Support “Laps – Season 2”

Posted on by Eric

Some might say this web series picked for this week’s Support Something Sunday runs circles around other Kickstarter projects.

Others might say it has a leg up on them.

And still others might say…okay, that’s enough.

For today’s Support Something Sunday, the web series I’ve chosen to support is “Laps,” by Chad Diez.

The series is beginning its second season.  I just learned about it through one of my former (and future?) clients, whose name may or may not be Chad Diez.

Though I didn’t catch much of the first season, it’s been fun catching up on past episodes.  And the new season looks bigger and better.  Check it out:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/laps/laps-season-two

Chad is really professional, and great at getting press for his work.  The series seems to be improving as it goes along, and the main character has actually lost weight from all the running he has had to do while filming.

Seriously.

So kick in a few bucks and be a part of the web series Laps – Season 2.

Or sponsor another project.  Maybe something green.  Because it’s not only Support Something Sunday, it’s St. Patrick’s Day.

Of course, you already knew that.

But it just dawned on me.

Because I’m actually writing this post a few days before.

Seriously.  And…

Onward!

-Eric

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Do you have a short, feature, or web series you’d like help raising money for on Kickstarter or Indiegogo? Drop me the link through MY CONTACT PAGE and I”ll check it out…and you just might be featured on the next Support Something Sunday!

 

What Happened to Logline Friday?

Posted on by Eric

Logline Friday – your favorite free weekly online script logline competition* – is still going.   So every Friday, feel free to tweet or email me your best logline.

Don’t know the rules to Logline Friday?  Check out the original post about it – Logline Friday Rules and Everything

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to declare a winner.  So just do it for your own practice for now!

Why haven’t I had time declare winners?  To be honest, I’ve been a bit busy with other stuff.

Also, while we’re being honest, I haven’t yet delivered all the free notes to the winners.  I feel like Robert Frost in the woods!**

But the entire point of Logline Friday is not to win a prize, or free screenplay notes from me.  The point is for screenwriters to practice their loglines on a regular basis.

But I know, it’s tough when there isn’t an incentive.   The plan for Logline Friday is actually to create a running competition, where winners earn points each week, and other writers can vote on who is the winner.

That way, we’ll all be involved, and I don’t have to be the one who gets angry emails that say such things as: “Why didn’t you pick my logline the logline you picked was stupid, I don’t care if you’re a produced screenwriter and freelance script reader whose read thousands of scripts, your opinion SUCKS!”

🙂

So stay tuned, as Logline Friday gets a facelift…like everything else in Hollywood!

That’s all for now.  And…

Onward!

-Eric

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* I don’t actually know if it’s your favorite.

** Poet who wrote something about “promises to keep” and “miles to go before sleep” or something like that.***

*** I actually have this poem memorized, I just wanted to seem less of a dork by casually paraphrasing it.. :-/

How to Find Time to Write

Posted on by Eric

Here’s a post from Phillip Mottaz, whose wonderful blog phillipmottaz.wordpress.com is a candid and fun exploration of what it’s like to be a screenwriter and stay-at-home dad.

Even though the post below is written from the prospective of a parent finding time to write, I feel like it’s a good lesson for all of us.  After all, if a full-time parent can find time to write, can’t the rest of us?  -Script Doctor Eric (About Eric)

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FINDING TIME TO WRITE
Phillip Mottaz
phillipmottaz.wordpress.com 

I have to clarify that I don’t know how anybody does this, juggling parenting and a career. I cannot fathom how my parents did it, or yours, or anybody.

I sometimes listen to Kevin Smith’s “Fatman on Batman” podcast, and he recently admitted to watching “The Dark Knight Part 2” — a movie 2.5 hours long — 12 times. It had only come out about a week or so prior to the recording, and all I could think was, “How the hell did he find the time to do that?” Granted, he’s a successful movie maker, and his wife probably doesn’t have to work to support them, so she can stay with their daughter… but come on! I’m writing this while “watching” a movie I’ve seen already, and I mostly have it on to feel like a person I used to be. An irresponsible person.

So right off the bat, let me be clear: I’ve found there really IS no time to write.  Especially when the kid is awake, and if anyone out there knows of a solution, I’d love to hear it. Honestly. Any time your kid is awake contains every possible hazard, emotion and situation you could imagine without actually resulting in something that would feel like a tangible achievement. Oh, you’re growing a person, sure, but we won’t know the results of that growth until later, and possibly through intense therapy sessions. When you’re teaching/molding/messing up your awake kid, the best you can hope for as far as writing goes is sending yourself a text message saying something like “Act Two should be exciting.”

Suffice it to say, I’ve mastered this parents-who-write thing.

The sleep times, on the other hand, can be marginally productive, especially if your standards of productivity are low. As your brain turns into Brie from hours of re-re-re-reading the same book over and over again, it sometimes takes a while to get cracking. The trick, I’ve found (besides low standards) is routine. Not just for yourself, but for your child.

My wife excels at organization, so from the beginning of Henry’s life, we had cataloged most of his major daily events, of which there were three: when he ate, when he slept, and when he had a diaper change. The nurses encouraged us to keep track while we were still in the hospital, and it carried over as part of our routine. It sounds insane (and, granted, the diaper log went away), but charting when he ate and when he slept and for how long helped us develop a schedule. We were able to anticipate our days a little easier, and this meant I could plan my work day a little easier. For the first two years of Henry’s life, he took two or three naps a day, at least an hour a piece. Considering there was always something to clean, food to prepare or my own cleanliness to attend to, this often allowed for a good 30-ish minutes at a time.

Admittedly, I didn’t always use that free time wisely. I watched movies (aka “research?”), wrote emails, checked Facebook. Typical idiot stuff. But the very disciplined writer-parent — the kind who would probably excel at getting their child on a sleep and nap schedule — could make some real headway with this time.

As Henry has grown up, and grown more aware of, well, everything, he has also dropped to one nap. He is now three-and-a-half, and down to one nap a day, if that. Some days he doesn’t nap at all. These have been psychologically trying on me, the stay-at-home parent, mostly (I think) because I’ve come to rely on these naps for writing and working and relaxing. I’m addicted to the naps, and sometimes I will rock Henry for an hour for the chance at a nap. Sometimes more if I fall asleep, too.

When you get to that point, you jam. You develop an ability to work fast. You may not be “good,” but you’ll cover a lot of ground, and sometimes that’s what it takes. I hope that’s what it takes.

So that’s the big advice, for being a writer-parent and for life in general: when you get that opportunity, jump on it. Seize the nap day.

-Phillip
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Logline Friday Winner – Angel PR

Posted on by Eric

It’s that time again, time to declare a winner of my weekly – and free – logline contest, Logline Friday.

There were fewer submissions this week, which can only mean one of three things:

1. Less people are writing screenplays.

2. A wormhole in space is swallowing all the movie ideas.

3. I need to take a break from doing other things – like script notes, Feedback Friday, and my own writing – to promote the contest a bit more.

I’m leaning towards #2.

Anyhow, the winner of Logline Friday for Friday, February 22nd, 2013 is…

Andrew Lauwasser!   Andrew’s winning logline:

@ALauwasser – When an inventor accidentally proves the existence of God, the Almighty sends an angel to keep it quiet and then handle the PR.

Now, I was very, very hesitant to declare Andrew’s logline the winner this week for two reasons:

1. Spec scripts about heaven and hell are all too common, and usually not that good.*

2. See footnote for reason #1.

But Andrew’s logline provides a nice setup for a “science vs. religion” theme, AND, more importantly, it doesn’t take place in heaven.  In fact, it seems to be about a bumbling mix-up here on Earth.  Hey, that could work!

Andrew wins free script notes on the first five pages of any script he wishes to send my way.  Congrats again!

And if you didn’t win this week, remember, there’s always another Logline Friday around the corner.

Just don’t pitch a script about heaven and hell.

Seriously.  And…

Onward!

-Eric

—

* By “not that good” I mean that the screenplays I’ve read about heaven and hell, the devil, satin, etc., are usually really, really bad.  There are a number of reasons for this – which I plan to dedicate to another post – but for one, when you create a world of heaven or a world of hell, you have no limitations – anything can happen!  And if anything can happen, there are no stakes, no suspense, and no mystery to it.  So if you’re considering writing a script about heaven, hell, the devil, or anything else remotely related to the Christian idea of the afterlife, let me just say, as someone who has read around 100 of these scripts and is not taking the time to write a rambling footnote warning about it: Please don’t do it!  Write about anything else!**  No matter how great you think your idea is about heaven, god, etc., you’ll be better much off avoiding the subject.  Seriously.

** Except a musical.  You shouldn’t write a spec musical unless you plan to make it yourself.  I’ll explain later, if necessary.

Script Doctor Eric’s Best (and Worst) Movies of 2012

Posted on by Eric

This is the final “Best Movies of 2012” List as part of The Great Movie Challenge of 2012.  For all of the “Best of” lists, see the post All the “Best Movies of 2012” Lists.

From January 2012 through January of 2013, I kept track of all the movies made in 2012 that I watched, ranking them immediately after viewing.  If a movie was released in 2011, but not available for general viewing (beyond festivals) in the U.S. until 2012, it counted.

The point was to keep up with the current films.  It’s a lot of fun, plus, as screenwriters, it’s good to know what’s in the market for so many reasons.  

And so, below is my list of the best and worst movies of 2012.  I’m sure some of you will disagree with the choices, but I hope others will see these lists as a way to be introduced to new films.  I know I do.

Special thanks to TV Script Doctor Joey for the original idea behind this contest, and to  Carman Tse who encouraged me to see more foreign-language films and documentaries this year.  As you can see by the list (two European films in the top 10) I listened, Carman.

 -Eric

The Best (and Worst) Movies of 2012
by Script Doctor Eric 

SEE NOW

1. BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD – I can see why some people (Scriptcast Matt) would dislike it, but to me, this is what poetry looks like on film.
2. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES – Not the top Batman of the bunch, but still a thrill from start to finish.
3. LINCOLN – Could have been a dry period drama, but in the hands of masters is transformed into an engaging political dogfight.
4. BERNIE – A rich, dark comedy that combines actors with the real townsfolk who experienced this true – and truly morally ambiguous – story.
5. SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK – Everyone is crazy and that’s more than OK.
6. ARGO – Skillful blend of suspense and humor in a story that would be unbelievable if it weren’t true.
7. THE INTOUCHABLES – I’ve never heard middle-aged people laugh so loud in the theater.
8. COMPLIANCE – The most disturbing, thought provoking, controversial, and important movie of 2012.
9. KLOWN (Klovn) – Finally released in the U.S., this Danish film shows that the best vulgar comedy can come from the most unexpected places.
10. MOONRISE KINGDOM –Tears, laughter, great sets, and Bruce Willis. Solid work, Wes.  Keep it up.
11. CHRONICLE – Teen angst and superpowers are a dangerous(ly awesome) combination.
12. THE AMBASSADOR – Mads Brüger lives up to his first name in this sly documentary (or is it?) about buying diamonds in Africa.
13. DJANGO UNCHAINED – Insane? Yep! Fun? For the most part. Weird ending? Unfortunately, yes.
14. THE CABIN IN THE WOODS – A perfect, fun horror film until that free-for-all finale… Should have ended with “Tequila is my lady!”
15. THE HUNGER GAMES – Except for the shaky cam and bad CGI fire-dress, it felt about as good as a PG-13 version of the book could be.
16. JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI – Beautifully shot doc of the hardest-working man in the raw fish business. The perfect film for anyone who loves sushi, Tokyo, or life.
17. HAYWIRE – Who cares if Gina Carano can’t act? She kicks ass like you’ve never seen it kicked before.
18. MARLEY – Enthralling documentary that will alter your perception of the Rasta legend and his music.

CHECK OUT IF YOU GET THE CHANCE

19. 2 DAYS IN NEW YORK – A solid French romantic comedy starring Chris Rock.
20. SKYFALL – The name’s Bardem. Javier Bardem. And I’m saving this overly long Bond film.
21. SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN – Far less salmon fishing (and Yemen) than you might expect by the title.
22. MEN IN BLACK 3 – Time travel + Will Smith + Josh Brolin impersonating Tommy Lee Jones = a lot more fun then you might expect.
23. LES MISERABLES – If you film a classic musical, does that make it a good movie or a good rendition of the musical? Discuss, while I try to get Russell Crowe’s singing voice out of my head.
24. JESUS HENRY CHRIST – Good, but a little too Wes Anderson-y for a filmmaker who is not Wes Anderson releasing a movie the same year as Wes Anderson.
25. LOOPER – Good, but I don’t buy the “I could explain how this works, but it would be too confusing for you in the audience.”  Try me.
26. CASA DE MI PADRE – The jokes are fast and insane, so sit back and laugh at the absurdity. Mark my words – this will become a cult classic.
27. RUST AND BONE – Intense. Some folks adore this French drama, but structurally it just doesn’t have legs. (Yes, I said “legs.”)
28. THE MASTER – I’m not sure who is more obsessed with sex, Joaquin Phoenix’s character or Paul Thomas Anderson.
29. INDIE GAME – Intriguing look at what it takes to make independent video games like BRAID.  Don’t know BRAID? It’s like Mario, for depressed intellectuals. In other words, it’s awesome.
30. SLEEPWALK WITH ME – Despite its weak premise, there’s a lot of heart and humor packed into this indie comedy.
31. THE AVENGERS – A good time, but we never feared the superheroes would fail. Also, if Banner could control the Hulk all along, why were they worried?
32. SIDEWALLS – Artistic and touching, atmospheric romance as much about the city of Buenos Aires as the people in it.
33. WRECK-IT RALPH – Sometimes a kids move is just a kids movie.  I’ve come to expect more from animated films. (Thanks, Pixar!)
34. THE RAID: REDEMPTION – If I were a 14-year-old boy (or screenwriter Emily Blake) this would be my favorite movie of all time.
35. BRAVE – Too many bears.   Again, I’ve come to expect more from animation (Thanks Pix…hey, wait a second…)
36. WE ARE LEGION: THE STORY OF HACKTIVISTS – Fascinating documentary on the group “Anonymous,” who is so powerful they could easily hack into this site anD AHCACK COUGH…WHY IS “WE ARE LEGION” RANKED SO LOW! I MEAN, AHEM, THIS ISN’T ANONYMOUS, THIS IS ERIC, AND I NEED TO ADJUST MY RANKINGS JUST A LITTLE…g..s.gs.asdfsd….Woah, what happened? The screen flickered for a second while I was reviewing the 41st best film of 2012…hey, wait a second…
37. JOHN CARTER – Hard to get into a movie featuring a world called “Balloon” (I mean “Barsoom”) and a city named Helium (no, really). A lightning-fast dog helps, though.
38. ZERO DARK THIRTY – Most overrated film of the year.  Felt more like a reenactment of events than a cohesive story.  Quick summary of the non-existent plot: Suspected terrorists are tortured and/or killed.
39. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED – Still not sure what happened in the end or this quirky mess, but Aubrey Plaza is pretty great.
40. 21 JUMP STREET – Starts strong but loses comedic steam as the thin plot descends into a free-for-all.
41. THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES – Lifestyles of the rich and…the rich.
42. FLIGHT – Though marketed as a plane crash – courtroom drama, this is a dry (or wet?) study on alcoholism. And a little cocaine.
43. MAGIC MIKE – Spoiler: Channing Tatum dances and takes off his clothes.
44. CRAIGSLIST JOE – What could have been an intriguing exploration of America just kind of wanders…
45. THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT – Hard to get on board with two characters that aren’t likable. Randall Park is not one of them. He’s great in everything, including our screenwriting podcast (Randall on Scriptcast).
46. SAFE HOUSE – Learned that if you’re in the CIA, the most dangerous place you can be is in a “safe” house in South Africa. Even if you’re just killing time before a promotion, don’t do it.
47. A THOUSAND WORDS – Hokey, but funny. (Or was it “funny, but hokey?”)
48. THE TALL MAN – Kids disappear in a small town and then it’s one twist after another. The message? Small towns suck.
49. PINA – Dancing. Dancing. And…explosions! Just kidding, it’s just more dancing.
50. SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN – It’s Narnia meets Lord of the Rings except instead of hobbits it’s dwarves, and instead of a story there’s nothing.

AVOID

51. PROMETHEUS – A beautiful, beautiful mess. Dwayne Perkins said it best when he asked: “Is Prometheus the Greek god of disappointment?”
52. WANDERLUST – Neither Paul Rudd nor Jennifer Aniston can save this mediocre comedy about hanging out a commune. Probably because it’s about hanging out at a commune.
53. MANSOME – A light documentary that starts off fine, but then collapses in confusion while half-heartedly asking, “What makes a man?”
54. JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME – I suppose one coincidence after another is a sign…of a poorly constructed screenplay. (Zing!)
55. CONTRABAND – Spoiler: Marky Mark saves the day. Everyone else gets beat up.
56. THE FAIRY – French “comedy.”
57. FRIENDS WITH KIDS – A crass rip-off of When Harry Met Sally. Everyone involved with this has done better work. (See: everything else they have done.)
58. THIS MEANS WAR – Reece is attractive, sure, but worth giving up your lifelong buddy and risking your career as a CIA operative? I don’t buy it, nor anything else in this colossal waste of money. Tom Hardy, you can do better.

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Agree?  Disagree?  Let’s discuss!  Chat me up on Twitter (@scriptdreric) or Facebook (facebook.com/scriptdoctoreric) or send an email using the Contact Page!

So…that’s it for The Great Movie Challenge of 2012!  Thanks to everyone who participated!

I hope you keep watching current films and keeping a list!  It’s a lot of fun to discuss the best and worst of the year with your friends throughout the year.  And coming soon: The Great Movie Challenge of 2013.

Seriously, and…

Onward!

-Eric