Write, write, write

Ha! This was a bit of an experiment. I'm been writing for 20 years, my first paid gig was 17 years ago. But when you look me up on IMDB there's a measly 8 credits. Time for a bit of a reality check.

The writer's story ... never ends.

I've put together a list of all my work that was NOT done on spec (the list would be considerably longer then!). While this was actually a fun walk down memory lane for me, I thought it's actually quite useful sharing. I'm an experienced writer, I get hired, I'm well networked ... so I'd say what you see below is a representation of what you might expect if you stay at it year after year after year. To explain the list:

• 1st column: Names of projects in alphabetical order going (assignments only, i.e. working purely in connection with an interested production company or network)
• 2nd column: Abbreviations stand for B(bible) R(research), E(expose), T(treatment) and S(script). All of these stages vary in length from weeks to many months and from one to umpteen takes.
• 3rd column: The more dollar signs, the better the pay, basically it means: $(yeehaa, enough to pay the rent), $$(yeah baby, the next family vacation's paid for), $$$(oh good, let's renovate the kitchen). This column also shows that not all assignments are paid. Those are usually the ones where I opted out myself because if I didn't get paid, the rights for the ideas remained with me.
• 4th column: The jackpot - produced. All TV stuff so far, some series' work, several feature-lengths, some originals, some adaptations. 

Well, there you have it - the efforts of an average professional hack ... if all of that looks like a ton of work and not enough pay to you, you're damn right. But that's what you can expect if you stick with your writing through the years. You may also break through, of course. I, too, plan on having my name on the lists in Hollywood. But that's the future, that's the dream we all live - but the below is the reality ... and you know what - I continue to love my reality with every moment I spend with crazy plots and twisted characters. Writing, screenwriting - nothing like it! 

Anna	R / E / T	$
Blood Eagle	R / E / T / S	$$$	Produced
Brother Grimm	R / E / T / S	$$$	Produced
Cantarella	R / E
Coffee Trader	R / E / T / S	$$$
Cold Fire	R / E
Countess	R / E	$
Dead Simple	R / E / T / S	$$
Family Ties	R / E / T / S	$$	Produced
Fearless	E
Fidelitas	R / E	$
Fourth Reich	R / E
Hit	R / E
Hitman	R / E
Inside	R / E / T	$
Judge and his Hangman	R / E
Lena Poljanskaia	B / R / E	$
Lenya and the Knights of Fury	E
Letters for the Detective	R / E	$
Long Death	R / E	$
Monk, Translator and Warrior	R / E	$
Mud	R / E / T / S	$$
Murderous Fairytale	R / E / T / S	$$$	Produced
Nicer Dying	R / E / T / S	$$$	Produced
Obsessed	R / E / T	$
One and Only	R / E / T / S	$$$	Produced
Pure World	R / E / T / S	$$	Produced
Quest for Excalibur	R / E / T	$
Rejected	B / R / E / T / S	$$	Produced
Seven Keys	R / E / T	$
Shadow Dance	E
Snow White Sleeps	R / E
Sorcerer	R / E
Spiegel Affair	R / E	$
Tell	R / E / T	$
Union	R / E / T	$

If the name Ernest Lehman doesn't ring a bell annd you're in the film business ... then you may want look up Screenwriting Principle #6 - get with it, will ya?

Ernest Lehman is probably best known for writing North by Northwest. But another one of his works that became movie history was the adaptation of Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. The play opened on Broadway in 1962, Warner Brothers bought the rights in 1964 and two years later we had the film, starring the grand couple, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

I've been rummaging around the web and have found two pages of notes Lehman took when he met Burton and Taylor. This wasn't your usual screenwriter gig - Lehman wrote it, but he also produced it (together with others). He was a writer with serious clout and, according to the notes below, went over things like choice of cameraman and other acting roles. He writes that he suggested Robert Redford and Colin Wilcox ... and that they didn't know either.

Feel free to decipher a wonderful tiny bit of movie history.

Came across this page - the back of John Wayne's script. He scribbled some words for his iconic turn as Rooster Cogburn in the original 1969 True Grit. Movie magic!

The Duke's handwritten note reads "Fill your hand and meet your maker." In the film he actually said, "Fill your hand you son of a bitch." Not bad either. If you feel like watching the glorious clip, scroll down and enjoy! And if you feel like comparing it to the Coen's True Grit, scroll even further ... as much as I love Jeff Bridges, the real Rooster will always be John Wayne. It's the Duke, every time, scowl, Winchester and all.