Everybody Knows

Finally had my face-to-face meeting with my Paramount connection this morning. We batted around story ideas. We'll meet again tomorrow, in Soho, to keep going with it. This has been postponed for forever, it seems, so it felt good.

Productive day that it was, I also got an update from my lawyer. Contract is very nearly there now, at long last. Final sticking point seems to be some wording about potential "stage play sequels" I may choose to write eventually.

I'll re-clarify, my idea to do a trilogy of plays that starts with "The Butcherhouse Chronicles" was never meant to be a continuation of the story on the stage. No common characters or setting. The idea would be to have a trilogy of horror plays that fit together thematically, each operating as a stand-alone piece.

Naturally, this is all extremely theoretical. Who knows if I'd even be able to get these plays produced. And I certainly haven't done any work on them beyond sketching a few loose ideas down.

But the important thing is, "The Butcherhouse Chronicles" as a stage play is still very young, and it will definitely be produced again, and retooled and upscaled and etceteras elipsis. And I've got other plays that aren't horror-themed, and I'd like for them to get a chance to see the light of day. I want to be known as an active playwright, as much as I also want to be an active screenwriter. Hell, I'd even like to get back to prose at some point. (But who gives a shit about that?)

I forget if I've written about it here, but I'm also working on the book for a musical adaptation of Fahrenheit 451. It's being developed through BMI's Musical Theater Workshop. I'm working with a very talented lyricist and composer. I know it sounds like a questionable property for a musical, but we received a very enthusiastic response to our first assignment and it's a good side-project for me. As "librettist", I'm just responsible for the non-singing bits. These are the sorts of jobs I need: ones with less responsibility. (i.e., librettist, Duane Reade stock boy, etc...)