Screenplay update:

When I started writing this thing, I had a manual that was going to teach me the steps of writing a screenplay.  It did just that, and then some…And then some less.

While the book is very informative, teaching me 110% more than I ever knew or thought I would need to know about screenwriting, I now realize, at day 9 of “21” that the movie they were having me create has been created before.  Not so much about a lovely stripper with an asshole boyfriend who kills her dog and best friend and ends up turning the only man who’s ever cared about her into a zombie after he turned her into one…No, what the book has done is it has taken several of the world’s “best” Hollywood blockbusters and broken them down to a formula.  In other words, a series of cookie cutters that will always make the heart, the star and the flower shaped cookies everytime you make them, and just like the countless times before, everyone will love them and come back for more.

Well that simply isn’t my style.  The guide has taught me a ton about how to format a screenplay, a lot of the terms associated with the profession and the basic theory behind a screenplay, all of which I knew little or nothing about.  It’s also taught me that x happens on y page and a, b and c are all explained by the end of z.  Why?  Because it’s a proven success.

The problem with a proven success is that it gets old to people who truly have an opinion.  It’s gotten old to me and I hope it’s gotten old to you.  I plan to have the “rewrite” and the “tweak” finished by the end of the week, enough so we can have a second read through this weekend, followed by Justin turning in his completed screenplay early and under budget.

Will I win?  Not important.  What is important is that I’ve made it this far and I’m going to finish it.  One step ahead of my haters, as always.

While speaking of the Knoxville Horror Film Festival, I came across a link they posted today via their Facebook page to a site called Hollywood Is Dead and I super duper feel that you need to check it out. Here’s an example of what you’ll find there.

Enjoy today’s haiku:

It’s my opinion
My Erin’s cute little face
Should really be smashed*

*I mean kissed