In Development

Hello, Wavers! The Wave-inatrix has been a little bit on the down low the past few days; tomorrow I will be at the LA Times Festival of Books and there is a flurry of activity to be ready for that. If you live in the area, be sure to come to our booth and say hi. Plus we will be raffling free 15 minute story consultations twice a day, so take advantage of that.

I'm just back from the best prop house ever - History for Hire, here in LA. Wavers, if you haven't ever been to a prop house, it's really pretty wild. Rows and rows of manacles, parasols, typewriters, hair dryers, telephones, record players, cameras, swords, skeletons, skulls, satchels, hat boxes and more. And this particular prop house, as is implied in their name, rents props to television and feature films looking for historically accurate items.

It was like the best antique store EVER because the things they have are authentic, beat-up in many cases and featured in many movies you have seen. They had Indiana Jones' leather satchel, I saw ceremonial feather-thingies from Cleopatra (you know what I mean, don't be snarky) and the swords and shields from The 10 Commandments. Wow, movie history right there - dusty and lined up on shelves in a giant warehouse. For a movie geek like me, it was really an amazing experience. I think I blacked out for a minute there and swiped a stapler from Good Night and Good Luck. The security guy ran me down in the parking lot though.

If you're like me - and you know you are - sometimes reading the trades is a bit of a boring, eyeball-blurring experience. But kids, we do need to know what's out there, what's sold and what's in development, do we not?

So I thought for your Friday enjoyment, that I'd post the projects listed on Studio System as being officially in development for this week. What in the heck does "in development" really mean, right? It means everything from a green light, meaning giddy-up, let's start casting this puppy, to "wow, sounds cool, we'd like to put this in development". Which sounds like what it is - not a green light but still a huge step forward. And we all know how beautifully F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the ever illusive green light. So here you go, food for thought. Read it and weep:

Hot for Teacher: A high school senior sets out to have sex with his teacher before he graduates.
Paramount Pictures
J.J. Abrams, producer
Jan Dyer, spec script

Drill Team: No Summary
Rogue Pictures
Offspring and Tri Destined Films
Gregory Anderson, spec script

Hunter's Moon: No Summary (based on a graphic novel)
Facilitator Films
Boom! Studios
James L. White, graphic novel and script

Jack: A doctor rehabilitates and ultimately falls in love with an accident victim suffering from memory loss, who is unaware that he is actually a killer.
Bold Films
Joseph Ruben, director
David Venable, script
Greenlit

Adoration of Jenna Fox: A teenage girl awakes from a coma and can't remember a thing. As her memory slowly comes back to her, things get strange. She finds her body is manufactured and her memories might be too. She embarks on a journey to find out if she is human--and what that means.
Fox 2000
Mary E. Pearson, source material

Deep Sea Cowboys: Titan Salvage travels all over the world to salvage giant, sinking ships an their cargo.
Dreamworks, SKG
Joshua Davis, source material

River of Gold: In 1848, in the midst of the Mexican-American war, Trinidad Garica’s land is taken away. He soon escapes with his family to Apache territory, where he knows of an abandon gold mine near the Mexican boarder. Trinidad’s family struggles against all odds including Apache warriors, American invaders, and a bounty hunter while trying to reach for safety.
(Spanish language)
Mantarraya Producciones
Pablo Aldrete, Director, script

Saving Private Perez: A Mexican crime lord is forced by his mother to plan a suicidal rescue mission to find his lost brother in the most unexpected place on Earth.
Lemon Films (Mexico)
Beto Gomez, Director, Script

Rites of Spring: A father, intent on avenging his son's murder, crosses paths with a serial killer.
Cerenzie-Peters Productions
Padraiq Reynolds, Director, Script

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown: Based on the song by Jim Croce about an apparent criminal who, due to his size, harbors a reputation as the "baddest man in the whole damn town."
Parallel Zide
Jim Croce, Writer

Yeah, that's right. I retyped all of that for you Wavers, laboriously and with love. Have a great weekend! Now get back to work!

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