1) Some scripts coming in. Would like to see a lot more. I'm going to set a deadline for script entry: Monday, March 31st. (I'm out of town a lot in March)
2) I am still discussing this with Steve Worth. We'll be chatting later in this month about his role in this. It's important to me that the ASIFA ARCHIVE be the judge of a good script. That's my point. But "none of the above" and "they all suck" is not an acceptable answer.
So, by now, some of you have probably figured out what I was thinking about... but maybe you didn't figure out all of the details.
I think there are writers who can write lyrically, visually and well enough that they can script out a classic.
I am not so vain as to think it's me.
But I do believe that person is out there.
And so, in honor of this week's "Annie Awards," which also includes script writing as part of its list of honors... I'd like to propose, announce (and God Help Me, fund) the First annual Script That Classic Contest!
And the classic I'd like to propose be scripted - retrofitted backwards from classic cartoon (as listed by our friend and periodic poster Stephen Worth) is "Falling Hare."
The rules are pretty simple:
Watch the cartoon. Write a script in Final Draft, or in RTF format. Mail it to me at Marmel@marmel.com. Include your name, address, contact information, etc.
I will then log it, anonymize it (remove all names, etc.) and then submit it for judging.
And while I plan on reaching out to other board artists, directors and story people to help go through the stuff and give opinions, I would like the final judge of this to be Stephen Worth.
Pick the best of the bunch. Show script writers what's right. And in return, you can take the worst of the bunch, and gut it.
Here's what happens when a winner is picked.
The winner will be announced, and un-anonymized. I will see that the winner is paid a "teleplay fee" for a short-subject script - as determined by the IATSE/TAG 839 rules. I think it's a little less than $2000. This may be out of my own pocket, but I'd like to see this person be paid to punch up an existing project. (Note: If the winner is from out of state, travelling to a punch up meeting would be on them.)
I will personally make an in-kind donation to the ASIFA-Archive.
I humbly ask other producer on this 'blog to chip in work as well. (Hell, the more that gets chipped in, the less out of pocket I face. I'm not an idiot. :) )
But it boils down to this: I will only do this if Stephen judges, in deference to his knowledge of the past. I freely admit - I know less about this than a lot of people. So I'll need the assistance of people with artier minds than I.
The cartoon is picked - one of the classic cartoons of all time. Chosen by someone with not only an encyclopedic knowledge of animation... but who directs the archive that honors it.
I'm in for the parts I can bring to the table. My time. My scripty-producer head. Cash. And opportunity.
One of the few in Steven's list that I'm kicking around for what I want to announce next week.
A quick: "I'm learning as I do this side note," as I was trying to track down "The Big Snooze" I found a Chili Willy cartoon of the same name. I was assuming you didn't mean that.
"Big Snooze" is a little harder to find (in other words, didn't instantly show up on Youtube) but find it I shall. And find it I did!
Stephen Worth suggested I write a script based on the "Bugs/Porky" section of "Corny Concerto"
I'll be the first to point out... I don't think you COULD do a script for the Bugs and Porky section of this cartoon.
Something WAS written before this cartoon was boarded... and it was the music. So if anything, the music is the script to service the cartoon, which is whimsy and romp. About 2:40 seconds worth of cartoon with a wafer thin thru-line that is there to go from gag to gag to gag. (If you're just looking for the "Bugs" part, start watching at about the one minute mark.)
So... while it's a good suggestion, it feels like a bit of a trap. :)
I don't think you can script out a cartoon like this in a way that services what this cartoon wants to do. Nor would I try.
Keep the discussion going tho. Somebody suggested "Tail of Two Kitties." but i'll take a few more before I throw something out for a vote.
If you could pick one cartoon - ONE - to work backwards from... To go from Animated Cartoon backwards to script... to either prove that it's possible or prove that it's not... what would it be?
One of the classics - a cartoon that would make the "purists" (the quotes are sarcastic, by the way) want to stab themselves in the eyes before reading as text - what would it be?
Pick a cartoon you think is so perfect, so flawless, that words could NEVER do it justice...
Which one would you choose?
A few extra caveats:
* Give me a classic cartoon with words and actions that holds up today. * If it's wordless, give me something in the Road Runner / Tom and Jerry world where there's conflict AND cartoon comedy.
I'm looking for that "played in the mornings when we were kids, they don't make cartoons like that anymore" cartoon that everybody holds up as the standard.
And then, I'll let ya know what I'm up to.
- Steve
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Why did it take no TV to make me stop watching shit TV?
I can't speak for everyone on the planet, but... I am not in the sole control of my TV, or my TIVO.
On any given day, there's movies on there I don't like, Oprah's I'd rather get eye cancer than watch... and then Cashmere Mafia, which makes feel very serial killer-y. I really need an hour of women telling me that they have a place in the workplace? Really? What is this, 1955?
I like it better on Madmen when it's done in context and nobody's trying to convince you it's a comedy.
But in the dry spell that has been the wrtier's strike, I have discovered Weeds, Battlestar Galactica, The Sarah Conner Chronicles (Nerd!), Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and I absorb Grey's Anatomy like a sponge.
All of them: Scripted.
Don't get me wrong. There are some reality shows I like: I like the end of American Idol, I enjoy Celebrity Apprentice, and I can find myself absorbed in Amazing Race, provided the people in it aren't all complete tools.
But the shows that get my loyalty... are the ones that are written. With stories. And characters. And plot lines.
Everybody talks about this strike sending people screaming to the internet. But I think there's something else happening too: It's sending them screaming to DVD box sets and netflix.
I think you're going to find that people are seeking out good TV. And for all we know, that's good news for shows like 30 Rock, shows that are on the bubble that people are finding for the first time...
...and will return to when they're back on the air, brand new.
