Sorrow and Savagery

The first press release regarding a project I've been developing with our blessed friends at Twisted Pictures is officially out. (This is the first press release that I've actually participated in, for the record.)

An adaptation of "SORROW", a graphic novel by Rick Remender, Seth Peck and Francesco Francavilla.

I've been developing a number of diverse projects beyond THE BUTCHERHOUSE CHRONICLES but this one is the first to go all public-like. (It's a curious business.)

Sooo... you don't know what "The Butcherhouse Chronicles" is, you're not familiar with "Sorrow" and you most certainly don't know who the hell *I* am... and yet you were curious enough to make your way to this remote corner of the internet.

You can pick up a copy of "SORROW" and get a good sense of the project, if the curiosity spurs you to that length. I'll safely say that even if you're familiar with the original graphic novel, the movie adaptation will have a fair amount of surprises. We're building upon the foundation that Remender/Peck/Francavilla set down and I'm personally excited about where we're going with this. That talented trio have created a really evocative piece and we're having a lot of fun with the playground they've built.

It's going to be really different. I know that Twisted Pictures is forever linked to the SAW franchise but this is nothing like SAW. The producers have been excellent to work with and they've been on board with what I've brought to the project. There are some great characters in this and I'm especially excited about the strong female protagonist.

I know that updates here are infrequent but more on this ASAP, I promise.

And (crossing fingers) more on the "Butcherhouse" adaptation, too...

Thanks for stopping by, Internet!

What is "The Butcherhouse Chronicles"?

Invariably, whenever there's a press announcement concerning "The Butcherhouse Chronicles" movie, this blog encounters a spike of curious people looking for some information...

"The Butcherhouse Chronicles" was and *is* a deeply personal stage play that I started writing in April of 2003. My life was very different back then. I was getting ready to get married, locked into a dead-end job, trying to keep the dreams alive. I finished writing the first draft of the play about six months later, around October of 2003. Though I'd written a series of short pieces and one-acts, this was my first full-length stage play.

CUT TO a few years later, 2006. I'm getting a divorce, the play is staged at the Summer Play Festival and gets optioned by Paramount about a month after that festival production.

There's no shortage of snark on the internet. No way to really combat it. But this project is very near and dear to me.

No, it's not simply another "horror remake". It's an original stage play, conceived as a stage play, being adapted into a movie. A stage play designed to dismantle the archetypes of a typical slasher movie... which then had to be reverse-engineered into an actual slasher movie. Which is probably one of the reasons it's taken a little longer to get going than I would've wished.

I'm working on a lot of different projects but this is my breakthrough project. Everyone has to have a breakthrough project. Yes, it's a high-concept studio movie now, but it's also a deeply personal piece... at least at its origins.

The Grudge Chronicles

My manager mentioned this to me a few weeks ago, but I guess the word's out today...

At this point, I'm just thankful the project is still alive after the shakeup at Paramount this year.

Take care of my baby, Susco.

The Jon Dore Television Show

The Jon Dore Television Show appears on IFC.

Sorrow and Vengeance

I could post with greater regularity here but it's always so difficult to know when I can talk about a project. I'm still at the infant stage of my career. My name may get attached to this or that, my work may get passed around the industry, but the public at large has no bloody idea who I am, what I've done, what I'm capable of. I'm just some fucking name that's attached to some project that may or may not sound "cool", depending on the prevailing graffiti written on the internet's bathroom walls.

Well, no one really knows about this place, so I guess it's not a big deal for me to talk a little...

Working on a few adaptations and specs right now. There's always one that looks most promising at any given time, based on all the given factors, and right now, for me, it's a graphic novel.

More to come sooner rather than later. I agree, it has been far too long. We have far too many places to go and people to see before the end.

That bitter, violent spectacle of an end...

For Elsie

People arrive, people exit. No one ever stays in one place anymore. It may betray a heartbreakingly bleak outlook to suggest that I’m never sure who’s going to remain in my life. Who’s going to remain meaningful.

Jesus, it’s so easy for some people. They get married, raise families, none of it is a big deal. They know who’s going to be with them for the long haul. They know who to love. They know who to trust.

I can never tell what tomorrow will bring for me, or what it will take away.

So let me say this…

Everything I write and publish…

Every play or movie I can take some credit for…

… I dedicate to Elsie.

I may have different answers to the question of “Who is Elsie?” over the years. For now, since this is my first mention of her, I’ll say that she represents someone I will always care about. Come what may.

Underachievers Try Harder

Endeavoring to do more in the final, coughing thrust of this year.

There's more that I could be doing. So much more.

So much potential... or so they used to say...

Bollocks. I've just got to get my head together and attack this methodically.

Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go

July perishes and this year continues to whip by far too quickly.

This space has been fairly quiet, I know. So many things I'm trying to get off the ground, it's a time-consuming process.

I can't believe that August is upon us already. I've meant to post more this month but there've been more pressing things than navel-gazing. One day, we will look back on these dark times and have ourselves a good laugh at the ride we suffered.

Just wait for it.

While you're here...

Who Killed Bambi?

Freelancer's Life

Like Tom Vu with Yachts & Mansions

This isn't a Mr. Show sketch. It's a real commercial from the 1980s, boys and girls.


I want to know more about that "Butcher Mansion" that started Mr. Vu's career...

I like the bit where he takes a helicopter tour and makes it look like a business trip.

Wikipedia tells us that TOM VU *LIVES* and—in addition to being a real estate mogul and master bikini-girl pickup artist—is a poker champion.

God bless Tommy Vu and God bless the United States of America.

How I Could Just Kill a Man

Nobody really, regularly reads this blog. And why should they? It is sporadically updated and not very often a fount of personal confession...

Who reads this, then? The randoms who might come across a mention of my work and decide to look me up. My reps, perhaps, occasionally, furtively. Producers, executives, assistants. Curiously. Ever so curiously.

Here's what you should know, ALL OF YOU:

I have officially, completely sacrificed any semblance of a proper single's social life in an effort to focus on all the projects that I may or may not be working on in the near future.

Not yet noon on a *gorgeous* Sunday on the Nor'east of AMERICA and I am holed up in my diminutive studio Fortress of Solitude on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, nursing an alcohol-infused refreshment as I hunker down and try to focus on three different projects. Generating notes on characters and plot. Prepping for a conference call I've got scheduled Monday night. And a storybeat outline for another project. And a "take document" for yet another project.

THESE STORIES ARE THE ENTIRE SUBSTANCE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW.

And what is my only release......?

INFAMOUS for the PS3.

You should know, however, that I have everything completely under control.

More when more warrants...

AntiMAX

When is IMAX *not* IMAX...?

When it's the "IMAX" at the AMC Empire 25 on 42nd Street in NYC.

Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty big screen.

But it's NOT the insanely big IMAX at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 on 68th & Broadway.

And if you're going to pay $17.50 for a fucking IMAX movie ticket, you should probably go to the truly massive IMAX theater on 68th Street as opposed to the bare-minimum IMAX theater on 42nd Street.

I'm just saying. It's a lot of money.

A rant from Aziz Ansari explaining things further here.

Detailed article from the LF Examiner.

Consider this your last warning.

The Future is Beneath Us

"God" love them, the MTA has a new propaganda campaign about the revitalization of the city's infrastructure that I caught wind of tonight, via a subway advert.

"THE FUTURE BENEATH US!!!"

"... mega underground infrastructure projects that will dramatically change how we move around New York...!"

Perfectly... serendipitous... in relation to one of the projects I've been toiling over, which takes place in New York City... where the infrastructure is notably ancient...

More on this—and other things—when I'm @ liberty, of course...

Bret Easton Ellis

From a really interesting interview with Bret Easton Ellis at the A.V. Club:

I learned that you really don’t have any control as a writer. Waah, waah, waah. [Laughs.] Big deal. Unless you’re the director on the movie, or putting up the money for the movie, you really don’t have a lot of control. As someone who’s just writing scripts, you just kind of have to shrug. I have no problems or issues with screenwriting in general. It is what it is. It seems that I’ve had some issues about this particular project. I think it stems from the fact that I’m much more sensitive because it’s based on a book of mine. And also, it is the first script I’ve written that has actually made it to the screen. I’m very touchy about it. Someone told me yesterday, “Oh, you know, it’s on the ’net that you really hate The Informers,and you’re really down on it.” And I had to look this thing up. The headline was, “Does Bret Easton Ellis hate The Informers?” Because of some online interview I did, there’s this suggestion that I’m not truly happy with the movie. But no, that’s not true at all. I’m friendly with Gregor and the producers and…

I’m getting off the topic. You asked me what did I learn about my screenwriting? Nothing. [Laughs.] I didn’t really learn anything at all. I learned that if you want to do it, you should do it and be polite.