Story Notes from Hell

I'm not surprised by any of these. And some of them, while harsh, make sense. Others are totally out there. But hey, it's Hollywood.
 
Sad Max said:
Depressing? Best laughs I've had all day today.
Click to expand...

For those who want to write for a living, it's kind of fun to pretend that the majority of studio executives are intelligent and know something about good storytelling. To see this kind of stupidity in more than one anecdote is rather terrifying and, yes, at least mildly depressing.
 
To those with 20+ years in studio/network production, it's the kind of thing you laugh at because the alternatives mostly involve curling up in the corner and mumbling to yourself. Well, or running amuck with a flamethrower.
 
Michael Traven said:
For those who want to write for a living, it's kind of fun to pretend that the majority of studio executives are intelligent and know something about good storytelling. To see this kind of stupidity in more than one anecdote is rather terrifying and, yes, at least mildly depressing.
Click to expand...

If the executive is good, it is more that they know about selling to a market, or sniffing the market wind... if they are bad, they worry about the golf club locker room banter, and whether they are going to get left blindsided by some 'really novel idea'... so as a defense, attempt to come up with totally 'astonishing' ideas... a preemptive strike against being blindsided... like the idea of smashing Cowboys and Aliens together... that probably started out as a script about a western town being invaded by cats brought by a bunch of hookers who had been relocated out of New Orleans...
 
that probably started out as a script about a western town being invaded by cats brought by a bunch of hookers who had been relocated out of New Orleans...
Click to expand...

...and we've all seen *that* one a million times.

Although in all fairness John F deserves a little more credit than that.
 
Sad Max said:
To those with 20+ years in studio/network production, it's the kind of thing you laugh at because the alternatives mostly involve curling up in the corner and mumbling to yourself. Well, or running amuck with a flamethrower.
Click to expand...

Ooh, I like that last idea. ;)
 
Sad Max said:
Depressing? Best laughs I've had all day today.
Click to expand...

I started laughing...but then got very sad...And I have spent some time curled up in a corner mumbling to myself. The most amusing/depressing meeting I ever had ended with..."What I like to do, is take the top 100 movies of all time, and make them black...Either that, or do them with animals."
 
Last edited:
lwright84 said:
Slightly on-topic, Cowboys & Aliens is actually adapted from a popular comic book.
Click to expand...

Well, thank god for that... I was fearing this was due to some random outburst from a studio exec, and thus act as a 'confirmation' that they had some actual talent for creating ideas...
(While I personally, obviously, have never interacted with a 'studio' exec... I have interacted with 'execs' in my day job sufficiently to have a pretty low opinion of 1) their ability to actually have a creative idea, 2) their ability to actually do engineering. Both of which have been 'suggested' in various 'notes' or 'project meetings'... and mostly act as distractions to getting a useful product made... I don't think 'studio' execs went to a different school of business than other industry execs...).
 
That was truly disgusting and funny at the same time. I don't know, but Save the cat story was really depressing.I have to agree though, that few things made sence. I also believe that making your hero pet the dog is an utterly lazy writing. unless of course the dog is the protagonist/antagonist in the story.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top