Write every day
I'm reading a fantastic book that I got last year (thanks to
Adam's recommendation) called
Breakfast with Sharks
. It's all about the business side of screenwriting, and it's perfect for me at the moment.
Only trouble is, it keeps saying "write every day". And when do I read it? Before I go to sleep. After a day where I haven't worked on the script. Smack on hand! Naughty!
Every day, write. Seems simple enough! But somehow I'm missing days and then having marathons. As far as my 10 pages a week thing, I'm on track, but imagine what I could do if I stuck to the discipline.
So, I'm going to make a commitment to blog every day about how I'm going with the writing. So if you see this blog on a weekday, and there's no post for that day, email me, will ya?
Review: Something the Lord Made (2004)
What a fantastic movie is
Something the Lord Made, staring Alan Rickman (
Michael Collins) and Mos Def (
The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy).
This is one of those movies that makes you want to go and do something enormously significant afterwards. A real feel-good tear-jerking encouraging kind of story.
Commentary was great, too, from the two exec producers, the director (Joseph Sargent,
MacArthur,
ST:TOS The Corbomite Maneuver) and writer Peter Silverman.
Some commentaries focus on exactly what I want to know, and in this case it was:
- how the movie came about, business-wise, and
- how they structured the story - particularly interesting because it was based on true events.
The first part's easy- the script was originally shopped as a feature film but circa 10 years ago people weren't interested in historical drama for feature films. Not sure if that's changed any. So they came to HBO and it sounds like a marriage made in heaven. HBO cared about the same things the producers cared about, which was integrity to the story's source material, and making sure the events and characters were portrayed accurately.
Other key points from the commentary, and my own notes:
- The executive producing team was interesting - veteran Robert Cort, who said he'd produced 53 films, and the other guy (whos name escapes me, and there are too many to guess from on IMDb) for whom this was his second or third film. Good combo.
- The original idea was to start in 1943 and then fill in the missing parts through a flashback to 1930. It worked on paper - as it would, quite well - but when they viewed it assembled on screen, it didn't work. They wanted to do flashbacks to avoid the biopic syndrome where it's cradle-to-grave, linear movement. However they were able to use their existing footage and just reshuffle it into chronological order, and it still worked better than fine.
- The theme of the film is intimacy; Cort even described it as a love story. We're not talking Brokeback Mountain here; this is not about sexual love at all. This is about a symbiotic relationship; two people who are so consumed by what they're doing that they depend on each other, and enjoy each other's company. I really felt that, and yet because of racial issues and just maybe the times and their personalities, they couldn't express what they felt for each other. That's part of the story's muted appeal.
- A little tip from the director, or was it the exec producer: in a love story, have the two characters in the frame together a lot. So we get the image of them as always together.
- The second act had several key climaxes through it, which they had to make sure they engineered so each one wouldn't overshadow the next. They did a great job.
- They commented on how difficult it was to tell a true story particularly these days because the facts, or at least another version of them, are just a Google search away.
- Robert Cort: "You can't make drama too funny." Because humour comes out of character.
- Movies, even dramas, tend to play funnier to a large auditorium audience rather than at home.
- (Spoiler!) The blue baby operation is a typical third act climax, but the story wasn't really about that, it was about the relationship between the two men. So it was actually the second act climax in terms of the relationship. Meaning things went downhill from there.
- This film took 8 years to develop. That's an average time for these sorts of projects. Wow.
I really enjoyed this film. Subtle, wonderful acting from the two leads and strong performances by the supporting actors. I don't know why made-for-TV films get a bad rap; this one is great.
Back to school for another sharp learning curve - 28 Mar 2006 - Lifestyle & Leisure
Back to school for another sharp learning curve - 28 Mar 2006 - Lifestyle & LeisureMy gosh! Some of the gags in this kiwi drama actually sound funny!
Not meaning to knock kiwis, but there are few kiwi comedies that actually make me laugh the same way, say, the Simpsons does.
Maybe I should try it, see how hard it is...
Hollywood film to be shot in Wanaka next month - 28 Mar 2006 - Lifestyle & Leisure
Hollywood film to be shot in Wanaka next month - 28 Mar 2006 - Lifestyle & Leisure10,000 BC ... wasn't that the one with Racquel Welch in it with that incredibly unlikely fur bikini?
Horror Movies: U.S. Audiences Hungry for Blood - Newsweek Entertainment - MSNBC.com
Horror Movies: U.S. Audiences Hungry for Blood - Newsweek Entertainment - MSNBC.comThanks to Nick Masters on Skip Press' Hollywood Writers list for this link. As Nick points out, Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi and many others got their start in horror.
Church of the Customer Blog: The hot new meme: Snakes on a Plane
Church of the Customer Blog: The hot new meme: Snakes on a Plane
The most exciting companies in the Creative Industries :: The Big Idea :: an online community of New Zealand's creative industries
The most exciting companies in the Creative Industries :: The Big Idea :: an online community of New Zealand's creative industries
As Good As It Gets (1997)
My foray into viewing romantic comedies has begun with
As Good As It Gets (1997), with a stellar cast and a very nice story.
- Directed, written and produced by James L Brooks, the man behind Gracie Films, the people who continue to bring us The Simpsons.
- Critically acclaimed, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
- Did well at the BO, according to Box Office Mojo.
- Classic 3-act structure with a twist, the twist being how the lives of the three main characters (and, I guess, the dog) entwine.
- Being written by the director, the script by itself comes across really badly, but I guess that's a luxury you can afford when a) you're a good director, and b) you're working with very, very talented writers.
Interesting about reading the script with the film (third time watching): the rule of get into a scene as late as you can, and out as early as you can, seems to have been done in post. A lot of stuff in the script that didn't seem to need to be there.
Another puzzling thing: there's a lot of inner thoughts expressed in the script. I thought that was against the rules and insulting to actors? Again, when you've got a good solid team, I guess you can break the rules with spectacular results.
So, let's see if I've learnt anything about three-act structure... Melvin's journey:
- Opening image - the sweet-faced woman's face turning sour at the sight of Melvin. We get the idea - confirmed as we go on - that this is a jerk.
- Inciting incident - when Carol tells him never to mention her son. For once, he's silenced. He's touched.
- Change of plan - when he starts wrestling with who he thought he was and who he could be - this is when his neighbour is injured and he has to look after the dog he tried to kill. - maybe the real 'moment' was when he had to give the dog back and got all emotional.
- Point of no return - I'm picking this is when he says, under his breath, that he needs Carol. In the restaurant in Baltimore.
- Apparent defeat - when she tells him she doesn't want contact with him, then rings him up and basically confirms it.
- Resolution - when he swallows his fear and goes over to her place and they go for a walk in the early morning and kiss and get warm rolls. And the little bit I never noticed until the third viewing... he steps on a crack, by accident, at the very end.
Biz not sure how to treat upstart YouTube
Biz not sure how to treat upstart YouTubeFascinating.
The Alien Series
Now that I've watched - in detail -
Aliens,
Alien3 and
Alien:Resurrection, and I've watched the making of
AVP, I can reflect a bit on the whole experience.
As usual, for readability and to avoid having to structure my thoughts, here they are in point form:
- The Alien universe is a much more pessimistic one than my other favourite sci-fi franchise, Star Trek. Waaay more pessimistic; and that was hard to swallow at first. I was on auto-search for nobility, pure motivations, etc. but Ripley was the only moral anchor in a world that didn't seem particularly worth saving.
- I got a little worried when I saw the making of Alien:Resurrection, because the director didn't have red hair and a beard (look at Ridley Scott, James Cameron and David Fincher - coincidence? I think not). However Jeunet did a fantastic job - I think I like Alien:Resurrection the best of all the sequels.
- Aliens was classic Hollywood 3-act structure, and with a happy ending to boot. Alien3 was cursed by both having no final script, and the story - penned by New Zealand's own Vincent Ward, although thoroughly messed around with by others - was far more experimental and dark. Not a bad thing, but killing off all but one of your heroes in the first five minutes tends to kind of switch you off to caring about any of the characters.
- I'm quite looking forward to AVP, which means I must have gotten into the vibe of things. Watching the special features has been great; I feel like I know the producers and Sigourney and the effects team. Sort of. Gee, now I just sound like a pimple-faced fan!
- AVP was first explored as a comic book or graphic novel. Interesting how comic books, while a medium on their own, also serve as an effective test bed for cinematic ideas: Spider-man, Superman, Hulk, X-Men, Judge Dredd, Constantine, and now V for Vendetta.
Okay, that's all for now.
In 1987 he had a vision
Some of Ted Baehr's writings I enjoy; others I find overly zealous and unhelpful to an understanding of the facts. But I do admire him for filling the role he fills in the entertainment industry.
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
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Thursday, March 9, 2006
IN 1987 HE HAD A VISION
By David Outten
Special to ASSIST News Service
ATLANTA, GA (ANS) -- I would like to tell you a story about my friend Ted Baehr, not because I want to bring glory to Ted, but because I'd like you to see what God can do when someone diligently pursues a calling.
When I met Ted Baehr back in 1987 he had a vision for impacting the motion picture industry by encouraging Christians to support good movies and avoid bad ones. He presented movie reviews on a local radio station here in Atlanta. His reviews ran in a small Christian newspaper and he had recently begun to produce a newsletter called MOVIEGUIDE®. He would type up reviews on a typewriter, take all his pages to a copy shop, reduce them, copy them on two sides and mail them to a small list of subscribers.
As editor of the little Christian newspaper, I had a Macintosh computer and a laser printer and began typesetting MOVIEGUIDE®. I did so for 12 years. Over the years the size of the publication grew, the radio program was picked up by more and more stations and Ted began giving annual awards for the best Family and Mature Audience movies. He eventually moved to California where he started the Christian Film and Television Commission (based on the concept of the Protestant Film Office that was once a powerful force for good in Hollywood).
Today, Ted meets with some of the most prominent people in Hollywood, and he is regularly interviewed on shows like Oprah and Hannity & Colmes. Each year he publishes his annual Report To The Entertainment Industry, in which he provides detailed, statistical proof that movies with moral, Christian and biblical content do better at the box office than the many awful immoral movies Hollywood typically pours out every year.
And that's not the end of the story. Greater opportunities keep coming. Ted was recently given an invitation to produce a weekly, half-hour, nationally televised program reviewing movies and encouraging biblical morality in entertainment.
Again, this is not to simply glorify Ted. My point is that if YOU will radically pursue the vision God has for you by being faithful and persistent then God can receive greater and greater glory through you. God is the one who slays the Goliaths, but He uses people with vision and perseverance in the process.
>From the beginning of time to this very day, pursuing His vision requires faith and hard work. The enemy is constantly out to discourage and destroy. The more you grow, the more support you need – both in prayer and finances. Fortunately, Ted does not do his work alone. As ministries grow, God brings coworkers who share the vision and He uses people like you and churches like Landmark to make growth possible.
Since the 1960s Hollywood has been like a tool of the devil which pours out moral filth that encourages you and your children to abandon belief in God and live for fleshly desires. Like a dark cloud enveloping the earth, the Hollywood lifestyle has spread from California to the smallest towns in rural America and far beyond our shores. When you support MOVIEGUIDE® and Christian Film & Television Commission™ you attack this darkness. You are lighting a beacon right in the heart of darkness, and the light of God's truth is having an impact.
Studio executives are getting the message. More good movies are being made. Contact us, and we can show you the proof.
The growth from the old MOVIEGUIDE® to the new MOVIEGUIDE® is not just Ted's doing – it’s yours, it’s mine and most of all, it’s God's. I would personally like to thank you for having the vision and commitment to faithfully support Dr. Ted Baehr, MOVIEGUIDE® and the Christian Film & Television Commission™.
I look for the day when Hollywood movies are more likely to lead people to salvation than to perdition. I look for the day when you can be glad your teenager has chosen to go to the movies. I look for the day when American movies sent overseas lead millions to Jesus Christ instead of away from Him. Thank you for sharing the vision and being a vital part of bringing it to pass.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Please feel free to duplicate this article and make it available to parents and others, or even to run it in your publication, with the appropriate credits. For more information from a Christian perspective about redeeming the values of the mass media, order the latest MOVIEGUIDE® magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVIE) or visit its website at www.movieguide.org. MOVIEGUIDE® is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today’s movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. MOVIEGUIDE® now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, at www.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers. MOVIEGUIDE® also regularly broadcasts several international TV and radio programs hosted by Dr. Ted Baehr. If you want to train your family to be media-wise, call 1-800-899-6684 in North America to order the book, video or audio version of THE MEDIA-WISE FAMILY, SO YOU WANT TO BE IN PICTURES, FRODO & HARRY, and/or NARNIA BECKONS – some of Dr. Ted Baehr’s recent books.
| David Outten is an art director, artist and computer programmer in Atlanta, Georgia. This talk was prepared for the Landmark Church Missions Fair in Norcross, Georgia. Landmark Church has faithfully supported MOVIEGUIDE® for years. |  |
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Robber of the mean streets
George Muller was an early influence on my life and business. I'd love to see this when it's made.
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
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Saturday, March 11, 2006
'ROBBER OF THE CRUEL STREETS'
A new drama documentary is being made about the inspiring life of George Müller
By Dan and Peter Wooding
Special to ASSIST News Service
DALLAS, TEXAS (ANS) -- A new drama documentary is being shot in Bristol, England, about the extraordinary life of George Müller (1805-1898), the Prussian-born English evangelist and philanthropist who, as a man of faith and prayer, established orphanages in Bristol and founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad.
This news was revealed in an interview at the recent NRB 2006 convention in Dallas, Texas with Malcolm Turner, the executive director of the UK-based Christian Television Association, who said it will be called “Robber of the Cruel Streets.”
“It’s a program we have wanted to make for many years because we’re actually based in Bristol,” he said. “It is a story that we feel needs to be told again to a modern generation, because it talks of a man who was completely sold out to God and trusted Him for everything. George Müller was a man who really took the Word of God, the Bible, for face value, and trusted God to supply all of his needs and provide for the thousands of orphans he cared for over the years. It’s a remarkable story, and we feel very privileged to be able to tell it.”
Turner said that his organization is involved with three co-producers – United Christian Broadcasters in the UK, Evangeliums-Rundfunk (ERF) in Germany and Christian History Institute in conjunction with Gateway Films/Vision Video in USA.
“All three are well known to us and are good friends with the same desire to bring Glory to God through the production of this program,” said Turner.
“In addition, we have the commitment of CWR (Crusade for World Revival) to publish a book to accompany the production, which will be written by Clive Langmead who has worked extensively with us in the past.
“It is going to be a drama documentary, or I should say a documentary which is illustrated by drama, and for us it is a major project. It will last for about 60 minutes with an additional 30-minute documentary on people’s lives that have been influenced by Müller over the years. It’s amazing how many church leaders we’ve come across who’ve been influenced by this man in their ministries and, as we’ve been able to unpack the character and find out more about him, it’s just a remarkable story of God’s provision, about how God has used this man, who took God at His Word, and saw Him answer prayer in a miraculous way.
“We’re filming at the moment; the documentary elements are being filmed now and in March and April we’ll be filming the drama elements, and we hope to have the whole production complete by the end of June, with a possible launch in September.”
To get more information on the program and also details of the Christian Television Association, go to www.cta.uk.com.
Peter Wooding is senior news editor for the UK-based Christian radio network UCB Europe. The son of ASSIST founders, Dan and Norma Wooding, he has traveled extensively reporting from places such as Croatia, Dubai, St Petersburg, Russia, South Korea, Zambia and Israel. He is also the director of ASSIST Europe, and last fall led his first mission trip with the ministry to Beslan in Russia. Previously Peter served as a missionary for five years with Youth With A Mission, where he met his wife who's from North Wales where they now live with their three daughters.
Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiog raphy, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by The atron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com. danjuma1@aol.com. (Pictured: Dan and Peter Wooding) |  |
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It's now a romantic comedy
Had a wonderful workshop last week with Paul Margolis from LA. Fantastic stuff and food for more posts later.
Key piece of news is that the comedy/drama/thriller/romance I thought I had is actually a romantic comedy.
Even better, I'm actually going to get cracking and work on it. Paul asked us to commit to a deadline of June 2nd - 84 days away, give or take (I'm a writer, not a mathematician!) - and start writing, and also researching which companies to sell the script to.
Scary stuff. So soon you'll see on this blog lots of reviews of romantic comedies as I familiarise myself with the genre. But I'll finish the
Alien series first.
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Right wing playwrights 'needed'
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Right wing playwrights 'needed'Fascinating.
Is the Pen as Mighty as the Joystick? - New York Times
Is the Pen as Mighty as the Joystick? - New York TimesInteresting side business opportunity here!
BBC NEWS | Technology | Digital media 'empowering users'
BBC NEWS | Technology | Digital media 'empowering users'
Aliens (1986)
Aliens grew on me ... though thankfully not on my face!
Through some complicated technical reason, I got Aliens (1986) in the mail before Alien (1979), so it'll be interesting finally seeing Alien after seeing this one.
But this was the first time I went absolutely crazy and studied a film inch by inch.
Saturday night:
- Watched the original theatrical release
- Watched the "pre-production" part of the special features documentary
Sunday:
- Read the original script treatment (on the DVD) - the story without dialogue.
- Watched the special edition, reading along with the original script. Great exercise! Lots of pausing and rewinding.
- Watched the special edition with commentary, which was well-done, with commentary by James Cameron (writer/director), Gale Anne Hurd (producer and Cameron's wife at the time), many of the actors (though not Sigourney Weaver), and some of the special effects guys. There's nothing like a well-put together commentary track; I can tell a lot of work went into this one.
- Watched the "Production" part of the special features documentaries. Today I'll hopefully get a chance to see the "Post Production" part.
While I'm interested in all aspects of the making of Aliens, as a writer I was particularly interested in how it all started, and where the ideas came from. I got that from Cameron's commentary early on in the film.
The producers of the original Alien, David Giler and Walter Hill, were working with James Cameron on something else (sheesh, I should've taken notes), and Aliens came about almost by accident (ain't that always the way!). Cameron was a virtual unknown as a writer, and still very young as a director. He'd written and directed The Terminator, but it hadn't been released yet and people didn't know just how good he was.
When Giler and Hill offered for him to write the sequel to Aliens, he jumped at it (inside, anyway. Outside, he was cool as a cucumber). He took a sci-fi story he'd already been working on and adjusted it to the Alien storyline, "dropping in" the characters of Ripley and the marines.
Giler and Hill loved it, and moved it forward. The eventual script is fairly similar to the original treatment, which I understand is quite unusual.
What interested me was how Cameron took an existing, very unique and powerful character (Ripley), and moved the character forward. It was interesting that later on Weaver disagreed with Cameron about Ripley's motivation - Weaver felt Ripley would not hate the Alien; Cameron was adamant she did. The disagreement led to more depth of character for both actor and director, as they explored her reasons for opposing the Alien - not because of personal hatred, but because of the danger these aliens posed.
In some ways, it must be great being writer and director. Especially working with actors would be great, to really flesh out the ideas from just words on paper.
It's interesting, though, that in the original script he didn't skimp on detail. If I knew I was going to direct, I'd be tempted to write vague, and specify later, when I knew what I had to work with. Perhaps that's an area I need to learn from -
visualising the ideal first, then working your way back to what you can do. I'm more of the Robert Rodriguez school (ten minute school!) where he wrote with existing locations in mind. I guess that's not as practical for a science fiction film. Would like to see how George Lucas did it for THX-1138, which had a low budget and a lot of local locations.
Other stuff I noticed from the screenplay vs. screen comparison:
- The script featured lots of description of the physical environment, but the finished product was all about characters' reactions to that environment. It's all about people, people!
- The script has lines that are longer, less conversational and more expository. I'd love to know how many of those lines were changed in development, and how many changed on set. The acting was great in this film, by the way. There was a lot of real listening and responding going on, not just people remembering to say their lines right.
- Action scenes were more involved on paper; they were cut-down and simplified for the screen. (Either that, or I missed the more involved bits because they happened so fast! In any case, the extra complications weren't crucial to the story)
- The script emphasised the characters' reactions to each other, but in the final cut these inter-relationships weren't played out so much - maybe because there were so many characters. I guess a lot of these cuts were done so it just became about Ripley and Newt as the main, main characters, Ripley and Burke until he got his face hugged, and Ripley and Hicks towards the end.
This film is amazing in that it has a
100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. To have box office success and critical acclaim is quite the pig's pyjamas! It's probably worth me taking a closer look at
James Cameron's other works - even the ones I already know.
News roundup
DistributionPeople
Movie Ideas
- They're going to make a movie about the autistic basketball guy. Fantastic!
Publishing
Boing Boing: Legal squabbles over download TV: next "Napster" war?
Boing Boing: Legal squabbles over download TV: next "Napster" war?TV may be free but not that free!
American Film Renaissance
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
AMERICAN FILM RENAISSANCE ANNOUNCES BEST MOVIES OF 2005
Cinderella Man Chosen Number-One, Narnia In Second Place
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
DALLAS, TEXAS (ANS) -- A select group of movie producers, directors, screenwriters, actors and journalists across the nation has chosen Cinderella Man as the best movie of 2005, with The Chronicles of Narnia coming in a close second. American Film Renaissance (AFR) yesterday released a complete list of the top ten films and top five documentaries of last year, as chosen by its voters.
AFR's voters are a select group of movie producers, directors, screenwriters, actors and journalists from across the nation who share AFR's ideals. Some of AFR's voters have contributed to such publications as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Weekly Standard, National Review, Reason Magazine, Christianity Today, World Net Daily and Newsmax, among others.
"Our voters chose films that are not only of high aesthetic quality, but also have redeeming qualities that most Americans identify with," said Jim Hubbard, president and founder of American Film Renaissance.
AFR is a non-profit film institute founded in 2003, which organizes film festivals around the nation including Los Angeles, Dallas, and Traverse City, Michigan. AFR champions films that reflect the principles that made America great, such as free speech, free enterprise, freedom of religion, rugged individualism, and the triumph of the human spirit.
"In a year when the average box office of the movies nominated by the Academy was the lowest since 1984, we believe our list of the top movies better reflects the taste and spirit of the American people," Hubbard said.
"Only one of our top five films was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards," Hubbard noted. "Hollywood is increasingly disconnected from the American public. Our award list is intended to help the movie industry elite find their way back into the mainstream."
THE COMPLETE LIST
The following is AFR's list of the Best Films and Documentaries of 2005: BEST PICTURE: CINDERELLA MAN
2nd The Chronicles of Narnia
3rd Walk the Line
4th Crash
5th Downfall
6th Pride and Prejudice
7th Batman Begins
8th The World's Fastest Indian
9th Capote
| |
| March of the Penguins cover |
10th King Kong
BEST DOCUMENTARY: MARCH OF THE PENGUINS
2nd Grizzly Man
3rd Mad Hot Ballroom
4th Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room
5th Murderball
For more information please check www.afrfilmfestival.com
AFR is a non-profit organization recognized under IRS Code 501(c)3. All donations to AFR are tax deductible.
Contact: Jim Hubbard (972) 980-4626
American Film Renaissance,
16000 Bent Tree Forest Circle, # 734,
Dallas, Texas 75248 in the USA.
| ** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. |  |
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+ve changes in Hollywood
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
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Tuesday, February 28, 2006
POSITIVE CHANGES HAPPENING IN HOLLYWOOD
By Dan and Peter Wooding
DALLAS, TX (ANS) -- Big, positive changes are happening in Hollywood, says Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of MOVIEGUIDE®, a family guide to movies and entertainment, and the Christian Film & Television Commission™ ministry (CFTVC).
In an interview with Peter Wooding, senior news director for UCB Europe at NRB 2006 in Dallas, Texas, Dr. Baehr said, “Every studio has a Christian division now. And, almost every major studio has agreed to read the winning script for the first John Templeton Foundation Kairos Prize for spiritually uplifting screenplays with religious themes about God and Jesus Christ by first-time screenwriters.”
The winner of the Kairos Prize will be announced at the upcoming 14th Annual MOVIEGUIDE® Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry set for Thursday, March 2, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The awards are sponsored by MOVIEGUIDE® and CFTVC.
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| Peter Wooding interviewing Ted Baehr |
Dr. Baehr said that the studio heads agreeing to read the winning script include Amy Pascal, Chairman of the Motion Picture Group at Sony Pictures Entertainment; Dick Cook, Chairman of Walt Disney Studios; Jeffrey Katzenberg, Co-Principal of DreamWorks SKG and President of DreamWorks Animation SKG; Joe Gianopulos, Co-Chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment for 20th Century Fox; and, Jeff Robinov, President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures.
“There are only six major studios in Hollywood,” Dr. Baehr noted, “so when I say that four out of the six are reading these scripts, it’s because four out of the six have made a determined, concerted effort to get involved in the Christian marketplace. That's because the Christian marketplace happens to be one of the few areas in the United States that you can really have a successful movie.
“For instance, ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ has done about $300 million in the United States and Canada with very little advertising. A movie like 'Brokeback Mountain,' which Hollywood has promoted with a lot of advertising, has only done about $75 million, which at $6.40 a ticket is only about 11 million tickets in a country of 300 million people, which is very, very small.
“So when the key players in Hollywood want to make money, reach people and have a successful movie, they’ve got to put moral values and overt Christian values into their products. And, the more Christianity they put in it, the better it does at the box office.
“So the studios are now seeking out Christians to make movies. About a month ago we had ‘The End of the Spear’ open up. A group of people from the National Religious Broadcasters who had teamed up with some people from Hollywood were delighted that it was released by 20th Century Fox.”
Baehr went on to talk about the Michael W. Smith movie ‘The Second Chance’ which he described as “a very good movie.” He added, “I was asked to help with the script. Michael W. Smith is a big Christian singer here in the United States. Sony has taken their record label for Gospel and Christian product, called Integrity, and combined it with Provident and turned it into Provident Integrity for movies.
“When we were at the Christian Booksellers convention, the biggest exhibit was Warner Faith, the biggest show was Disney, and the biggest screenings were 20th Century Fox, so those are the major studios now becoming a tremendous influence within the Christian realm. They’re hiring a lot of people to market the movies, but sometimes they’re marketing movies that we should stay away from, like ‘The Da Vinci Code.’”
He then talked about some of the people that are coming to the upcoming gala.
“Disney is buying several tables; and, they’re going to try to get all the key people from ‘Narnia’ there. I can’t tell you who’s going to be there until they actually get there. And then I got back to the office to find out Warner Bros. is buying tables. All the studios, and most of the studio people, who come to the Awards Gala are not believers, but it’s surprising how many believers there are in every group.
“What we do at the event is we commend the good. The studios in Hollywood need these awards. They used to be able to get Academy Awards, but they can’t get Academy Awards anymore because the studios don’t control the Academy anymore.”
Dr. Baehr noted that the Academy is controlled by all the young turks who made one or two movies for Sundance Film Festival, but there are only six major studios releasing movies for a broad audience, which means there are only about 140 studio movies released every year. That means there are a small number of studio talent, but there are 6,000 members of the Academy, most of whom have never been involved in a studio film.
“Many of these young turks have just done dark and dingy independent film festivals,” said Dr. Baehr, “or the types of films that play in art houses somewhere. So, the major studios now have lost control completely of the Academy Awards. Last year, the movie that went into the Academy Awards with only about $8 million at the box office ended up with got out with $100 million after being nominated and winning Best Picture. So, now the studios are saying they want the MOVIEGUIDE® awards because they’re hoping that it’s going to boost their box office.
“The studios also want to be recognized by those who still recognize movies with a broad audience because those awards help people understand that these movies are worth going to. Disney told me that they had promoted ‘Chicken Little’ for the Academy Awards, but they couldn’t get it into the animated features nominated for an Oscar®, and so they are happy to be nominated for a MOVIEGUIDE® Award.
“Our awards attract a lot of people. There, we have the chance to disciple and evangelize them through their own movies. We help them try to understand what the difference is between a good movie with redemptive content like ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe,’ or a movie that they think would appeal to the Christian audience, like ‘Saved,’ but is actually abhorrent; or the difference between a good television program like ‘Beyond Narnia,’ to a program that people abhor, like ‘The Book of Daniel.’ They do not do ‘The Book of Daniel’ or ‘Saved’ thinking that they’re being offensive to the Christian audience. They think that those are religious movies and programs, so what we do is try to help them understand the difference between the two.”
Peter Wooding then noted to Baehr that are several authors who are launching books on “The Da Vinci Code,” and so he asked him for his comments on this.
“I think Christians should release books and stories and articles about this topic,” he said. “We should speak to the issue, and we should speak in love to the issue, we should expose the fruitless works of darkness, we should be clear about the issues. The trouble is that the studios have tried to encourage the movies and books that, even if they’re critical, they’re tied into the movie, and have convinced some Christian leaders to urge people to go see the movie and then read their book.
“I think we should be open to Hollywood, deal with Hollywood, talk to Hollywood, speak to the political scene, but I don’t think we should let Hollywood dictate what our principles are. I don’t think they should hire us to be shills for the entertainment industry. We need to support the good, and reject the bad.”
Note: We would like to thank Shirley Hunt for transcribing this interview.
Peter Wooding is senior news editor for the UK-based Christian radio network UCB Europe. The son of ASSIST founders, Dan and Norma Wooding, he has traveled extensively reporting from places such as Croatia, Dubai, St Petersburg, Russia, South Korea, Zambia and Israel. He is also the director of ASSIST Europe, and last fall led his first mission trip with the ministry to Beslan in Russia. Previously Peter served as a missionary for five years with Youth With A Mission, where he met his wife who's from North Wales where they now live with their three daughters.
Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com. danjuma1@aol.com. (Pictured: Dan and Peter Wooding) |  |
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Lights, action, mobile?
New Zealand's source for technology news on Stuff.co.nz: Lights, action, mobile?From the article:
A feature-length film made using cellphones. Sound improbable? Well it's not in South Africa. Eight cellphones, $US160,000, and a good idea – could this be the future of film-making?
South African director Aryan Kaganof thinks so. And to prove it, he made SMS Sugar Man, which is billed as the world's first feature film shot entirely on mobile phones.
...
SMS Sugar Man – which is due to premiere in May – cost just a fraction of the six million rand that many low-budget local films cost.
By comparison, Hollywood pictures typically cost $US40 million to $US50 million and often exceed $US100 million.
"We wanted to make a radically low-budget film to show that anyone can do this," said producer Michelle Wheatley.
"There are a lot of people in Africa who want to make films and can't afford it."
Good on 'em! This, along with Robert Rodriguez' advice, is propelling me to pick up my still camera that does little clips of video, and make a movie - any movie - and get some momentum going, and learn something.
Cinderella Man
Cinderella Man is now one of my favourite films! I first saw it in October last year on the plane back from Sydney ... unfortunately the trip was shorter than the film, so I never got to find out what happened - until this week.
- It's a story that appeals to men as well as women - men (well, me anyway) are inspired by Jimmy's resoluteness and love for his family, and the violence is kinda exciting; meanwhile it has some essential chick-flick elements - love story, etc.
- In Skip Press' Hollywood Writers' Discussion Group, Skip suggested that while it was a story with a happy ending the visual language never quite got out of the depression. The dull greens and greys filled the screen till the end. While I loved the visual look and feel, I've got to agree.
- Having said that, I can't figure out why this film wasn't as popular as it should've been. Sure, Russell Crowe's phone-throwing antics may have put people off, but are movie-goers really that fickle? I don't like what I know of Russell Crowe as a person, but I am a big fan of his acting. Gladiator, Beautiful Mind, Master and Commander ... all great films, all thanks to him.
- A wonderful portrayal of marriage and family here. Made me nostalgic for an era when men were men and women were women, and those roles were clearly understood and defined. That's not to say it wasn't restrictive, and some people were forced to be something they didn't really feel they were inside, but it gave some sort of security and sense of purpose which is really missing. It gave men especially a sense of honour and nowhere is this seen more than in Braddock's (Crowe's) attitude towards providing for his family ... ideally through work, but also through asking for help. Welfare is seen as an absolute last resort, and even then he pays it back.
- Wonderful realisation of what each fight was really about - through some very skilful editing by Daniel P Handley and Mike Hill. The opponent was poverty, and each punch represented Braddock's struggle to do something to change their situation. It's a struggle for control in the face of helplessness, and this story really communicated that.
- Cinderella Man addresses mens' deepest fear: failure. And also the difference between men and women. Mae (Renee Zellweger) wants Jimmy to stop, to avoid risk, to be safe. Yet to ask him to do so deprives him of the very thing he needs to win - her support. Beautifully played out.
- Great teamups in this: obviously Crowe and Zellweger, but also fantastic chemistry and very funny scenes between Crowe and Paul Giamatti, who played Braddock's manager Joe Gould.
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