Archive for the 'Go' Category

• e  35 Don’t make the feature version of your short

  Having worked with many emerging filmmakers through the Sundance Institute and other programs, I’m convinced it’s usually the wrong choice.

• e  23 How to logline a dual-plot story

  If both plotlines are key to your story, you need to make that clear in the logline. Otherwise, you risk future readers feeling like you bait-and-switched them.

• e  6 New interview up

  I did an interview this afternoon with Sam Heer at BlogTalkRadio’s 123Film station, in which we talked about Go, The Nines, the Burton movies and screenwriting in general.

• e  9 Go on Blu-ray

  My first movie, Go, will finally be coming out on Blu-ray on August 18th.

• 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  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  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  6 A look back at Go

  This Distracted Globe has a new look back and review of my first movie, Go.

• e  36 How to cut pages

  Just as important, what NOT to do when trying to cut length. Don’t cheat.

• e  58 Quitting, and the age question

  A tough question. Here are some signs that you should quit or stick with it.

• 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  6 Do screenwriters get a chunk of foreign TV money?

  When writers do and don’t get paid residuals.

• 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  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  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 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 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  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 [...]