[B5JMS] ATTN JMS: WWZ - You're out?

[b5jms at mail.fsl.cs.sunysb.edu]

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From: Bill <feline_ranger at yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:40:16 -0700 (PDT)
Lines: 8

I just came from a panel at Wizard World Philly with Max Brooks. He
said that *as far as he knew* you were out as script writer and that
the producers had chosen to bring in somebody else. Please say it
ain't so! TIA

Bill



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From: Joseph Straczynski <jmsatb5 at aol.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:14:50 -0700 (PDT)
Lines: 28

On Jun 20, 6:40=A0pm, Bill <feline_ran... at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I just came from a panel at Wizard World Philly with Max Brooks. He
> said that *as far as he knew* you were out as script writer and that
> the producers had chosen to bring in somebody else. Please say it
> ain't so! TIA
>
> Bill

One of the things that distinguishes film from TV is that it's the
norm for a script to go through many, many hands on the way to
production, which is why you see so many writers' names on movies.
(As a parenthetical, so you can follow the process better, when you
see "Written by A & B" it means that A and B were actually
collaborators on the film, whereas "Written by A and B" means that B
was brought in separately.)  Ivan Reitman, for instance, always has
one writer do a pass for character, another does a pass for humor,
another does a pass for action...and so on.  This is just part of the
feature business, especially once a director comes on board, who may
have ideas of his own that he wants to incorporate and the original
writer has gone through all the contractual drafts, so that either you
re-hire the same guy, or bring in fresh eyes.

So yes, another pair of hands is now working to simplify the script,
which has always been as much a political thriller as an action film,
into something a bit more straightforward.

jms


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From: Jeffrey Kaplan <gordol at gordol.org>
Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:22:42 +0000
Lines: 29

Previously on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, Joseph Straczynski
said:

> (As a parenthetical, so you can follow the process better, when you
> see "Written by A & B" it means that A and B were actually
> collaborators on the film, whereas "Written by A and B" means that B
> was brought in separately.)  Ivan Reitman, for instance, always has

Not necesarily a question for JMS, but for anyone who knows:

If the writing credits are along the lines of:

			Written By
			Writer One
			Writer Two
	Writer Three & Writer Four

What's the status of the various credits?  By what JMS wrote above,
Three & Four worked as a team, but were they the first, or the last?

-- 
Jeffrey Kaplan                                         www.gordol.org
Double ROT13 encoded for your protection

"This is what extremely grieves us, that a man who never fought should
contrive our fees to pilfer, on who for his native land never to this
day had oar, or lance, or blister in his hand." - Aristophanes, 422
B.C.


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From: Joseph Straczynski <jmsatb5 at aol.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 23:11:38 -0700 (PDT)
Lines: 46

On Jul 8, 9:22=A0pm, Jeffrey Kaplan <gor... at gordol.org> wrote:
> Previously on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, Joseph Straczynski
> said:
>
> > (As a parenthetical, so you can follow the process better, when you
> > see "Written by A & B" it means that A and B were actually
> > collaborators on the film, whereas "Written by A and B" means that B
> > was brought in separately.) =A0Ivan Reitman, for instance, always has
>
> Not necesarily a question for JMS, but for anyone who knows:
>
> If the writing credits are along the lines of:
>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Written By
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Writer One
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Writer Two
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Writer Three & Writer Four
>
> What's the status of the various credits? =A0By what JMS wrote above,
> Three & Four worked as a team, but were they the first, or the last?
>
> --
> Jeffrey Kaplan =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0www.gordol.org
> Double ROT13 encoded for your protection
>
> "This is what extremely grieves us, that a man who never fought should
> contrive our fees to pilfer, on who for his native land never to this
> day had oar, or lance, or blister in his hand." - Aristophanes, 422
> B.C.

It varies.  If one writer did the lion's share of the work, he tends
to go first.  But that is also sometimes given as a nod to the first
writer on a script.  (It's nearly impossible to dislodge the first
writer in, which is why no matter what happens with WWZ, for instance,
my credit will be almost impossible to omit.)  So it can be in
sequence, or it can reflect the amount of work done.  (The rule is you
have to rewrite no less than 50% of the previous writer's draft to get
an on-screen shared credit.)

BTW, and appropos of nothing, I hear rumors that there may be a
midnight screening of Ninja Assassin at San Diego Comic Con at some
point.  That's all I know for now.

jms