Treadwell & a Red Machine

I remember reading that Vanity Fair article many moons ago about Timothy Treadwell aka 'The Grizzly Man'. 

Tragic.

At the time, I was working with David Aaron Cohen on a remake pitch for 'The Professionals' and WB.  That project never went anywhere but Treadwell stuck in my mind.  I remember even mentioning that guy's name as I sat with the producers.  They loved the concept and told me I should write it.  

Fast forward to two summers ago and I was laid up with a ruptured tibial posterior.  JAWS was on AMC and I got to thinking that they don't make films like that anymore.  Good characters, a bad situation and a force with no conscience other than feeding and survival.

Treadwell.  Again.  Life rights are a bitch, so I improvised.

RED MACHINE was born within 10 days.  104 pages of great characters and terror.  Jaws with Claws.  But these weren't your stereotypical studio cliches with hot chicks, bare midriffs and pot smoking morons running around the woods. 

No.  These characters were actually intelligent.  

I had been in touch with a talent manager and her client was considering another film I wrote about six months before I wrote Red.  They passed on that project but asked to be first eyes on my new script.  I sent Red over and within 2 days, Adrien Brody was attached to star and produce.  

Wow.  An Academy Award winning actor was set to do my film.  A few months later, the script was optioned and thus started the painful year long process of 'no one can read this script...'

It sucked.  Development stalled.  Months passed.  Nothing happened.  My option money disappeared and I was getting anxious.  Brody dropped out to shoot 'Predators' and hasn't come back yet...

June 1, 2010 the rights came back to me and my reps at APA quickly attached David Hackl to direct and now it has gone industry wide.  They're marketing it as a summer action thriller which is genius imo.  An event film.   The script got huge interest last week and APA sent it out.  

Let's see who bites.  

Creating A New Horror Icon.

Since signing with APA and the countless meetings that followed, all these remakes, reboots and re-imaginings have left a bad taste in my mouth.  Society embraces what the industry feeds it for the most part.  Ads are shoved down our throats and images bombard our every day lives down to the cup sleeves at the local coffee house that say IRON MAN 2 - May 7th.  

When I first picked up Vince Churchill's novel, The Butcher Bride, I knew there was something special within those pages.  I couldn't quite put my finger on it, the novel left me spinning for days.  It scared the shit out of me.  After pushing my reps to secure an option before it went wide after publication, I dove in head first.  I had to make some minor changes to the overall story to be more cinematic and fire on more cylinders, but the deep-rooted concept remained.  

What is the core of the Butcher Bride?  

A simple story about a girl that just wanted true love and to be loved.  Marlie Downing represents an ideology that every girl dreams of at some point in their life.  The white wedding, flowers, the sweeping off her feet and the life of love until certain death that follows.  

Charles Williams wrote an incredible novel entitled All Hallows Eve that I briefly mention in the first act.  It's one of the most haunting narratives I've ever read.  T.S. Eliot wrote the forward, and everyone should know that T.S. never writes forwards.  The book itself is like Ringu and The Notebook.  It has its moments and would be near to impossible to make a film out of, but the idea is there.  This was a major influence in the emotion of Marlie Downing's character.  

The horror of Butcher Bride is inherent in the journey of Marlie Downing.  We love her.  We want her to achieve that bliss.  What happens to her is unfathomable.  As I was plowing through polishes for director David Hackl, it became apparent what this film was like...  

A modern day Psycho.  

Blasphemy most will say.  I agree.  But that's what makes this book so damned unique.   The structure does NOT follow the standard template of today's horror films.  We have a female in the lead as this lovely girl turned into a new icon of horror.  Freddy, Jason, Michael, Pinhead, Buffalo Bill, Hannibal Lector, Frankenstein, Victor Crowley, Leslie Vernon, Heidi Montag - you get the idea...

All these icons are male.  Ferocious.  We've accepted that all great horror films like that have male leads.  Let me tell you, by the time Hackl wraps on Butcher Bride, it will set a new trend within horror films.  

The Butcher Bride and a dip in the Hot Tub Time Machine.

The Butcher Bride is starting to generate some heat as David Hackl is now attached to direct after a couple polishes and taking the story back to its extremely dark roots.  A new horror icon shall be born in 3D.   Laugh as you may, but I have embraced the format after being wowed at How To Train Your Dragon.   It's one of the best animated films of the last several years.  

Hackl plans on shooting the Butcher Bride in 3D since he spent 6 months learning the cameras for the format.   His departure from Saw VII seems to be a blessing in disguise.   Hackl is one of the most intelligent directors I've met out here with great production experience all around.

Next step is the project goes out. 

Kudos for the last film from MGM as we know it to be the BRILLIANT film - Hot Tub Time Machine.   I snuck into a 2pm screening in Burbank yesterday and was floored to see a full theatre.  Nearly sold out.  I have NEVER EVER LAUGHED as hard as I did during that film.  It was funnier than The Hangover.  HTTM is destined to be the Caddyshack & Animal House of our generation.  

Brilliance I say.  BRILLIANCE.

The Butcher Bride aka Marlie Downing: the odyssey of an adaptation

The Butcher Bride is what the title officially is now for the project circling town.  I loved the book title but was persuaded by several friends to go soft and "studio friendly" with something easier on the eyes and exec's ears.   Marlie Downing is what initially went out, then there was the title recall.    

Thank God there's a cross reference with the title of the novel.  Two specs in three months that have gone wide.  Not too bad for recently signing with an agency.  The lovely Rachel Hurd-Wood has expressed great interest as the lead.  I think she's perfect and when her new film Tomorrow, When the War Began opens up in the autumn, the 19 year old starlet will be a household name since that book series is as popular world wide as Twilight is here.   

Butcher Bride is getting some of the best horror novel reviews of recent memory.   One review said it was like Paranormal Activity but dipped in liquid cocaine.   Love that.  Especially since I'm not the biggest fan of Hollywood supernatural films, but this book, this book scared the living shit out of me.   It has what every single supernatural film has lacked since Poltergeist.

Even with all this great movement on my material, there have been stumbling blocks.  Such the case was with the management company that was co-guiding my career with my agency.  It just wasn't a good fit, we agreed to disagree and at the end of the day, we walked off towards different sunsets.  I wish them the best but understand that if those not COMPLETELY passionate about the material you produce, it's not going to work.  

All that and 50 cents still buys you a newspaper.

The Butcher Bride is giving me nightmares.

She has and is.  The Butcher Bride is quite possibly the most terrifying novel of the past couple years.  I loved loved loved adapting it.  Let's hope the film turns out as creepy.

RIP Peter Graves.

You will be missed.

A Very Merry Black Christmas....

Happy Holidays.  As we ride into 2010 and cramming as many meetings into the past week before town shut down, I found myself sitting at Joel Silver's office in awe.  Yes, I am a geek.  I grew up on his films and it's sort of surreal now taking meetings like that...

Lovin' it.

APA has high hopes for Tissue to sell in the first quarter of 2010.  70 some odd companies and only 6 passes to date.  Not too bad by industry standards.

As I'm gearing up to do the annual Black Christmas screening, here's a gem of a holiday classic.  Cheers to the new year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KMaCbZzYTk

Welcome to the Party.

I was sitting in my car, parked at Pan Pacific Park on Beverly one recent November morning when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Is this Jack?"

"Yes..."

"Jack, I've got David Saunders calling from APA..."

What followed was a surreal day, forwarding all of my material to the agency before my 3pm meeting with the head of motion picture lit and partner...

I rolled up to the valet there as the attendant peeked into my car, questioning me as to if I knew where I was...  And yes, it was that bad inside which is a whole other tale...

By 4:30pm I had agreed to sign with them.  Didn't take much persuading other than rave reviews and seeing a stack of my material on the desk already cloaked in APA jackets...

By the following Friday, one of my scripts had already gone out to Participant Films.  A week later I signed with Elements Entertainment and by midweek, I was already booking meetings due to Michael Bay, Wes Craven, Tobey Maguire all interested in seeing this spec that was about to hit the town.  

Last Monday it went wide.  40 companies.  Above average for a spec in the thriller genre.  By Wednesday, the script had hit the tracking boards so hard that producers which hadn't been part of the submission were calling to read it.  From the creative minds behind Milk & American Beauty to the exec behind Jason Bourne...  I'm a bit excited to meet with Brett Ratner's company this Monday.

Sitting at a table read the other night with Lea Thompson and Howard Deutsch along with a well rounded cast and director Richard Zelniker followed by what I'd like to describe as the icing on the cake to my week.  It was just after midnight at the 101 cafe when I found myself chatting with the brilliant Kat Dennings and then the greatest screenwriter in the world came and sat at the table with us.  Shane Black.  The Holy Grail to the silver screen.  From Lethal Weapon to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and a cameo in Predator, the man is a legend.   After talking for a few moments, he asked one of the most obscure questions given the setting...

"Are you married, Jack?"

"Ummm, no...not yet..."

"Good.  Stay single.  Don't get married if you plan on staying in this business."

I could see the sincerity in his eyes.  A truth from one writer to another.  Brilliant.  I probably will get married eventually, but I will take that lesson to the grave with me and hopefully won't regret not listening.

As we move into the week before Xmas vacation and the town shutting down from the 18th to the 3rd...  I wait with great hope as everyone should in this business.  I will part with the words spoken to me by Jonathan Hensleigh 2 years ago...

"It's not a question as to if you will have a career out here, it's a question as to when it will begin."

Happy Holidays.

Love this...

I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. - E/A Poe

Been too long since I've blogged about Hell-A.  Where oh where do I begin?  Summer's gone.  Autumn's here.  Halloween...

Getting animated at Fox on Tuesday.

Apparently, they're into edgier material.  I'm still shocked that they want me to come in based on what they read.  I hope they're into teddy bears tried for war crimes.  That's an animated film I've always wanted to see...

Almost 31

In the words of the brilliant Hensleigh...  

"You're fuckin' young man.  My career didn't start till after 31.  You're doing fine."

But you wrote the frickin' Rock man.  I hope the career starts this year.  

Life as we know it, Arguing with Clint Eastwood's manager & some actress with cancer.

2008 pretty much went out with a whimper and 2009 roared in.  I actually survived the year by writing & getting paid for uncredited work...i.e. THUNDER ROAD 2010 or 11.  All is forgiven on that in regards to working with the talented Hensleigh on that.  I learned from his anecdotes of doing uncredited work on THE ROCK.

What I am grateful for is connecting with one of the most important people in my life; Amanda Loncar.  From Facebooking her in transit to the airport for my Xmas vacation back to Minnesota to our initial phone date the next day.  One should always embrace what they do in life, and I will never be one to not get a bit geeky around those with whom I respect in this industry.  I will admit to purchasing Amanda's tv series THE LOOP and enjoying it tremendously.  I devoured that series in one sitting.  FUNNY.  The one word that sums it up.  

Back to chatting with her, I slipped her a pilot I co-wrote about a year ago.  She loved it and immediately said she wanted to do it.  From here is where our friendship took off.  Checking in daily to see how her cancer treatment was going, making sure she was feeling okay and having my mom mail her christmas cookies to Arkansas for her recovery.  

I was blessed this past week to have been able to finally meet her face to face when she flew into LA for her follow-up at Cedars.  Having never met before, I strolled down the sidewalk with a sign that read FAMOUS ACTRESS as an icebreaker (strange is the situation, never having met, was me picking her up).  Dinner at Sushi Dan's followed by drinks at the Newsroom.   The next day was an early rise, going to pick her up and take her to Cedars.  Snapping pictures in the hospital and MRI room.  Waiting for her results.  Almost a year to the date of her initial diagnosis which was terminal.  Loncy has defied the odds and is on the road to remission.  God bless her.  I'm not one to preach, but thank God for this.  

A clean MRI was announced followed by tai from Toi, champagne and meeting her co-star from The Loop.  Laughter ensued and a meeting later that night with Richard Zelniker- the director of Timbaland's VINYL due in 2010.  

The next day was a short day, breakfast at Hugo's where she met Jeffrey Reddick followed by a stop at the Grove on her way to the airport.  I was sad to see this girl go back to Arkansas but happy she's healthy again.  I can't wait to start the development process on our pilot which she's producing (this hopefully will protect me from getting fired by the network since she has more clout than me...)

A few hugs and a blown kiss from her later, I unloaded my new friend's luggage and drove away.   Within 10 minutes of leaving behind this whirlwind 48 hour odyssey, I was on the phone arguing with Clint Eastwood's manager over the page length of a project my manager submitted to them.  He called me out on irresponsible writing.  Any other day, I would've made a big deal of this, but for the first time in my life, I actually fought for the vision, held my ground and didn't back down.  One cannot manipulate history, in this context the true story at hand, and editing just seemed to short change the concept.  I will eventually budge when the chips are down on this, but for now, thinking back to being in the MRI room with Amanda, life's too frickin' short to settle.  

Godspeed.

Almost time for a most 'Curious Case...'

I remember reading the production grid on the upcoming 'Benjamin Button' film and a note from one of the execs said 

"Script is 200 pages.  Can we trim it?"

That still makes me laugh.  Can't wait to see the film.  Last week, I caught Gran Torino and reminded me of the Hmoung population at Richfield High School in MN.  Oy, the december movie offerings.

And thank god this frickin' November is over.   Hated this month.  Moving onto December in T-Minus 1 hour & 43 minutes!

Channeling Mitchum, a Hollywood Animal named Hensleigh and getting your house in order.

Been a long while.  Just trying to decompress after a trying week, listening to some Peter Gabriel from the grand soundtrack of Virtuosity circa 1995 (highly suggest renting this brilliant Denzel Washington/Russell Crowe starrer).

I've been an anti-remake advocate for so long that when the opportunity arose to collaborate with the Hollywood animal named Hensleigh, the mastermind behind such tent pole pictures as The Rock, Armageddon, Con Air, Gone in Sixty Seconds and The Punisher, I was a bit intimidated at first.   Now, not so much.  The point of a remake is to simply make it better.  Embrace the original, pay your respects, dig in and make a brilliantly crafted and deserved remake to best the original.  Christopher Nolan has done it exceptionally well.  Now if only studios would pay the same respect as they rewind time and visit the classics.  

It was just over a year ago when I first encountered the Hollywood animal.   I grew up devouring his & his wife's films.  From The Terminator to Die Hard with a Vengeance...who would've thunk this opportunity would arise as I moved from Minneapolis to the west?  One hopes, but dreams are pesky things to grab a hold of and not let go.  Heeding his words of getting my house in order, a year to the day, the task was presented.  And I was finally in a place to accept the terms and begin.  

Life got itself together.  After dealing with struggles a plenty as most everyone out here has gone through, it's been well worth the wait.  Friends came and went, a kid like a little brother raced into my life - tugged on my heart strings and his life was unexpectedly extinguished far too early.   Soon after his beautiful soul of a mother gifted the world with another exceptional life and is finding her true calling and exposing the world to her creativity.  It's about time.  

And love.  Paraphrasing the brilliant Jack Kerouac, '...And I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a common place thing, but burn, burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "awww!"  

That's what love should always be like.  Nothing less.

Godspeed.

Bones & New Bev Midnights...a Howling good time.

I've just gotta say that I so love that theatre. It's becoming part of my weekly routine. Two, count them TWO films for a mere 7 bucks. Special midnight shows are usually a separate 7 bucks, but still...real popcorn with REAL butter (when they're not out) and cheap soda. You know you're in for a good film when 10 minutes into it, you hear the CLINK CLINK of someone's empty bottle of booze. Snickers usually follow along with a plea to not damage the new carpeting.

This past weekend was a great little film from Joe Dante -- his cult fave -- The Howling. An original print mind you. Before the film, my date of the eve, beautiful...

Wait, I should back up...I caught a viewing of Bones last Monday and was smitten by this actress. Something about her eyes and the obvious fact that the camera ADORES her in every respect. I snooped around IMDb and figured out who the blessing was and found her on Facebook. After bouncing a couple emails back & forth, we met for a midnight screening of The Howling. She'd never seen it and isn't a big fan of horror films. She managed through it with squinty & shielded eyes while holding my hand. Probably the best film experience I've had. Anywho...

Joe Dante introduced the film with Dee Wallace, Rob Botin and his editor in hand for some yucks before the carnage. Not sure if Tarantino was in attendance, we saw him briefly before as he came out for some air from the previous double feature, but all in all it was a night to remember.

Prom Night and Boston Public

Last week I posted over on Facebook how excited I was to be heading out to the Prom Night premiere at the Arclight. Strangely, my ex-girlfriend from 10 years ago posted a comment reminding me of our fateful prom night back in 1998. A bittersweet moment it was. Remembering our grand Prom, me just coming off of an awkward conversation a week before. We had seen Object of My Affection with Jennifer Aniston. Driving in my car towards her house, she spills,

I think I love you Jack.

GULP.

A cloud of dreaded silence hung over my head for what seemed to be an eternity.

What do you have to say about that? She asked and batted her eyelashes.

Thinking quick...The only woman I love is my mother. I really said that. Probably the last thing she wanted to hear. Oy vey.

Wow, the white elephant had managed to squeeze it's way into my Skylark. I was terrified to admit to Steph that I did love her. She had dreams of med school and I, well, I had no dreams at the time.

I knew I loved her but I didn't want to be responsible for stealing that portion of her life. Selfish on my behalf, there isn't a day that goes by where I don't wonder what if...

After the film, cheese in the best possible way, far better than the original...I'm wandering around with my friend, Barbara, the femme fatale of Hostel, proclaiming that I wasn't going to drink while explaining the customs of Prom to my date.

But open bar sponsored by Sony...come on, a writer's got to have a vice. Three drinks later and after chatting with Jonathan Shaech, a girl bumps into me.

Beautiful and well, unforgettable. So much to the fact that I blurt out...I loved you in Boston Public.

And she stared at me ...The lovely & always talented Jessalyn Gilsig turns around and smiles. After our lame intros and her finding out the exec of Prom was producing my project and I wasn't such a dork, we actually had a nice discussion. I told her how I used to watch the show after class at the University of Minnesota until the wee hours of the cold mornings. I've dealt with so so so many shallow people in this town and in that moment, standing beneath the sparkling lights of a Hollywood manufactured prom, I was able to grasp onto the roots that made me who I am. It was an endearing moment followed by pancakes at Denny's.

From the warped mind of David Arquette comes The Tripper

A little bit of a shameless plug for a film which I've been a fan of since last November. Even in H to the Wood, everyone supports one another. I give you my good friend's directorial debut...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2dLHt_-0j0

Death of a widescreen television and praying to the porcelain gods.

I was in the middle of a tivo-ed episode of Chuck today when the aromatic wafts of burning wires filled my nose and a second later, my television exploded.

Fuck.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.

It took me 18 months to commit to a widescreen and another two years before it died on me. I think I may let the tv sit there for a while before I get a new one. I'm a masochist. Sue me fuckers.

It's been a while since I've visited ye old blog. A lot has happened. I went to NY and wandered the streets. It was kismet I guess since the last piece I wrote was set in the city that truly never sleeps. Getting a lay of the land was a great experience. It beats mapquesting areas and hoping that studio people really aren't that smart. Wait, ummmm...

I was in NY trying to gather some footage for the new film Everybody Wants to be Italian as it premiered at the San Genarro Feast. The film stars Jay Jablonski, Cerina Vincent and Marisa Petroro. The week was a blur and we all seemed to have a great time.

I totally geeked out there when, as I was lost, happened upon Delancey Street. Thinking back to one of my favorite films, Happy Accidents, I remembered the climax and boom, there I was:

Another strange thing happened...10 o'clock Jack emerged from the shallow depths of my drunken spirit and the next day, Jason Todd Ipson (a profoundly great director) dubbed me GP or Georgia Peach as I supposedly told a girl that I'd eat her like a Georgia peach while drinking in the meat packing district at 3am. Oops. No one really wants to believe what they've done before praying to the porcelain gods, but no it happened I'm afraid. Enter evidence labled Myspace message numero uno:Hmmmm...what else is new??? Tissue is complete. Probably the darkest thing I've ever created. Let's see if the studios bite. But alas, it's an intelligent story in the vein of Se7en and I haven't seen many of those lately. Fingers crossed.

Ciao. No TV. Early to bed.

Redfoot aka Zed: The usual suspect has been caught.

A buddy of mine called today.

"Jack, let me tell you what happened this weekend."

"Tell me-"

"Peter Greene came around-"

Let me interject and mention that Peter Greene the actor, Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Training Day, The Mask, used to live in my friend's apartment building. And he's fucking nuts.

"Margaret rode up in the elevator with Peter and his eyes were all shifty. She said 'Hello, Peter...' to no avail."

"Does sound like Peter-"

"I know, doesn't it? But the cameras show him wandering around the building, then he slipped down into the laundry room, put on a ski mask and proceeded to steal the license plates off of Flanagan's Lexus."

"What?" Coffee sprayed out of my nose-

"The guy's gone buggers. He stole Flanagan's license plates. And he's caught on camera. They're thinking about selling the footage to TMZ.COM."

I love this town.