John August

John

His name is my name too

Film Industry, QandA

questionmarkI am interested in screenwriting and would love to break into the business. My problem is that John August is my real name. Will I have to use a different name?

I have many scripts I’m working on. Any advice on the name situation would be great!

— John August
Oakland, CA

A quick Google search will reveal there are a bunch of us John Augusts. One guy wants to abolish the Australian state governments, and has been active on the internet since Usenet days. [John August Swanson](http://www.johnaugustswanson.com/default.cfm/PID=1.2.11) is a painter, while another John August does guitar instruction books. And one specializes in [interlocking pavers](http://www.geckostone.com/pavers.html).

My favorite non-me John August has a site dedicated to [diabetic foot problems](http://members.tripod.com/~JohnAugust/). And here I am just answering questions about [bad catering](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2003/craft-service).

Unlike the [Screen Actor’s Guild](http://www.sag.org), which forces actors to use a unique name, there’s no prohibition in Hollywood for multiple writers having identical names. As a practical matter, though, it’s quite inconvenient. But there are a few good solutions.

1. Use your middle name or initial. On [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com), there are at least eight David Steinbergs. But the one I know, a screenwriter, is David H. Steinberg, and he’s doing very well. He writes “David H. Steinberg” on his scripts, and no one gets confused.

2. Use your first and middle initials. Tom Smith is a pretty common name, so my friend’s scripts are marked [T. C. Smith](http://imdb.com/name/nm1049340/). He got the [Nicholl Fellowship](http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/), so something worked. Initials are also a good way of concealing your gender.

3. Do you like any of the variations on “John?” Jonathan, Jack, Juan, Johann? I was a week into pre-production on Go when I realized that the familiar-looking gaffer was actually a college acquaintance, John Lampassi. He was now going by [Giovani Lampassi](http://imdb.com/name/nm0483828/) — “Gio.” People are much more likely to remember his name because, frankly, how many Gios do you know?

4. How do you feel about your mother’s maiden name?

5. And remember, despite what you read on this site, there are other rewarding careers out there beyond screenwriting.

Any other ego-surfing John Augusts out there, please leave a comment so we can get a headcount.

What became of American McGee’s Alice?

Dead Projects, QandA, Treatments

questionmarkI’m just wondering what ever happened with the production of “Dark Wonderland,” with the American McGee characters of Alice In Wonderland. I haven’t heard anything about it in a while, and can’t seem to find much info on it.

— Dan
Ontario, Canada

To the best of my knowledge, nothing’s happening with it.

The brief history: Miramax/Dimension hired me to write a (long) film treatment based on [American McGee’s Alice](href=”http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=johnaugustcom-20&path=tg%2Fdetail%2F-%2FB00006G9SB%2Fqid%3D1099782249%2Fsr%3D8-1%2Fref%3Dpd_csp_1%3Fv%3Dglance%26s%3Dvideogames%26n%3D507846) videogame — a trippy retelling/continuation of Alice in Wonderland. Wes Craven was supposed to direct it, but he didn’t really care for my treatment, and things quickly fell apart.

It’s so interesting how (mis-) information spreads on the Internet. For instance, the title “Dark Wonderland.” Don’t ask me where that came from. It was never real, nor was any of the “casting” that was supposedly taking place.

I had lunch a few weeks ago with American, and asked him about it. He didn’t really know what was going on either, except that the project’s apparently at Fox now. He posted everything he knows about the movie at his own site, so people would hopefully stop asking. (Link is now dead.)

I’ll ask around, but as far as I know, there’s no script, no director, no actress, nothin’. But it’s still a kick-ass game. And for his part, American has become a screenwriter himself, so if anyone should take the reins, it’s him.

The Dead File

Dead Projects, Projects

While writing about the [non-existent Columbia thriller](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2004/whatever-happened-to) 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 entire 120-page drafts. Pitches, treatments, rewrites and aborted attempts would be a much longer list.

HERE AND NOW
Unsold. My first script, a romantic tragedy set in Colorado. Under-plotted and over-written, but it got me an agent.

HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS
Universal/Imagine. My first paid screenwriting assignment, an adaptation of [Thomas Rockwell’s book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=johnaugustcom-20&path=tg%2Fdetail%2F-%2F0440445450%2Fqid%3D1099597776%2Fsr%3D8-1%2Fref%3Dpd_csp_1%3Fv%3Dglance%26s%3Dbooks%26n%3D507846).


A WRINKLE IN TIME
Miramax/Dimension. An adaptation of [Madeleine L’Engle’s book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=johnaugustcom-20&path=tg%2Fdetail%2F-%2F0440498058%2Fqid%3D1099597867%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fv%3Dglance%26s%3Dbooks). Technically, it was made, as an ABC TV movie. But the draft they used pre-dated mine.

DEVIL’S CANYON
Unsold. Zombie western set in a Colorado mining town, circa 1859.

FENWICK’S SUIT
Fox 2000. Adaptation of [David Small’s book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=johnaugustcom-20&path=tg%2Fdetail%2F-%2F0374322988%2Fqid%3D1099597947%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fv%3Dglance%26s%3Dbooks) about a man’s suit which comes to life.

DEMONOLOGY
Paramount. Two prep school girls have to save Manhattan from the Apocalypse.

FANTASY ISLAND
Columbia. Big-budget tentpole adaptation of the ABC TV show.

THIEF OF ALWAYS
Universal.
Adaptation of [Clive Barker’s novel](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=johnaugustcom-20&path=ASIN%2F0064409945%2Fqid%3D1099598005%2Fsr%3D2-1%2Fref%3Dpd_ka_b_2_1).

SCARED GUYS
Columbia. Page-one rewrite of comedy about phobic brothers.

BARBARELLA
Fox 2000/Warner Bros. Based on the comic book character, not the movie.

FURY
Unsold. Violent action thriller.

This, dear readers, is what sucks about being a screenwriter. Added up, this list represents five or more years of my writing career, but I don’t have a frame of celluloid to show for it.

Not one of these projects is “the best thing I’ve ever written,” I’m happy to report. Still, many of these scripts are near and dear to my heart. Demonology, for example, is the unholy spawn of my two favorite movies, Clueless and Aliens. Others, like Fantasy Island, I’m happy enough to forget. Even though I spent months on various drafts, it never connected for me or the studio.

When asked what kind of movies I prefer to write, I’ll sometimes glibly anwer: “Ones that get made.” I don’t think that’s cynical as much as it is pragmatic. I never think about writing a script. The goal is always to make a movie.

Whatever happened to…

Pitches, Projects, QandA

questionmarkWhile wasting time on Scriptsales.com, I came across a sci-fi/thriller you sold to Columbia back in 2000. The log line was: “Three explorers, searching for fossilized evidence of a prehistoric species, discover the true cause of its extinction.”

Sounds cool. Any plot details you can share? Any chance we’ll ever get to see it produced?

–Dan
Los Angeles

The real question is if I’ll ever write it.

I sold this project as a pitch. Basically, I had a good idea for a scary, expensive tent-pole summer movie, so I met with Amy Pascal (who runs Columbia Pictures) and she liked it. Deals were made. Contracts were signed.

But then things got busy with the second Charlie’s Angels, Big Fish, and a half-dozen other movies I worked on. In the meantime, a long-dormant project at another studio came roaring back to life, and it was clear that I’d have to make some big changes to avoid overlapping with their story. (And no, I’m not going to say what that other movie is, but it is being made.)

So, as often happens, my project was put on a back burner. I never typed so much as a “FADE IN:”, nor have I been paid anything. Still, I may get around to writing it one day, because there’s some very intriguing stuff in the concept, which isn’t obvious in the press release.

One thing to bear in mind when reading about any project in the trades is that filmmakers will often be a little disingenous about the actual plot, for fear of spoiling the surprise. That’s certainly the case here. Suffice to say the movie is much less Jurassic Park-y than you’d think.

Who knows. Maybe one day I’ll do it.