flickr: mfrascella Here’s a sentence you don’t see everyday: “Screenwriter Brian Miller came to the project after winning the inaugural Astana International Action Film Festival screenplay competition in Kazakhstan, founded by Bekmambetov.” Via Hollywoodnews.com, the project is being produced by The Weinstein Company and includes allegedly authentic recently unearthed secret government footage, a cover-up conspiracy, astronauts and alien life forms. It’s got everything.
flickr: mikebaird 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.)
flickr:Bryan Gosline When screenwriter Amir Ahanchian sued a production company for ripping off 12 of his skits for a direct to DVD National Lampoon movie, a federal judge threw out his law suit and awarded almost $250,000 in costs against him because his attorney filed papers three days late. Fortunately, the federal appellate court gave the trial judge a dose of reality and reversed the opinion – after the poor screenwriter endured a year on appeal. Justice?
flickr: MACSURAK 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?
flickr: nirvanachick05 “Shut up and write,” his friend whispered from his deathbed. Sage advice that launched the career of screenwriter Donald Martin.
flickr: cieling Academy Award nominated screenwriter Will Rokos (“Monsters Ball”) was hit by a subway train. He apparently leaned over to peer into the tunnel just as the train barreled out, hitting his head and knocking him onto the tracks. He was conscious at the scene and is hospitalized in critical but stable condition. TW sends well wishes for his speedy recovery.
filckr: misteraitch 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?
Mushroom Cloud TW stumbled upon this interesting essay from screenwriter Terry Southern about his experiences writing Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb with Stanley Kubrick, who called him out of the blue because of “certain indications” that he could help with the script.
