The Angelina Jolie Effect

I saw The Changeling this weekend (don't worry, no spoilers) and Jolie really ruined it for me. Don't get me wrong, the girl can emote and also roller skate (nice little period detail). But she does not look like an ordinary person and I just couldn't detach enough from her freakish beauty to lose myself in her story. There's a lot more going on in The Changeling than Jolie (a LOT more, and it doesn't work out well) and I appreciate that Jolie, being a mother herself, took on the role with much gnashing of the teeth and pouting of those crazy lips.

I just wish I could believe, for one red hot second that a woman with that face would be a single mother working at the phone company rather than a starlet or exotic dancer. This was LA in 1928, after all, and the moving pictures were already big business. Amy Ryan, who has a small but memorable part - now that is an actress I would have bought as Christine Collins - not only can she act circles around Jolie, she looks like a regular person. Because I am a regular person I need to identify with movie characters.

I mean, don't get me wrong, most actors are extraordinary good looking people - that's the point, right? They are more handsome, glamorous and have better cheekbones than most of us out here in the unwashed masses. But in some movies, they are supposed to BE the unwashed masses, someone like us who also can't decide between love and career or who struggles with dating or paying taxes or whether to murder our abusive boss. And if all we can think when we look at them is - that is FREAKISH beauty, it distracts from the normalcy and identification that we crave. So I'm asking Angelina nicely to please retire from acting and raise her 16 children and continue her work for the global good and let other less stunning actors play us so we can focus on the story. Thanks Ang, you're a peach.

In other news I went to a meeting last evening that I can't really talk about but if I could you would be HIGHLY entertained - and I mean HIGHLY - to talk about the need for good writers and good scripts. We know by now that having a fan in the business can transform your life as a writer. And you never know who is looking for content in all genres. All I can say is - keep writing Wavers, and know that you are being sought after. Yes, sure, as a cog in the money-making wheel but that's what writing is, for better or worse and it could be YOUR script that is plucked from obscurity and pushed into development by someone who believes in you and in your story. At this mysterious meeting I pitched a particular script and all agreed the concept was great. But. How is the script itself? How is the execution? That is up to the writers. I can work with the writers (and I am and you know who you are) but it all depends on what's on the page. If this script is executed with elan and professionalism, these two writers (now you really know who you are) are going to make a sale and maybe a career. Only time will tell and I'm counting on these guys. And if they don't pull it off, I have other writers who may beat them across the finish line.

Having a great idea is one thing - great execution of that idea, great enough to get several people excited enough to get the script in front of buyers - that is the key. Suffice to say that there are people having meetings in Hollywood every day discussing the need for good scripts. And they come from you. No meeting, no fancy house, no Cuban Cigars, no fine wine and genial conversation about your script is going to go anywhere unless you deliver great page work. Crisp, clean, compelling pages that captivate. Say that three times fast. So go, writers, go! You are needed. Content does not write itself. No matter how crazy the odds may seem, no matter how much competition there is, no matter what you read in the papers about Hollywood - people are looking for content. Lives are built on good content. Theaters are filled when there's good content. Help us help you.

Now get back to work.

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