WEEK #28 - NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED
Author Robert "Bob" Crais was the first to have a crack at adapting his novel. More often than I'd like to count, I've been the guy in his position. Adapting my own book to the screen or writing an original screenplay on assignment, only to have another word jockey take over my ride. Sure. It's part of the business. But it's never any fun to be outside the process looking in.
Producer David Wally had expressed to me on more than one occasion that Bob was a straight-up good guy. Proving his point, he'd arranged for the three of us to meet up at a Topanga Canyon Mexican joint to eat a meal of chips and salsa and knock back a few too many cheap Cuervo margaritas. Bob was cool. We traded writers' war stories. By the end of the evening, I'd promised from then on to keep Bob in the loop. I also made it my responsibility to make sure Bob got his fare share of any swag that came through. Logo'd hats, t-shirts. I delivered. When Bob requested an on-screen cameo in the movie, David Wally and I hooked him up with the part of a SWAT sniper and set him up for a fitting with the show's costumer. And when the night shoots began, Bob helped me stay on schedule over the weekends by closing a few of our neighborhood bars together.
Yeah. Bob was cool.
Then came the bad news that the production company hadn't yet made the purchase payment for the literary rights to produce Hostage as a movie. A big problem. Larger still, Variety was about to publish a story detailing the author's complaint. In a private conversation with producers Bob Yari, Arnold Rifkin, and Mark Gordon, they explained to me that there was a snafu with the bank. That though Bob Yari had financed many movies, none were near as expensive as Hostage and the learning curve for all involved was steeper than expected. The loan hadn't been fully funded yet. The production was running on air.
"But you haven't even paid Bob Crais for the rights to shoot the movie?" I said, incredulous. Though this might explain why all attempts to get myself paid had been rebuffed, back-burnered, or flat out ignored.
In lieu of all my unpaid efforts to date, Mark Gordon kindly offered me a producer credit. A nice gesture, but I said no thanks. Becoming a producer on the movie would trigger an automatic credit arbitration with the Writer's Guild of America. I didn't want any issues with Bob Crais, who I was about to dial up and beg not to sue the picture.
And I was conflicted.
Just because I wasn't getting paid, was it fair of me to ask the actual intellectual rights holder to call off his legal attack dogs? Bob wouldn't pick up or return my call. So I utilized email. In the note I urged that despite my understanding that it was his right and privilege to litigate against the production for money owed, that a public statement could potentially cause a union shut down from which the financially weakened movie might not recover. And though I don't know if my email was read or junked or tossed out the window with Bob's computer, somebody convinced Variety to kill the story. Crisis averted. Or so we thought.
Then came Thursday. We were shooting east of Los Angeles in Azusa, a scratchy bit of desert-scape that abuts the San Gabriel Mountains. As it turned out, what Variety wouldn't print, the Hollywood Reporter was more than glad to publish. The news rippled through the crew as fast as someone could utter, "Whaddayou mean I might get stiffed?" Some of the department keys had already suffered complaints from a plethora of vendors about bounced checks. As union reps burned up the phone lines, plotting a Friday walk-off, David Wally and I tried to work some magic on individual crew members, painstakingly describing the situation with the bank, Bob Crais, and a fact unpublished until this blog. Because Bruce Willis was a producer on the movie, he'd been floating the majority of production for the past month on his own paycheck. But would that bit of info earn us enough traction to keep the crew working and avoid a shutdown that might spook the banks for good?
At day's end, there was a powwow with the entire crew huddled on our set, an abandoned tavern scheduled for demolition once the picture wrapped. Perfect, I thought. The poetry of the moment wasn't lost on me, the writer-turned-defender of producers too timid to climb into their German luxury rides and trek ninety minutes east to face the music.
Instead, Hawk Koch, forced to act as the designated apologist for Bob Yari and company, stood at the center of the decrepit room and, in his trademark gruffed-up baritone, passionately argued for the picture to push forward despite the obvious financial crisis. Hawk's play was an old-fashioned, the-show-must-go-on speech from a war-weary motion picture veteran. And it was moving and awesome and followed by a strange, agonizing silence. Then, our esteemed Italian Director of Photography, Gianni Coltellacci, raised his fist and declared, "I'm with Hawk!"
An actual cheer followed. Then applause. All the while, I couldn't' take my eyes off of Hawk. The man had traveled more movie miles in his sleep than I could ever hope for. But that satisfied smile on his face told me that this had to be one of his finest moments. I slapped the back of the man who'd once denied me a chair and told him I was proud to have been there to see it.
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Remember, Doug will be available throughout the series to answer any inquiries or humbly accept accolades. Now is the chance to ask an industry insider those questions about the craft, the business, or his wife's baking, burning inside of you.
and $7.99 for the Kindle edition
. I highly recommend it.Don't forget to check out Doug's Stage 32 profile and website. You can also follow @bydougrich on Twitter.
Cheers,
RB
Comments
Well Doug I'm sorry you had to go through this I love Bruce Willis I hope all is well and will try to follow. New to this businesses I may not understand it all but it fascinates me and I'm blessed to have the opportunity to be at this place in my life to have the support of my family and friends to work acting as an extra. While I need to work on my resume its a start.Thanks for sharing
Doug, some people have assumed that taking this "free" assignment dinged your reputation and weakened your negotiating power in the industry. Let me take it from a different angle...Seeing that you were a working screenwriter, one with a set fee, etc, did this entire episode - namely your willingness to sacrifice your time and see a troubled project through to the finish line - bolster your rep? Perhaps give you more clout?
Doug, some people have assumed that taking this "free" assignment dinged your reputation and weakened your negotiating power in the industry. Let me take it from a different angle...Seeing that you were a working screenwriter, one with a set fee, etc, did this entire episode - namely your willingne…
Good question, Richard. The answer is "absolutely not." Produced credits generally don't weaken a writer's position. The only exceptions are if the movie stinks so bad that the writer is blamed or the writer got a rep on the picture for lousy behavior like phoning in the work, being unavailable for revisions, stalking the the actress, or getting caught sucking face with Lindsay Lohan. Like I said before, Hollywood is about the ultimate score. Did the movie get made? Is your name on the movie? Was it a hit? All of which bolster a writer's cache and negotiating position. Nobody has yet to come back to me and say, "Hey. We abused your good nature on Hostage. Can we get that same deal?" Nor has anybody tried... yet. It's situational and liquid. NOBODY successful in Hollywood stands entirely on ceremony and their quotes. And never before in the history of the town have more trick deals been made. And by "trick deals" I mean agreements that toss out the "quote" in exchange for other forms of payment. Hell, I once nearly wrote a script for a Corvette. Hey. That might be next week's blog post for my own site. Speaking of my site, this week's is called DOGFIGHTS AND REWRITES WITH GEORGE LUCAS. Here's the link. www.http://dougrichardson.com/2012/dogfights-and-rewrites-with-george-lucas
Can we subscribe via rss to this blog?? x
Hey Natalie...That option will be coming very soon.
I've been enjoying this series. Thanks again for sharing your story. The dramatic arc of your story reads like a Hollywood movie. I'm curious if you have heard of any cases where financing fell through after more than half of a film was produced and in order to keep the crew together, an incentive profit sharing system was set up with the crew to give them a share of the film upon completion?
I've been enjoying this series. Thanks again for sharing your story. The dramatic arc of your story reads like a Hollywood movie. I'm curious if you have heard of any cases where financing fell through after more than half of a film was produced and in order to keep the crew together, an incentive p…
Can't say that I've heard of that particular situation, Mark. Though your idea seems awfully reasonable for a highly unreasonable biz.
One more question. I see you've written both Action/Thriller screenplays as well as comedies. Are production companies more inclined to hire a writer who is focused in one particular genre or someone like yourself who crosses over different genres?
Unfortunately, yes. They will put you in a box and try and keep you there. It's the writer's job to bust out of the box and prove that he/she is not limited to a single genre. The good news is once you've proven that your can write in other genres, more doors will open. Very good question, Mark.
I agree...Great question, insightful answer.
A film family forms on set with total devotion to the task at hand/completion, when there is leadership. Doug, it is admirable that you stepped up, as a mediator and confidant, while not always appreciated by all. "I'm with Hawk" displays another moment where crew rallys in belief that their confidence is well placed.
Thanks for the thoughts, Sandra.
Noted Thanks.
Doug, I think I am missing the point of this story. Are you saying it's good to work without a contract, and without payment? How does the Writers Guild feel about this? How about your agent? If experienced, veteran screenwriters like you are willing to do what you've done, what kind of impact does that have on other writers who actually, you know, need to be paid for their work?
Eric. If you troll through the comments I think you'll find that I've answered this complicated question ad nauseum. I plan to write a postscript where I may address it once again. Thanks.
Thanks for responding. I'll wade through the comments and look for your p.s.
Where the rubber meets the road. This is why we engage in this crazy business. Hawk stepped up and did his job kept the production running and for that I applaud him. Bravo. I relish when people dispense with their egos and realize that it's about completing the project, not the pay, that will come. Now, if I can only convince my wife on that.
Always a rough road to navigate. We all survived. Well, maybe not all the marriages.
Very well done - illuminating! I've been following the story even before the prompt I just got in my e-mail. It never fails to amaze me how large and small productions alike are just as seat-of-the-pants, endure financial shenanigans and suffer bloated ego's.
Thanks, Stewart. Plenty more "illuminating" tales over at my site, www.dougrichardson.com. Check out the blog section. Loads of trench warfare.
I will, thanks.
I was holding my breath for a happy ending but... My only question I guess is, does the writer EVER get paid???
John, I hope by now you're seeing that it wasn't entirely about the money. That I was concerned about seeing the picture to the end and turning out a good product. As for if I got paid in something more than having a tale to tell you all, well, PART 5 will land on Thursday.
Doug, absolutely I get that. The way I've always approached writing is that it's who I am not what I do - so paid or not I write because I can't not write.
Thanks so much for sharing this experience Doug - it's good to know that all the BS with money that one experiences on a small scale while building a career merely expand along with the level of success :-) Seriously though, I'm really enjoying your piece and can't wait for the next installment.
Had a chat with Barry Levinson some years back. This was when he was one of THE top directors in town. On everybody's list. And I must tell you, despite his success, the BS was piled as high as he'd ever seen it. Making movies ON ALL SCALES is a disaster ready to happen. Nature of the beast, I suppose.
Isn't that the first thing a producer should do, acquire the rights of the book first? Good stuff, once again, mate.
Yes. Rights are usually acquired with an option payment(s) against the final purchase price. The usual trigger for the outright purchase of the literary rights is when the first frame gets rolled through the camera.
Interesting to read this about Bob Yari. Enlightening indeed. Was the movie an LLC? Thanks for sharing.
Sabrina. I don't know if that particular Bob Yari entity was an LLC, an S-Corporation, or plain old M.O.U.S.E. To the best of my recollection, most, or all, have since declared bankruptcy, leaving the lawyers to pick through the remains and unions too late to glean proper remunerations for all the foreign residuals that have gone missing.
Sabrina. I don't know if that particular Bob Yari entity was an LLC, an S-Corporation, or plain old M.O.U.S.E. To the best of my recollection, most, or all, have since declared bankruptcy, leaving the lawyers to pick through the remains and unions too late to glean proper remunerations for all the foreign residuals that have gone missing.>>>>> Small claims court?... no I'm kidding, ya live and learn and play again? But man this whole story is an eye opener -- you think you sell a Screenplay (or get hired to write one) and the fun begins (as in celebrate, drink the champagne) when really the FUN begins (like strange management, iffy paychecks and politics!) Whew... definitely not for the faint of heart! I guess unless Robert R, or Ron H is directing, you really can't be too certain how ---| everything -- will go... those guys seem to run a clean, tight ship? Also, do you think things were more difficult because your director wasn't "Hollywood" and really doesn't seem the captain of the ship here -- which I am prob very wrong , but I thought they were once filming started? (as in god on set?)
I surely don't want to make it appear Florent wasn't the captain of the ship. He was the director and CONFIDENT enough to delegate some chores to me. Not unlike the way he gave direction to the art department or the cameraman. Sure he got lost a time or two. Who doesn't? I respect Florent Siri greatly. As for him not being Hollywood (whatever that means), myself, Hawk, and David Wally spent a significant amount of time insulating Florent from the politics and money issues. He had a tight schedule and it was task enough for him make his days.
Robin, I would agree with Doug that the Director Florent had a "storm" to command. "Not hollywood", lol that made me laugh just to type, had nothing to do with it. It was a producing problem obviously.
Wow. Some definite parallels with the 1999 comedy, 'Bowfinger.' Giving up is easy. Completing the project when everything's going wrong takes courage and a certain amount of faith that all will be well. Thanks for another entertaining and informative episode.
You're welcome, Phyllis. Lots of learning on the movie and little of it was about film making. People, process, politics. Just your average workplace catastrophe.
You would have made a great therapist. Just sayin' ;)
Flattery will get you a discount rate on my couch.
or at least a few dozen venting phone calls...