The Bestsellers script...

I turned off my phone today and got a lot of work done on the latest version of The Bestsellers. More than likely, I'll get mighty close to finishing either late tomorrow or early Thursday. After that, I'll do a once over and shoot it to a friend to evaluate. This draft took my eight weeks to finish and it was mainly because I wanted to think about how to make it better and closer to what the ICM agent wanted. I'll work on editing, the dialogue and any scenes that need redoing. After that, I'll send it to the ICM agent to see if she likes it.

After writing the same script over and over for more than a year, I'd definitely interested in working on something different. I have various scripts in states of completion, but I'm going to do a rejiggering of where I place my priorities.

Now that I'm away from Iconoculture, I can pretty much start thinking about my script career without being distracted. I had let that slip as the job took up my time, but I need to get back tied into the mindset I had at the UCLA film school. One step in that direction is my application for the Sloan/Sundance Foundation grant. Yeah, I know I'd said I'd never enter another contest, but this one gives a stipend and access to really good screenwriters who can help with your Sloan script. I could use that in 2009.

As for books, my current book proposal is still out there. My agent emailed me to say that things look positive. The summer is a slow period for editors, but one editor called Manie to say positive things about the proposal. More than likely, we won't know if the proposal sells until September.

At long last, I'm planning the first show from my development deal with TV One. The show will go on their websites first, to see if it gains traction. After that, we're looking to put it on their network schedule.

As for their competitor, BET, I have to check on a show that I pitched them. The person I pitched, SR. VP of Development, let BET, but they told me that they're considering it. We'll see.

Still booking more dates for my Divine Nine lectures. During September, I just might be on the road for two straight weeks.

Anyway, it's 2:30am and I need some rest. I'm going to plow ahead and finish this script tomorrow, so time to go to sleep.

Michael Arndt's Words...

I really liked LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. I thought it was a well-written script, and an enjoyable movie. And yet, when Michael Arndt accepted his Oscar and said that the director was the true author of the film, I almost heaved my Ghanaian royal stool through my television. What was he saying? Hadn't he received the memo? Screenwriters are fighting, here and in Europe, to be thought of as more than the whore who writes stuff so that the real talent can make it into a film. But Arndt just thumbed his nose at that. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying screenwriters are the author of the film. It's a collaborative effort. But we are AN author of the work. We write the basic blueprint for what happens on the screen. Boy, the more I read about working screenwriters, the more I understand how screenwriters gave up the copyright to their works.