John August

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Welcome, NY Times readers

Follow Up, Projects, The Variant

The NY Times has an article today about The Variant, the Kindle, and my Twitter followers.

Mr. August, who wrote it for possible inclusion in an anthology of work by well-known screenwriters, tested the story with about two dozen of the 6,000 or so people who follow him on Twitter. They persuaded him to change the first sentence, trim some paragraphs and shorten the title from “The Egyptian Variant.”

You can read the whole article here.

One correction: In the interview, I said that I’d earned enough to buy “about four Kindles.” But I misremembered how much they cost: $359.

As of Friday, I’d made enough to buy 2.73 Kindles.

Speaking in Rancho Mirage

News

If you live in the Palm Springs area, you can join me Tuesday night for a lecture/screening thing at the Rancho Mirage Public Library.

Tuesday, April 14
7:00pm – 8:30pm

I’ll be showing clips from my movies (and one that isn’t really mine), talking about the process, and answering questions.

The event is hosted by The Friends of the Rancho Mirage Public Library, in association with the Palm Springs International Film Society.

Should I write a straight-to-DVD knockoff?

Film Industry, Genres, QandA

questionmarkI have a friend who is high up in a production company that specializes in straight-to-DVD low-budget versions of blockbuster movies. As a joke I pitched him a few ideas. Well, he loved them and asked me to write up the scripts.

On the one hand, this could be a great step in the right direction for my career in writing. It would mean getting some real credits to my name. On the other hand, I am afraid I would be labeled as a hack for writing this type of knock-off movie.

So my question is: Which is better? Getting my foot in the door with a bad movie, or hold on to my integrity and look the gift horse in the mouth? Could a bad movie credit hurt your chances in the future?

— Rob
Wilmington, Delaware

James Cameron directed Piranha Part Two: The Spawning. Everyone starts somewhere.

Yes, sure, it would be great if your first paid writing job was a quality movie at a reputable studio, complete with WGA coverage. But don’t turn up your nose at actual paid writing for a company that makes movies. You probably don’t want to make schlock for a living, but you can learn a lot even while making less-than-awesome movies.

Do it. Make it as good as possible for the genre. Then use it as a foothold to reach higher.