Screamwriter

Monsters in the Movies

2012-01-30T23:30:00.023-05:00

I recently came across a terrific interview with John Landis on an episode of The Treatment. He was promoting Monsters in the Movies, his new book on the evolution of movie monsters. A lot of the stuff we assume comes straight from Old Country folklore is actually the clever invention of 20th century screenwriters. For example, sunlight wasn't harmful to vampires until Nosferatu came along. Maybe a hundred years from now, all movie vampires will sparkle... *shudder*

It's definitely something I'll be checking out when time permits...

2012 Nicholl Fellowships Competition

2012-01-28T23:34:00.007-05:00

Well, it's that time again. The Nicholl folks are now accepting entries. It feels like my 2011 elimination e-mail was just yesterday. Come on, Scream. Positive thoughts... My werewolf spec had a good run in other screenwriting contests but never cracked the Nicholl Quarterfinals. After three attempts, I won't be submitting it this year.

I've fallen a little behind schedule with my intended submission, a monster-free supernatural thriller. I'm currently somewhere in the middle of the second draft. No major plotting issues, just trying to smooth out the execution. I'd like to have the heavy lifting completed before the early deadline, then a month of tweaking before actually submitting in sometime in April. Speaking of deadlines, a couple changes from previous years:

Early deadline is now March 15th, regular is May 1st.
Entry fees have gone up: $35 (early), $52 (regular)

The payout has gone up from $30k to $35k

Also, first round scripts will be now be read by two different readers. I like this change. You're not longer at the mercy of a sole reader who just doesn't get your obvious brilliance — I mean, Grandma LOVED it!

Good luck!

Touch

2012-01-26T23:30:00.052-05:00

A few quick thoughts on the preview:

12 Million viewers, thanks in part to American Idol, ain't too shabby. We'll see if they come back for the official launch in March.

Aside from knowing the basic premise: an autistic kid who can see how everything is connected (past, present and future), I really hadn't thought about Touch's format as an ongoing series. Little Jake comes up with some seemingly random numbers and it's up to his dad Martin (Kiefer Sutherland) figure out what they mean. Danny Glover and Gugu Mbatha-Raw have supporting roles as mentor and social worker/potential love interest respectively.

Even though he's not playing Jack Bauer, Kiefer always brings the intensity. I got a little bored in the middle, but it was fun watching all the pieces come together at the end. Unapologetically schmaltzy but also effective. I gave it a slight edge over the Alcatraz pilot.

There's a passing resemblance to Person of Interest going on here -- a weekly mystery connected to numbers -- except that POI aims for our heads, while Touch tugged relentlessly at the ole heart strings and it worked for the most part. But I do wonder if there's enough going on to keep audiences engaged on a weekly basis. POI has lots of little mysteries to go along with the standalone episodes.

Hopefully, Touch will establish an ongoing mythos, but nothing too convoluted. We all remember how Heroes started off so strongly -- only to crash and burn a few seasons later. It'll be interesting to see what lessons Tim Kring learned.

STEP 6 (Monday, Week 4):

2012-01-23T23:37:00.061-05:00

Now you’re structured with a 40-60 scene story based on the idea that was in your head 2 weeks ago and is now a registered treatment. It is now time to write your first draft. It is no longer as intimidating as having an idea and facing 90-120 blank pages.

Start on Tuesday with writing only Scene 1. Spend 15-20 minutes per day. No more. If scene 1 types into 1/2 page or 3 pages it doesn’t matter. Just write Scene 1 and stop. Wednesday write Scene 2. Thursday write Scene 3. I bet that come Friday, now that you’re structured, you are no longer scared of the blank page and actually enjoy writing scene-by-scene. I further bet that you call in sick from work on Friday and stay home and write 10-15 scenes of 20-30 pages. Saturday the same. Sunday, go to church and pray for the ability to have good dialogue and believable characters. Then on Monday (Week 3) you will have your first draft finished in the next 3-4 days.

A first draft is written, step-by-step in 3 weeks, with 6 easy-to-follow steps. Now remember, "Nothing is written; it’s re-written." All that you have is a first draft. Send this, like your treatment, with $20 and have it registered at the Writer’s guild, and start your re-write.

Done. Not sure if I'll be able to reach the suggested top speed of 10-15 scenes a day, but I'll give it a shot. I'm someone who's used to winging it off a very loose outline, but I can see the advantages all this prep work. It's nowhere as restrictive as I imagined. Treatments aren't a total waste of time! Suddenly, Act II seems a little more manageable. They're going to be a standard part of my m.o. from now on. I'll post a progress report in a week...

STEP 5 (Sunday, Week 4):

2012-01-22T23:45:00.055-05:00

Now let’s get organized for your first draft. Create a structured outline. Great writers say there are 40-60 scenes in a movie. No one really knows how many there are. I advise renting a couple of movies you really enjoy and counting the scenes. Whatever number you come up with, that is the rhythm you seem to enjoy. Let’s say you came up with 40 or 50 scenes. Then on a large piece of paper, write down the numbers 1-40 or 1-50. Then fill in each scene (chronological order) with 7-10 descriptive words. Start with Scene 1 and a problem. Scene 2 introduces a protagonist. Scene 3 introduces the antagonist, etc. Don’t go exactly down the page. Skip around. Go to scene 40 or 50 and write the ending. Scene 39 and write the great car chase. Scene 38 and write why the car chase is about to happen. Then go to your 4-6 "Uh-Ohs" and "Oh-Shits" and write them in Scenes 10, 20, 30, 35, etc. Now fill in the other scene numbers with what are called B stories.

Voila!! In 1-3 days you have filled in an open ended jigsaw puzzle and created a story with 40-60 scenes, that has a beginning, a middle, and an end, with 4-6 major crises and several back stories. Your idea is now a fully fleshed out story.

Now where was I again??

I was sidetracked for while and then my sidetrack got sidetracked. I wasn't satisfied with my treatment so I went back and (eventually) came up with something more intimate or claustrophobic — take your pick. I also gave the title an extreme makeover.

On another positive note/sidetrack, I received two script requests last week for the werewolf spec. Did some minor tweaking before sending it out.

A script in three weeks is obviously out of the question at this point. Honestly, it was never a reality to begin with. But I did complete Step 5. Ready for Step 6 tomorrow...

STEP 4C (Sunday, Week 2):

2012-01-08T23:45:00.000-05:00

Now let’s write the big middle. The beginning is short (half a page). The ending is also short (half a page). It’s the big middle that is what all storytelling is about. So now you are going to fill in the bottom half of page 1, all of page 2, and the top half of page 3 with your middle. Writing instructors claim that the middle (AKA: Act II) is where most stories fall apart. I agree.

So let’s fill up the middle with interesting events. Writing instructors call these plot points. I call them the "Oh-Shits" and the "Uh-Ohs". There are about 4-6 points in a movie about 15-20 minutes apart, after Act I, where things seem to be advancing and then dramatically fall apart. These are the "Oh-Shits" and the "Uh-Ohs".

Come up with 4-6 of these. Make each a small paragraph, in chronological order, and fill in the bottom half of page 1, all of page 2, and the top half of page 3. Re-write it into 3-5 pages. Put on a title sheet. Take it, along with $20, to the Writer’s Guild of America and register it. You have now written your first treatment.

Mission accomplished! My treatment is done. It's ugly and clumsy in some spots, but in no way a complete waste of time. Although story isn't fully formed, I can see how the pieces will fit together. It's much more coherent than I expected. I'll probably make some revisions before moving on to STEP 5.

STEP 4B (Saturday, Week 1):

2012-01-07T23:46:00.019-05:00

Now go to page 3 and write the ending of your movie. You should, hopefully, know how your movie ends. This should be no more than 1-2 paragraphs and occupy the bottom half of page 3. Now don’t forget the big car chase.

Okay, first stumbling block. I completed my ending, but I'm not happy with it. The stakes aren't big enough and I don't have a good feel for the characters. It's tough to put them in certain situations when I haven't completely figured out their motivations — and I kinda suck at mapping out endings. I usually have a strong inkling of how the story will play out, but it can take a while before that final scene materializes.

Maybe I'm over thinking it. Perhaps I should go for something more generic like:

After a thrilling car chase, the bad guys are thwarted, the girlfriend is rescued and the good guys win.

Meh. This step will be revisited...

STEP 4A (Friday, Week 1):

2012-01-06T23:05:00.060-05:00

Write one paragraph, 3-4 long, run-on (if needed) sentences. Write the beginning. On the first half of page 1, in double-spaced typing, write the 5 W’s and 1 H. Who. What. Where. When. Why. How. Describing who’s in the story, what’s happening, where it’s happening, when it’s happening, why it’s happening and how it’s happening. Remember, no more than one paragraph covering half of page 1. You have now typed your beginning.

You know the routine by now. I typed my beginning and now I'm done for the day. I don't feel especially productive, but I am starting to see the value of an exercise like this. Chipping away at a daunting task through the use of simple goals, planning and consistency. Kind of like poor Andy Dufresne and his tiny rock hammer in The Shawshank Redemption — 'cept I don't want to spend 19 years working on this script!

STEP 4 (Thursday, Week 1):

2012-01-05T22:53:00.000-05:00

Write the treatment. No one knows how many pages a treatment should be. I have heard as short as 3-5 pages and as long as 30-50 pages. So let’s start with writing a 3-5 page treatment. Guess what, it gets easier. Treatments are typed double space so you’re really only going to write 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pages. All movies are the same. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Haven’t you heard that 20 times by now? So take 3 pieces of blank paper. Call page 1 "The Beginning," page 2 "The Middle," and page 3 "The End."

Done. I feel like an impatient Ralph Macchio (or Jaden Smith) in The Karate Kid. When do I start writing lots of stuff?

STEP 3 (Wednesday, Week 1):

2012-01-04T23:34:00.038-05:00

Write 15-25 words. Another 300% increase in writing. We’re just zipping along. Now type the TV logline. Condense your story into 15-25 words (protagonist, antagonist, or good guy/bad guy, situation, and problem) so that it can fit into TV Guide. If it can’t fit into TV Guide then how is anyone going to know to turn the TV onto your movie some night. Also, if you can’t get the story down to 15-25 words, there can’t be “word of mouth.”

Done. Now I don't claim to be some kind of logline savant, but they usually don't give me a lot of trouble.

And while I'm not going to post my logline for all the world to see, I will say that it has something to do with an alien invasion.

So far so good. The next few days will be interesting because outlines/treatments have never been my strong suit -- which probably explains much of my second act hand-wringing. I start with a light framework that includes the major beats, but then I wing it as I go along. We'll see what happens...

STEP 2 (Tuesday, Week 1):

2012-01-03T23:29:00.001-05:00

Write 5-9 words. This is a 300% increase in writing over yesterday but I know you can handle it. Write the theme. Squeeze it into 5-9 words (AKA: “men are truly evil beings,” or “boys & girls can’t be buddies because of sex,” or “siblings are born to be rivals,” etc.) and type it. Next, cut it out and scotch tape it onto your keyboard or typewriter or screen. Thus, when you go to write your script you will always be reminded to keep it flowing through the 5-9 word theme.

Okay...

"Man is his own worst enemy."

The theme of my script usually manifests after the first draft is complete. Felt weird doing it the other way around. Check out this great article by Bill Martell on Theme and Emotional Conflict.

STEP 1 (Monday, Week 1):

2012-01-02T22:45:00.000-05:00

My first day into Dov S-S Simens' Write A Screenplay In 3 Weeks exercise.

http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/write-a-screenplay-in-3-weeks

Write 1-3 words. Type the title. I think you can handle 1-3 words. Now write the title. That’s it. Nothing more.

XXX XXXXXXX XXXXX

Well, that wasn't too hard. Already fighting an urge to change it...

FADE IN:

2012-01-01T22:22:00.102-05:00

What better way to kick off 2012 than with a new screenplay? This article about writing a script in 3 weeks has me intrigued. 15-25 minutes a day? Even I can do that. Yes, the end result is going to be terrible, but that's the case with most first drafts.

My Achilles Heel has always been paralysis by analysis, so I'm more than willing to see if this will work. I've always liked writing under deadlines. And it would be cool to develop the ability to churn out 4-5 polished scripts by the end of the year. Not Max Landis levels of productivity, but still somewhat respectable. At any rate, I've already settled on an idea for script number one: found footage sci-fi/horror. Nothing too complicated. Not sure if it will crack 90 pages.

Day One of this exercise officially begins tomorrow. I'll try to post daily updates...

BTW, you're more than welcome to play along.

Underworld: Endless War

2011-12-30T19:52:00.042-05:00

Thought I posted this already...

I was always a big advocate of taking the Underworld universe into the realm of animation, so I was excited to see a clip of the animated short included as an extra on the upcoming DVD boxset. Apparently, it's a prequel to Underworld: Awakening and explains what happened to Michael -- you might have noticed that he isn't in the trailer. Can't say that I'm a huge fan of the artwork. Reminds me of Van Helsing: The London Assignment.

At one point, I seriously toyed with the idea of creating concept art for my werewolf script and putting it on youtube. Nothing fancy, just a simple slideshow set to music. Maybe I'll revisit the concept in 2012.

17th Precinct

2011-12-29T23:07:00.002-05:00

17th Precinct is was a police procedural set in a world governed by magic and intuition. Science and reason? Ha! Created by Battlestar Galactica's (SYFY) Ron Moore, it didn't make the cut for NBC's 2011-2012 season, but you can check out the pilot below...

17th Precinct from ddt73 on Vimeo.

UPDATE: Well, that didn't last very long. I'm sure it's floating around the net somewhere... *cough*youtube*cough*

A little clunky, which is the case with most pilots, but certainly watchable -- perhaps a little too fantastical for casual viewers. I don't think they'd be willing to invest the time to learn the rules of an alternate and magical reality. The cast had good chemistry. Battlestar vets like Tricia Helfer, Jamie Bamber and James Callis probably helped with that. I enjoyed the way things came together at the end. Two opposing beliefs on a collision course: head vs. heart.

Overall, 17th Precinct seems better suited as a mini-series than an episodic drama. Still, it was nice to see someone try something off the beaten path.

Happy Pre-New Year!

2011-12-22T23:14:00.033-05:00

It's never too early to start thinking about New Year's resolutions. I have two simple screenwriting-related goals for 2012: read and write more. Back in the day, I used to read anything I could get my hands on. But after a while, I started to focus more on screenwriting articles rather than actual screenplays. I'd peruse a script here and there, but it was no longer a priority. Guess I thought I had passed that stage. Silly me.

Meaningless contest placements and read requests aside, the shimmering Golden Apple is not yet within the reach of my scrawny fingers. My writing still has a long ways to go. I learned a great deal from reading produced scripts. I reckon they have a few more lessons to teach.

Recently, I came across a script goldmine, the BBC Writersroom. A few feature scripts, but primarily teleplays. You can find teleplays for shows like Being Human, The Fades, Luther and Doctor Who.

Enjoy!

It Was All A Dream

2011-12-16T23:44:00.024-05:00

Remember the production company that requested my script a few months back? Well, I finally sent out the dreaded follow-up email. And what was their response?

Guess I'll take that as a pass... but don't cry for me, Argentina. I received another request two weeks ago from a low budget producer. We'll see how that pans out...

Overall, if I were to grade my 2011 Script Marketing Campaign, I'd give it a C. I don't have any regrets about entering only one screenwriting contest (Nicholl). The money was better served finding contacts on imdbpro. Okay, the majority of those contacts resulted in a cricket symphony, but a few were receptive to queries, so that counts as a positive.

A stronger logline probably could have gotten me a few more reads. However, I have to be a little honest here and admit the story doesn't get a lot of points for originality. I've always suspected this was its Achilles heel in the bigger screenwriting contests like Austin and Nicholl. I might have overestimated my ability to elevate a mundane story and/or underestimated the sheer number of werewolf scripts out there. A little cockiness on my part.

So what's next? Finish up the supernatural thriller -- this one's got originality coming out the wazoo. Polish it for Nicholl. Start querying again in mid-January. Write. Write some more. Repeat. Rinse.

Horror on the 2011 Black List

2011-12-13T11:55:00.011-05:00

You can download the complete list here: http://blcklst.com/lists/2011_black_list.pdf

Nice to see a couple of scripts on The Blood List making an appearance:

Maggie
by John Scott

As a “walking dead” virus spreads across the country, a farm family helps their eldest daughter come to terms with her infection as she slowly becomes a flesh-eating zombie.

Bethlehem
by Larry Brenner

A group of people struggling to survive a zombie apocalypse make an alliance with a vampire, trading themselves as food in exchange for protection since zombies don’t eat vampire.

Subject Zero
by Dave Cohen

A Frankenstein-like tale of a scientist who develops a powerful new drug that brings his son back to life after he dies in a terrible car accident. Unfortunately, the desperate experiment of a loving father leads to the creation of a flesh-eating zombie epidemic with horrific consequences.

That sounds much better than the logline that was on the Blood List:

It's a love story on par with Romeo & Juliet. It's a father and son movie. It's a tragedy. It's a monster movie tipping it's hat to Frankenstein and most importantly it's an origin story explaining the birth of a viral scourge.

In The Event of a Moon Disaster
by Mike Jones

An alternate telling of the historic APOLLO 11 mission to land on the moon that examines what might have happened if the astronauts had crash landed there.

A few more caught my eye:

HIDDEN

by Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
An elevated horror-thriller about a family hiding in a bomb shelter after escaping a mysterious outbreak.

Buried in a bomb shelter?

GRIM NIGHT
by Allen Bey, Brandon Bestenheider

A family has to defend themselves from the Grims, strange creatures who attack Earth and kill thousands one night every year.

This one (supposedly) generated a lot of buzz because of the homemade trailer that went along with the script. If it was good enough to make The Black List, I don't think the trailer was that big of a factor. Nice story though.

GASLIGHT
by Ian Fried

Secretly imprisoned in a London insane asylum, the infamous Jack the Ripper helps Scotland Yard investigators solve a series of grisly murders whose victims all share one thing in common: dual puncture wounds to the neck.

I like the sound of this one. Seriously. Silence of the Lambs meets Dracula. Not the most original concept on the list, but probably the easiest to visualize. I'll bet it's a fun read.

Lots of clever ideas here.

Ganja & Hess

2011-12-11T23:25:00.067-05:00

I meant to post this before it aired last Friday on Turner Classic Movies -- totally fell asleep. At first glance, Ganja & Hess appears to be a run-of-the-mill blaxploitation horror flick, but it has much more in common with films like The Hunger and Thirst. Made for $350,000, it was initially conceived in an attempt to cash in on the success of Blacula. However, writer/director Bill Gunn had other ideas...

Night of the Living Dead's Duane Jones stars as Dr. Hess Green, an anthropologist studying an ancient African civilization known as the Myrthia. Hess' ~~wackjob~~ unstable assistant George (Bill Gunn) stabs him to death with a sacrificial dagger, but he soon awakens unscathed and now immortal. The only drawback being an insatiable thirst for blood -- I hate when that happens. When George's estranged wife Ganja (Marlene Clark) shows up, sparks fly, and she soon becomes Mrs. Bloodsucker.

This is usually the part where I embed the trailer, but I have yet to find one. The random clips on youtube aren't especially helpful. I've never seen a film with so many alternate titles: Blood Couple, Double Possession, Black Vampire, Black Evil, Blackout: The Moment of Terror, and Vampires of Harlem.

Ganja & Hess is an artsy film that uses vampirism as metaphor for addiction. No fangs, aversion to sunlight, changing into bats, coffins, running away from crosses, etc. -- which is probably one of the reasons it was never a commercial success. Gunn does some unusual stuff with the storytelling, like presenting a key piece of exposition as a Gospel song. Still, it's a fascinating and peculiar story about a really, really dysfunctional couple. If you're interested in something off the beaten path, look no further...

La Jetée

2011-12-08T23:14:00.002-05:00

My newfound obsession with 12 Monkeys continues! Last night I watched the short film that inspired it. Chris Marker's La Jetée (1962) is about a man in post-apocalyptic Paris sent through time in an attempt to find solutions for a crumbling world. The protagonist has been haunted by an image from his childhood involving a beautiful woman at an airport and someone being shot -- much like James Cole's (Bruce Willis) dream in 12 Monkeys. I'll let you figure out the rest...

Much more straight-forward storytelling, but it still manages to be compelling.

And as luck would have it, someone was gracious enough to upload it to youtube. See for yourself below:

FUN FACT: La Jetée was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.

Grimm vs. Once Upon a Time

2011-12-04T23:45:00.200-05:00

I still plan to post some thoughts on the new crop of genre shows (hopefully while they're still on the air), but I thought it'd be fun to compare two series that draw heavily from the same source material. You don't need a magic mirror to see that fairy tale properties have become extremely popular. Red Riding Hood and Beastly were released earlier this year (more on them in a future post), we just got a look at not one, but two trailers for upcoming Snow White films, and a picture from the forthcoming Hansel and Gretel: Witchhunters was just released. There are probably a slew of other projects in development as well. It was only a matter of time before Fairy Tale Fever would show up on the small screen. ABC's Once Upon a Time comes from Lost writers, Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, while Angel/Buffy vet David Greenwalt is one of the minds behind NBC's Grimm.

Nick Burkhardt (David Guintoli) is a Portand cop who discovers that he comes from a long line of monster hunters called Grimms. It's his job to stop the bad ones.

The residents of present-day Storybrooke, Maine are actually our favorite fairytale characters, but they have no memory of their former lives -- the result of a curse from the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla). Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a bounty hunter/bail bondswoman who grew up outside of Storybrooke, is really the long lost daughter of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Joshua Dallas). It's her destiny to rescue the townsfolk and lead the final battle against the Evil Mayor, who looks a lot like the Evil Queen. Now this is all according to Henry, a ten year old with an incredibly active imagination. Henry also happens to be the child that Emma put up for adoption ten years ago. Emma shows up in to Storybrooke to return runaway Henry to his adoptive mother Regina, who just happens to be the Evil Mayor. Hijinks ensue...

CONCEPTS:

Basically, we're talking about a soap vs. procedural. Both have their respective strengths and weaknesses. OUAT hit the ground running with well-defined characters and a clear goal. I like the flashbacks to the fairy tale land -- a touch of Lost? A show with magic, true love, and fairy tales has the potential for broad appeal. Averaging million viewers, it's one of the rare hits of the 2011 Fall season with an average of 11.6 million viewers. However, soaps need an especially steady hand. They can easily spiral out of control with wildly inconsistent characters and goofy plot twists (see Heroes and Desperate Housewives).

While it has a clever premise and generates a few tense moments per episode, Grimm seems to be coasting off the novelty factor and delivering very little in terms of character development. Sure, it's cool to try and guess what monster-of-the-week will be featured, but take away the gimmick and all you have is a very ordinary (at best) cop show that relies on coincidence rather than actual detective work. UPN's Special Unit 2 did it better in 2001.

Given all that, I'm surprised at its healthy Friday night ratings. Stomping on vet genre shows like Fringe (3.4 million) and Supernatural (1.7 million) with an average of 5.79 million viewers. I guess it just goes to show how much viewers love procedurals, except when Maria Bello is the lead (for the record, I happen to like Prime Suspect. I'm ticked it didn't catch on). With the recent full season order and a tryout at the 10pm, Thursday slot, NBC obviously thinks they have a show with potential. We'll see...

Advantage: Once Upon A Time

PROTAGONISTS: Emma vs. Nick

I thought the blind date in the pilot was a cute way to introduce Ms. Swan to viewers. Smart. Resourceful, but somewhat directionless and unlucky at love. She sticks around Storybrooke for Henry's sake. A little too spunky a times? Yeah. But she's a character with a personality and motivations I can understand. She's pretty effective as the audience surrogate.

Am I the only who gets Dylan Dog: Dead of Night flashbacks when watching Detective Burkhardt in action? Except Dylan was more fleshed out than this guy, which is kinda hard to believe. A cop chasing criminals who are actually monsters and only he can see their true form. That's all there is to him. Oh, he has a cute and equally bland girlfriend. I'll be shocked if she lasts the season -- probably turns out to be evil or gets offed of by the big bad.

Advantage: Once Upon a Time

ANTAGONISTS: Evil Queen vs. Captain Renard

No contest. Advantage goes to the hot, Evil Queen. Probably the most compelling character on either show. Your protagonist is useless without a great antagonist. Parrilla shows just the right amount of Regina/Queen's vulnerability so the character doesn't come off as cartoony. She's definitely got some control issues going on, especially with Henry. BTW, did I mention she was hot? Captain Renard is plotting something on Grimm... or he might be constipated. Hard to tell. You can only do so much with what's on the page. I guess you could make the argument that Renard is more like Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle) as a puppet master, slowly moving towards his endgame.

KEY ALLIES: Monroe vs. Henry

Monroe is easily the best part of Grimm. He's hilarious in small doses as Nick's reluctant ~~werewolf~~ Blutbad sidekick, but too much of him might ruin things. Henry teeters dangerously between adorable kid and overbearing brat.

Advantage: Grimm

CONCLUSION:

I usually post a knee-jerk reaction after watching a pilot, but I took my time and formed an opinion after several episodes. Even though I enjoy both shows, my opinion of Grimm went down, while Once Upon a Time slowly won me over. It is good to see successful genre shows on television -- I keep getting an itch to write one of my own. It'll be interesting to see where they stand a year from now. Right now, Once Upon a Time has won this battle.

Trailers: Snow White vs. Mirror, Mirror

2011-11-15T23:20:00.000-05:00

I'm not gonna name names, but the incredible badassness of one trailer got me super excited and then there was Mirror Mirror -- okay, so I named names. I wasn't expecting Tarsem Singh's lighthearted take. It could still turn out to be a good story though... or not.

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (review)

2011-11-08T23:52:00.068-05:00

You wouldn't believe the number of daily hits I get because of a post back in March commenting on the Dylan Dog: Dead of Night trailer. The film is based on a popular Italian comic -- learned they're called fumetti -- about a private investigator who deals with the supernatural. If you blinked, you probably missed its limited theatrical run, an underwhelming $1.1M total domestic gross and %6 rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Virtually an unknown property in the States, I'm guessing the majority those hits come from Europe.

At first glance, it's easy to mistake Dead of Night for a SyFy original movie because it looks hella cheap and cheesy. However, the budget was $20M and it features more than a few recognizable faces like Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington, Taye Diggs, and Peter Stormare. The story does feel like it was conceived with a much bigger budget in mind: Dylan (Routh) must navigate Louisiana's secret supernatural underworld by interacting with werewolves, vampires, and zombies in order to solve the murder of his client's father.

This is basically a poor man's Constantine (coincidentally, of which it shares an actor and a producer) with lots of failed attempts at humor -- to his credit, Huntington does an admirable job as Dylan's hilarious-sidekick-turned-reluctant-zombie and has nice arc. $20M is more than enough to produce a good film, but not the kind of fantasy-adventure the producers were trying to pull off. A link I tweeted a week or two ago called Confessions of a Low-Budget Horror Writer suddenly seems worth mentioning again. The special effects here just aren't up to par and the story was fairly weak. The big third act twist and resolution was just silly.

The splash pages from the comic have far more interesting ideas. They really put the theatrical posters to shame. It might have made more sense to adapt Dylan Dog into a TV series rather than a feature. Horror comedies have a notoriously spotty track record at the box office. For every Zombieland, you'll get ten Dylan Dogs.

Underworld Awakening 3D - Trailer

2011-11-02T23:56:00.042-04:00

Still can't figure out why the girl was omitted from the previous trailer. She has an important role in the story. I guess revealing too much could scare off hardcore fans. Action looks better here. Werewolves and Vamps might be losing a bit of their pop culture ~~sparkle~~ luster, but this should make a decent amount of change at the box office.

The Blood List for 2011

2011-11-01T23:19:00.108-04:00

Here are the 13 most-liked and unproduced screenplays in the horror, thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, or dark comedy/drama genres (via The Blood List):

"Maggie" by John Scott III
15 Votes
Agents: Billy Hawkins & Dan Rabinow (CAA)
Logline: After a zombie infects a 16-year old girl, she has six weeks before she transforms.
Genre: Horror/Sci Fi
Status: Pierre Ange financing. Henry Hobson attached to direct. Casting.

"Bethlehem" by Larry Brenner
13 Votes
Agent: Martin Spencer (CAA)
Manager: Mitch Soloman (Magnet Management)
Logline: In a post-apocalyptic world overrun by flesh-eating zombies, a benevolent vampire teams up with a group of humans to survive.
Genre: Horror
Status: Joe Roth & Palak Patel producing. Julius Sevcik directing.

"Subject Zero" by Dave Cohen
13 Votes
Agent: Emile Gladstone (ICM), Kathleen Remington
Manager: Jeremy Platt (Generate)
Logline: It's a love story on par with Romeo & Juliet. It's a father and son movie. It's a tragedy. It's a monster movie tipping it's hat to Frankenstein and most importantly it's an origin story explaining the birth of a viral scourge.
Genre: Horror
Status: Available

"Mr. Allen" by John Hulme
11 Votes
Agent: Adam Levine (Verve)
Manager: John O' Morisano (Powder Room Graffiti)
Logline: When his childhood boogeyman returns, a father must fight toprotect not only his inner fears, but also his family.
Genre: Horror
Status: John Hulme is attached to direct.

"The Boy Next Door" by Barbara Curry
7 Votes
Manager: John Jacobs (Smart Entertainment)
Logline: A lonely woman in her 30s has a one-night stand with the 17-year-old boy next door but his obsession proves to be deadly. In the vein of "Fatal Attraction."
Genre: Thriller
Status: Available

"The Devil's Punchbowl" by Alex & Max Schenker
6 Votes
Agent: Greg Pedicin (Gersh)
Manager: Jeremy Platt (Generate)
Logline: Upon inheriting a ranch, a man becomes mired in an age-old blood feud with his new neighbors.
Genre: Thriller
Status: Available.

"In The Event Of A Moon Disaster" by Mike Jones
6 Votes
Agent: David Kopple (CAA)
Manager: Lindsay Willams (Gotham Group)
Logline: A re-telling of the first moon landing, but in this version disaster strikes the astronauts.
Genre: Thriller
Status: FilmNation producing.

"Martyrs" by Mark L. Smith
(Based on the French film of the same name that was written and directed by Pascal Laugier)
6 Votes
Agent: Stuart Manashil (CAA)
Logline: Two best friends who grew up in foster care take revenge on those that brutalized them.
Genre: Thriller
Status: Temple Hill & Morgan White producing. Daniel Stamm is attached to direct.

"Washington Square Park" by Scott Milam
6 Votes
Agent: Adam Levine (Verve)
Manager: Brad Kaplan (Evolution)
Logline: After a girl wakes up from a brutal attack, she begins to have supernatural visions, which leads her to unravel a disturbing truth about NYC's Washington Square Park. In the vein of "Poltergeist" meets "Salem's Lot." Based on true events.
Genre: Horror
Status: Daniel Alter & Caliber Media Co.'s Jack Heller producing and looking to partner.

"No Good Deed" by Jessica Chandler-Fay
5 Votes
Manager: Ken Freimann (Circle of Confusion)
Logline: After saving the life of a young woman left for dead in an alley, a good samaritan couple realize the dying girl was just bait and quickly find themselves in an escalating game of cat and mouse with the twisted family who set the trap. In the vein of "The Strangers."
Genre: Horror
Status: Available

"Cul-De-Sac" by Evan Hoyt Wasserstrom
4 Votes
Agent: Ryan Saul (APA)
Logline: When a group of teenagers carpool to a Friday night party together,looking for a good time, they end up at the wrong house which is occupied by squatters (a murderous husband and wife) who will do anything to get their hands on a young female to procreate for them.
Genre: Horror
Status: Available, Dan Scheinkman attached to produce and looking to partner.

"The Faces" by Eric Reese
4 Votes
Agent: Stuart Manashil & Matt Rosen (CAA)
Managers: Jeremy Bell, Nate Matteson & Peter McHugh (Gotham Group)
Logline: A newlywed couple finds themselves the target of an organizationthat uses terror as a means of entertainment.
Genre: Horror
Status: FilmNation producing. Paul Solet directing.

"Rattle Man" by Victor Salva
3 Votes
Agent: Abram Nalibotsky (Gersh)
Manager: Dave Brown (Artist International)
Logline: 3 brothers encounter the evil Rattle Man, a shadowy figure that terrorizes them and their small coastal town.
Genre: Horror
Status: Available

A few quick thoughts:

The two highest rated screenplays involve zombies. The living dead are seemingly everywhere these days, but the majority of zombie-centric stories aren't especially unique or compelling -- doesn't stop folks from churning 'em out though. Maggie's logline seems like a fresh take on what it means to become a zombie. Bethlehem sounds somewhat generic. It's going to depend on execution, execution, and execution. Did I mention execution?

Hard to judge something like Subject Zero because it's so darn vague...

Washington Square Park is described as being in the vein of Poltergeist meets Salem's Lot, but it's also based on true events. Huh? Perhaps Mr. Milam knows something we don't...

Interesting crop of loglines. I don't know how effective they'd be in a query letter. Some are a little too ambiguous for my taste. Hopefully, most of these projects will be produced. There's always next year for the rest of us...