Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

I couldn’t blog yesterday because I had to get my entry for the NYC MMM Screenwriting Contest sent. It had to be sent (postmarked) by July 30, 2005 and has to arrive on August 4, 2005 to be eligible for the competition. It had to conform to proper screenplay format. Those were the mechanical requirements.

Creatively, the screenplay had to be written within the assigned Genre and revolve around the assigned Subject. (In a previous blog I lamented my Genre and Topic: Romantic Comedy about Senior Citizen Dating! The points will be awarded for the STORY (75%) and the LOGLINE (25%). The level of intrigue is the only point of assessment on the logline. My logline: Judith Whitcomb reluctantly agrees to accompany her friends on a Senior Singles Cruise and gets much more than she bargained for.

The Originality, Character Development, Plot Development and Writing are evaluated in the story. Given what I had to work with, I think my screenplay turned out pretty well. If you’d like to give it a read, it’s entitled New Horizons.

I wrote a while back about how sad I was that Anne Bancroft had passed because I’d had a screenplay idea for her. It was called LATE BLOOMERS and it was about older women choosing relationships with other women because of the shortage of men. In my mind, Judith (in the script) is Anne Bancroft, Edie is Eva Marie Saint and Maggie is Mary Steenburgen. Since the goal of the exercise was to see if I could write quickly and conform to what someone else wanted, I’m pretty happy about the experience.

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“What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”
    Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)
    U.S. Author

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UCLA’s Film and Television Rare Gems Hit Silver Screen. Archive is kicking off a monthlong series of “recently restored rarities” tonight with a screening of Jean Renoir’s 1926 NANA with live musical accompaniment. Other films featured are Frtiz Lang’s 1928 silent thriller SPIES, John Ford’s 1917 silent Western BUCKING BROADWAY and Han Hsiang Li’s 1963 period piece, THE LOVE ETERNE. The series continues through August 26. For a full schedule … [blogs.indieWIRE.com: Independent Film]

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It’s not surprising that two of the BEST films from Sundance 2005 continue to draw strong audiences. The wonderful documentary (as it was called in January) THE EMPEROR’S MARCH was renamed MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (so it no longer sounds like an Asian historical drama) and released. Along with the extraordinary (and aptly titled) MURDERBALL, these documentaries continue to herald a wonderful new era in non-fiction film.

From Indiewire: 9 SONGS and LAST DAYS Debut Well; PENGUINS March to Heavy Seven-figures Again. Warner Independent Pictures’ MARCH OF THE PENGUINS spawned another impressive weekend in theaters, expanding into hundreds of additional venues throughout the country, although the film relinquished its perch at the head of the specialty pack of films, as ranked on a per screen average. Tartan Films’ sexy 9 SONGS laid claim to the top spot, opening in one theater, while Picturehouse’s LAST DAYS placed second, opening at a dozen locations. IFC Films’ THE EDUKATORS opened to moderate numbers, while THINKFilms’ MURDERBALL gained momentum in an expansion. MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, however, continued to take the lion’s share of the overall box office, padding what would have otherwise been a ho-hum weekend. Brian Brooks reports. [indieWIRE]

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Toronto ‘05 Fest Lineup Grows, Organizers Highlight Crop of World Premieres Aimed at Buyers. With just six weeks to go until opening night, organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival are singling out a growing list of titles that are seen as anticipated world premieres. That is, in the words of the festival, “yet-to-be-seen films expected to attract attention from distributors, exhibitors, and other industry insiders.” Among the world premieres officially added to the festival lineup Tuesday were Lorene Machado’s BAM BAM AND CELESTE, Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe’s BROTHERS OF THE HEAD, Danis Tanovic’s L’ENFER, David Ayer’s HARSH TIMES, Rowan Woods’ LITTLE FISH, Joshua Stern’s NEVERWEAS, Jeff Stanzler’s SORRY HATERS, Terry Gilliam’s TIDELAND, and Adam Rapp’s WINTER PASSING. Eugene Hernandez reports and talks with fest co-director Noah Cowan about the roster. [indieWIRE]

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“I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people who are convinced they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference after another.”
    Ellen Goodman (1941 - )
    U.S. Author

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If you want to be a great screenwriter, one of the quickest routes is to READ lots of great scripts. As Jim Meyers and I discussed on the recent HER MINOR THING podcast, it’s even better if you can read unproduced screenplays (GOOD unproduced screenplays … not drek). So, here’s a list of screenplay sites to help you in your quest!

• All Movie Scripts

• The Daily Script
• JoBlo’s Movie Scripts
• Horror Scripts
• The Movie Page
• Science Fiction/Fantasy Scripts
• Simply Scripts
• Leon’s Scripts

Some of my most treasured scripts include an unproduced Joe Eszterhas script and a very early draft of Melissa Matheson’s KUNDUN. I love the unproduced screenplay because I can picture it in my head with interference from the existing film. I love the early KUNDUN because I can compare it with the final and see how they altered the original concept for the film.

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San Francisco Artists Profiled in Short Films. San Francisco’s Film Arts Foundation will host the latest installment of its True Stories series Aug. 17, featuring a pair of shorts about the work and legacies of two Bay Area artists.

Jane Levy Reed’s My Eyes were Fresh: The Life and Photographs of John Gutmann profiles of an artist raised in the German-Jewish culture of Breslau and Berlin before religious persecution provoked him to start a new life in the United States. The event’s organizers recognize Gutmann as someone “whose art and life forged a link between the European modernism of the early twentieth century and the burgeoning artistic culture of SF Bay Area in the second half of the century.”

Karina Epperlein’s Phoenix Dance takes a closer look at Homer Avila, a professional dancer who lost a leg to cancer, yet recovered and returned triumphantly to the stage. Epperlein will be in attendance to discuss her film following the screening. [From: blogs.indieWIRE.com: Independent Film]

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Jodie Foster is getting back into the director’s chair for SUGAR KINGS, a drama for Universal Pictures being produced by studio-based Tribeca Films. The feature also is being developed as a possible starring vehicle for Foster. SUGAR KINGS, by screenwriters Ned Zeman and Daniel Barnz, is based on the Vanity Fair article In the Kingdom of Big Sugar by Marie Brenner. The story centers on a female lawyer, fresh out of law school, who teams with a veteran public-interest attorney to take on a powerful sugar baron on behalf of exploited migrant workers. Tribeca’s Jane Rosenthal is producing.

On September 23rd, Touchstone will release FLIGHTPLAN … a very mainstream, big-budget, Hitchcockian-style thriller starring Foster. Flying at 40,000 feet from Berlin to New York, Kyle Pratt (Foster) faces every mother’s worst nightmare when her young daughter Julia (Lawston) vanishes mid-flight. Already emotionally devastated by the unexpected death of her husband, Kyle desperately struggles to prove her sanity to the disbelieving flight crew and passengers, while facing the very real possibility that she may be losing her mind.

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Geoffrey Richman Cuts to the Chase in Soho. MURDERBALL editor Geoffrey Richman wows the film geeks Friday at the Apple Store. The lovely folks at indieWIRE hosted the latest installment of their independent film speaker series at Soho’s Apple Store on Friday. Unlike last month’s… By The Reeler. [blogs.indieWIRE.com: Independent Film]

MURDERBALL screened to enthusiastic crowds at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and received the Documentary Audience Award.

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SCREAMFEST Horror Film Fest 2005 Call For Entries. Rachel Belofsky, president and founder of SCREAMFEST Horror Film Festival and partner Stan Winston announced its Call For Entries for its 5th annual Screamfest Horror Film Festival and Screenplay Competition. The festival takes place October 14 - 23 at Loews Universal Studios Cinemas at Universal CityWalk. Winners will be announced at the Dinner Award Ceremony to be held on October 23 at Maggiano’s located in The Grove. [FilmmakerCom]

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Periodically, I like to check in and see if people are finding the information on this blog useful and interesting. (Since blogging generates no income, it’s driven by pure passion and determination.) While direct reader feedback (comments and/or emails) can be very satisfying, I prefer to get very “left brained” and check the numbers. Currently, I’m averaging about 200,000 hits per month (about 6000 per day). On podcast and videocast days, I generally get around 12,000 hits. Hits, can be deceiving, however. Downloads let me know how many folks are devoting a bit of time to taking in the information. So, here’s the download list as of noon today. (Since I pay for bandwidth, the numbers are signficant because many of these files are over 10MB!!)

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BY CYNDI GREENING, PHOENIX, USA (CINEMA MINIMA) — One of my students, a Mac Genius, sent a link to a website for Maxwell Render a new render engine that is said to be based on the physics of real light. It uses algorithms and equations to reproduce the behavior of light in a completely accurate way. According to their site, it full captures all light interactions between all elements in the scene because calculations are based using spectral information and high dynamic range data. (Now there’s a mouthful!)

The standalone render product is being developed for Mac OSX, Linux and Windows. Currently, they have already released plugins for Maya, Lightwave, 3D Studio Max, Rhino, Viz and, most recently, SketchUp. I’m eager to try it out. Their Gallery is impressive.

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BY CYNDI GREENING, PHOENIX, USA (CINEMA MINIMA) — I’m excited to report that I will be posting a podcast with respected Film Critic, Author and Film Festival Aficionado Emanuel Levy this week! Levy is a prolific writer. His website has a mountain of commentary on contemporary independent and mainstream film. He’s started a series of articles on the upcoming Oscars. If you’re unfamiliar with Levy (gasp!), you can get a good sense of his sensibility by reading Levy’s Article on Oscar’s Year of New Faces. Tune in later this week for the podcast.

Levy has long followed Independent Film and the Festival Circuit. His book Cinema of Outsiders explores the idea of independent film becoming a victim of its own success. The massive crowds at key festivals (like Sundance) and growing media machines that roll into those festivals each year support Levy’s assertion that Hollywood has co-opted the movement and mainstreamed it.

A thoughtful, provocative, visionary film writer, Levy wrote about the Images of Small-Town America in the early 90’s. Small-town America is the primary setting for independent film.

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BY CYNDI GREENING, PHOENIX, USA — If Mohammed won’t go to the mountain, then the mountain must go to Mohammed. Imagine my surprise earlier this week when I was walking down Ocean Boulevard in Carmel-By-The-Sea and I see Screenwriting Master John Truby! It took me a few seconds to recognize him. “John Truby?” I said. He turned and greeted me warmly. I thanked him for the wonderful classes I’d attended in the past and told him that I mentioned him frequently on this blog. He introduced his companion and we chatted a bit about the lovely fog and cool climate.

Frequent readers of this blog already know that I think Truby is the BEST screenwriting instructor on the planet! After I learned his 22-step process, EVERY screenplay I wrote was produced, optioned or stolen. I decided it would be fun to enter the NYC Midnight Moviemaking Madness Screenwriting contest. They assign place you in heats and assign a topic. My CHALLENGING topic is Romantic Comedy about Senior Citizen Dating. It’s going to take Truby and a miracle to make this dog into a decent script. I really wanted to be in the Horror film about Family Reunion but we don’t always get what we want. I’ve got 7 days to write a 20-page script. I’ll post a link when it’s done.

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