ALLIGATORS IN A HELICOPTER

a pro script reader ponders movies, reading, writing and the occasional personal flashback

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Dreams

Last night, I had an incredibly vivid dream, in which I had partial writing credit on two movies coming out this summer.

One was something awful called "Winter Passing", an action film set on a ferry starring Halle Berry. Not only had I apparently not been on the set of this film (much less met Halle), but in the dream I couldn't even remember being paid.

I did check the credits; I was one of four writers to get story by credit. I explained to someone in the dream that my original script was a romance, with only a single scene on a ferry. I was determined to call producer Joel Silver, and get myself a check.

(Note: in the real world, this script doesn't exist. Neither does the movie).

The second movie was something I was so vague on that when I tried to google it -- in my dream -- all I could remember was that it started with a G.

I'd also apparently sold another script. Title? "Chimp To Champ".

And then I woke up, and realized that none of it was true. Was I jubilant?

No. I was sad. I was actually disappointed that even this minor, minor, minor success wasn't true.

What's wrong with me? Shouldn't my film dreams involve piles of money, a box office/critical smash, and a hot tub with Scarlett Johannsen?

Or even nightmares involving Andy Dick being cast as my female lead?

Instead, I get this weirdness. I don't even like Halle Berry that much (okay, she's cute, but her film choices, ack).

Maybe I'm tapping into some parallel dimension, a land where I'm a sad working hack writer, instead of a happy-enough amateur one.

But "Chimp to Champ"? Yikes.

Even in my dreams, I need a better career plan.

12 Comments:

At 10:34 AM, Blogger E.C. Henry said...

Scott, swear to God truth, last night I had a dream I was meeting with Lynda Obst's people, and they were going through my scripts. In my dream I kept trying to get her people to sign a release for my scripts to acknowledge which ones they were interested in. But they wouldn't. They just kept trying to get me out of the room so they could check my stuff out in private.

Scarlet Johnson in hot tub -- what's the wife to think? But if you've got Scarlet, can I have Naomi Watts?

Keep dreaming, sport. And keep writing. You're more than just a reader, head up, someday you'll have a credit of your own.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

 
At 2:49 PM, Blogger wcmartell said...

CHIMP TO CHAMP is an amazing idea. You should write that one - kind of ROCKY meets that monkey from the Clint Eastwood movies.

- Bill

 
At 3:24 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Chimp to Champ! WOW! Seriously... I think people would see that movie.

 
At 6:27 PM, Blogger suzbays said...

Maybe they were premonitions?

 
At 9:18 PM, Blogger mernitman said...

Chimp to Champ: That's the essence of the Hollywood paradigm, right there. Go for it, ape!

 
At 12:14 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

So even in your DREAMS you're only getting "partial writing credit"? Come on, man, aim higher.

 
At 12:30 AM, Blogger Cunningham said...

Maybe you're depressed because a movie hasn't been made from one of your scripts yet.

The cure is to go write then make a movie. It can be a short. The thing is to get a sense of completion; of accomplishment then do it again.

 
At 8:37 AM, Blogger japhy99 said...

Just set Chimp to Champ on a ferry and you're golden.

Listen: a chimp being transported to a zoo on a ferry escapes his cages and meets up with an aged boxer who teaches him how to throw a badass left hook.

C'mon man, follow your dream!

 
At 10:43 AM, Blogger Dante Kleinberg said...

Very funny stuff. I think many of us spec types aspire to mediocrity. I dream of one day selling a script that ends up not getting made, then being hired to spice up the dialoge on another script and getting no credit for it.

 
At 11:27 AM, Blogger Emily Blake said...

Maybe Chimp to Champ is a film about teaching evolution in school.

 
At 11:55 AM, Blogger Dan Fiorella said...

Oh, man, yes; those vivid dreams are a shock. So real that you wake up not knowing where you are. And then even in the dreams things don't go right. What is up with that? Anyway, better luck tonight.

 
At 5:52 PM, Blogger wcmartell said...

Evolution? No way! It's about this down and out chimp - he could have been somebody, but he's a chimp. We'll give him a love intrest - Jessica Alba - and a rival... Clint Eastwood. They used to be partners, but when Eastwood became a street boxing sensation, he dumped his hairy friends. Now, the cool part about Clint is that we can use old footage from those monkey movies as flashbacks - the way they did with Terrance Stamp. Yeah, yeah, the Stamp movies floppoed, but it had a great idea. Okay, now Oscar De la Hoya or Mayweather (whoever wins tonight) decides to challenge someone from the street - but not just anyone: they want to be assured of the World Champion Title, and because that monkey in Vienna (Haisl) is in court to prove he's a person, the champ is afraid his title may be invalid if he doesn't include primates. So, our Chimp ends up selected to fight him... and, now wait for it, he has to reconnect with an older Eastwood who now owns a boxing gym and beg for help training. Eastwood wants him out, but his pal Morgan Freeman secretly trains the chimp. When Clint discovers this, he and Freeman get into a death match fight in a steel cage! Clint wins, killing Freeman, and goes on to train the chimp to become a champion-level boxer. But can he go 10 rounds with the champ? They go to the big fight on Klan's Island. The chimp takes a beating, but stays on his feet. He doesn't win, but he stays on his feet. And at the end... Jessica Alba comes running into the ring to kiss him and confess that she loves him!

It'll make millions!

- Bill

 

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