The End of the Screenwriter

Just read this post about Elizabeth Knox and her unhappy experience with the movie adaptation process.  Here’s the article:

Author cried over film of Vintner’s Luck

I don’t want to address the merits of Ms. Knox’s story as I think it’s irrelevant to my point here.  My point is: it’s time for the role of a screenwriter to come to an end.

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Are Awards Worth It?

Real problems from fake people.

Dear Earl,

We just received an email announcing the open entry period for a big media award/film festival, and we’re going to enter!

Awesome, congrats.  Why are you entering?

When you win, the trophy is amazing, it’s made of crystal and golden butterflies — wait, what?  What do you mean, ‘why?’  It’s a big award/film festival!

How much is the entry fee?

Huh?  I don’t know.  It’s somewhere around ($50/$100/$200).

Maybe it’s just me, but if someone is asking for more than lunch money, I like to know why I’m doing it.

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Indies Go Solo Part 2 (Video Games)

The other day I posted a link to a New York Times article about indie filmmakers self-distributing, and erosion of the mainstream film market.

The most interesting aspect of this discussion, to me, is the lack of discussion about the role of video games in eroding the film market.

By and large, the movies that sell the most are escapist entertainment. The problem is: movies don’t have the corner on escapism any more.
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NY Times: “Indies Going Solo”

The New York Times posted this article today: Independent Filmmakers Distribute on Their Own. (Thanks to Joshua Smith for the link)

More than ever, it’s the wild west out there now.  Right now, studios are less and less interested in developing new material, turning back again and again to remakes and derivatives of pre-existing properties.

As a storyteller, that scares me, not because of any artistic choice, but because once any industry stops investing in the future, they start digging their own grave.

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