New Concepts
With the one year anniversary of First Signal’s theatrical release coming up, I also realize we are soon going to hit a milestone on VOD. I hope to announce what that milestone is soon. But the one thing that never stops is the continued pitching for development along with new ideas for future projects.
Just this past week, I was pleased to receive a request from an established producer to review SOS United States. Will this review turn into a deal? Who knows, but the important thing is that there is activity with this project. When developing a project for production, it’s all about activity.
Since I completed First Report, I’ve had a variety of meetings and conversations around some new projects, from a conspiracy thriller to a documentary involving the sport of figure skating. While I’ll always cherish my time in the sport, I honestly just don’t see myself returning in any capacity. Although I didn’t watch the Winter Olympics (I haven’t watched an Olympics since I was in Salt Lake City in 2002), it was reading about another scandal that just cemented my decision.
But a new conspiracy thriller is certainly exciting to me. When the idea was brought up this weekend the creative wheels just started to turn. Before I knew it, we almost had a completed outline. This idea is particularly interesting as it’s linked to a major historical event.
While I’m working on this new idea, I’ve started to reread First Report to break it down for possible production. As I wrote Justice Is Mind and First Signal, First Report could be done as an independent production within the scale of those films. Although at 194 pages, First Report is either two feature films or a limited series. The key is to secure the right locations and scheduling. From there it’s budgeting and pre-production planning.
Having just reorganized some of my production files, I was reminded about the months First Signal spent in pre-production. I believe that phase is the most critical when making a film. Yes, the actual production (principal photography) of the film is important along with post-production. But, in my view, if everything is properly organized, along with contingency plans, it just makes for literal smooth sailing.
Of course there’s no smooth sailing in film distribution, just constant navigational challenges. In the world of VOD it’s about pivoting. For so many years, it was Amazon’s TVOD/SVOD (transactional/subscription video on demand) that filmmakers clamored for. But now the tables have turned as it’s Tubi and YouTube’s AVOD (advertising video on demand) where the money is. Thankfully, First Signal has a distributor in Indie Rights that does a masterful job at pivoting!
Next Production
Idea and Consent
Gene Tierney explains how the Senate works in Advise & Consent (1962).
Yesterday, I arrived at the Boston Marriott Copley Place and did something I haven’t done in 14 years – I picked up a media credential at a World Figure Skating Championships. The procedure was the same. I checked in at credentialing, gave my name, proceeded to another station, showed a government ID with photo, they took my picture, printed the credential and I was done. It reminded me of voting. (Political side note: I believe, strongly, that you must have a government issued photo ID to vote.)
Having long accomplished what I wanted to in the sport from my publishing and TV work (yes I skated and coached as well…long ago!), who would have thought an idea would have come to mind with the sport as the backdrop. For this week it’s about reporting solely from an observation point of view and for inspiration as the story I’m writing culminates at a “worlds”.
Justice Is Mind was inspired by a 60 Minutes story on thought identification.
I’m not entirely sure where the inspiration for this new story came from. I know with Justice Is Mind it was from watching a 60 Minutes broadcast on thought identification. For SOS United States it was the Cold War aspects of the real SS United States ocean liner coupled with the political thriller movies of the 1960s.
Of course the sport itself has changed dramatically over the last 14 years. All you have to do is read this article by Christine Brennan in USA Today to get a feel for where the sport was and now where it isn’t. Sure, there will be tens of thousands of fans in attendance this week. Sure, the official hotels and arena are dressed and set designed to showcase this beautiful sport. Indeed, it is beautiful to watch. If it’s filmed right there’s nothing like the grace and power of a performance on ice, coupled by the drama off the ice. Sadly it’s the millions outside the storied walls of the rinks that have long left the sport.
The idea for SOS United States came from my interest in the Cold War and political thrillers.
The reasons are many, but the writing was on the wall after the 2002 judging scandal and the subsequent change in the scoring system. Long gone is the 6.0 system. It was a system the general public understood and could be marketed. But now a system is in place that supports anonymous judging. Yes, for those that have never followed anything in the sport, you read that right. I’ll just say this, it may not be good for the long term viability of an Olympic sport, but it makes for a great plot point in a political thriller.
One of my favorite films is Otto Preminger’s Advise & Consent. There’s a masterful scene that takes place in the Senate in which the glorious Gene Tierney explains to two visiting dignitaries how the Senate works. You can be sure, that there will be a similar scene in my story in an attempt to explain the judging system. As I was leaving credentialing yesterday and saw someone approaching me who I hadn’t seen in years, suddenly another Preminger classic that starred Tierney came to mind. In the film Laura, newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker (played by Clifton Webb) was describing a party scene, “It was the usual roundup of b-stars and nondescript characters.”
“It was the usual roundup of b-stars and nondescript characters.” – Waldo Lydecker in Laura (1944)
INT. ICE RINK – OPENING CREDITS
The Ashton Times 