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"We want something original."
You've heard it before (in this column) and I've just read it again. It's as genuine as a drunk guy groping during Spring Break you while telling you you're the one. He didn't mean it, it's been ten years, and I'm going back to dating women.
I hate to encourage people to sell their dreams short. If you want to write that great original screenplay, then do it. They do sell... eventually. Dances with Wolves only took 14 years to get made, and it won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Dreams do come true, it can happen to you, if you are financially secure and have a father named Aaron Spelling. Isn't that how the song goes?
People don't know how to deal with things that are new and different. Think about how the "different" kid got treated in school. Not a pretty memory, is it? You have to look at the "unique" script as an alien entity. Hollywood execs really don't know how to deal with it. It's no different than when aliens land. They can be friendly, helpful and full of hope for the future, but they're still aliens and the people they encounter will either run or shoot at them.
It usually takes an acceptance by one small boy before the adults start to come around. No, this ET metaphore is not brought to you by Michael Jackson's lawyers. It's a thinly veiled hint that motivates you to prod into the lower levels of the entertainment industry. Anyone who's ever met an assistant or a P.A. knows that many of them have higher aspirations, very little marketable skills, and love to have their asses kissed, and the only way many of them are going to make it is on the coattails of someone with talent. Those that have their own talent and real ambition might help you, too, being able to recognize talent and see through b.s., having dealt with both on a daily basis.
So, if you're trying something unique, keep in mind that it must still have some appeal to the masses. Try it out on a few people whose opinions you respect, and see how well they take it in. |
