It takes a little more than brutal criticism of our style to keep us down. Call us fake, call us obvious, call us irresponsible, we are tougher than that — and we are the ones who invented getting up off the mat and coming back swinging to win the fight.
I am speaking of course about Hollywood and anyone who works here. Recently there has been a spate of “death of Hollywood” stories, along with reports of cutbacks at studios, mass firings, and reducing of star salaries — but guess what? We’re not going away. And leading the charge will be the spec screenwriters of the world, for when stars can no longer open movies, good stories always will. For every Tom Cruise who loses his deal there is a Trey Parker and Matt Stone who gain theirs, pumping all new optimism into the mix and standing for what we have always stood for: figuring out what we did wrong and trying again! One of the best articles I’ve read on the subject was by CNN Money editor Paul Lamonica and it’s worth checking out:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/09/commentary/mediabiz/index.htm
Maybe not this summer, and maybe not the next, but we will get our houses on the hill with a pool and a view, and the admiration of those who have backed our struggle to succeed no matter what.
Some of this ferocious upbeatism was on display when I went to Phoenix and Tucson this past weekend to do five book signings in two and half days on a whirlwind Save the Cat!tour. On Friday at the fabulous Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, we got a particularly good reaction, but this was true in all the Borders book shops, too. Nice folks in Arizona! And all the screenwriters I talked to had the same opinion as I do: By hook or by crook we are going to get our scripts written and made well!
I want to thank Howard Allen who helped us with some great publicity, including two excellent articles in the local papers. I also want to thank veteran reporter Betty Webb for the terrific piece on our Changing Hands appearance — and what a turnout!
Now onward, Hollywood! Up and at ’em. We will win in the end big time — after all, we are the ones who made the world safe for the happy ending!
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The depressing thing is that movies often seem to indicate that those in power believe that anything but a good story sells movies.
Blake:
Hi – I haven’t gone away. I’m still reading your blog.
The really odd thing is that while you were here (where I live near Phoenix) I was in Los Angeles at the World Science Fiction Convention.
I was on 15 panels and teaching in a 3 hour writing workshop, plus a 2 hour press interview, all in 4 workdays.
Preparing for all that, going and doing it, and coming home to the avalanche of stuff to do piled up while I was away has kept me from this blog.
But the really odd thing is that on some of the panels I met people from the film and TV industry I hadn’t seen in years, so we got to catch up.
And you’re right in your next post — there is a lot of optimism now in the industry.
Live Long and Prosper,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://www.simegen.com