joberg
Legendary Member
I loved Sky Captain also. It's my genre of movies that I whish were made into small series and not main features. I would like to see a Rocketeer series done right (calling Joe Johnston...calling Joe Johnston
).
Hollywood’s current state of failure and the reasons for it
- Thread starter Pepperbone
- Start date
- Status
).
joberg
Legendary Member
Obviously the system has to change and, if the writers could bill the studios for every meeting, planning, re-writes and the likes, maybe the studio system would change real fast. Writers would become lawyers; billing any interaction with the studio/producers/directors, etc...Nice to see where you stand. And it's the WGA, not "WGU" or whatever that is.
Meanwhile...
From here:
Also:
View attachment 1728571View attachment 1728572
Here's one take on it over at the Hollywood Reporter:
Robert Reich on the Hollywood Strikes, Tech “Leviathans” and a Second Gilded Age
"We can't simply sit back and assume this is normal or necessary or inevitable," says the former U.S. Labor Secretary.www.hollywoodreporter.com
And on another note, remember all the X-Files lawsuits:
Duchovny sues Fox over TV rights sales
"X-Files" star David Duchovny sued 20th Century Fox Film Corp. Thursday, alleging that the studio has cheated him out of millions of dollars in profits from the television series.variety.com
'X-Files' Are Closed; a Lawsuit Opens (Published 2006)
The final episode of ''The X-Files'' was broadcast almost four years ago, as the F.B.I. agents Mulder and Scully stopped searching for the truth. Now the show's creator is searching for more money. Chris Carter, the creator and executive producer of ''The X-Files,'' which ran from 1993 to...www.nytimes.com
Speaking of Fox's shady tv dealings:
Fox Rocked by $179M ‘Bones’ Ruling: Lying, Cheating and “Reprehensible” Studio Fraud
In a long-running legal battle over profits from Fox's 'Bones,' the David Boreanaz-Emily Deschanel hit, an arbitrator's stunning decision calls out top executives Peter Rice, Dana Walden and Gary Newman and could alter the economics of hit shows in the streaming era.
That could also minimize the re-writing and details oriented meetings that don't add anything valuable to the product (script).
I would love to see what would happen if a studio set some internal guidelines to force their producers to be more reasonable about the script writing. Rules like "all movie scripts must be officially commissioned at least 3 months before shooting starts" and "all movie scripts must be finished before shooting starts." I bet that stuff alone would make a measurable improvement in the content.
Riceball
Master Member
That would be nice but I can't see that happening since most of the time that there are rewrites for a script, esp. in cases where the rewrites are happening the same time as production like in the case Aline 3, it's the studio themselves requesting the rewrites.
So who's going to win the Oscar for best screenplay?
Yeah I know, there would be practical issues. It would have to be more of a soft internal rule at a studio rather than an enforceable legal thing.
Another angle might be for the studio to limit re-shoots. At Kennedy-era LFL they were basically filming movies a couple times and finishing the writing process in the editing room. That's idiotic. A high school kid would get a failing grade for an approach like that.
It's just flabbergasting to me that Hollywood is in the storytelling business, and yet they treat that aspect of the process with so little respect. IMO it goes beyond just disappointing and into sheer incompetence. They would make more profit if they showed more discipline in this area.
Disney movies have been bombing one after another all summer. But at least they were done in time for their arbitrary release dates, right?
Other industries don't do this. Changes in projects get made but it's not so severe & normalized. Toyota doesn't routinely get halfway through tooling up for a new car and then decide to change the engine and add 2 more doors.
Last edited:
Lightning
Master Member
I would think rewrites are fine as long as there is an actual finished script before you start shooting. It's just a way to make sure your story has an ending, even if you come up with a better idea later. And there are always exceptions, Casablanca famously didn't have a finished script and the movie benefited from it, since Ingrid Bergman didn't know who she would be leaving with while filming earlier scenes.
Cephus
Master Member
Who watches any of these stupid award shows anymore?
Public waiting room TV's, and people 60+?
Paul Andrew
Master Member
I'm starting to get the impression you think very little of people who like things you don't like.
I don't dance. Ever. It is not a thing I find to be fun. I am not interested in it in the slightest. When a piece of media breaks into a dance routine I often zone out. But even then, I'm never thinking to myself "who is entertained by all this damn flopping and gyrating?"
Riceball
Master Member
That's thing though, Big Hollywood isn't in the story telling or TV/movie making business, they're in the money making business, like 99% of all other businesses. So they really don't care, at the upper management levels, about the story so much as what they think is popular/trending at the moment and so they tend to want to make sure that the movie reflects those things.
Paul Andrew
Master Member
This is probably accurate to some degree, but I've never known a craftsman of any kind who doesn't care at all about the quality of their craft. I would think writers and actors are doing the best they can to create quality, interesting work.
I think you're both right. The execs seems very focused on making a profit, which is their job, while the people actually making these things likely care deeply about what they are creating. It makes sense to be annoyed with the execs since they prioritize money over art and will compromise art for an extra buck.
IMO most of the script-rushing issues aren't caused by the changing winds of pop culture, though. It's not always even trying to make a buck. So much of it is plain old bad management.
What problem did the various versions of 'Indy 5' have that couldn't have been recognized back in 2019? And yet they spent the last 6 months before the release date frantically re-shooting endings and trying to salvage it. Please, somebody, explain to me how competent management ends up in that situation.
What problem did the various versions of 'Indy 5' have that couldn't have been recognized back in 2019? And yet they spent the last 6 months before the release date frantically re-shooting endings and trying to salvage it. Please, somebody, explain to me how competent management ends up in that situation.
Lightning
Master Member
I am Legend is a good example here. The original ending is superior, but you get the wrong feedback from some focus group people and the executives get cold feet and force a reshoot. Of course sometimes reshoots are the right call, but I don't have a example off the top of my head.
tgtiw
Well-Known Member
This. 100% Studios are investment firms, not creative endeavors. Throw in a healthy amount of ego and narcissism, and here we are.
Definitely not Will Smith, for one.
ghostryder
Legendary Member
Definitely not Will Smith, for one.
CB2001
Master Member
I don't know what's sadder: the fact he embarrassed himself in front of everyone because of a simple joke about Jada, or the fact that he's a cuck (and everyone knows it) and that his wife made a film about the relationship wanted years before they actually did it (I have seen this film, picked it up from a Movie Gallery that was closing down in Orlando, and she even admits on the audio commentary that she written the film with the intention on playing the female lead, but decided to take on a smaller role because she needed to be behind the camera a lot more):
Last edited:
joberg
Legendary Member
Disney movies bombed at the box-office because they didn't stick to the original story in the first place...as we can see in the last pics of Snow White. The story didn't have to be changed in the first place. These are a sure things (cut & paste).
Respect the casting of the original ones and get on with it...but noooooo.
- Status
Similar threads
