John August

Projects

Big Fish now available on DVD

Big Fish, Projects

Big Fish DVD cover
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, visit the Filmmakers section for a surprisingly great piece on novelist [Daniel Wallace](http://danielwallace.org/), with a few choice comments by yours truly. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen several minutes dedicated to the writing. It makes me very glad I gave all those footrubs to the good folks at Columbia/TriStar Home Video.

I haven’t listened to Tim Burton’s commentary yet, but Tim is smart and droll, so I suspect it’s good. There’s no commentary from me or Daniel on the disc, which is a little surprising considering Sony insisted I do one for CHARLIE’S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE, and I can barely explain the plot of that one. Oh well. I’d also hoped for deleted scenes, largely because there’s a few I’ve never seen. But I haven’t heard any talk of a special extra-geeky edition, so this may be the one and only disc.

As you know, the WGA is currently negotiating with the studios over DVD residuals. Right now, I stand to make just under $0.05 per DVD sold. But hey, every little bit helps. And if you’re inclined to buy it from Amazon, I’ll make an extra few pfennigs in commission.

Writing on the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle

Projects, Tarzan

amtrakLast week, I took Amtrak’s [Coast Starlight](http://www.amtrak.com/trains/coaststarlight.html) 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 wrote long-hand, as I usually do on first drafts, and faxed the pages back to Los Angeles once I got to Seattle. Once everything was typed up, I had 41 more pages finished, which is good for three day’s work.

I’d recommend the train for any writer looking for some good alone time. Some caveats:

1. American trains are much, much slower than their European counterparts. We averaged 35.6 miles per hour.
4. My train was 2.5 hours late getting to Seattle, which is apparently the norm. So don’t expect to make it somewhere at a specific time.
1. You absolutely need a sleeping car. I have no trouble flying coach, but beyond hour ten, you’ll be pulling your hair out if you don’t have a door you can shut.
2. The dining car seats parties of four, so they’ll put you with strangers. Everyone I ate with was friendly and talkative.
3. Bring a pillowcase. The Amtrak linens are scratchy.
5. Cell phones work almost everywhere, except parts of Northern California.

I flew back from Seattle, which was always my plan. As much as I enjoyed my Amtrak time, I don’t know if I could have taken another 36 hours of train so soon.

Working on multiple projects

QandA, Tarzan, Writing Process

Do you prefer to work on one project at a time, from start to finish? Or do you prefer to keep a couple things going at once, maybe writing a couple pages on each a day?

–Jason Rinka
North Hollywood, CA

When the situation allows — that is, when I’m not horribly behind on a project I owe somebody — I prefer to work on one thing at a time. Unfortunately, I’m usually behind. As of this moment (March 2004), I’m on my third draft of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, my second draft of CORPSE BRIDE, and finishing my first draft of TARZAN. Generally, they get prioritized based on how soon the movie shoots, so CHARLIE gets the bulk of my energy, even though TARZAN is horribly overdue.

I would never try to write two first drafts at the same time — there’s too much planning involved. But a lot of rewriting can effectively be done in quick bursts, so working on multiple projects in one day isn’t as onerous as it seems. Once you’ve written the screenplay, it’s pretty easy to get back in the right mindset when a director calls with a quick change.

Television writers in particular have to be ready to work on any script at any time, since any given moment they have an episode in outline, an episode in prep, an episode shooting, and an episode in post. Of course, television also benefits from having characters and storylines that continue — you’re not reinventing every 60 pages.