Product Description
Increase your chances of selling to Hollywood with the only reference book that documents the sale of screenplays books and pitches to Hollywood. Helpful to anyone who wants to figure out the Hollywood book and screenplay marketplace. Whether you are a professional writer or just hoping to break into the film industry, this unique directory is for you. Need a story idea? By studying more than 150 sales and brainstorming, you’re bound to come up with your own un… More >>
Hollywood Literary Sales Directory January 1998 – July, 1998

Product Description
Documentation of six months of screenplays, books and ideas sold to Hollywood. A-Z listing of literary material which includes: title, genre, 2-3 sentence storyline, genre, agent, producer, date-of-sale, purchase price, buyer, lawyer and more. Cross-referenced four ways for easy access. Stop wasting your money by sending out your material to people who will never read it. Sell your material today by targeting it to specific agents, producers, lawyers and companies w… More >>
Hollywood Literary Sales Directory Vol. #3 July, 1998 – January, 1999

All Right! Who’s up for a night of movies, buttered popcorn, your favorite candy and ice cold slushies? A show of hands please. Yeah, just what I thought, pretty much everyone is. I doubt we will ever get tired of America’s greatest national treasure, watching new released movies. Whether it’s in the comfort of our own homes, or in the local movie theater, we are in love with watching movies. But wait a minute! As with most good things, there is a bad side or two. Have you ever noticed that most of the movie review guys are over-weight? What do you think you would look like if you went to every new release movie and ate all of that buttery popcorn and calorie laden candy? Can you say Big Fat Fatty? I guess a good Hollywood film is worth a little fat.

The thing that really aggravates me is the way Hollywood is spitting out all of those movie remakes and stamping them as new released movies. Can anyone tell me why are all the new released movies are re-makes of old flicks, TV shows, cartoon characters or comic book heroes? Come to think of it, how many comic book heroes are there anyway? Can’t anyone use their imagination anymore? This is really starting to bother me. I have to go see how many comic book super hero new released movies?

I probably shouldn’t complain so much. After all, one of my favorite movies is Robin Hood with Errol Flynn and all though it is considered a movie classic, it was just another new released movie remake. Another good new released movie I went to see was Peter Jackson’s re-make of the film “King Kong.” OK, I’ll admit it. There are some good movie remakes out there but the reason this film was good was Peter Jackson who just finished making the critically acclaimed and Academy Award winning “Lord Of The Rings” trilogy was completely obsessed with remaking “King Kong”, and although he used all of today’s special effects technology to help him pull it off; it was the fact that he pretty much stuck to the plot combined with good acting that made this a successful new released movie. It took a really good director to make it again and show what it truly could be using today’s technology.

Alright, just because I just mentioned a couple of good remakes and I’m sure there are more, doesn’t get all the other poorly made new released movies off the hook. Someone please tell me, why in the world did they re-make “The Omen”? In my opinion the original Omen was fantastic. The movie wasn’t that old, they really couldn’t improve on the special effects and the lead actor was Gregory Peck, need I say more. There are times when some thing is done so well it just can not be improved upon, and this was one of them. When a movie is that good, why can’t they just re-release the original movie as a new released movie, why do they have to remake it?

For some reason they remake horror films more than any other genre. And I understand that with today’s superior special effects the temptation is just too strong not to want to remake everyone’s favorite scary movies. But, guess what Hollywood? The reason most people go to see a new released horror or hack and slash movie is the suspense, the unknown. Guess what? When you remake a horror or hack and slash movie, the suspense is gone, the unknown is known. Use your collective imaginations and make a completely original new released movie so we can start using our imaginations once again. I have actually heard remakes called “re-imaginations” and that’s a sad thing. So please stop taking the “thrill” out of the thriller.

Listen, I think I have a solution to this whole new released movies and movie remake problem. I understand that you are releasing more new movies than ever and that they are being shown in the movie theatres for less time than ever so they can be re-released as DVD’s for sale or rent in places like Blockbuster and Hollywood Movies or sold as PPV to cable networks. I understand it’s all about the money, but why not remake movies that didn’t fare so well when they were new released movies. Take those movies that have a decent plot but because the producers didn’t have a very big budget or the director sucked or the actors couldn’t act and do whatever it takes to make them good movies that we will enjoy watching, slap a new title on them and put them in theatres as new released movies. Sounds like a money making plan to me. Before I end this, I was thinking of doing a remake of this article instead of writing a new one. What do you think? Let me know. In the mean time, surf on over to Movies, Music, Games & More and download all of the new released movies and movie remakes you want for free.

The same Australian acting techniques that launched the careers of Russel Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Hugh Jackman can be sampled when the Australian Institute of Dramatic Arts offers several sessions in selected cities, including Hollywood, through January 10. Tucson Slow Food and Film Festival is an extended weekend of classic food films, culinary events and cultural discussions that combine screenings of feature films, documentaries, shorts and animation with panel discussions about the cuisines, cultures and traditions shown on the screen, along with culinary events at restaurants, all happening in Tucson, through January 11. For the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab, writers selected through a year-round staff search/outreach receive feedback and help with their projects at the Park City facility from January 9-14.

The Slamdance Film Festival, running this year from January 15-23 in Park City, is best known for its annual film festival. But Slamdance will now also serve as a year-round showcase for the discovery of new and emerging musical talent, in addition to the recently formed online venture with INDIEROAD.NET, a website created by a team of veteran entertainment and business executives to address the lack of robust distribution options available to promising new talent in the independent film field. From January 15-25, Sundance Film Festival, organized by actor Robert Redford in 1981, continues its festival, held primarily in Park City, and dedicated to the support and development of emerging screenwriters and directors of vision, and to the national and international exhibition of new, independent dramatic and documentary films. The International Film Festival Rotterdam offers a quality selection of worldwide independent, innovative and experimental cinema and visual arts, and will be running this year, January 21 through February 1.

Interaction is encouraged for audience members during the run of the Children’s Film Festival Seattle, to sharpen their critical eyes through workshops with professional actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers, during the run of the festival from January 23 to February 1. Göteborg International Film Festival, opening January 23 through February 2, functions as a meeting place for the Nordic film industry and has become an integral link for new Nordic film, hosting about 200 specially invited buyers, distributors and festival representatives from all over the world. Steve Seskin and Pat Pattison will present a Hollywood Songcrafting Seminar in Los Angeles, January 24 & 25, sharing their knowledge and passion for writing songs. Honoring excellence in the field of animation, Annie Awards will be presented in the categories of animated theatrical feature, television production, television commercial, short subject and video games, and the people who have worked in these areas, January 30 in Westwood.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page at actorschecklist.com/news.html. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog at actorschecklist.com/loudblog, a great place to get your iPhone, ipod or Apple TV download from. The Free Home Video Showcase at actorschecklist.com/video now serves as an archive for all past video presentations. This month on video you will again see an interesting array of performing artists from the indie sector on video. Newly introduced this month to The Actor’s Checklist website is Google Friend Connect technology where visitors may now sign in with their Google, Yahoo, AIM or OpenID account. You are encouraged to explore the entirety of the site for instances of Google Friend Connect deployment, including its use on the news page at actorschecklist.com/news.html. Happy New Year to all from The Actor’s Checklist!

Movies and stories have a very old connection. Throughout the history of films, different movies have come from famous stories, novels and plays all over the world. Hollywood movies are not an exception. There is a reason behind this profound love of Hollywood for good stories. Actually, Hollywood is a kind of industry which always wants to tell stories through their films. They always follow a linear way of story telling. To maintain this linear way, they always search for good stories. In this article, we will talk about those Hollywood movies that are made from existing stories.

Making films from stories has some advantages. This system saves a lot of time in the pre-production stage. In this case, the director does not have to appoint a writer for a new story. As the story already exists, he just need to do the script and screenplay.

A readymade story gives the film an extra popularity. If the film is made from a hit tale, then very naturally people will be eager to watch the film version of it. If we check the history, then we will find out that most of those kinds of films have been big box office hits.

If the film is based on the work of a renowned author, then it will ease the work pressure on the director to some extent. A famous book is obviously good writing. Therefore, the director will not have to change a lot of that.

Hollywood films have come from three different categories of literary works. These three are stories, novels, and plays. First we are going to look at the films made from famous stories. Kafka was a writer whose stories influenced Hollywood a lot. However, it is very tough to make a film version of his stories, but still people have tried and in some cases, they have done a very good job. For instance, The Trial directed by Orson Welles was a masterpiece. It was released in 1963.

Many films have been made from the stories of O Henry, the famous American story writer. Gift of the Magi directed by Scott Mansfield and The Last Leaf directed by David Anspaugh had been instant hits. Roald Dahl was a very famous British writer who wrote several short stories and novels. He also scripted some films. Lamb to the Slaughter directed by Nicole Barnette was based on a very famous story of Dahl.

Some very famous novels have been given film versions. For instance, The Accidental Tourist was based on the writing of Anne Tyler. The film was directed by Lawrence Kasdan and was released in the year 1988. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the film version of the famous Mark Twain novel, filmed by Peter H. Hunt.

Some famous plays have also been transformed into films. For example, Orson Welles filmed Macbeth, the famous play of William Shakespeare, in the year 1950. Franco Zeffirelli filmed Romeo and Juliet in the year 1968.