HOLLYWOOD UNCUT // IS BIGGER ALWAYS BETTER IN HOLLYWOOD?

BY ANDREA CIRILLO

writer bio 

I set out this week to find a piece of uplifting news from the world of movies, something to set the right tone for your journey to the Walk of Fame, the Oscars or the Promised Land of picture making. For the purpose of keeping you hopeful, hungry and focused on the prize, it can be occasionally beneficial to tune out the dire predictions, disturbing box office results and tales of woe from middle-aged white men in Italian suits whose jobs seem to be to promote insecurity instead of productivity.

For inspiration I turned to Lucy Stille at Paradigm, a respected industry icon who is one smart agent. I knew that if anyone would have a happy tale to report, it would be Lucy. And as soon as I asked for some good news she instantly replied: CITY ISLAND.

City Island is an independent film that won the Audience Award at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, but that was just the beginning of the audience love-fest. It was made for a bite sized $6 million and released by Anchor Pay without the big bucks support that is traditionally needed to create buzz. With limited distribution and even less advertising, but fabulous word of mouth and viral marketing, City Island is making its mark in the competitive world of 3-D mega movies and big star vehicles. In fact, its sales were up 134% last week, far out-stripping the percentage gains of the competition.

Take a look at the website (http://www.cityislandmovie.com) and check out the interactive links to download wallpapers and AIM icons, or play "share your secrets." (You know you secretly want to.) There’s nothing larger than life about this movie or its marketing campaign, which in and of itself is a refreshing change of pace that a lot of people are responding to.

It also hammers home the message that creativity, effort and belief can generate results. Let’s assume you don’t have the budget for TV advertising, lavish parties and lots of swag. But you can think small and get big results. If you’ve made a legal thriller, why not target lawyers instead of going wide with your ad dollars? Try email blasts, contests with a few free prizes (they don’t have to be expensive, you would be surprised how many people troll the internet for anything that’s FREE), or even a local marketing campaign. Say your film is set on City Island or Block Island or Sanibel Island or Bainbridge Island. Why not start in that location and get the buzz going on the films home turf, among people who will be naturally interested in your subject? Hire a street team of college students (call it an internship and suddenly you have free labor!) and work your magic on a shoestring budget.

If you combine marketing-on-the-cheap with old-fashioned persistence and ingenuity, you can create good word of mouth without going bankrupt. And isn’t it good to know that bigger isn’t always better?

Killing Your Babies

BY JIM YOAKUM

writer bio 

I’m a murderer. I’ve can’t even count how many people I’ve killed, abandoned, or simply left for dead. Men, women, children – the odd goat… I’m talking about fictional people of course, so put down the phone. As a writer I’m inventing people all the time – or rather, they’re introducing themselves to me, intruding in my life – and, at first I find them all very interesting and charming. One tells me he’s a barber who accidentally palmed a diamond necklace and hid it in a snowman in the middle of a snowstorm for safekeeping. Another tells me that he’s a ‘retired serial killer’ who is all up-in-arms because some young upstart is using his m.o.

All very interesting and usually I begin to write out their tales as they tell them to me – but (and all writers surely know this feeling) sometime (usually around page 60 or so) their voices become… fainter. Their story begins to feel more like an anecdote and… then the script... just… stops…. dead. 

Sometimes I am able to go back (months even years later) and revive them, but usually they… dust… die.  I hold no services for them, no matter how fond I was/am of them. No notices submitted to the obits column. No, I simply file their story away and move on. Sad? Yes. Cold? Perhaps. But life is about moving forward – although the corpses can pile up and the memory does linger… Let’s see, there was story about the princess from a small European country who dreamed of being a writer… the one about the guy who creates alternate realities in his dreams… the ad man who becomes involved in a banana revolt – oh! Actually he was one of the lucky ones. His story lay dormant for about three years until suddenly, quite out of the blue, he began speaking to me again (must have gotten himself an iPhone) and so I was able to finish his tale. The others, well, to be honest I don’t hold out too much hope for them. They’re all fine people and I’m pulling for them and all but…

Writing is not just about creating life, it’s also about killing your babies. It’s about knowing when to nurture a character, when to keep them on life-support - and when to just pull the plug. It’s about being God. At least God with a small ‘g’ for you are, indeed, creating your own world(s) and peopling it with characters of your own creation. Killing a character, or their story, is never easy and, over the years, I’ve probably killed more people than Kevorkian - but I’ve also given birth to some incredible folks. Neither one is easy, but who said being God was easy?

THE TOP 10 REASONS WHY THE 3D CRAZE CREEPS ME OUT

BY DANI FAITH LEONARD

writer bio

Earlier this week, Roger Ebert wrote a great article for Newsweek about why he hates 3D (  In the article, he lays out nine points explaining why it’s a bad thing that Hollywood is making 3D a way of life.

I don’t hate 3D.  I loved Avatar and I thought the 3D enhanced the viewer’s experience and the beauty of the film.  Other films, not so much.  Perhaps the most annoying thing about 3D movies is the surcharge!

While I don’t hate 3D, I certainly don’t love it.  Like most Hollywood trends that are raking in money, it is definitely here to stay and will soon be everywhere.  Will everyone have 3D TVs?  Will every film be available in 3D?

Here are the Top 10 reasons why the 3D craze creeps me out:

#10 – There will be a never-ending prevalence of shitty action flicks.  Every studio will scramble to make a Clash-of-the-Transformer-Hulk-Zilla (starring Megan Fox).  Just because things look pretty doesn’t mean an audience will accept a poor excuse for a plot.

#9 – Nobody looks attractive in 3D glasses.  Nobody!

#8 – Who knows the side effects of 3D glasses?  People who type too much develop carpal tunnel and people who text too much develop “texting thumb.”  Will people who 3D a lot get glasses nose?  Or facial tunnel?

#7 – Nobody will be able to drink at the movies ever again for fear of severe vertigo.  College students will no longer be sneaking Sambuca in their Diet Coke.  (Shout out to my college friend Chase!)

#6 – Everybody will upgrade to 3D TVs and they’ll start to rework old TV re-runs that were previously 2D.  Few people will mind 3D Pamela Anderson, but I don’t need a close-up of the Hoff’s chest hair and man boobies (moobies).

#5 – Will we have to spend money on designer 3D glasses?  If all of the cool kids are wearing Louis Vuitton monogrammed frames you can’t be walking around with the $5 ones from the movies.

#4 – Every DVD will be re-released in 3D.  Everyone knows there’s no need for Sophie’s Choice in 3D, but if there’s money to be made…

#3 – Some TV programming just can’t be in 3D.  Have you ever watched TLC?  How would you like "half-man/half-tree" in your bedroom or the “woman with half a body” sliding out on her skateboard from under your bed?

#2 – Fox “News” Channel in 3D.  The only thing scarier than Glenn Beck is Glenn Beck in 3D.

#1 – The inevitability of 3D porn.  Do you want to see Ron Jeremy in 3D?