[B5JMS] quick update from jms

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

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From: "jmsatb5 at aol.com" <jmsatb5 at aol.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:13:24 -0800 (PST)
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Back from London, and gradually working my way out of jet-lag to catch
up with writing.  As I'd anticipated, the BAFTA went to "In Bruges,"
and deservedly so.  Overall, it was a great experience, and I'm
perfectly content with the resolution.  One can't expect a home run in
one's first kick at the cat, as they say in places where apparently
cats are not terribly popular.

(And to a query upstream, yes, I have a theramin.  No, I don't use it
to make strange noises in the middle of the night.  I have a cat for
that.)

In other mews...I mean, news....

I'm on draft two of Forbidden Planet, and the process is going well,
very exciting stuff, and I hope I can talk about some of that in more
detail soonish.

About to make the final touches to World War Z, then with any luck we
can get this thing into pre-productoin also soonish.

Draft One of Lensman is in, now working on draft two.

There have been a couple of previews for Ninja Assassin, and the
audience scores have been just terrific.  I have a suspicion that this
is going to do very well.

The pilot script for Last Words has gone in to Dreamworks, and they're
very very pleased with the script.  So we'll see where this goes.

Interestingly, due to all the writing work, I've lately begun to be
offered directing gigs, most of it in the SF genre (natch).  Nothing
has grabbed me enough yet to want to tackle it, but we'll see what the
future holds.  A couple of studios have extended the offer for me to
write and direct my own stuff, which is pretty cool.

My agent has forbidden me to take on any other screenplay assignments
until March/April, but some projects have begun to circle Casa
Straczynski of late, looking for an open place to land when an opening
comes.  Some very cool stuff on the horizon.

The interesting times continue.

jms



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From: "jmsatb5 at aol.com" <jmsatb5 at aol.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 00:42:28 -0800 (PST)
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A couple of quick things....

I've often cited Norman Corwin as a role model, both professionally
and as a human being, or my best approximation thereof.  The Oscar-
winning documentary about his work A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age
of Norman Corwin is now on Amazon, and you can see some of it along
with background material at:


http://beta.sling.com/video/show/87466/70/A-Note-Of-Triumph:-The-Golden-Age-o
http://beta.sling.com/video/show/87498/94/A-Note-Of-Triumph:-The-Golden-Age-o
http://beta.sling.com/video/show/87518/28/A-Note-Of-Triumph%3A-The-Golden-Age-o

Meanwhile, on a wholly different note...not of triumph but of
annoyance....because so much of the Forbidden Planet screenplay was
leaked out, Warners and I have decided to chuck the screenplay in its
entirety and start over.  This is the direct result of the leaks that
showed up on the nets, including detailed script reviews of a project
that was barely a week old, and which would effectively destroy any
anticipation of the movie because by the time it finally reached the
screen in 2010 or thereabouts, the story would be old news.  So we're
starting fresh, and we're going to keep a tight lid on the script this
time.

So to the sites that say, "Where's the harm, it's not like they're
gonna toss out the script because we blew the contents of same all
over the nets," well, yes, that's exactly what it's like, and it's
precisely your responsibility that a year's worth of work was
destroyed.

So we start anew, with the determined hope that the next draft will be
even better, and far more secure, than the last one.

jms