Chung chi hanh nghe xay dung

July/August 2010

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Find out why writers McKay & Heachy are being sued for material in their latest film.

By Sue Weaver

Your guide to the best film schools in the nation and how to choose the program that fits your needs.

By David Barba

Get a peak behind the scenes to see just how deep Sylvester Stallone’s incredible performance goes, working with the director to bring the script to life.

Screenwriter Michael Bacall, writer-director Edgar Wright and Manga creator Bryan Lee O’Malley collaborate to bring Scott Pilgrim’s epic battle for one girl’s heart to the big screen.

By Adam Stovall

Inception writer-director Christopher Nolan tells how he dreamt up this summer’s most original screenplay.

By Jeff Goldsmith

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Stallone knocks out

The Expendables By: Cindy Sherman

The Expendables is a 2010 American ensemble action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone. Filming began on March 28, 2009, in Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, and the film was released in theaters on August 13, 2010 in North America. It is the first installment in the Expendables film series.

The film is about a group of elite mercenaries tasked with a mission to overthrow a Latin American dictator whom they soon discover to be a mere puppet controlled by a ruthless ex-CIA officer. It pays tribute to the blockbuster action films of the 1980s and early 1990s, and stars an array of action veterans from those decades, including Stallone, Eric Roberts, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Gary Daniels, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Schwarzenegger in a cameo role), as well as more recent stars such as Randy Couture, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, and Steve Austin. It was distributed by Lionsgate.

The Expendables received mixed reviews but was commercially successful, opening at number one at the box office in the United States,[2] the United Kingdom,[3] China[4] and India.[5] A sequel was released on August 17, 2012. in power as a figurehead for their own profiteering operations, while Sandra is revealed to be Garza’s daughter. Ross aborts and causes casualties among the army as they escape, but Sandra refuses to leave Vilena and let her people suffer.

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Meanwhile, a vengeful Jensen approaches Munroe to help and Garza is angered further when Sandra is captured by Munroe, who has her waterboarded for information.

Ross aborts and causes casualties among the army as they escape, but Sandra refuses to leave Vilena and let her people suffer.

Meanwhile, a vengeful Jensen approaches Munroe to help and Garza is angered further when Sandra is captured by Munroe, who has her waterboarded for information. Ross and rival mercenary leader Trench Mauser (Arnold Schwarzenegger) visit a man called “Mr. Church” (Bruce Willis), after having naming himself after their meeting venue, for a mission.

A busy Trench passes the contract to Ross, which is to overthrow dictator General Garza (David Zayas) in Vilena, an island in the Gulf of Mexico. Ross and Christmas fly to Vilena for initial undercover reconnaissance and meet their contact, Sandra (Gisele Itié), but are discovered. It is then revealed that ex-CIA officer James Munroe (Eric Roberts), with his henchmen Paine (Steve Austin) and The Brit (Gary Daniels), are deriding and keeping Garza in power as a figurehead for their own profiteering operations, while Sandra is revealed to be Garza’s daughter. Ross aborts and causes casualties among the army as they escape, but Sandra refuses when Sandra is captured by Munroe, who has her waterboarded for information.

ISSUE: 17 NO. 4

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In Toronto, Scott Pilgrim, the bass guitarist for the band “Sex Bob-omb”, begins dating high schooler Knives Chau, much to the disapproval of his friends. Scott meets an American girl, Ramona Flowers, who has been appearing in his dreams, and becomes obsessed with her, losing interest in Knives. While playing in a battle of the bands sponsored by one “G-Man Graves” for a record deal, Scott is attacked by Matthew Patel, who introduces himself as the first of Ramona’s “evil exes”. Scott defeats Patel and learns that, in order for them to date, he must defeat all seven of her evil exes.

Scott breaks up with Knives, who blames Ramona for taking Scott from her and begins trying to win him back.

Scott battles Ramona’s second evil ex, popular actor and skateboarder Lucas Lee, whom he defeats by tricking him into performing a dangerous skateboard grind that causes him to combust. Scott later encounters the third evil ex, Todd Ingram, who is dating Scott’s ex-girlfriend, Natalie “Envy” Adams. Todd initially overpowers Scott using his psychic vegan abilities, but is stripped of his powers by the Vegan Police after Scott tricks him into drinking coffee with half and half cream, allowing Scott to defeat him.

Scott begins to grow upset with Ramona over her dating history by the defeat of the fourth ex, Roxy Richter.

During the second round of the battle of the bands, Sex Bob-omb faces off against the fifth and sixth evil exes, twin Katayanagi brothers Kyle and Ken, earning Scott an extra life upon their defeat. During the battle, Scott

sees Ramona together with her seventh evil ex, Gideon, who turns out to be G-Man Graves.The members of Sex Bob-omb accept Gideon’s record deal, except for Scott, who leaves the band.

Upon returning home, Scott receives a phone call invitation from Gideon to his newly opened Chaos Theater where Sex Bob-omb is playing, claiming there to be “no hard feelings”. Scott arrives and challenges Gideon to a fight, professing his love for Ramona and gaining a sword called the “Power of Love”, which Gideon easily destroys. Knives then crashes the scene to fight Ramona over Scott. Scott goes to break up the girls’ fight, only to accidentally reveal that he cheated on them with each other before he is killed by Gideon.

Ramona visits Scott in Limbo and apologizes for getting him involved in her affairs, revealing that Gideon had planted a mind control device in the back of her head. Scott realizes he still has an extra life and uses it to return to life at the moment in time when Gideon first called him. Scott reenters the Chaos Theater where he makes peace with his friends and challenges Gideon again, stating he is fighting for himself and gaining the much stronger “Power of Self-Respect” sword with which he strikes down Gideon. He then apologizes to Ramona and Knives for cheating on them, but Gideon interferes and knocks down Ramona, leading Scott and Knives to team up and defeat him.

Free from Gideon’s control, Ramona prepares to leave, but Knives accepts that her relationship with Scott is over and encourages him to follow Ramona.

He does, and the two start their relationship anew.

ISSUE: 17 NO. 4

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When Inception was released back on July 16th, the strikingly original film shook up a summer marketplace filled with derivative sequels and unfortunate remakes that had critics decrying the creative barrenness of studio films. Which is why writer-director Nolan garnered respect from Hollywood for using his clout from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight to film his own long, gestating spec script from an idea that had rattled around in his head for a decade. Inception is a movie with many layers and a dense plot, allowing Nolan to ride a familiar genre but then arrive at a new place. Sure, the box office was well-trod turf for him: $825 million worldwide. But, first, he had to imagine himself in the dream world of Inception before he took audiences there.

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ROSEBUD: How was writing Inception different for you?

NOLAN: What I try to do is write from the inside out. I really try to jump into the world of the film and the characters, try to imagine myself in that world rather than imagining it as a film I’m watching onscreen. Sometimes, that means I’m discovering things the way the audience will, with character and story. Other times, you’re plotting it out with diagrams and taking a very objective view.

Writing, for me, is a combination of both. You take an objective approach at times to get you through things, and you take a subjective approach at other times, and that allows you to find an emotional experience for the audience.This was one of those projects that burned inside me for a long time, but I wouldn’t say in a completely unique way. I made a film earlier called The Prestige. For four or five years, that burned inside me. It was something I really wanted to crack with my brother Jonah, and eventually we did it. I certainly have other ideas

I’ve not been able to crack that I see great potential in, sitting in the back of a drawer. You never quite know what you’re going to come back to and figure out how to make it work. You never quite know where that desire to finish something, or return to something in a fresh way, is going to come from. Every time I finished a film and went back and looked at it, I had changed as a person. The script was different to me. And, eventually, who I was as a writer, as a filmmaker, and what the script needed to be, all these things coincided.

ROSEBUD: What breakthrough ended Inception’s 10-year script gestation period?

NOLAN: The final piece of the puzzle for me with the script I’d been trying to finish for about 10 years was figuring out how to connect emotionally with the central character in a way that would make it a more emotional story. The reason I got hung up on this is that I had first devised the rules of the world, using the heist genre as a way in.That genre embraces exposition and so it’s good for teaching a new set of rules to an audience. The problem is, heist movies tend to be a bit superficial, glamorous, and fun. They don’t tend to be emotionally engaging. What I realized after banging my head into a wall for 10 years trying to finish it is that when you’re dealing with the world of dreams, the psyche, and potential of a human mind, there has to be emotional stakes.You have to deal with issues of memory and desire. I figured out the emotional connection of the central character to the audience and made this about following his journey home to his children and his love for his wife. Those really were the final pieces of the puzzle that let me finish the script. to be mindful of the size of your audience, and you have to communicate in a way that lets them in. That can be difficult when you’re trying to do something more challenging.

There really is a delicate balance between presenting people with elements that are unfamiliar, but still giving them an entertaining experience for their willingness to come on that ride with you and accept a certain degree of confusion. That’s the most difficult thing, but it’s also a challenge I’ve very much enjoyed over the last few films.

ROSEBUD: Did Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures say yes when they read the script or did you have to show them visuals?

NOLAN: I try and get everybody on board with a project simply through the words on the page and my explanation of what I see, how I’m going to put these things onscreen

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important that I develop the script on my own. I had to finish it on the page, so at least there would be a specific and clear document in front of the studio of what this film was going to be. The advantage of writing on spec was I got to really thrash out in my own head how to make these things work, and then offer it to the studio for backing and collaboration. I don’t think I would have been able to develop this with someone else. I needed to at least get the first practical draft done on my own and then bring the studio into the process.

ROSEBUD: Danny Boyle recently told Deadline he admires how you take $160 million and make it look like $320 million. What is the most stressful thing about steering such a large creative bet?

NOLAN:The most stressful and difficult part of steering a large movie like Inception is that you are taking on the responsibility of communicating with a very wide audience.

You can’t ever hide behind the notion of, ‘Okay, they just don’t get it,’ or, ‘Certain people just don’t get it.’ You have to be mindful of the size of your audience, and you have to communicate in a way that lets them in.That can be difficult when you’re trying to do something more challenging. There really is a delicate balance between presenting people with elements that are unfamiliar, but still giving them an entertaining experience for their willingness to come on that ride with you and accept a certain degree of confusion. That’s the most difficult thing, but it’s also a challenge I’ve very much enjoyed over the last few films.

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a certain degree of confusion. That’s the most difficult thing, but it’s also a challenge I’ve very much enjoyed over the last few films.

ROSEBUD: Did Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures say yes when they read the script or did you have to show them visuals?

NOLAN: I try and get everybody on board with a project simply through the words on the page and my explanation of what I see, how I’m going to put these things onscreen and what they’re going to feel like. And so, the process of getting Inception greenlit was involving a wide group of people at Warner Bros, from creative and production, distribution and marketing. Everybody read the script. Then I came in and fielded a lot of their questions about how particular visuals were going to be done, and what the feel of the film would be, and very much about how the audience would be able to orient themselves to the film.

That was always a concern by everyb o d y.

Agent’s Hot Sheet

By Jim Cirile

Oh the Horror!

It comes down to this: it’s damn good business.

The horror/thriller, always a staple of American cinema, has become the place where new talent can flourish and producers can actually make a buck. One needs only look at the numbers: Saw III was produced for $12 million and grossed almost $60 million domestic box office. Add in international and DVD, and you have a whopping return on investment. We asked our panel about what’s going on in the marketplace regarding fright flicks, and we got some chillingly groovy answers.

The success of horror at the box office has yielded a crop of new spook houses springing up to try to cash in. Companies like Raw Feed, Screen Gems, Fortress, Dimension, Twisted Pictures, Lionsgate and more are all seeking the next hot horror franchise.

Manager Jake Wagner from Energy Entertainment, who specializes in horror, says, “It’s low-risk, because a lot of these companies shoot horror movies for $1-5 million, and worst case scenario, they can still get a DVD distribution deal and break even. But best case scenario is you’re sitting on another Saw or Hostel.” Yep, horror films generally don’t cost a lot of money to make, they don’t need stars, and the potential upside is great. The Gersh Agency’s Richard Arlook notes, “Every single one of these franchises, from Halloween to Amityville to Freddy to Chucky, they all start with a quirky lit-

tle horror film that ended up generating hundreds of millions. Really, nothing has changed in the overall deal-making economics, whereas (when you look at the rest of the business,) the economics have changed. (Horror films) are still a pretty safe bet.”

Now, gentle reader, one must understand the creepy complexities. There’s a hierarchy out there. These companies are seeking horror/thrillers that fall under the studio floor of $10- 15 million. So while they may be looking for the next Saw, the major studios are not. ICM’s Emile Gladstone cautions don’t expect to sell a horror spec for a lot of money to a studio, “unless it’s The Others or Rosemary’s Baby, and they can put a star in it. If Reese Witherspoon can star in it, sure, you’re going to sell it for some coin. Everyone is looking for the next Others, the next Rosemary’s Baby. No studio is looking for Saw. Rogue might potentially do a Saw. But if you give them an old-school horror fest, unless Eli Roth (Donnie Darko) is attached to it, I don’t see them wanting to move forward on it. Look at (Michael Bay’s) Platinum Dunes—they’re recycling a lot of old titles (e.g., The Hitcher.)”

And then there’s even a third tier of chilling companies making horror films for under $1 million. This is where things get a bit tricky. While this area is rife with opportunity for emerging screenwriters, it’s not the immediate door-opener many writers hope it is.

“The big, established agent isn’t going to pay attention until there’s some box office associated with what they’re doing,” says Arlook. “Let’s say a guy is making ten horror movies a year for $300,000 each; if he’s the writer/ director/producer, he’s literally making $30,000 per film, (or) $300,000 a year. I could get a medium-level screenwriter one assignment twice a year and make double that money. It all comes down to time and reward.”

And sorry, friends, don’t expect Hollywood to beat a path to your door if you get a small option offer. “People call me all day long with those deals, literally saying, ‘So-and-so wants to option (my script) for 10 grand. Someone with a truly brilliant script that’s not even set up has got a better chance (of landing representation) than someone like that. I think that’s true of any real agent,” Arlook laughs, “although I’m sure Broadway Danny Rose would jump at it.”

We’ll leave you with some parting advice from Wagner: “The opening scene, the opening kill—some people call it the prologue—if that doesn’t sizzle, hook me in, usually it’s an indication that the script’s going to be soft or fall off.You can tell a lot about a horror script just from the prologue. But what if that doesnt If that doesn’t grab you and scare the hell out of you, chances are nothing in the script will. Start off with a bang, something we haven’t seen.”

ISSUE: 17 NO. 4

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