HK/American Crime Thriller

I love 90's Hong Kong crime thrillers - John Woo, Ringo Lam and Johnny To bringing us the best. Five years ago, after seeing and loving COLLATERAL, I wanted to transplant a HK crime thriller into a slick, stylish, American Michael Mann milieu. (Alliteration rules!) That's a long way of saying I wanted it to walk like a HK movie and talk like a Michael Mann movie. That's a longer way of saying, I wanted to write an American version of a 90's HK crime thriller.

Anyway.

I write 20 pages or so, and really like it, but I get distracted by other things. It sits in my hard drive until earlier this year when I pull it out and finish a rough draft in about a month. I plan to complete the second draft, in seven page chunks, by the end of June.

I'll be writing it to a Rhapsody playlist of Crystal Method and Juno Reactor. Their sleek, moody electronica perfectly sums up the atmosphere of the script.

Writing Again...

Writing spec screenplays is one of the hardest endeavors. You pour your heart, mind and soul, blood, sweat and sould into something that, more often than not, goes nowhere. The same can be said of most art forms, but they do not require a crew of dozens and a lot of money in order to see the final product to fruition. A novelist writes a book - a publisher releases it. An artist paints - someone buys. A screenwriter sells a script - it requires many people and much money before the movie is seen by an audience.

It is the ultimate act of faith: the odds stacked high against you, no guarantee whatsoever that it will ever work out, but you do it anyway. But, what else do I want to do with my life? I have to believe this is why God put me on earth, and one day I will see the fruits of my tireless labor.

Oh! Blog!

My e-buddy Alexis Thompson - Oh! Alexis - has a new blog.

Check it out:
http://mymy-alexis.blogspot.com/

"TREASON"

My smart, twisty action thriller "TREASON" is going out to Stage 6 Productions at Sony Home Entertainment. They specialize in direct-to-DVD action fare, so wish me luck. I wrote this for Jason Behr, who would be perfect as the lead. Fingers crossed, man. Stage 6 is a perfect home for "TREASON." I'd be riding high on cloud number nine if this happens.

"The Boss" And "The Mac"

I saw Bruce Springsteen on Sunday, April 26th and Fleetwood Mac on Tuesday, April 28th in Atlanta. Bruce Springsteen is one of my top ten recording artists of all time. Fleetwood Mac is a long time favorite. Both were seasoned professionals at the absolute top of their game. It's always awe-inspiring watching truly historic artists performing live. Not only that, performing equal or better than their recorded performances on CD. Bruce played what you'd expect (oddly, except for "Thunder Road.") Naturally, when the set closed with "Born To Run," the place erupted. Fleetwood Mac billed this as a Greatest Hits Tour and that's exactly what they did. Vocally, everyone was perfect. Musicianship sterling. An experience I will never forget.

"Been A Long Time, A Long Time, Been A Lonely, Lonely, Lonely, Lonely Time"

In the immortal words of the greatest band EVER, Lead Zepland! (Wait, what? It's "Led Zeppelin"? Are you sure? Okay. If you say so.)

So, I'm back in the saddle again. (Arrowsmith rules too! ...what? Stop interrupting me. No, there's no way it's "Aerosmith.") I've been moving and settling into a new house. (No excuse, I know, but it's a house. I'm not a Smurf. This isn't a mushroom.) Anyway, I guess some updates are in order. To make it look like I have more posts than I do actual information, I'll break it up by different posts!