundtrack representative. Sometimes [...]
e 10 How long to write a script
How long did it take to write GO? How long does it take to write a finished script? Do you work at an office day in, day out, or is it different?

–Floris

GO took about two years to write, but it was an unusual case in that I wrote it as a short film, then let [...]
e 1 Are characters based on people you know?
As a writer, do you worry about everyone in your life thinking characters are based on them?

–Dari

Surprisingly, the issue almost never comes up. I guess that means either, (a) everyone in my life has already accepted that something they say or do might someday end up on screen, or (b) they’re angry and repressing their [...]
e Comments Off Was Go written on-the-fly?
While listening to Doug Liman and Steven Mirrione’s commentary track on the GO DVD, they went through numerous scenes that weren’t in your original screenplay, but rather scenes they had you write in production. I was wondering what percentage of a film would you say is original material, and what percentage is threaded during the filming process? [...]
e 1 The sequence of Go
Did you originally write GO as an out-of-sequence story, or was that something you and Doug Liman changed after the script was written?

–Chris

Although there’s hardly a trace of it left in the script, the deep underlying story of GO originated from Alice in Wonderland. Even before I came to L.A., I’d been pondering ways [...]
e 3 More on becoming a co-producer
How a writer can stay involved in a producing capacity once the script is written.
e Comments Off Reading reviews
I was wondering, do you read reviews of films you’ve worked on? When you’re in a bookstore, do you go to the film section and check out how many stars Maltin or Ebert have given the films?

–Brenton

Thanks to the Internet, not only can I read what Maltin and Ebert say about my movies, I can [...]
e 2 A Go sequel?
If someone offered you a lot of money to do a sequel to GO, would you do it? Do you think a screenwriter has to take big money projects whenever they come along, just to survive in the business?

–L.M. Dix

First off, no one is going to offer me a lot of money to write a [...]
e Comments Off Big Fish Release Date Changed
Now that it’s in the trades, the BIG FISH release schedule appears to be getting closer to final. The movie will be debuting in three cities (New York, Los Angeles and Toronto) on Thursday, December 18th. Yes, it’s odd to open on a Thursday, but RETURN OF THE KING is opening on that Wednesday, [...]

johnaugust.com

(a ton of useful information about screenwriting)

Archive for the 'Projects' Category

Projects

Questions and Answers

About

Ask a Question

Search

Featured Articles

101: Some screenwriting basics

Watch Me

Feeds