Who do you love?

I got a tombstone hand and a graveyard mind,
I lived long enough and I ain't scared of dying.
Who do you love...
                       - Bo Diddley

Relationships. What we all fall into at one time or another. It's what makes us and what breaks us. And in the film industry it's as essential as water is to earth. 

Simply put, you won't get anywhere in the film business without relationships, it just don't work that way. I have accumulated dozens of relationships, some of which last the duration of a movie shoot ("we must stay in touch"), some that lasted 40 years and some that dissipate when my services are no longer required. Meaning that either they've got a shooting script or I've been replaced by another writer eager to show how much better he or she is than I was.

I've been lucky, I've only been rewritten once by another writer. But on the other hand I've rewritten a half dozen or more scripts, called in by producers to polish or fix up or change a script that was written by someone else. Sometimes I got credit, sometimes I didn't. But it was always about a relationship.

In 1998 I wrote two screenplays that were produced by Paramount and rewritten 4 others, in most cases from Page 1, which essentially means a whole new script while keeping the story. If that sounds contradictory, it really isn't, keeping the story but changing 70% of the dialog or action is still possible.

And it all came about through relationships. It started with Steve White, a producer who read one screenplay of mine and wanted to do a movie with me. We got along well, he was accomplished enough that he didn't have any insecurities nor fears, and we got along just great.  I pitched an idea, a remake of a movie I did in Canada years ago but different enough that it didn't conflict and he gave me the go-ahead.

Then he and John Levoff weren't satisfied with a screenplay written by someone else on Roswell, the New Mexico town where aliens supposedly crashed in 1947. Well, it happened that I had been to Roswell with my brother and examined the alien mythology quite well.  So Steve asked me to write a completely new screenplay.

Relationships.

This led to meeting with Levoff, then head of drama for UPN network, a network arm of Paramount. That led to me going to Luxembourg to rewrite two screenplays of other writers in the dubious capacity of "creative consultant". But I was there for more than just writing. I've laid out this story in a previous blog but will repeat the basics; Levoff wanted me to be his eyes and ears to an extent as he was an ocean and continent away and knew he could trust me.

Once I finished the job, I returned to L.A. to find that Steve now had set up my two movies and another one in Winnipeg and I immediately went there to rewrite my own scripts and the other one.

Again, relationships. One thing leads to another. No stranger has ever hired me, only people who were introduced to me or knew me. Relationships lead to referrals and possible jobs. And on that note, relationships won't necessarily get you a job if for some reason nobody wants to hire you.

And there's usually two reasons for a writer, actor or director not getting work.

Either they're not very good or they're hard to work with.

Publicists come up with a lot of reasons when an actor or writer or director suddenly leaves the project, often before it starts. They will usually say "creative differences" which means that the two parties differ on some aspect of the movie, script, actor, etc.  How do they decide who leaves?

Simple, the one who has the best relationship with the studio or producer. They also call it clout, but it remains the same thing.

On a movie I rewrote called Lost in the Bermuda Triangle which was filmed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I had a falling out with the director. To be honest, I do not suffer fools easily, I know what I can do and what I can't, or won't do.

The director, Mario from NYC told me to make some changes in the script that the producer and network had signed off on. The script was ready to shoot. I I asked "what kind of changes"? His answer; "you know, changes".  No I didn't know, and I asked him to be more specific. His answer; "you're the writer, write anything". To which I answered that he was the director and if he wanted a change, he had to tell me what to change and why and to clear it with the producer.

It led to a shouting match and I left to go to the bar and find the dirtiest tequila they had. The director called the producer requesting I be fired, the producer said no. Jim stays.

Was that just because I was being bratty or high maintenance? No, the script was ready to go, sure there were minor dialog changes as he filmed, but otherwise, unless he came up with specific ideas, I wasn't going to do anything. But that's not why I wasn't fired.

Why? Because Bob, the producer, whom everybody on the crew hated (and I still think some of the Mexican drivers would easily have dropped him off in the jungle), liked me.  And I thought he was tough, but good and knew his job. I left before the film was finished, after nearly 6 months of travel I wanted to go home and they really didn't need me anymore. Last time I spoke to Bob which was about a year ago, he said Mario messed up the movie anyways.


Relationships.

Lesson here is if you work on a film crew, on any job, writer, grip, driver, anyone, make relationships. Most will fade 20 minutes after the wrap party, but at least for the filming schedule, you can be a little more secure in your job.

When I worked on a series in Vancouver, I made friends with the teamster drivers. I usually make friends with everyone I can, you get more rumors and gossip that way if they trust you. I had let it be known that I had difficulty finding a new fender for my 1977 Camaro. One day a slightly used fender showed up in the parking lot. The driver walked by and said simply, "Hey Jim, someone left that for you." No questions asked.


Relationships.

A short history.

I'm finally settling into life in a small northern town, although it' s not really the true north which is at least 200 miles away. But it is the last real "civilized" community in that the Swan Valley represents the last real agricultural land in the province. Once you drive ten miles north you get into the Boreal forest which consists of stunted pine trees, moss and bogs and thousands of lakes.

Our family even has a lake named after a distant uncle who died on the beaches of Normandy in WWII. Canada has a policy of naming lakes after their war dead and considering there are probably hundreds of thousands of lakes, we still have lots of unnamed lakes.

The north also consists of the Precambrian Shield, which features some of the oldest rock formations in the entire world.  It stretches pretty much through Manitoba's north thru Ontario and Quebec and has a wealth of minerals and precious metals, including a recent find of diamonds that rivals anywhere in the world.

Manitoba is roughly the size of California and Oregon and twice the size of Great Britain. Most interesting is that well over 2/3rds of this is remote wilderness. There are only two highways that wind their way north, and even they end just past the halfway mark.

Historically, Manitoba was the main fur route of the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1700's and still has trappers that work remote wilderness.

My people, the Ukrainians, first migrated here in a period from 1895 to 1911, at 140,000, the largest single migration in Canada's history. Being farmers and peasants, they were welcomed by the Canadian government who wanted the western provinces populated.

But unfortunately, they were victims of discrimination by the British, the Swedes and other WASPS. It wasn't as severe as the American's discrimination of minorities but certainly enough to be noticed. Many Ukrainians who sought work often had to change their names so as to be hired and one Prime Minister said that Canada should "send back the vomit to the country that threw it up".

Nice words, huh.

Being raised in the 50's, I was very much aware of this, and was often embarrassed to say my last name as it was obviously not English. My uncle Fred, a feisty light Communist who sold potato chips and was a hockey scout for the Detroit Red Wings often referred to them as "anglo-saxon bastards".  He lived to be 103. 

And when I was back in Winnipeg in 1998 working on my two movies for Paramount,  Roswell and Dream House, I noticed a strange feeling. 

Everything had changed with regards to Ukrainians. My generation, the first of the previous two generations which included the original settlers and my parent's generation, were baby boomers and many of us were the first to finish high school, go to college and become doctors, lawyers, politicians and even... filmmakers.

Yet I was uncomfortable. The crew excitedly asked me if they could take me to Alicia's, a Ukrainian restaurant in the city. I declined, mostly because I had my share of perogies and cabbage rolls.  I felt it was like an African American being asked to go to a rib joint.

I felt it was condescending.

Yes, things had changed here, things were better for my people, but I found the need of those "anglos" to go overboard in their somewhat well-intended but clumsy attempts to say they liked me. And I felt even more paranoid.

I mentioned this to my producer Steve White, who was Jewish, and we both shared a history of discrimination even though Ukrainians were well-known to discriminate against Jews in the Ukraine and even here.

But I think the only thing I accomplished was making both him and I paranoid.

Maybe it was wrong to think these Anglos were condescending, they seemed sincere, yet it still nagged at me,  maybe it was my problem, some of them told me. We even joked about it, one of my best friends  bought me a Ukrainian style coffee cup signed from "your Anglo-Saxon bastard friend". Yet when I returned to Swan River last Christmas my mother's English neighbor insisted Ukrainians and Jews were never discriminated against.

So now, when I go to restaurants and cafes, and see Ukrainian food on the menu, when 40 years ago, the WASPS wouldn't even consider eating that food, I guess it is better. I just wish they wouldn't continue to tell me how much they love those perogies. Which I've even seen at a Chinese buffet with the incredible name of "Foody Goody".

I lost a lot of my insecurities when I moved to Windsor, across the river from Detroit, going from a small town of 500 people to a metropolitan area of just over 3 million. And I went to school with Italians and French Canadians who were anything but insecure about their heritage. It rubbed off on me and I soon became proud of what I was. Of course the great joke in Canada is that the only thing that unites the country is that everybody hates the WASPS.


Someone once told me Ukrainians and Irish are the same, they forgive but they don't forget.


Old wounds don't disappear.

Still interested

So far - so good.  The potential Manitoba producer, Dane, and I have spoken.  He does exist, he is real. He has a relatively new company in Manitoba and has several movies to his credit, some are Canadian and as such, rarely ever seen beyond a domestic release and a few service jobs by which a lot of Canadian producers survive by. 

These are similar to what TD could be, but more emphasis on the service as usually the movies, primarily American, have their full budget going in. Unlike me, who will have partial funding with my side bringing in 50% or so, maybe a little more and Dane coming in with 40% which includes tax credits and equity, as explained in the October 15th post.  

We had a good conversation and I reminded him that I was born and raised till the age of 12 in Manitoba and spend a lot of time there now, knowing Winnipeg quite well, having friends and cousins. 

I also wrote and worked on three movies there in 1998 with producer Steve White, one of the best producers I've ever worked with. Two of the scripts were mine, the Roswell Project (later named Roswell- Aliens Attack,( definitely not my title) and a remake of a movie I had made 12 years before which was dreadfully bad, but the new one was a little better, called Dream House, a science fiction thriller.

Dane sent me a preliminary budget, much more basic than mine (which you can see by viewing our proposal available under the Materials box) and included the potential tax credits. Out of a $1.1 cdn budget.  It's tied to the exchange rate and at present, the US dollar is taking a slam, resulting in the Canadian budget lowering.

I'm hoping that the the US dollar picks up after the first of the year and that the Canadian dollar lowers to a respectable 10-12% rate. This exchange rate can make it easier or harder for us to make our movie in Winnipeg. I offer my thoughts and then email his budget back and we decide to talk again in a week. 

Things here in LA however, seem to be less stable than before. my initial Investor who would commit the 2nd half of the budget once I found the first half, does not answer my emails. This isn't the first time as those of you who follow this blog know. He could be waiting for the actual finalization of Dane's commitment. This is normal in these partnership investments. Basically, nobody wants to dive into the pool first.  And everyone wants to see just what I can do on my own. 

It's a test.

So what do I did I do on my own?

I reached out to at least 100 different people and companies. Most of course passed, about 15 were interested and of them, 5 were interested enough to consider doing business. But I am not stopping there. While it looks good at the moment, I don't like surprises, as Initial Investor deciding on not carrying through his earlier investment. And not because of the project, but maybe he's stretched himself too far on other projects or a hundred other reasons, none of which I know. 

And all of this work is basically for free, as I am not taking a producer fee, probably a "deferred" fee, or as we in the film business call it "nothing".  Deferments are common in the film industry where the budget is so low that taking a fee would hurt the production. And since I am taking a Writer's Guild Minimum fee for low budget films, approximatly $42,000, I am one of the top money earners on our low budget of $900k US. 

So just when I think we have a good chance at getting all the money, one of our pieces seems to be falling out and I continue to search for investors. Do I know this for sure? No, but that's no reason to sit back and wait.  

AFM (American Film Market) is approaching,  1st week of November in Santa Monica. It's where distributors who buy and sell meet at a hotel on the beach and wine and dine and every room is taken up by companies as big as Paramount and Universal taking huge suites down to tiny foreign distributors in single rooms plastered with horror films and copies of American action films with Michael Madsen in them. 

Shirley and I are preparing some material to hand out to these people although I really don't like going there, it's like being at a meat convention, with movies reduced to their lowest common denominator.

But they also can help fund our movie.