Ever see something either "coming soon" or listed in Variety, and it's basically the same shit you've been working on? Mr. Robby Hogan ran into this recently, and it has pissed in my face once again.
First of all, back in 1998 I made a short called The Family Dog. Had minor sucesses online at places like ifilm, atom & some other sites. It was about a guy who was meeting his girlfriend's parents for the 1st time. Even had an overflowing toilet.
Also in 1998 I wrote a script called Superhero Blues, which was a script with superheroes, but wacky! Soon after Mystery Men came out (bombed). Although my script did get into their personal lives more, one of them was divorced, one was a single guy, etc, their tome was similar.
In 1999 I wrote a script called The Go Getters about a group of geeky high school boys trying to get by through fresman year. You could say it had freaks & geeks in it.
I wrote a script called The Pirates Of Pissbottom two years before POTC (Part 1) came out.
Oh, and I can't forget my mob comedy about an outside-type who falls for a girl who doesn't know her family is in the mob (Mickey Blue Eyes, anyone?)
In 2001, I wrote & directed a short film called The Reappearance of Homer Pitts, about a boy who felt left out, bullied, and neglected, and thuse, turns invisible. When he realizes he is loved and missed by his family/friends, he reappears. Now, coming later this year? The Invisible! About a boy who........Get the picture?
Oh, and I can't forget about the script I wrote called There Goes Ruby Fields, about a wedding crasher who meets the girl of his dreams at a wedding he crashes.
Not that these scripts/stories are all that original, but it sucks to work on something and then see it come out first, pretty much deflating your idea.
Thank god I've got a better manager now, so hopefully I can actually get my work seen before somebody else freakin' thinks of the same idea.
This shit ever happen to you?
9 comments:
Nope, that's never happened to me. I suppose this would be the one good thing about not having finished my first script. Heh.
On the upside, at least you know your ideas gell with what's selling in the H-town. Right?
Close, but no banana.
Ever hear of a little movie called THE OMEGA MAN? Wait... no, that's a lie. Nevermind.
Nope, has never happened to me. However, this is probably why one of your specs got optioned and mine haven't, so take heart! : )
Actually, in The Invisible, he's a ghost (or he was, in the original European version), so your idea might still have merit.
yep happens all the time. That "delete part of your brain" thing? I think "ooh that's a cool idea", Charlie Kaufman writes a screenplay. That's the difference between top flight guys and me. Ah well. At least I know I have cool ideas, even if other people beat me to the exit
Of course it happens, but the best of us capitalize on our ideas before others can feel them and capitalize on them once they're "out there." That's not supposed to sound all new agey or anything, just to note that it probably is better to be on the ball and in the swing of things, than for none of your ideas to ever resonate with other movies/scripts out there/or in development too.
Scribe
Shit-- I just today had it happen to me!
I've been geeked majorly for about a week, working on a cool idea for a movie involving a concept which everyone "sees" and "knows," but which has so far pretty much never been used well in a movie, and certainly not in combination with the other iconic element I was pairing it with.
And then today bud who knew about my little private happy-fest sent me a link to an upcoming movie (filmed, in the can, slated for release next year.
It has both my iconic elements, paired almost exactly as in my idea, except the pairing in this actual movie is loads dumber than in mine.
Yeah, it sucks. But on teh other hand it does sorta validate my story sensibility that I had an idea almost exactly like one which was simulataneously truning into a movie at a studio.
Oh well.
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yep, the one I uploaded to Inktip not too long ago.. then recently I see a quickie similar logline posted on DoneDeal by a dude that is known for slapping stuff together fast... god, I hope someone didn't take my idea, give it just the slightest bent so I only cry and don't scream... plus if someone catches the last episodes of Sopranos, my idea is shot to shit anyway
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