News – The Thinking Writer

Not Your Mother’s Script-O-Rama

20th Century Fox — flickr|alexanderaustin79

Fox just sued a wanna-be screenwriter, single mother, day-job woman who posted scripts on her blog for “educati0onal purposes”. They want close to $12 million bucks from her in damages. If you’d like to see the actual Complaint, download the pdf here.

The Rubik’s Cube That Saved The World

Do you happen to have a screenplay featuring a Rubik’s Cube that saves the world? This is your big chance. CAA is trying to find a story to go with its newly acquired Rubik’s Cube rights. Pitch away, pitch away….

Alba Disses Screenwriters

Jessica Alba apparently squawked for Elle Magazine, saying “good actors never use the script unless it’s amazing writing. All the good actors I’ve worked with, they all say whatever they want to say.” She’s currently working with Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, Harvey Keitel, Laura Dern, Blythe Danner and Barbara Streisand filming Little Folkers. Maybe they’re the good actors that “say whatever they want”? (The birds to the left are included because they are Ardea alba. They also say whatever they want.)

Writer Makes $9 Million Sale With No Agent

The Wall Street Journal reports that screenwriter Richard Price (The Color of Money, Shaft, The Wire) scored big when he sold his Gamercy Park townhouse for $9.95 million with no real estate agent. Who says you need an agent?

Best Screenplay Adapted From A…Fragrance?!

From the Department of Screenplays Based Upon Unlikely Things, try this: teenage fashion blogger/Internet meme Tavi Gevinson has written a screenplay about the life of Medusa inspired by a perfume fragrance. Maybe she’ll start a new genre?

Thirty Grand And A Hand Shake

Screenwriting Award — Photo: David Ortmann @ flickr.com

AMPAS announced the five Nicholl Fellowship winners:
* Destin Daniel Cretton, San Diego, Calif., “Short Term 12”
* Marvin Krueger, North Hollywood, Calif., “And Handled with a Chain”
* Andrew Lanham, Austin, Texas, “The Jumper of Maine”
* Micah Ranum, Beverly Hills, Calif., “A Good Hunter”
* Cinthea Stahl, North Hollywood, Calif., “Identifying Marks”
They beat out 6300 scripts submitted to win the award. Was yours in the pile?

Telephone Booth Meets Hot Dog Cart

Yum, yum, hot dog. — Photo: Mike_flemming @ flicker

Who knew there were so many screenplays about snipers holding people hostage in phone booths (or hot dog stands)? Who knew there were so many angles to take, emotions to express, stories to tell, and patriotic feelings to stir? And who cares enough to fight to protect this burgeoning sub-genre? Apparently, Fox does.

Screenwriter Accuses Gays of Fuel Efficiency

Various groups are up in arms that screenwriter Allan Loeb’s comedy “The Dilemma” has Vince Vaughn accusing electric cars of being gay. Gay groups have condemned the joke for being a slur on gays, while the liberal blog Truthdig.com countered that “electric cars are not gay“, but failed to add the mandatory “not that there’s anything wrong with that.”