A few days later, after licking my wounded ego and attempting to begin a new draft, I checked in with Kevin. The dynamics of the story seem to be changing as I worked on it, but Kevin talks me through some of it; leave the “wanna-be detective” stuff; Concentrate on making the opening more “positive, less repressive for Pee-Wee” (I have no idea what this means today. I probably had little idea what it meant then). Trying to juggle “pretend detective,” “ulterior motives,” “misinformation at the start,” had me in despair. “The whole thing sucks but what can I do? I’m on pins and needles trying to write what’s in someone else’s head.”
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I've been looking back on my adventure in Hollywood, culling pages from my journal... Happy New Year! I finally check back with a journal entry on 1/8/91. I had called Kevin. No, they hadn’t forgotten me. Except they kinda did. He’d heard the notes were actually finished the Friday before Christmas, but the holidays… It would be two weeks before I wrote another entry. And that entry was to note there wasn’t anything to note. I finished “GhostWriter” and sent it off just in the nick of time, as my WGA card came. I was union. It was official. I was a professional writer. (yay). So naturally, I’m working on a script for my second public access TV show, while entering the first into the newly established Staten Island Cable Awards. Kevin had called. I missed the call but the message said it wasn’t important. It was. I didn’t update my journal for 2 weeks. And that update was barely ¾ of a page. Kevin and Joel called. They both loved the script so far (again). They, however, want me to “punch up” those scene descriptions (cue ominous foreshadowing music). The plan is now to give the script to Pee-Wee with a check attached as a show of “massive support.” I promise to finish it up for the weekend. Otherwise it was a matter of doing the public access show and seeing my comedy group on “The Joe Franklin Show” doing my sketch “Abbott and Othello.” Oct 10. I pulled out the journal to add some thoughts… “Just a further thought (God, how this haunts me), I think why I am so anxious about this [rewrite] is that my reasons for this draft is based on outside voices. Up to now it’s always been the voices inside that propelled me. I get a sense of writing in the dark now. I remember what Kimberly said and it suddenly makes sense; Pin the tail on the donkey. They’ve given me the tail, the blindfold and spun me. But I still have to find the donkey. In the dark. Up to now, I’ve always been self-illuminated. My own rules, likes and dislikes. And I wonder if they get a sense of all the luggage that Pee-Wee’s character brings to this. I like working with it. They seem to be avoiding it.” I've been looking back on my adventure in Hollywood... * * * The next day Kevin calls…to tell me he won’t be calling. Joel’s secretary screwed up and scheduled a meeting with someone else at the same time the call was to be made. Now Kevin is saying he and Kimberly might call at 7pm and run through our list of things... I've been looking back on my adventure in Hollywood... * * * 90% Finished! That’s what Kimberly the WB exec said. It’s now the beginning of October. Kevin calls. They finally met with Kimberly and she flipped for the script. She was “wowed by how I both altered the script and plot points and captured Pee-Wee’s character” (That’s right, I did that). BUT it’s only 90% finished. A “few small scenes here and there.” A “little editing.” They want it down to 90 pages (I forget how many pages it was 110? 115?). They want a “subplot” with the elves, Trinket and Tweedle (um, okay). They want to introduce the villain O’Kiley earlier (“So we can hiss." Sure). And add the PI, Nick (Add Nick???). Well, as I was saying before the holidays interrupted us, I've been looking back on my adventure in Hollywood... Things were quiet during September. Except for one big milestone. Paperwork arrived from the Writers Guild of America. Based on the information that Warners had submitted, the guild sent me the application to join. Finally, I’d be a card-carrying member of the Writers Guild. Talk about validation! Except...
I've been looking back on my adventure in Hollywood... It was the end of July, a week after my last entry, when I finally wrote again. I had sent the script. Kevin and Joel read it. Loved it. I had impressed them with the speed and quality. We were then waiting on Bill’s input. At that point we would have to decide if we were passing the script to Warner (They thought it was that solid), just give Kimberly the Executive a look-see or start some changes on our own, like punch up the Lumberjack scene to be as funny as the Square Dance scene. Change the elf Truman’s characterization (he was a bit fey and maybe out of place in this version of the story) and some other odds & ends. |
Dan FiorellaFreelance writer, still hacking away. Archives
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