Green Light

I’ve been sitting on this story for a couple of weeks now, but since the trades are ready to announce it tomorrow, I figure there shouldn’t be any problem if I finally provide my friends with some full disclosure on the first feature film I played a (very small) part in getting green-lit.

Okay, so we cut back to 3 and a half weeks ago. I was just wrapping up my first week with Shawn Levy & Company. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I found myself amazed by all the scripts and calls that were coming through Shawn’s office. He was still in the process of prepping MARLEY AND ME. Plus he was meeting with Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise to develop THE HARDY MEN. Also, he was reading a bunch of scripts by potential writers for THE FLASH. In addition to all of that, our company (21 LAPS) was developing, purchasing, and pitching a dozen films to FOX and other companies (…these don’t even include the projects that are still unreported). So needless to say, Shawn was pretty busy… oh, and he also had two young daughters and a newborn at home. Understandably, he didn’t have time to read a script by some first time writers (even if a high-ranking Endeavor agent called it “the next LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE”… on a side note, agents will say just about anything to get their clients’ material read… interestingly enough, however, this Endeavor agent didn’t even represent these particular writers). When I stopped by Shawn’s house (in the late afternoon on Friday) in order to drop off his schedule, along with a few letters and some scripts, I was really excited to learn that Shawn wanted me to read THE WAY BACK (a.k.a. - the next Little Miss Sunshine) and write him coverage for Monday.

I should note that by the end of my first week, it seemed almost certain that MARLEY AND ME was going to be put on-hold. The chairman of FOX wanted the movie delivered by Christmas. In the short amount of time we had been allotted, we were unable to cast 1 of the 3 huge stars we wanted as the male lead. So if that film that didn’t get going, and if Shawn didn’t start another project, there was a decent chance that I’d be out of a job by the middle of June (Shawn wouldn’t need 3 assistants if he’s “simply” developing big movies).

After receiving the script on Friday, I got my hands on a script that I knew Shawn hated (this would help me gauge his tastes). Also, I read another script that one of Shawn’s assistants had already written coverage on (this was so I could get a feel for what style of writing I should use when working on my own coverage). By 2:00pm on Sunday afternoon, I was finally ready to dig in to THE WAY BACK. I kept tons of notes as I read, but most of them just discussed how much I loved what was in the script. At 5:30pm, I settled in front of my laptop and spent the next 10 hours writing up a concise, 2.5 page summary, as well as a short analysis of the script, the writers, and the chances Shawn would like it… I didn’t finish until 3:30 in the morning because I was really nervous that my first attempt at coverage for 21 LAPS might be seen as an abject failure, if I didn’t spend an inordinate amount of time pouring over every sentence.)

As it turned out, Shawn loved the coverage I wrote. He had everybody else in the company read my coverage, along with the script. Our development executive read it and claimed that it was the best script he had come across in the past two years. Then Shawn decided to read the script for himself over the upcoming weekend. When he arrived in to work on Monday (2 and a half weeks ago), he was basically resigned to the fact that MARLEY AND ME was shutting down, but he was extremely enchanted with this new script and announced that he wanted to direct it ASAP. This came as a bit of a surprise, seeing as how THE WAY BACK is more of a Fox Searchlight movie ($10 million budget) and it will almost undoubtedly be rated-R. After raking in over $565 million with NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, it didn’t seem likely that Shawn would take on a passion project that would pay him next-to-nothing (relatively speaking), but that’s exactly what he decided to do. So, two days after proclaiming he was going to make this movie, Shawn was in front of several studio execs, pitching the project. A couple of days later, Fox Searchlight green-lit the movie and we’ve proceeded ahead at warp speed. Right now, we’re casting, location scouting, and working on the budget.

The coolest part of the whole process so far was when the first-time writers (who have actually acted in a ton of stuff from which I recognized them) stopped in to the office to meet with Shawn. On their way out, he introduced me by saying, “You gotta meet Rand. He’s the guy who got your script read.” Immediately, the two writers were reaching out to shake my hand and tell me how much they “owed” me. It was pretty surreal.

So I’m psyched about this movie, and I guarantee you it’s going to be amazing. I’ll keep you posted as things develop.