After a brief technical interlude
A quick Google search today revealed that this page is now the second highest ranking page (wow!) on a search for ‘The Adventures of Stephen Brown’ Damn Wikipedia! But I shall beat you… Okay probably not, but Beacon will! The wheels are in motion and soon, soon I tell you, they will have their own page. Then Wikipedia will tremble in fear knowing it can never know more than they know, for they are the masters of Stephen Brown!
Any how, back to the plot.
I did the only sensible thing. I turned up at the meeting with 2 half finished scripts. I’d pitch ‘Cheetah Squad’ first, it was what I was asked to write and I’d pitch it with all my heart despite the fact that I’d lost interest. If time allowed, I’d pitch ‘Stephen Brown Vs the Space Zombies’ as well, but only if time allowed. Now while I was fired up about the zombie script it didn’t have the conscious fore-planning that ‘Cheetah Squad’ had. I’d just started it at scene 1 and hacked through to the half way point, I had some vague ideas about how it would end, but everything between what I’d got and the inevitable very large explosion was a blur. Sure I’d set some stuff up in the first half that I knew I’d have to pay off, and I knew that a lot of running and screaming would be involved, but the precise details eluded me.
The pitch for ‘Cheetah Squad’ didn’t go to well. Not a surprise really. As I’ve already said I had made it overly complicated, and Beacon (rightly so with their budget and shooting constraints) likes simple. Time allowed though, so I pitched the zombie script, practically making up the second half on the spot. I was expecting to be shot down in flames. Imagine my surprise when instead of hearing the steady thud of flak cannons, I was asked a number of relevant questions:
“Will what you’ve suggested fit into a 2 part story?”
Err… Yes (probably, maybe not. Get the green light then worry about making it fit)
“How are you going to do the explosions?”
CG my mate John can sort it out (Possibly, I really should ask him)
“What about the zombie make-up?”
No problems (A friend of a friend, who I’ve never even meet is allegedly quite good at that sort of thing. I must ask Rob for an intro)
“Don’t you have a better idea for a name?”
Give me a minute. Err… Lazarus (corney, but hey I was on the spot)
There were more, the discussion poured around the room and suddenly, that was that. I got the green light for go, go, go! The story was pencilled into the third slot of the series, shooting to commence sometime near the end of May. I pushed my luck, “I’d like to direct”. No opposition, I’ll have to assistant direct on one of the first 2 stories (make the tea) but it shouldn’t be a problem.
I didn’t walk away from that meeting to the train station, I flew! Soared like an eagle on the breeze. Everything was right in the world. I was finally going to complete what I’d started some 5 years previous, albeit in a very roundabout sort of way, but I was going to do it. Neither mind, the unfinished script, the lack of a make-up artist, the unknown quantity of the locations, and trying to give John enough beer to make him dust off a piece of software he’d only used once before many years ago. No, all of that would sort it self out. I was on a high and nothing could pull me down. Nothing!
Any how, back to the plot.
I did the only sensible thing. I turned up at the meeting with 2 half finished scripts. I’d pitch ‘Cheetah Squad’ first, it was what I was asked to write and I’d pitch it with all my heart despite the fact that I’d lost interest. If time allowed, I’d pitch ‘Stephen Brown Vs the Space Zombies’ as well, but only if time allowed. Now while I was fired up about the zombie script it didn’t have the conscious fore-planning that ‘Cheetah Squad’ had. I’d just started it at scene 1 and hacked through to the half way point, I had some vague ideas about how it would end, but everything between what I’d got and the inevitable very large explosion was a blur. Sure I’d set some stuff up in the first half that I knew I’d have to pay off, and I knew that a lot of running and screaming would be involved, but the precise details eluded me.
The pitch for ‘Cheetah Squad’ didn’t go to well. Not a surprise really. As I’ve already said I had made it overly complicated, and Beacon (rightly so with their budget and shooting constraints) likes simple. Time allowed though, so I pitched the zombie script, practically making up the second half on the spot. I was expecting to be shot down in flames. Imagine my surprise when instead of hearing the steady thud of flak cannons, I was asked a number of relevant questions:
“Will what you’ve suggested fit into a 2 part story?”
Err… Yes (probably, maybe not. Get the green light then worry about making it fit)
“How are you going to do the explosions?”
CG my mate John can sort it out (Possibly, I really should ask him)
“What about the zombie make-up?”
No problems (A friend of a friend, who I’ve never even meet is allegedly quite good at that sort of thing. I must ask Rob for an intro)
“Don’t you have a better idea for a name?”
Give me a minute. Err… Lazarus (corney, but hey I was on the spot)
There were more, the discussion poured around the room and suddenly, that was that. I got the green light for go, go, go! The story was pencilled into the third slot of the series, shooting to commence sometime near the end of May. I pushed my luck, “I’d like to direct”. No opposition, I’ll have to assistant direct on one of the first 2 stories (make the tea) but it shouldn’t be a problem.
I didn’t walk away from that meeting to the train station, I flew! Soared like an eagle on the breeze. Everything was right in the world. I was finally going to complete what I’d started some 5 years previous, albeit in a very roundabout sort of way, but I was going to do it. Neither mind, the unfinished script, the lack of a make-up artist, the unknown quantity of the locations, and trying to give John enough beer to make him dust off a piece of software he’d only used once before many years ago. No, all of that would sort it self out. I was on a high and nothing could pull me down. Nothing!
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