Genre: Drama/Coming-of-Age
Premise: A dysfunctional group of friends living in San Francisco post-college find that making it in the real world isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
About: This script finished with 9 mentions on the 2006 Black List. Not knowing anything about the writers, Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz, I did some research after reading the script and found out they’ve recently written the remake script for Little Darlings for J.J. Abrams. The original movie starred Tatum O’Neal and Matt Dillon and was about two 15 year olds from opposite sides of the tracks competing to see who could lose their virginity first (someone called this movie a hit – but it’s not officially available on anything other than VHS). They also have another project in development with Elizabeth Banks in the lead based on the book “What Was I Thinking?: 58 Bad Boyfriend Stories.” It Is What It Is is listed as in development but doesn’t seem to have any movement right now.
Writers: Susanna Fogel & Joni Lefkowitz
Details: 120 pages – Sept 25, 2006 draft (This is an early draft of the script. The situations, characters, and plot may change significantly by the time the film is released. This is not a definitive statement about the project, but rather an analysis of this unique draft as it pertains to the craft of screenwriting).

Black List Time Machine! I took the Black List Time Machine back to 2006 to find this gem. Those early years unfortunately didn’t benefit from the Scriptshadow/widespread script reading presence, so many have since been forgotten. Do not shed a tear though cause I’m bringin’em back baby!  

I’ll admit though, when I started reading this and realized it was a 20-something “trying to find our way in life” flick, I groaned. I actually like the idea of these films. Leaving institutional life for the first time and realizing  all the promises that were made to us weren’t even close to true is a right-of-passage we’re all familiar with. But most writers take the subject matter to the self-important extreme, and we end up following a lot of depressed 20-something losers complaining about making the rent.  Borrr-innnnggggg.

Well I’m happy to say that “It Is What It is” is one of the best versions of this format I’ve read since Happy Thank You More Please. Sure it gets a little self-important at times, but the characters are all well thought out, the situations interesting, and the dialogue fresh. And oh yeah, it’s funny too!

There are four main characters here. We have the quirky semi-alcoholic Eliza, who’d really love to be a photographer but is stuck designing tween underwear for Forever 21. We have the unlucky-in-love trust fund baby Grant, our Jeff Goldblum character from The Big Chill – who no matter how hard he tries, can’t ever seem to get out of the “friend zone” with women. We have stiff-as-a-board Barry, whose disdain for spontaneity explains his desperation to be a lawyer. And we have Jules, a slutty tomboy who invades on our friends’ tight knit circle.

There are a lot of complications for our characters (as there well should be) and they start with Grant, who’s been desperately in love with Eliza since the Renaissance Era, but has settled into that horrible best friend consolation bubble hoping that one day she’ll change her mind. When she meets a guy on Myspace and falls head over heels with him, Grant realizes that that day isn’t coming anytime soon.

Barry’s about to embark on his prestigious law career which will finally allow him to pay back the mountain of debt he’s left behind when his longtime girlfriend tells him no mas. She’s concluded that he’s more boring than elevator music and just like that, a man whose whole world is stability, is no longer in a stable relationship. Everybody somehow convinces Barry to make a “bucket list” of crazy ass things he’d never do and finish it before he enters the corporate world. Get high, have a one night stand, that sort of thing. He doesn’t want to do it but peer pressure gets the best of him. 

Later on, Grant meets the tomboyish Jules, who’s in town to visit her feminist lesbian mother she has a Coke Zero relationship with. When Grant brings her into the tight-knit fold of the three amigos, it throws the delicate balance of this triple-friendship off. Barry immediately likes her, but Eliza sees her as a potential threat.

For a moment it looks like everything’s going to fall apart (story-wise) when Jules’ mother reveals she has a brain tumor and a one night stand from Grant’s past shows up telling him he’s the father of their child. I thought, “Uh oh, and into Hallmark Country we go!” But the writers, thank God, ignore the sappy trappings of the tumor stuff and the Grant-baby story actually turns out to be the engine for some great character exploration. 

The only two people Grant’s ever had sex with are Eliza, on a drunken college night, and this girl, this *beautiful* girl, who clearly took pity on him one random evening. At first Grant is horrified by the prospect of raising a kid, but as they wait for DNA results to prove he’s the father, Grant becomes addicted to the feeling of having another half, a half he’s dreamt of having his whole life.

But the girl only wants financial help from Grant – nothing more. Watching him cling to her when she won’t even give him the courtesy of PRETENDING she’s interested, is so difficult to watch I had to stop reading a couple of times. You feel so bad for the guy.

Eliza has a great storyline as well. She falls in love with this guy online, they have a whirlwind romance, and for the first time in her life, she’s able to break away from her friends. But after he casually mentions a female friend of his, she looks her up on Myspace (I presume we’d change this to Facebook) and becomes obsessed with her and her strange philosophical blog ramblings.

ISWIS has what I’m looking for in every script. It doesn’t go the way you think it’s going to go. There were so many times where I was like, “Oh boy, here it is. Now we’re going to blah blah blah,” but five pages later, I was proven wrong. For example, I was sure that once Grant met Jules, the two would get involved and he would use her to finally get Eliza to like him. But one scene later, Jules ditches Grant at the bar and starts making out with a random bartender, making me rethink everything. I loved it.

I can also always tell when I’m reading a script with a female author (and in this case 2). In most dude-written screenplays, the women aren’t complex in any way. There’s a particular script I cite to others where there were 11 male characters and 7 female characters. Each male character had a 3-line introduction. Each female character never had more than a 3-WORD introduction!

It never occurred to me how insulting this might be to a female reader until I read an amateur script by a woman who approached her male characters the same way. Each had a short curt boring description, while all the women were elaborately complex. I remember thinking, “God, is this how women think of us? As a five word stereotypical blurb?” I completely changed the way I wrote women after that.

I didn’t see any glaring problems here. The script doesn’t have an all-encompassing plot, so the characters’ journeys are the only thing driving the story, and I suspect that might make it boring for some, which I understand. While the tumor storyline wisely avoided melodrama, I think there’s a stronger more appropropirate choice for this story. And there are a few times where you wanted to slap these guys in the face for acting like their lives were just – so – horrible. You’re 26 and not in jail. Your life is fine.

This is updating Reality Bites with, I presume, a hip soundtrack to boot.  The difference is, this script is actually good. I liked it quite a bit and if you like these movies, you should check it out.

[ ] What the hell did I just read?
[ ] wasn’t for me
[xx] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius

What I learned: This is why you should never include pop references in your work. One of the lines in the script is (paraphrasing)… ‘Ooh, someone’s just been watching the Meg Ryan boxing movie.” In that moment, I was totally taken out of the story. The Meg Ryan boxing movie? That film that was out for, what, 2 seconds in 2004? It just completely ruined the flow of the read and made me very aware that I was reading an old script. Hollywood doesn’t like old stuff. They like new stuff. They like the hot new script. So don’t give them anything that’s going to clue them in on your script belonging in the Museum of Natural History.

FOX WINS BIDDING WAR ON LINCOLN
The big news is that [sorta] spec script Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was finally picked up by Fox in a furious bidding war. Deadline Hollywood reports that the Tim Burton (producer) Timur B. (director) project was courted by Fox in ways that writers could only dream of being courted. When the Lincoln team came onto the lot that day, there were bloody axes attached to buildings and bloody footprints strewn everywhere. They even arranged for a bugle player to perform “Taps.” Timur is such a great filmmaker who is absolutely clueless when it comes to story (check out Wanted and, in particular, the loom of fate for unequivocal proof) that this loosey-goosey anything-goes subject matter has the potential to shoot off into another dimension. I want it to be good but this is a Russian director doing a movie on our most famous American president performing acts that have nothing to with anything Lincoln ever did.  I’m kinda predicting a disaster.

LET ME OUT
My favorite movie from a couple of years ago was Let The Right One In. They decided to remake the film in America, and this weekend the film sold 5 million dollars worth of tickets. Why anyone thought that a remake would pull in anybody other than the niche audience that liked the original is beyond me. This isn’t silly horror that 14 year olds go see to giggle at and be with their friends. This is a dark creepy serious horror film with adult themes. Hollywood has to be way more careful about its remake choices going forward..

WARNER BROTHERS PICKS UP ANTOHER ONE
Warner Brothers is on a tear right now, picking up yet another spec script, this one a historical drama. It’s rare that historical specs are ever picked up, so this must be good. The script is titled Galveston and is written by Daniel Sussman, who used to write on The Practice. It’s about the destruction of a Texas city in 1900 by a hurricane in which 8000 people were killed. Galvaston was on its way to becoming one of the biggest cities in the U.S., but never recovered afterwards. This sounds potentially great so if anyone has this, please send it my way. 

DEL TORO PREPARED TO MAKE 10,000 MOVIES
Also over at Deadline Hollywood, some news about Guillermo del Toro. I did a review of the Del Toro H.P. Lovecraft adaptation At The Mountains of Madness, the long-in-development Del Toro project awhile back. Really liked the script. For those who were around, you know how that ended up. Strangely, immediately afterwards, the project picked up steam and now it’s supposedly Del Toro’s next movie, with James Cameron producing. Well Del Toro has some other buns in the oven just in case things fall apart again. He’s been writing a trilogy of vampire books with Chuck Hogan of which he’s finished two, the first called “The Strain,” and the newest titled “The Fall.” I have no doubt that he’s simulatenously adapting these in house, so expect to see some scripts soon. Chuck Hogan is the novelist who wrote “Prince of Thieves,” which was later adapted into “The Town.”

SPIDER-MAN MAN
As you know, I don’t usually report on comic-book projects, but Spider-Man is getting kind of interesting. Beyond Emma Stone skyrocketing into the Mary Jane role and Social Network co-star Andrew Garfield, a Brit, being tapped as the web-slinger, Marc Webb, the director, directed the pilot episode of that disaster “Lone Star” on Fox, which was cancelled after the second show. I don’t know if you want your company’s single biggest franchise property in the hands of someone who can’t bring in enough viewers to keep a TV show on the air for 2 weeks, do you? The 500 Days of Summer auteur is starting to look like a sacrificial lamb in this weird reboot. That’s because Sony HAS to make a Spider-Man film every five years or else the rights revert back to Marvel, and I’m wondering if they aren’t simply slapping together some low-budget schlock-fest to bide time until they get a real film going. If they come at Spider-Man the same way they came at Batman Begins, treating the subject matter in the most real-world way possible when dealing with super-powers, I think it has a chance. But if this is just some C-grade version of the Raimi films, Spider-Man may be out of venom.

A NICHOLL FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
I believe I now have all the Nicholl finalists scripts. I’m wondering if anyone out there has read any of them and which ones you’d recommend reading first. I don’t’ think I’m going to be reviewing any on the site this year but would like to point out the best of the bunch. So if you’ve read and liked any of them, chime in with me ASAP.

The next two weeks should be fun.  We have a pretty big spec sale we’re reviewing later in the week.  We also have a “Reality Bites” type script that makes Reality Bites look like a shitty student film (which some will point out isn’t hard to do).  We have another comedy spec that’s made some headway and we’re also reviewing movie-as-script, Monsters, so try and see that to join in on the discussion.  As a bonus, I’ll also be offering my thoughts on The Social Experiment. With the addition of the new “Script News from around the Web” posts, keep checking in cause it should be rocking.  Now it’s been awhile since we’ve done a theme week, and I know that some of you hate when we cover anything that’s already a film, but I’ve always been fascinated by how much Christopher Nolan bucks conventional screenwriting trends, yet still manages to create films people love.  So next week Roger and I are going to review 5 Nolan films-as-scripts and figure out what he’s doing differently and why it still works.  Anyway, on to Roger’s review.  He decided to do something different himself and look at the piece that got Damon Lindelof (of Lost fame – yay, more Lost arguments!) into the business.  Take it away Roger. 

I get a couple of e-mails every week asking for which screenwriting books I recommend and this post was always popular, so I’m bringing it back and in classic Hollywood fashion, I’m reimagining the article. That’s the way you do it these days. You don’t make sequels. You “reimagine.” We’ll start with the best book and work our way down. 

I love this book. “The Sequence Approach” sounds overly complicated and I remember initially rating it as “advanced,” but the more I think about it, the more I realize just how simple the methods they teach are. The idea is that you break your script into 8 easily manageable chunks as opposed to three huge acts. As a result, you’re never lost and always focused. It dissects popular scripts like Toy Story and The Fellowship Of The Ring, giving you real-life examples of how the method works. It’s also the method they teach at USC. Now just like any approach, I don’t think you should follow it to a “T.” But for any writer who gets lost in that second act, this book teaches you how to control your screenplay instead of letting it control you. 

I remember first reading this book. It felt like I had stumbled upon a goldmine. Basically, Breakfast With Sharks prepares you for the actual inner workings of Hollywood – what happens when you have that first call or first meeting with a producer who likes your work. What’s your next step? What’s the protocol? How do you turn these meetings into opportunities? For example, the book points out why a producer or manager is meeting with you and what their motivations may be. It teaches you that, before you leave, you should ask what kind of projects the company is developing and if you can have a crack at one. That simple question could lead to your first professional assignment. It preps you for what to bring to the meetings as well so you’re fully prepared (3 screenplay pitches outside of the one you’re meeting about for starters).  Shane Carruth of Primer fame openly admits blowing it after the success of his film.  He didn’t know he was supposed to pitch ideas in meetings, and subsequently sat through all of them smiling, satisfied just to be there.  Meetings are OPPORTUNITIES for business.  This book teaches you this and many other tips. 

Save the Cat! is the most popular screenwriting book ever written. And there’s a reason for that. Snyder writes in a fun non-technical way that makes screenwriting accessible. And for the most part, he does it well. If you’re near the beginning of your screenwriting career and are writing a high concept comedy, an action piece, a family film, or any sort of summer blockbuster, you absolutely have to read this book. Dramas, horror, and anything weird or different (i.e. Pulp Fiction), aren’t really Snyder’s thing, so if that’s your forte, you probably want to let this cat die.

Writing Screenplays That Sell has so much great advice in it. The downside is that it reads more like a text book than, say, the fun breezy Save The Cat!. But this book taught me more about character than any screenwriting book I’ve ever read. This is for intermediate screenwriters with strong attention spans and plenty of patience. If that’s you, pick this up. 

500 Ways To Beat The Hollywood Script Reader has been around forever and the reason for that is, it’s a great book. If you like my “What I Learned” sections, you’re going to eat this up, as all it is is a series of 500 tips on how to write a better screenplay, and almost every one of them is true. Not only is this a great read, but it’s a fast one.

I hate Robert McKee’s Story. I mean I really hate it. I’ve tried to read it twice now and both times I wasn’t able to make it through. If “Writing Screenplays That Sell” is a text book, this is a text mountain translated into Chinese and back again, run through the Matrix, shipped to Bosnia, then faxed back on smudgy paper and re-translated in html. There’s a reason they made fun of McGee in Adaptation.  Despite this, there are people who SWEAR BY THIS BOOK and think it’s the screenwriting bible.  I have no idea why but it definitely has its fans.

 

 

 

 Well, I guess the big news today is that Scriptshadow script favorite, “The Social Network,” is opening.  The movie, based in part on the book, The Accidental Billionaires, is a total mystery when it comes to its box office potential.  The guys over at Slash Film were saying that all their normal non-movie friends had absolutely zero interest in seeing this film, which makes me wonder if anyone outside the Hollywood community has any interest in it.  For that reason, I predict a box office take of anywhere between 10-25 million.  It’s that wide open.

One of my favorite screenwriters, Michael R. Perry, who wrote Scriptshadow Top 25 and Blacklist Buster, “The Voices,” is also the screenwriter of the Paranormal Activity sequel, aptly titled Paranormal Activity 2.  I don’t know if it was his choice or not, but I love that they’re setting it in the same house with new occupants.  Sure this is a cash grab (all horror sequels are) but I like that there’s some connection to the last one. And hey, this trailer is pretty spooky.

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Ron Howard wants to direct Jodie Foster in an adaptation of the book, “My Stroke of Insight,” written by Jill Bolte Taylor.  The real-life tale is about a brain surgeon trying to rehabilitate herself after a stroke.  This sounds like big time Oscar bait, but just from a screenwriting perspective, I love the irony inherent in the logline (ironic loglines tend to work best!) Semi Chellas, who’s done some TV writing and a few tiny movies, is writing the script.

Slash Film is reporting that a new take on The Great Gatsby is a possibility with Baz Luhrman potentially directing Leonardo DiCaprio, Toby McGuire and Amanda Seigfried. DiCaprio, of course, would play Gatsby and McGuire would play Carraway.  I remember watching the last adaptation with Robert Redford and after starting out great, the movie kinda fizzles into period piece boringness.  However I reread the book a few years ago and it definitely holds up.  Luhrman is said to be deciding between this and a musical.  I think if DiCaprio was really that interested, Luhrman wouldn’t be “deciding” anything. 

Ryan Gosling continues to choose great scripts, as he’s tapped to star in Farragut North, a 2007 (I believe) Black List script I reviewed a while back.  The script is really good, but I thought it would be axed after Obama became president (I can’t remember why, but when I read it, I remember thinking, “They can’t do this anymore.”)  Hmm, maybe I’m wrong.  George Clooney is directing. 

Spider-Man director Sam Raimi is said to be developing a sci-fi flick called Earth Defense Force. I’m not sure I like where he’s going with the tone (he says it’s Top Gun mixed with Independence Day) but he’s working with District 9 producer Bill Block, so I’m definitely intrigued.  If you have this script, please send it my way! (As a side note, does anybody really believe this news that Will Smith has signed on for two Independence Day sequels?  I know the deal’s supposedly done but I just can’t fathom why he would go back to that universe)

Finally, I’m still looking for JJ Abrahms’ “Alcatraz” pilot.  I know it’s bouncing around out there somewhere.  So if you have it, send it my way!