Still out of the loop

Back on Monday, did some travel.

Out of town

I'm out of town for a week more, doing some business with Ghostkeeper which I'll elaborate once it's clear, all good.  Will try to post over the wk-end.

Canadian eh?

I grew up with a great generation of Canadian actors,all of whom achieved success in the US. How about these names for a start:

Donald Sutherland
Keifer Sutherland
Raymond Burr (Perry Mason series)
Raymond Massey (who portrayed Lincoln)
Leslie Nielson
William Shatner
Keanu Reeves
John Candy
Michael J. Fox
Christopher Plummer
Jim Carrey

Then there's also movie mogul Jack Warner who started Warner Brothers,  and Mack Sennett who did silents and Norman Jewison who directed Fiddler on the Roof among a dozen other great movies. And director David Cronenberg also.

And even the gorilla in the room; James Cameron.

All of the performers were solid actors, okay maybe Keanu doesn't do Shakespeare, but he has presence.

So who does the new generation have?

Ryan Reynolds and Ryan Gosling.

Generally acknowledged as nowhere near the abilities nor the presence of the actors named before them. But what they do reflect is the fickleness of the audience. Reynolds is the Canadian Ben Affleck, or as my director friend says, "a hold in the screen". Like Ben, whose acting career careened after several flops, Reynolds is now facing the same fate, his 2 big box movies this year failed and he's only a star when he's in a movie with Sandra Bullock.

And like Ben, who realized he could change a career by directing films and being tight with Harvey Weinstein, Ryan now is directing.

Both Ryans are TV actors at best, one Ryan got an Academy Award nomination which defies all logic. One of the best performances ever was Donald Sutherland in Redford's Ordinary People, in which the two other stars got nominations for "chewing the scenery" as the saying goes.

There are also at least a dozen young Canadian actors who seem to populate WB shows and of course, Ellen Page, also nominated, and actually a good actress.  But her biggest problem is that she looks 14. Think Patty Duke.

But the situation with American actors is pretty much the same, take for example the remake of Hawaii 5-0, where the entire cast walks over the lead actor, who has the presence of a wet rag.

So where are the great actors? Where are the new Cary Grants (maybe Clooney, but he's in the older category now), or the Robert Mitchums, John Waynes, Gary Coopers, Jimmy Stewarts, Jack Nicholsons, Warren Beattys, and so many others.

A feminist writer once referred to the new actors like Depp, Edward Norton, Toby MacGuire and others as "little lesbians" in that they were cute boys that seemed to be more feminine than masculine. And I still seem to think Leonardo is dressed in his dad's clothes.

Of course, competing with old stars like Mitchum and Wayne was no contest, they screamed masculinity, not that it's all that great either. But all of the older actors came out of hard times and wars, Steve McQueen and James Dean had difficult periods of growing up as did many more.

And I'm not even talking about Brando, there is nobody like him at all, or Montgomery Clift,who influenced an era of actors.

But like all things; the times change and in a time of mediocrity (see last week's blogs) it creates mediocre actors. Little lesbians and all.

At least this lack of presence and great talent seems to not be restricted to Canadians. I look forward to the new Sutherlands, or Massey's or even Carrey's.
 "
Even Mary Pickford, a Canadian, was a star in her day. Because she had "it".

Where are the actors out there who "have it"?  Judging from TV shows, it seems the leader of many shows (CSI etc) is usually an aging baby boomer for the boomer audience, and one who has some presence (Mark Harmon, Ted Danson, Tom Selleck) but the rest of the cast seems interchangeable with any actor on another series,  you  can't tell them apart.

But then I do like Jennifer Garner and Jessica Biel.


And they're not even Canadian, eh?

My Other Job

I never really wanted to do anything in life. 

At least that's what I think. On the first day of school in my little village of 500 people, my mom dropped me off at school and walked home. Shortly afterwards she heard me playing with my toys outside. I told her that I had tried school for awhile and didn't really want to do that.

But I managed to make my way through school, even getting a few jobs along the line that made me feel even stronger against doing work... of any kind. I failed Grade 10 because I didn't "apply myself" as the report card stated. No kidding.

But I was a natural for 2 subjects; History and English. Of those two I could not get enough. And one other thing; movies and TV. I list them as one as they were both equal partners. As I've said before in this blog, I could watch TV and see movies any day, any time.

I also worked on "the line" at Chysler, assembling Plymouth cars. My job was to jump in the car as it moved along the assembly line and hammer in trim around the ceiling. It took me 5 minutes to learn the job. Later I stepped in for workers taking their breaks. None of these jobs required serious training.

One job I stepped in for was done by a man who had worked there for nearly 20 years. It was at that point that I said I would never work in a factory again. But in a factory town, summer jobs were essentially factory jobs.

And then a miracle happened. At least it seemed like that. 

I got a job at the local TV station and never looked back. July 9, 1969.

But this blog is about the "other job" isn't it. There is another job which I would be happy at if it's all I ever did. It matches the intensity of movies and TV and isn't related to them, sort of.

I am one of the best tour guides you'll ever meet. My tours are as simple as my home town and as complicated as driving 1200 miles in 4 days. And everything in between.

I've taken friends on my LA tours, based on what I think they would like to see and what I think they would never have discovered on their own. And if they want to go to Universal Tours or Disneyland I'll be happy to drop them off and pick them up at the end of the day.

I have ethnic tours of LA, tours where celebrities or gangsters died, tours of Pacific Coast Hwy and Malibu that you'd never discover yourself, including a Catholic retreat that has the best view of Malibu ever.

I've taken my brother to both Roswell and Area 51, have taken friends to Monument Valley and Grand Canyon, Yosemite NP, wineries in Tehachapi, Edwards Air Force Base where the shuttle would land now and then.

Tour Guide Jimmy.

I will show people Southern California as they've never seen it, deserted mining towns in the Mojave,  Joshua trees as old as 600 years, creosote at least 1000 years old and  the ugliest town in America (at least as far as I think, their football team plays on dirt, not grass).

I can take you to Canada via Montana and Utah and show you cafes and truckstops that aren't franchises or chains.

And this is where movies come in, I am still editing my documentary on Highway 50, dubbed the loneliest highway in America. That's the photo at the top of this blog. I also am going to do another doc on another "forgotten highway" as a potential pilot for a series on highways that were bypassed with interstate highways.

That and my insatiable curiosity are the best things I was given, and while I would suffocate in an office job, I am damn lucky that I was able to find a way to make money with my two interests; movies and travel.

I say this because a friend of mine, in his early 30's, is finding it difficult to chase his passion. He knows so much about cars but can't find a way to make money from it. His knowledge of this world is amazing.  And I think most people go to work without that passion, most people fall into jobs, rather than plan for one. 

But the thing that scares the hell out of me always lurks somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind. 

What if I didn't walk into that employment office on that day, at that hour and talk to that employment advisor who had 3 different jobs to offer me. You know what the last one was.

Was it luck or was it something else?

But that's another blog.

Character writers?

One of the best things about actors was always the character actors. Think of actors like Strother Martin, Dub Taylor, Walter Brennan and women like Cloris Leachman (still working), Agnes Moorehead and so many others.

These weren't the stars, they were the supporting cast. And they sure supported the stars, some of whom weren't really great actors in the first place. In short, a star was famous, a character actor was what made the movies enjoyable.

One of the best lines of dialog ever came from Strother Martin, who could forget "What we got here is a failure to communicate" from Cool Hand Luke.

There's another thing about character actors, good ones always worked. Whereas Hollywood is filled with almost stars, fallen stars and aspiring stars, those stars often dimmed. But a character actor would always find a job.

I worked once with Stuart Margolin, who played Angel on the 80's series Rockford Files. He was the co-star of a series I worked on. It was amazing how he could get the attention of the viewer simply by doing a little "business" as they say, a look, a twitch, an expression. That's all it took to get the viewer to focus on him.

Character actors never got the attention that the stars did, but they worked a lot more often.

So how does this relate to writers?

I suppose every writer has always hoped of making the big time and had dreams of climbing the stairs at Academy award time.  But few do. Remember, there are around 10,000 screenwriters in the WGA, although it's hard to really get an exact number.

But every now and then, one of the lucky ones gets to climb those stairs. And the rest of us watch and dream.

I can divide writers into 3 categories; the famous ones,  the one-hit wonders and the ones who somehow manage to work most of the time. The character actors of the writer's world. There are those who became famous; Robert Towne, William Goldman, Joe Eszterhas and Shane Black and a handful of others.

And then there's the rest of us. I always wanted to write a biography entitled "Working My Way to the Middle". Well, I never really was serious, besides I didn't have time, I was working a lot. And I still am.

I know two writers who sold one screenplay and have never sold anything else again even though they try and try. Nobody knows why, it's just the god or goddess of writers who decides and he or she isn't telling why or how.

I've had a good run with 18 movies, some of which were rewrites, all of which were "Page 1's" as the term is used. Meaning a rewrite that started at page 1, and going through the entire screenplay.  I've been rewritten twice on movies, more on series.

And now, as a aging screenwriter, I continue to write and have plans to write at least 2 specs this fall and winter as well as continue to look for funding for Ghostkeeper 2 and Emperor of Mars. I'm also considering a "crowdfunding picture", wherein funds are solicited online. It's an interesting format, I might do a blog on that whole premise.

So there it is, some writers get an assignment a couple of times in their career, others become stars, but some of us are lucky enough to find continuous work, not as highly paid as the star writers but working more often than not.

Mediocrity

Mediocre - of only ordinary or moderate quality; barely adequate.

                        -Websters Dictionary

The subject of mediocrity recently rose it's mediocre head while I was driving in L.A. I was noticing all of the late model cars, SUV's, Crossovers etc. etc.  I was daydreaming slightly, wondering what kind of vehicle I would buy if I decided to trade in the old Ford Explorer with over 200,000 miles on it.  I came to a conclusion after a few blocks.

All the cars look the same. All the SUVs look the same. All the cross-overs look the same. 

When I was around 8 or 9 years old, my dad used to play a game with me when we were driving. Since I didn't have an iPod or DVD player, this being the late 50's, I had only my imagination. Our game was simply "what kind of car is that coming up to us?"

The first one to identify an oncoming car was the winner. One of us had to shout out "Ford", or "Chevy" and so on. At this point I'm sure half of you have left my blog to check your apps, but hang around. The thing was that every car had it's own distinctive shape and design and they had bright colors. Look around today, sometimes it seems every car is white, black, gray or silver. 

The point of this in today's language is that you can't really identify most vehicles approaching because they do look the same. My friends ask me when I will let the Explorer go but I plan to keep it. My inspiration is a man from the eastcoast who bought a Volvo in 1961 and has accumulated 2.1 million miles on it and is still driving.

At 201,200 miles I have a way to go.

And that 1968 Fastback Mustang above was my 2nd car.

But mediocrity isn't just about cars. I began to realize it's around us in almost everyway. Apple launches the iPad and within a year every other company capable has an imitation that looks the same. 

Clothing now for twenty-somethings doesn't reflect anything but a lack of imagination for a specific look, rather a collection of mediocrity. The 1920's had a radical change, as did the 1940's, the 1950's and certainly the 1960's. Give a mention to disco days and after that styles seemed to get mixed up with each other.

One of the creators of 100 channel cable and satellite services (now up to 200 channels or so) said that when he and his partners were creating the superchannel lineup at a time when most people had maybe 5 to 20 channels, they felt they were creating a radical new medium.

But after 10 years he realized what they really did create. In his own words; mediocrity.

Music is another example. In the mid 60's a whole new generation came of age (yeah, me too), much of the music was pure, meaning it wasn't really a copy of anything. In the book Laurel Canyon, by Michael Walker he brings up the point that people like Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, Steve Stills, Neil Young, John Phillips and many others were singing a completely new style of music. Their own.

Nash says that they would just write songs and release them and some worked, some didn't. Today when one singer has a hit song, the record companies immediately send out scouts to find a dozen other singers who look like, and sing like the one with a hit song.

I still think most of the younger female singers all sound like Maria Carey.

And going back to cable TV, while the creators hoped for exciting and brilliant broadcasting and niche audiences, what resulted was the showing of older TV shows over and over again. At one time you could watch 4 or 4 Seinfelds on the same night.

One could argue that this was going on during the 60's and 70's but with 5 channels in Detroit/Windsor nobody played repeats because they didn't have any. You could see I Love Lucy however, which is still playing.

And of course, getting back to movies, all you have to do is to see the remakes Hollywood has put out, some successful like Rise of the Apes and some flops like the new Conan. With Knocked Up, came another series of copycats, some good, some bad.  And titles seemed derivative or at the best, lame.

So what's the answer? Are we living in mediocrity?

You can take your lead by reading about The Singularity, which relates to quantum physics and the rapid development of computers and, ultimately robots as smart or smarter than us. It's a theory that suggests technology is moving faster and faster and teens today will be left behind by technology by their early 30's and even their kids won't be able to catch up.

Quantum physicists like Miciho Kaku suggests there are three consequences of The Singularity; one is that robots take over like Terminator and destroy us, secondly the world will be a perfect dream place where all is wonderful for humans, and the third is that everything stays the same as now.

So there you go - identifying cars to Terminator. And here's my favorite car, it was a 1968 Ford Mustang that I bought for $1700 in 1969.

What "they" are looking for among other things

There are now at least a dozen websites that can help the aspiring screenwriter write a box-office blockbuster. All that is needed is either Screenwriter or Final Draft softwares. Oh, and the guidance of sure-fire screenwriting gurus to guide you.

For a fee, of course. 

How about this one: 21 Steps to a Powerful Rewrite.

With these steps you can:

1. Triple the quality of your screenplay.
2. Cause you to win contests.
3. Attract producers to your writing.

With promises like that, especially implying that this will happen, who wouldn't attend. And there's no charge* (asterick as written in the ad). But it's limited to only 100 callers. All you pay is long distance fees.

Yes, this is a "tele-seminar".

As you remember, I actually did teach screenwriting for UCLA extension classes for just over 2 years. Eventually I left because it was taking too much of my time for very little money as well as I was burned out from the amount of work I did for the students. I taught an on-line course with people from all over the USA, Canada and even Europe.

The biggest difference between onsite (which I did once) and online, is that the online teacher is always accessible. Day or night. It become more than a part-time job to me as I seriously cared about what I taught and how it was received.

And the one thing I learned from it all was this; I can show you how to write a screenplay but I can't show you how to write a great screenplay. For one good reason.

That part has to come from you. 

And most aspiring writers don't have it. And they likely never will. There is no shortcut to writing, you have to write. And write and write. You wouldn't believe the amount of students I had whose dream was to write one blockbuster then go off to be a dentist or supermarket manager. Really.

Am I bursting someone's dream?

Maybe, but I'm being real. Writers write, simple as that.

I took a week-end course once with Robert McKee, arguably the most noted screenplay guru along with Syd Field. He was very entertaining and had just enough rough edges that made the audience swoon. Everything he said made sense, it seemed so logical. As I left, everyone was buzzing about how brilliant he was and how it all seemed so easy.

But on Monday, all alone in my home office, it all dissolved into two things; me and that damn screen. An empty screen waiting for words to appear. And all the advice from McKee seemed to feel like a great movie you watched and after a few days, made you smile. It wasn't instruction - it was entertainment. And he's brilliant at it.

But it didn't help me write.

I had to resort to the usual thing; feel guilt until I forced myself to write. And since I had been doing this for years, I knew that I would do it even if it was guilt that forced me to write.

I'm sure these gurus can help some people, but it's ironic that almost all of them have never sold a screenplay. Isn't that like someone teaching you to fly who never has flown alone themselves?

One thing I did notice was that when I taught at UCLA, the majority of students signed up for my class because I had a dozen or more credits in features and episodic. And again, if you look at the instructors at UCLA, you will find very few who are still working, someone said you should never put a UCLA extension credit on your resume, it suggests your career is over. My agent even refused to put the credit on my credit list.

And of course, I mean this in the nicest way.

The last time I did a course at UCLA it was for "the Rewrite" and I had 15 students with screenplays anywhere from 70 to 150 pages. Try writing 5-8 pages of notes for that many people in a week!

I did that. And it was soon apparent this was a full-time job. All for $180 wk. And when I and a few other writers suggested the school cut the numbers back they said that was a great idea but not possible. Just remind the students to take the next class next semester.

If you're contemplating one of those screenwriter guru's course, by all means take it. You might learn a few things and you might not. But I'm sure they're all fun, lots of jokes, lots of fundamentalist-type speeches that might even inspire you.

Just keep in  mind that when you write, you won't be in a crowd enjoying some entertainment a little bit of inspiration. If you get that much, it'll be worth it.

And I don't know what a "tele-seminar" is.