John August

News

Feeds and subscriptions

Geek Alert, Meta, News

geek alertIn a bit of misguided tweaking, I completely screwed up the RSS feeds for the site. It was a few weeks before I realized the damage I’d done. (I was redirecting through FeedBurner, but only certain formats, leaving other feeds lying dormant. Bad.)

I think everything is fixed now. I’m back to the (new-ish?) default URL’s for WordPress:

__http://johnaugust.com/feed__ (for all articles)

__http://johnaugust.com/comments/feed__ (for all comments)

While older URL’s should redirect, it’s probably worth checking your browser to make sure that it’s looking for the right thing. The feed now serves up full articles as RSS 2.0.

Each article’s comments can also be tracked as a feed. There’s a link (and icon) below the comment box.

I’ve also added an option to receive comments to an article by email. I use this feature occasionally on other sites, when I’m curious what follow-up comments will come days, weeks or months later. Let me know if you like it; it’s a plug-in that can be turned on or off.

Also, big news coming tomorrow morning.

Goodnight Moon, Hello Movie

Check the date, News, Projects

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](http://astore.amazon.com/johnaugustcom-20/detail/0694003611/103-7231239-6222202), by Margaret Wise Brown.

[book](http://astore.amazon.com/johnaugustcom-20/103-7231239-6222202?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=28)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 for years. [Robert Bolt](http://imdb.com/name/nm0004122/) wrote a draft, as have [Waldo Salt](http://imdb.com/name/nm0759029/) and [Andrew Kevin Walker](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001825/) (his version had [Tom Tykwer](http://imdb.com/name/nm0878756/) attached.) So will this new incarnation be the one that finally gets it made? Hard to say.

There are certainly plenty of heavy-hitters involved: [Gore Verbinski](http://imdb.com/name/nm0893659/) is directing, Joel Silver is producing, and Lucasfilm has signed on to handle the visual effects. The movie will be shot largely greenscreen, like 300, with extensive motion capture to handle the Little Bunny and the Kittens.I fully recognize the irony in using greenscreen to create the Great Green Room.

Probably the most innovative and challenging aspect is the casting of the Quiet Old Lady: [Jessica Tandy](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001788/), who passed away in 1994. Using reference photos and forensic measurement (obtained with permission of her estate), she’ll be digitally recreated, a pixel-perfect reproduction.Tandy’s voice won’t be a particular challenge. True to the book, the Quiet Old Lady only whispers one line: “Hush.” The hope is that the R&D involved in building her for this movie will enable her to be re-used in future movies.I’ve actually read a script for a sequel to Driving Miss Daisy, which was obviously never shot. They’re talking about doing it in digital 3D, but it’s unclear whether that’s really going to happen. The infrastructure might not be there, and I’d question whether little kids are going to be willing to wear special glasses. No matter what the format, count on a great Danny Elfman soundtrack to accompany the visuals.

The movie is set up at Walden (who did Narnia) for 20th Century Fox. Given the number of zeroes in the budget, one would expect it to be a summer or Christmas release, but it’s obviously a long ways off.

Before you ask, I have no who we’re casting for the other roles. Right now, I’m focusing on how to turn an 18-page board book into a 100-minute family-friendly blockbuster.

**UPDATE (4/2/07): For future readers looking through the archives, please make sure to check the date: April 1, 2007. Which is also known as [April Fools’ Day](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools’_Day).**

Writer/Directors and Co-Ops

Film Industry, News

This weekend brought two stories of interest to screenwriters, particularly those of the Hollywood bent.

The first was [Rachel Abramowitz’s article](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-ca-writers18mar18,1,5043214.story?ctrack=1&cset=true) in the LA Times about the recent batch of screenwriters-turned-directors, which included bits about Scott Frank, Mike White, and Charlie Kaufman, among others. I spoke to her about *The Nines*:

“Most of what I do never makes it to the screen,” he says, voicing a common lament. “I feel all this responsibility to those characters and these stories. They’re half alive. They’re trapped in 12-point Courier.”

“The Nines,” he says, deals with “the responsibility of a creator to his creations. You can look at it from a religious point of view. If you create this whole universe, are you responsible for making sure it sticks around?”

The second story comes from today’s Variety, in which Michael Fleming breaks the news of a new [“Writer’s Co-Op”](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117961371.html?categoryid=13&cs=1) formed by writer/producer John Wells and others.

I’ve read the article three times, and many of the details aren’t clear. But here’s the basics: Nineteen established screenwriters are agreeing to cut their up-front fees in exchange for first-dollar gross on the projects that get made. In addition, the screenwriters would have additional controls over their material. The deal is set up at Warners; it’s unclear whether any other studios would match the terms.

Will it work? I hope so. While the Writers Guild plays a crucial role in enforcing minimum standards for payments and practices, I’ve long felt there was room for improvement at the top end of the feature screenwriting continuum. By banding together, big-name scribes can get more leverage.

Which leads to the awkward issue of which names are on that list of 19. Mine isn’t; I wasn’t asked.Insert whichever “wouldn’t join a club that would have me” rationalization you’d like. Did I feel a little slighted? Sure. Did the realization that other big names weren’t on the list comfort me? Yes. Is it awkward admitting this? Certainly. Readers might remember a similar-sounding agreement at Sony/Columbia several years back. I was part of that, and despite making several movies for the studio during the time, found that it never amounted to much.Word around the virtual water-cooler is that David Koepp likely made some money through the Sony deal, because his original Spider-Man grossed so much that the deal’s profit definition must have kicked in. For whatever reason, he’s not part of the Writers Co-Op deal. Many of the writers who were part of the Sony deal are participants in this new venture, so it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

Publicity 101

Big Fish, Charlie, Film Industry, Follow Up, News

Last night, the [Writers Guild Foundation](http://www.wgfoundation.org/) held a panel discussion about publicity. I was one of the panelists, but I ended up learning a fair amount myself.

For example, according to a Variety editor, it’s perfectly okay for a screenwriter to pick up the phone and call a writer at the trades when you’ve sold a project.Announcements like this run all the time (c.f. Shazam!). It has to be legit, of course. Optioning a script to your roommate, who is an aspiring producer-slash-drummer, doesn’t count. It’s strange: in this blog, I’m constantly telling aspiring screenwriters to stop asking for permission and just do what they want to do. But I honestly wouldn’t be ballsy enough to call an unknown writer at the trades to do this.

Chris Day, who runs publicity for my agency (UTA) brought with him a memo I’d written in the Big Fish era. At his suggestion, I was meeting with publicists, and had listed my goals and messages.I was an advertising major, so this kind of publicity-speak comes naturally. I promised attendees at the panel that I would find the original memo and post a .pdf of it. So here it is: [Big Fish publicity goals](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/pub_goals.pdf).

One of the questions that came from the audience–but probably should have started out the evening–was, What is the point of publicity, exactly? Most of us aren’t looking to be famous per se, and unlike a novelist, our names alone aren’t going to be selling books.

The Writers Guild Foundation stresses that any time a screenwriter gets press, that helps all screenwriters. And to some degree, that’s true. [There are no famous screenwriters](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2006/are-you-somebody), but 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.

But I’d say the main reason to think about publicity is to help the movies and TV shows you’re involved with. The screenwriter tends to know more about the story than anyone else on the project, so you can be a crucial resource as journalists figure out how to write about the plot. I’ve attended a half-dozen junkets, and have rarely seen myself directly quoted. But I recognize a lot of what I’ve said in the stories that are written. If I can help create a consistent, positive message, then I’ve done my job.

The other reason to think about publicity is in terms of your overall career. I have no doubt that I’ve gotten meetings with certain directors and actors because of repeated exposure to my name. It’s nice if someone likes Big Fish. It’s even better if they remember I wrote it. Every time a news story includes the phrase, “…August, whose credits include Big Fish, Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…” that’s like refreshing the cache on someone’s internal IMDb.