| [BACK]
My POV
by Brian A. Wilson
Oscar Night: The Morning-After Numbers
3 The number of stirring, emotional, heart-felt speeches during the telecast. Russell Crowe, this year's king of the world, paused to remember his roots and to encourage those "on the downside of advantage." Very classy. Veteran scribe Ernest Lehman dedicated his Oscar to "all screenwriters." The Guilds in this town would do well to remember such an honest expression of unity and solidarity. Steven Soderbergh delayed his thanks to cast and crew until "later," instead spending his time thanking creators in all media who create the art that makes the world a wonderful place to live. Way to go, SS.
100,000 Number of dollars paid to Erin Brockovich for her life story rights. Perhaps it seemed like a lot at the time.
0 Number of times anybody thanked Erin Brockovich. Ouch.
1 Number of writers who took home an Oscar as producer. That would be David Franzoni for "Gladiator." Made the top of p. 1 of Variety, no less. Frame that picture. Honor that man. Make him your role model. Keep creative control of what you write, and be first in line for the money train.
31 Number of winners of competitive Oscars.
19 Number of Oscar winners who were first-time nominees.
22 and 23 Positions, out of 23 shown, that the Oscars for screenwriting are listed on the Academy's web site. Nice that the basis of all the evening's awards gets slotted dead last, right behind sound, sound editing and visual effects. Support your local WGA campaign for respect for the writer!
4 Number of cents each Oscar-winning writer will pocket off the sale of each of the DVDs of his movie. Yep, twenty bucks in the store, four cents in the scribes pocket. Who says there's nothing left to fight for in this town?
1 Number of (admitted) recovering drug addict writers who took home Oscar. That would be Stephen Gaghan, former heroin addict. Talk about rolling the rock up the hill. Absolutely inspirational. Makes just writing a screenplay seem nearly simple, doesn't it?
So go write.
BW
|
