Thai Food

My friend John DiDonna teaches a playwriting class back in Orlando and he asked me to elaborate on one of my recent Facebook/Twitter updates about getting myself out of a little writing jam. Here was my response:

Sometimes you’re just stuck. You know you have to tackle a scene and make it better. The scene itself isn’t so bad. It’s just not that interesting. A good guy, surrounded by gangsters, somehow needs to get the upper hand. But how? And not just how, but how can I do it in a way that’s inventive? Fresh? FUN?

So sometimes, I just get stuck. And getting stuck is NOT Writer’s Block. The fact that someone somewhere gave a name to the concept of being stuck just romanticizes it. “Don’t bother me. I have WRITER’S BLOCK. I’m going to smoke another cigarette and drink Scotch at two in the afternoon because I have WRITER’S BLOCK.”

That’s bullshit. If you’re not working because you think you have Writer’s Block, then the truth of the matter is you’re just not working. Maybe you need to recharge your batteries, a truly undervalued part of being a writer. That’s fine. But if you’re stuck, really stuck, then the only real way to get around it is to get unstuck. I know, easier said than done. One solution is to just jump ahead and come back to the stuck spot at a later date and perhaps you’ll see the answer through fresh eyes. Another solution is to just screw around and check your email and think about it and read the scene and have lunch and think about it and get mad at yourself and keep doing that. Not exactly a great use of your time, but at least you’re trying.

And here I am, after a week of this kind of embarrassing behavior, mixed with a couple sick days, and all of a sudden it’s Friday night, I’m on my way to my local Thai place to get take-out but it’s the Thai place with the crappy parking so I’m on Ventura Blvd. trying to find a spot and I find one but they don’t have meters anymore, now I have to find the weird machine and program in my spot and my food is probably getting cold and…

…and of course! I remember that little piece of story from earlier on in the script, the piece of plot we never address again…maybe that’s the answer to my problem. That piece of plot involved bad people doing bad things to children and even gangsters hate those kinds of people so maybe my good guy can use that information to his advantage. So instead of just “inventing” something to make the scene work, I found something already in the world of the story. And maybe just maybe this will make the scene “better”.

I won’t really know til it’s all done, but at least for the moment…I’m past it. And remember, “it” is not Writer’s Block. It’s just getting stuck. Which happens. And getting unstuck happens too. Just takes a lot of work. And Thai food. I guess that’s the point here. Answers are everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Our job is to keep looking for them.

Breathe

Look at what happens when I take two months off of blogging.

EVERYTHING.

Katherine Heigl joined the cast of FIVE KILLERS and with Ashton Kutcher and director Robert Luketic already set, Lionsgate greenlit the movie and then they added Tom Selleck, Catherine O’Hara, and Martin Mull to the cast and next thing I know the movie is SHOOTING in Nice, France, and that’s great because when the movie starts shooting is when Lionsgate has to PAY ME…which they just did.

Whew.

Meanwhile, remember the project I was developing with the cool movie star so we could pitch Disney? Well, we did…but I didn’t get the job. A couple weeks later, I met the star and his producing partner for the “sorry this one didn’t work out” meeting which, truthfully, could have been awkward…except I took the opportunity to pitch them a cool action movie that Jieho and I have been working on and they LOVED it! So now I’m working with those guys on a different project, but one that Jieho and I came up, something that I am VERY excited about.

Whew. Again.

And I decided I need a break so I made plans with one of my best friends to head to Vegas tomorrow for a couple days and the timing was perfect because my Lionsgate check cleared today and I thought I’d call my Mom and tell her the good news.

My Mom is very loving, so sweet, but she’s never really understood the career I’ve chosen or WHY I’ve chosen it…wishing deep in her heart that I’d chosen a more stable profession…but today, with cameras rolling on my first BIG movie and some money in the bank, today my mother finally said, “My boy has made it.” And I heard a tremble in her voice that I hadn’t heard in a very long time.

And I told her, “Yeah, Mom. I did.”

Of course, what is making it? I’m gonna come back from Vegas in a couple days and prep for the next meeting with the star and try to get that project set up and I still have another script to finish and TV pitching season is starting up soon and I’d love to get out there and pitch a TV show…

You don’t really MAKE it. You have successes. You have failures. Lots of stuff in between. But sometimes all the hard work pays off and you get to call your Mom with good news. And your friends are happy for you. And you get to breathe for a sec.

Whew.

Hurry Up And Wait

January’s gone. Man, that was fast. Lots of stuff in the works, but it’s funny how a month can go by and I don’t actually write very much.

FIVE KILLERS is moving right along. Rumor has it they’re shooting in Atlanta, Italy, and the south of France. Cameras are supposed to roll sometime next month. They’re currently zeroing in on a female lead to co-star with Ashton. I never spill the beans until something’s officially announced in the “trades” (Variety or Hollywood Reporter), but I’m hoping to hear good news very soon.

Most of the month was spent working on a pitch for an OWA (open writing assignment). Usually, a studio hears a bunch of pitches from different writers. Then, they choose someone. This one’s been different. I was brought in to pitch my take on a funny action/adventure idea with a star and a producer already attached. They heard pitches from several writers…and chose ME! But that doesn’t mean I have a job yet. Now, we fine-tune the pitch and then the entire team goes into the studio to pitch it. If the studio wants it, they buy it, meaning they hire me to write it. If the studio doesn’t want it…well, let’s all be positive, what do you say? The cool thing is I’ve been working closely with a fantastic actor and I hope I can tell you more about this one soon.

My new script is also coming along. I got some feedback from friends, discussed it with my managers. Knocked out a quick polish. Now it’s off to my agents to see what they think. It’s an action/comedy in the same vein as FIVE KILLERS, which leads to a much longer discussion on what my manager calls “the box”, as in “what type of box do you work in?” Suffice to say, my box is “character-driven action films”. That’s not the only thing I write, but that’s where I’ve found the most success so far.

And that was January. Lots of work. Lots of getting ready to work. Actual sitting down and writing? Not so much. It’s a funny business, that way. Lots of hurry and wait. But I tell ya…I got the itch. I know it when it happens. Must. Write. Soon. So hopefully I book this job. Or it’s back to the idea bin to choose my next “character-driven action film”. Either way, come on February. Let’s go!

How I Write A Spec Screenplay

I’ve been working on a new script, a big, fun action/comedy. Today, I finally sent it off to a few friends to see what they think. Scary time, I tell ya. But the whole process of writing a script can be scary. I’ve been doing it for a while and I’ve sorta drifted into a process that seems to work for me.

So this is how I write a spec screenplay.

I begin with a concept. It’s usually one I’ve been testing on people, to see which ideas of mine “stick”. If I tell them what it’s about and they get all excited and say, “Oooo, and then what could happen is…” then I know I’m onto something. Once I start to hone in on a concept, the first thing I do is avoid working on it. I usually site some bullshit excuse about how the pressure of having to execute a good idea is just too much sometimes. As if writing a bad idea would be any easier.

Then, my manager Christopher calls me and creates some sort of unrealistic deadline. I get really pissed off and complain about how it’s impossible to make that deadline. He says, “It’s not impossible.” I say, “Let’s see you do it!” Then I hang up, look at my calendar, and start to figure out how many pages a week it’ll take me. Realize it’s impossible, even though I know full well it’s not. So I get started.

I don’t usually outline or write treatments. Sometimes I’ll write out a beat sheet that basically plots out the movie, focusing on key structural points. I use Blake Snyder’s 15-point beat sheet from his excellent book Save The Cat, but in reality, I only figure out about eight or nine of the beats before I begin. What can I say, I’m a rebel.

My workday goes like this. I wake up and try to do some sort of exercise. Then I go have breakfast at my fave diner Harry’s in Burbank, usually with my great friend and fellow scribe Josh Flaum. We talk about stuff we’re working on and consume record amounts of bacon and coffee. If either of us is stumped on something, we try and brainstorm an answer. These are very good breakfasts.

Then I go home, take a shower, and very quickly waste about two hours checking my email and goofing off on Facebook. Eventually, I’m pretty angry with myself for wasting a chunk of my day and decide to get to work. I crank up iTunes, usually Radiohead or Sigur Ros, and get to it.

I write for four or five hours and that’s usually the point I start to burn out. At night, I talk to my lovely ladyfriend (who’s on East Coast time) and watch some DVR. Repeat the next day. Mondays I play kickball, Tuesdays and Thursdays are kenpo. There’s always a show to go see or a birthday party to attend. The deeper I get into a project, the more I start blowing off social engagements. Something about that (artificial) deadline looming really does something to me. Once I decide I’m going to make it, I make it.

Based on my manager’s deadline, I had a month to write a first draft of my latest script. I turned it in a day early. I thought it was crap. My managers disagreed. They liked it but had notes, which is a simple way of saying they had suggestions of how to make it better. Every single human in Los Angeles county feels that they have the ability to give notes on a script, but it’s not an easy thing to do well. Luckily, my managers are very good at it. Still, notes are not always easy to hear but that’s part of it, like it or not.

Then, I incorporate these notes into a second draft. That takes about two weeks. I actually really like this stage of it, much more than I used to. I think it’s because I write scripts that are too long and it’s a great challenge to incorporate new ideas from the notes while also trimming out unneeded BS. It’s like a puzzle, and every time I do this, I think I get a little bit better at solving it.

So I turn in this draft, get more notes from my managers, but this time, there’re less of them. My third draft is about incorporating those last notes, tweaking a few things, trying to get it even tighter. Takes about a week.

And usually this third draft is the one I start showing to some friends and my agents. This is what everyone sees as a “first draft”. There may be some more work done, depending on people’s feedback. The script that eventually gets sent out to production companies and studios will still be considered a “first draft”. All these versions, whether it’s three or three hundred, are just part of the process and no one cares about them. It’s that final draft that we send out to the town that really matters. That’s the one people will pass judgment upon. They may buy it. Or not. Package it or not. Maybe they’ll make fun of it and tell everyone they know that DeRosa’s lost his mind. Or then again, they may just cry real tears and tell their friends at parties that they read it first and when someone else claims to have read it first, they will then argue the point.

There’s really no way to tell what anyone’s gonna think. And it really doesn’t matter, at least at this stage. Right now, it’s just about finishing the damn thing. It’s hard enough just to do that, to fight the doubt and the fear and everything else that keeps us from living up to our truest potential. It’s a struggle every damn day to not just crawl into the couch and watch movies forever. But on a semi-regular basis, I somehow find a way to face that struggle head on…and succeed.

And that’s how I write a spec script.

My blogs won't always be this long...promise

In the masthead at the very top of this blog, I define myself as a professional screenwriter, a world traveler, and a kickball captain. Let’s discuss.

I really am a kickball captain, about to enter my seventh season leading The Trey Stafford Explosion in the Studio division in nearby North Hollywood. I play center field and if you think you can kick it past me, you’re wrong.

I’m technically a world-traveler, but I’m an amateur compared to many of my friends. In the last three years, I’ve spent time in Mexico City, Seoul, Venice, Florence, Rome, Athens, and Mykonos, one of the Greek islands. Not a bad list, but I hope to travel a lot more in the coming years.

And yes, I’m a professional screenwriter, a career that will be the focus of this blog. I’ve been making a living as a writer for over seven years, and here’s just a quick recap of how I’ve spent that time: I sold a small indie script, got the rights back, optioned the rights to the same buyer for a second time, and then got the rights back again. I’ve written or co-written unproduced scripts for Revolution Studios, New Regency, and Lionsgate. I wrote a tiny yet beloved (by me, anyway) horror script called OBLIVION for director Ben Rock and producer Alicia Conway, a project that is still in development. I was hired to write a successful director’s passion project…and fired after working for three months with no pay.

While all of this was going on, I co-wrote THE AIR I BREATHE with director Jieho Lee. Two years to write, two years to attach a cast and find financing, and two years to make it, sell it, and get it into theaters. We were blessed with an amazing ensemble cast featuring Kevin Bacon, Brendan Fraser, Andy Garcia, Emile Hirsch, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Forest Whitaker. It’s on Showtime this month or you can get it from Netflix or you can buy it here.

It’s a long story, one for another blog, but during the summer of 2006, during the post-production of AIR, I started writing an action script called FIVE KILLERS. Now, less than three years later, Lionsgate is preparing to shoot the movie in Atlanta and the south of France with Ashton Kutcher starring and Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) directing. I’m very excited, but really I just want the cameras to start rolling so I can relax about it.

Pardon me, but I will now knock on wood.

Okay, I’m done.

Anyway, when I talk about stuff I’m working on, it breaks down into three general categories:

1) A SPEC SCRIPT is a script I write on my own. No one pays me to write a spec. I just have an idea, I put my butt in the chair, and I write it. When I’m done, we can try and sell it. Or we can package it, which means attaching talent (like actors or a director) in order to attract a financier or a studio. And by “we”, I mean my managers at Elements-Entertainment , my agents at Endeavor, and my entertainment attorney George. FIVE KILLERS was a spec, and my team did an amazing job in making the Lionsgate deal come together. I have a new spec that I'm a couple drafts into, and I'll write more about that later.

2) OWA is short for Open Writing Assignment. This is when a studio or a production company wants to hire a writer for a particular project. Maybe they have an idea they want written into a movie or a book they need adapted or a script that needs to be re-written. To land an OWA, I have to meet with someone at the company and pitch my “take”. This means, I have to tell them what I’m going to write and how I’m going to write it. Pitching sucks. It’s essentially a writer’s audition and it can take weeks to prep for a pitch, with no guarantee that it’ll turn into a job. That said, I’m in the process of pitching for an OWA right now, something very cool. Wish me luck.

3) JIEHO PROJECTS are a special category for me. I had such an amazing time collaborating with Jieho on AIR that I’m always looking for our next opportunity to work together. Jieho and I are always bouncing around new ideas, and our managers are always on the lookout for a studio project that’s right for us. So our next collaboration might be a spec project or some form of an OWA. Either way, it’ll be something special.

And so now that we’re all caught up…I’m tired. Time to watch a little DVR and go to sleep. Plenty of time tomorrow for writing and traveling and kickball captaining.

Beginnings

Seven and a half years ago, I left behind an amazing community of friends and collaborators in Orlando and moved to Los Angeles in order to pursue my dream of writing movies. In an effort to easily keep everyone up to date on my exploits out here, I would periodically send out an email newsletter called, simply, “Bob’s L.A. Adventures”. Besides sharing news with my friends, it also gave me a chance to hone my writer’s voice. The formula was pretty simple: funny stuff, funny stuff, poignant ending. And there was a poignant ending, when I finally booked my first professional screenwriting job back in ’02. That felt like the right moment to end the newsletter and so I did.

Years later, Myspace came along. And I started blogging, which I guess is what I was doing with the old newsletter, even though no one called it blogging back then. During the Myspace years, I co-wrote THE AIR I BREATHE with director Jieho Lee. We shot the film in Mexico City for six weeks in early ’06. There wasn’t a whole lot to do during the shooting days, so I started blogging about the making of the film. A friend set me up a Blogger account and linked it to theairibreathemovie.com. It turned out to be a fantastic way to keep my friends up to date on what was happening with the movie, but I also connected with a whole new group of film fans. Over the course of about a year, we had over 50,000 unique visitors to the blog. I’m sure almost all of them were Sarah Michelle Gellar fans. She co-starred in AIR and has a passionate fan-base the likes of which I’ve never seen.

Then the movie came out and there really wasn’t much of a reason to keep the blog going. Also, Myspace started to suck and at the urging of many friends, I gave Facebook a try. It’s a pretty fantastic site, but something was missing for me. I missed blogging, and Facebook just doesn’t seem very blog-friendly. So I finally got off my ass and started up the blog that you’re reading now. I’m at a pretty cool juncture in my life and I’m eager to start writing about it. So check in when you can. If you enjoy the blog, tell some friends.

I am, among other things, a professional screenwriter, a world traveler, and a kickball captain. And where I come from…nice guys finish first.