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LAO Script Project: Act Two

Wednesday, June 3 2009 • Email Eric

So I have this spec feature script, and at first I didn't know what to do with it.

The story is gripping and fun but unpolished. It centers on Mayor Russell Napolitano, whose plan to remake Los Angeles around a new subway system comes crashing to the ground, a victim of corruption, betrayal, murder and his own unchecked ambition.

I wrote it last year with the help of 19 collaborators I found here on the Web as part of the LA Observed Script Project, which I created for this site. If you're not familiar with the project, you can learn more by scrolling back through this blog or by checking out the rules, the script itself and the t-shirts I awarded contributors whose submissions made it into the script.

When we finished up last September, I decided to let the first draft sit for a while before undertaking a rewrite. And now, I've finally figured out what to do.

Since the idea of collaboration was central to the project, why not recruit one of the screenplay's original batch of contributors to work with me on the next draft? I discussed this plan with a few potential candidates and decided to team up with Marvin Wolf, a veteran journalist, author and screenwriter who submitted two different entries in the project's first go-around and whose pages I selected for inclusion both times.

How I work with Marvin as we pound this ungainly beast into marketable shape will be among the subjects I cover here at Script Notes, which I am reviving from its slumber with this post. I'll also be touching on other aspects of the art, craft and business of screenwriting in general. And I'll be soliciting your comments on our first draft, on our continuing process and on other topics of interest.

Writing is ordinarily a most private endeavor. In the Script Project, we threw open the process to the world, and the response was overwhelming. Now I will try to have it both ways, working in private with Marv but commenting publicly on the process.

And hey, if we get stuck somewhere on a story point, we reserve the right to solicit your help. I still have a few t-shirts to give away.

8:31 PM Thu | Lakers acquire Steve Nash from the Suns

8:08 PM Thu | Journo jumps from Daily Journal to Warren Olney

11:50 PM Wed | Protester who smacked LAPD cop sentenced to jail

11:31 PM Wed | Michael J. Ybarra, journalist was 45

10:21 AM Tue | Andy Griffith, actor was 86

Mark Lacter funeral services

2:07 PM Sat | The funeral for Mark Lacter will be held Sunday, Nov. 24 at 12 noon at Hillside Memorial Park, 6001 W. Centinela Avenue, Los Angeles 90045. Reception to follow.