Gretchen Mol

In 3:10 to YUMA, Gretchen Mol plays Christian Bale’s pretty but hardworking wife. It’s a small role relative to Bale and of course Russel Crowe, but it is a necessary and a good one. But it struck me – Gretchen Mol is pretty and she most certainly can act – but she’s most definitely on the B-list. Probably that’s a combinations of things - she isn’t into the same embarrassing antics as Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears and she just hasn’t had that much big screen exposure. Maybe she's discerning. Maybe the box office doesn't love her as much as it loves say, Rene Zellwegger or Angelina Jolie. But - is that a bad thing?

Whatever the reason, her B-list status is exactly what made her perfectly cast in 3:10. She’s didn't cost the production several, absurdly inflated million dollars and her celebrity did not precede her and overshadow the part.*

It goes without saying that more and more as studios hedge their bets around a big opening weekend, A-list stars are in demand. But does that strategy always benefit the movie? No matter what movie I see, if Julia Roberts is in it, I think oh - that's Julia as Charlie Wilson's wife. That's Julia as that Brockovich lady. That's Julia as a hooker. Not going to say a bad word about Julia - she's a good actress. But I don't see the character. I see Julia. Or Reese. Or Angelina. I mean, seriously, who can watch anything with Angelina Jolie in it and not wonder about all those kids and what Brad's like to wake up to?

But as a writer breaking in, of course you want to write a part that is Big Star Aphrodisiac; it can be the slam dunk in packaging and therefore making your movie. But what if your script really is very character driven, and isn't Big Star bait? Will this prevent you from packaging or selling your project?

Not necessarily. A smallish part in your script can cut both ways – on the one hand, a less expensive actor can make your script more expedient to produce – but at the same time, a big name actor attached to the material is obviously a huge plus for the project if you're looking for a studio sale. A six-figure studio sale is what most aspiring writers imagine. But - what if you could get your movie made with a budget that did not include twenty million dollars for one role? What if there's a B-lister out there just dying to lay down some acting chops?

In a way, it’s sad that we no longer live in a world of understated performers like Mol, or say, in yesteryear, of Jean Arthur, Olivia De Havilland, Gene Tierney – actors willing to take supporting roles and subjugate their celebrity for the sake of the role. Gretchen Mol did a great job in 3:10 and the movie benefited by her presence – she didn’t overwhelm the part and she came at a great price. Kind of makes you miss the studio system.

*Irrelevant side story: My son was visiting a movie set with me once; Mol was one of the leads. She asked his name and said he was cute. Remember the scene from Amelie? When she melts/turns into water and hits the floor? That was my son. But you didn't just hear that story.

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Butt in Chair: But Where?

I was chatting with a writer friend who is vacationing in rural Oregon at the moment and he complained to me that he just can’t write. It’s too quiet. He’s bored. He thought a remote area populated by elk, tule and dark clouds would be perfect but he was wrong. In fact, the only work he has done is a puzzling page with “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” typed over and over.

I have a good friend in Germany who is a novelist. She frequently goes on media fasts and repairs to a small cottage in Greece for weeks at a time, only leaving the cottage to go to the market and buy wine and food. It sounds heavenly to the Wave-inatrix, and my friend certainly loves it and finds herself to be quite productive. But that kind of isolation is not for everyone.

I personally love to write in cafés because I like the white noise of other people chatting; it makes me feel alone and yet not alone. I need something going on in the background. If I write at home, I have the radio on softly in the background and make sure to walk and get coffee or a bagel each morning so I get out of the house.

Writers need focus so we can journey inward to that other-worldly place where stories are born and where characters speak through us. For some, a cabin by a lake is perfect and for others, well – you saw THE SECRET WINDOW, right?

Other writers love a café or otherwise bustling atmosphere where there is people watching and a sense of aloneness within the crowd. But then we’ve all seen TAXI DRIVER as well.

Finding the right atmosphere, time of day and location is crucial to maintaining a writing schedule. The Wave-inatrix is herself guilty of not doing that much writing lately. But it’s one of those things like exercising – you can rationalize to yourself that you just don’t have time, or you can fit it into your daily routine and be amazed how much you can accomplish in 30 to 60 minutes.

Take some time, as we approach the New Year, to examine your likes and dislikes when it comes to writing. This is one area where you get to spoil – and be honest – with yourself. Being a writer is a competitive, grueling, fantastic, strange way to make a living. But nobody is going to do it for you. Three words: Butt in chair. But where?

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Black List Ruminations

by Margaux Froley-Outhred

What does the Black List mean to you? If your first reaction is a cringe-inducing reminder of the Communist witch-hunt in Hollywood led by Joe McCarthy in the 50s - big history kudo points to you but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about today's Black List, an annual list put together by an industry insider who polled about 150 executives and high level assistants to find out which scripts they liked the most in 2007. It is noted that this isn’t necessarily a “Best of” list, but rather a “Most Liked” list. (Make of that differentiation what you will.)

Are you a first time reader of the Black List who pores over every script mentioned, trying to suck some of that writer’s mojo from the page? Or are you a seasoned cynic who thinks, really? That script? CAA must behind that hype.

For me, the annual Black List is my personal List of Despair. Every year it’s a fresh ulcer, digging a hole in my stomach. It’s the voice of my mother asking me why I want to be a screenwriter when so few actually succeed? It’s a List of How I’ve Failed For Yet Another Year to Make it in this Town. It’s a list of those writers who have somehow penetrated the ranks of executives and assistants and gotten noticed for a script that stands out from the pack.

From a development standpoint (i.e., the List’s origins), it makes sense. Development execs and their assistants have to trudge through so many bad scripts that suck their lives and weekends away. When the rare script arrives that is actually a good read, it’s understandable that they get excited and that rare script would get mentioned on this list. However, what also happens in the development world is that a good script gets mentioned on a tracking board of several similar minded and leveled execs. And then what happens? Hype. Once a script is deemed “ A great read!” “ Original voice”, who would dare challenge such opinions? The scales are tipped and a script or writer becomes commonly known as “great”. If an executive is told how great a script is once, often it will be read with that opinion in mind. Go with the flow becomes not just a suggestion, but a way of life. And if you’re an executive and your boss hears about a great writer, you bet that executive is scared to get caught without a meeting in the books with that writer.

Once the script is hyped, it’s a matter of hours or maybe days for word to get around town how “great”/ “original” this new script is. This is where agents and managers earn their money creating buzz. And buzz they do. These executives and assistants aren’t doing their jobs if they aren’t on top of the daily buzz. And then come the generals.

The writer is sent out to these companies to continue the buzz train, and if they can carry an engaging story, or tell tales of their time as a stripper, then, they are given the next level of buzz on the tracking boards and around town. “Oh, he’s awesome. We’re trying to find a project for him.” And if one guy is trying to find a project for him, you bet that another exec will try to beat him to the punch.

This really isn’t meant to be a bah-humbug, cynical writer perspective; it’s pretty much how this town works. “It only takes one yes”, couldn’t be more true. This town is like a high school game of telephone revolving around the new kid at school. Will he or she make it to the cool table and get asked to prom? Maybe. And if you’re lucky, maybe, you’ll be the prom king or queen next year. This year’s prom queen would have to be Diablo Cody for her return to the Black List, and the brilliant execution of last year’s Black List entry, JUNO.

However cynical I might sound here, there is something to be said for the writers on this list. Whatever they did, whether we agree with that script selection or not, these writers found a way to stick in the heads of a lot of influential people in this town. And really, when it comes to getting the next job, that’s huge! These writers deserve to be congratulated for working their magic on the page and in the room to make it to this list.

Regardless of how a script got there, The Black List is always an interesting lesson in development vs. box office. Last year 3:10 TO YUMA and JUNO were near the top of the list, both of which turned out terrific films, while the box office might not be huge. Also, THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE, which tanked at the box office. This year’s Black List seems heavy with political thrillers, which have been box office poison this season. (RENDITION, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, MICHAEL CLAYTON, THE KINGDOM). While creative writers are working with some amazing current stories and political tensions, audiences don’t seem to want to be reminded about what’s on their nightly news. These scripts might be great reads, but do audience’s care?

There were an astonishingly low number of comedies, and very few women represented on this list. In a year where Warner Brothers announced it would no longer make movies with female leads (which was later recanted) thanks to a handful of Nicole Kidman, Jodie Foster box office stinkers; no wonder female stories aren’t sitting at the popular table this year. Will there even be a Prom Queen next year?

I’m curious about what other writers think of the Black List. Is there a lesson to be learned or is just a strange industry practice that we observe annually? Recognizing what we think, maybe, could be the best, but we won’t say it’s the best, we’ll just say that we liked it so no one can question me about my personal opinion, because it’s OK to have one, right? Right? (When did this town get so scared to have opinions, btw?)

What if we polled 150 top writers and their assistants and made a list of which executives give the best Meeting? We’ll call it The Bucket List. Oh, no, sorry, just kidding, that’s a bad title reserved for something else. We’ll call it The Evian List. And next year the executives can get nervous to see if they’ve made the cut.

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A Brave New World for Writers

The article below, from the LA Times, is potentially one of the biggest shake-ups that entertainment may go through after the strike. Read it carefully and put it in your pipe and smoke it, Wavers. Things may change in a big way and you want to be ready with your material.

Striking Writers in talks to launch Web start-ups
by Joseph Menn

Dozens of striking film and TV writers are negotiating with venture capitalists to set up companies that would bypass the Hollywood studio system and reach consumers with video entertainment on the Web.

At least seven groups, composed of members of the striking Writers Guild of America, are planning to form Internet-based businesses that, if successful, could create an alternative economic model to the one at the heart of the walkout, now in its seventh week.

Three of the groups are working on ventures that would function much like United Artists, the production company created 80 years ago by Charlie Chaplin and other top stars who wanted to break free from the studios.

"It's in development and rapidly incubating," said Aaron Mendelsohn, a guild board member and co-creator of the "Air Bud" movies.

Writers walked off their jobs Nov. 5, virtually shutting down television production and throwing 10,000 people out of work. The Writers Guild is fighting the major studios over how much their members are paid when their work is distributed online.

Silicon Valley investors historically have been averse to backing entertainment start-ups, believing that such efforts were less likely to generate huge paydays than technology companies. But they began considering a broader range of entertainment investments after observing the enormous sums paid for popular Web video companies, including the $1.65 billion that Google Inc. plunked down last year for YouTube, a site where users post their own clips.

They also have been emboldened by major advertisers, which prefer supporting professionally created Web entertainment to backing user-generated content on sites such as MySpace that can be in poor taste.

"I'm 100% confident that you will see some companies get formed," said Todd Dagres, a Boston-based venture capitalist who has been flying to L.A. and meeting with top writers for weeks. "People have made up their minds."

What effect this would have on the strike is unclear. So far, the percentage of the guild's 10,000 striking writers who are in discussions with venture capitalists appears to be small. Any deal of this kind, however, could put pressure on the studios and help the writers' public relations campaign. Writers who are talking to venture investors say the studios would suffer a brain drain if high-profile talents received outside funding and were no longer beholden to them.

Mendelsohn and others said they would stick with their ventures after the strike ended.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios in negotiations, declined to comment on the issue, as did the Writers Guild.

Already this year, a handful of sites have received venture backing, including FunnyorDie.com, co-founded by comedic actor Will Ferrell, and MyDamnChannel.com, launched by former MTV executive Rob Barnett.

MyDamnChannel pays for the production of original content by a handful of artists and splits ad revenue with them.

Under the Hollywood system, writers, in most cases, are employed by the studios to create and manage TV shows and movies. The studios own the copyrights and pay writers for the initial use of the material and a small percentage of the licensing fees they collect when the work is rerun or sold on DVD.

With television viewership and DVD revenue declining in the digital age, writers have sought bigger rewards when their work is distributed online. There have been isolated successes, such as Viacom Inc.'s agreement in August to give the co-creators of "South Park" 50% of a new online entertainment venture based on the TV program.

For the most part, however, the studios have argued that Web economics are still too uncertain for them to give a larger share of the proceeds to writers.

Most writers who have been talking with venture capitalists declined to discuss their plans on the record, saying it was too early to provide details. Yet an array of strategies have emerged from interviews with writers, investors and others involved in the process.

The groups modeled after United Artists (which eventually was bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and recently was revived with the help of Tom Cruise) envision creating and distributing programming for the Web and recouping their investments by selling rights to the most successful properties to TV networks or movie companies.

The initiative would change the career paths of many writers. They would be leaving well-paying jobs in television and film for the Internet, which often has been viewed as a steppingstone to Hollywood.

Some high-profile writers and technologists are trying to create a collaborative studio they hope would be officially sanctioned by the Writers Guild. They want to build on the popularity of strike-related videos on the guild-inspired blog UnitedHollywood, YouTube and elsewhere.

READ ON

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Ponies and Stuff

Well. New Rouge Wave ultra-favorite Monica has sent the Wave-inatrix a pony. That's right. And here she is. I call her Blanca. Muchos besos and cupcakes to you, Monica.

Now. As for the holiday short scene competition The Wave-inatrix mailbox is full to overflowing. I have received literally dozens of submissions and may struggle to read them all. The deadline was Friday, December 21st at 5pm Pacific but would those Wavers still planning to submit have a thrombosis if I moved the deadline up to Wednesday 5pm? This is a landslide of reading that I cannot keep up with. Submit now or forever hold your peace!

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Two Cool New Blogs

Only eight more shopping days until Christmas, you Christmas-celebrating Wavers. The Wave-inatrix shared my Christmas wish list last week and no pressure, but it's really time consuming to ship a pony. So. Little hint there.

But seriously, being that I have my two front teeth and all, here are two blogs that I recently became aware of, that I think ROCK THE FREE WORLD. Do people say that anymore? I think that's a Cold War remnant. Oops. Age showing.
The first is Comic Mummy written by an extremely funny Aussie who is a girl after the Wave-inatrix's own heart.

And the other is Miss Understood or, A Sideways Look at Womanhood from which I have copied this fantastic poem. Wavers, read, rejoice, cut, paste, share - attribute - and visit the blog from which it came.

Puppet on a String
After a while you learn
the subtle difference
between holding a hand
and chaining a soul.
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
and company doesn't always mean security.
And you begin to learn
that kisses aren't contracts
and presents aren't promises,
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead,
with the grace of a woman,
not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain...
for plans and futures
have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much,so you plant a garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
you really are strong
you really do have worth,
and you learn...and you learn.
With every goodbye you learn.

Veronica A. Shoffstall

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Can Dialogue be TOO Good?

I was listening to a review of JUNO on NPR and one of the commentators said something interesting. She said that the dialogue in JUNO was so hip and witty that it felt inorganic, like a writer’s conceit of a character – not a real character. The commentator went on to give the movie a great review but her comment on overly-witty, self-conscious dialogue was first and foremost. Having just seen JUNO, I would have to agree, sort of. But the movie is so crazy-fabulous that Ellen Page’s impossibly amazing performance as a sixteen-year old with the vocabulary and thought-processes of a thirty year old wins a viewer over as the conceit of this movie. But I digress.

My daughter used to watch The Gilmore Girls. And that show drove me nuts for the same reason. Amy Sherman-Palladino is a gifted woman, there’s no doubt about that, and the show definitely took a turn for the worse when she moved on from the show – but during her tenure, I often cringed at the dialogue. Not because it was bad – it was so good – uber good, creepy good, resentfulness-inducing good – because nobody can be that witty all the damn time!

In The Gilmore Girls, every character was super witty and smart – all the bloody time. And worse – ultimately every character had the same voice – presumably, Palladino’s. So there was a grating sameness to the dialogue in the show and worse, a gratingly high level of witty! sharp! clever! Dialogue. In every. Damn. Scene. At least JUNO was limited to one story. Not thirty episodes a year for seven damn years. I may have those numbers wrong – but I don’t care! Self-conscious dialogue in which the character is clearly the writer’s alter-ego is grating.

When you watch a movie or a television show and literally every cast member is cooler and smarter than you – if they never stumble over their words, if they don’t say the wrong thing or the less-than-brilliant thing – it can distance a viewer from the material.

An extreme example of idiosyncratic dialogue strongly reflective of the writer’s voice is of course David Mamet’s dialogue. His trademark is herky-jerky, hiccupy dialogue. And when you watch a Mamet movie you just settle in for that experience because that’s the way it is and that’s what you signed up for and there you go. But that’s David Mamet. And surely – Palladino was quite successful so in a sense, my argument becomes just a personal rant. Or does it? Can dialogue be too good? Inorganically good?

If you are writing stylized dialogue as an affection of your story, as literally part of the delivery system, I give my stamp of approval – that’s very clever. But if you really want the story to be front and center, remember to watch out for dialogue that is too self-conscious.

Listen to how actual people talk, the next time you’re out. The silences in-between the words can mean more than the words themselves. Or sometimes the words can weigh a ton. This, overheard from a Wave-inatrix neighbor just the other day: Let’s have brunch at that place, remember that place? Yeah. And it’s in the ‘hood so it will be funny!

The Wave-inatrix was agape. What did it mean? These are nice neighbors. Gak.

Bad dialogue speaks for itself. (Ha). It is monochromatic, bland, on-the-nose and stilted. All the characters sound the same – like the writer, more or less. Characters sound either totally homogeneous or like stereotypes. There is no nuance or subtext to what they say.

Good dialogue is snappy, real-sounding, organic and specific to each character.

Great dialogue is all of the above and reveals everything you’ll ever need to know about that character; their world view, prejudices, social class and belief system. It will be idiosyncratic but imperfect. They won’t always say the right thing. And sometimes characters are silent.

In 3:10 to YUMA which was hands down one of my two favorite movies of 2007 (the other being JUNO so go figure) Christian Bale whispers one of the most memorable pieces of dialogue I have ever heard in my life. And he’s upset and he’s scared and what he says is so utterly courageous and heartbreaking at the same time that the scene moved me to tears.

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The 1st Anniversary of the Rouge Wave!

For the full effect: cue up "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and KiKi Dee (remember her?)

Ah, what a realization. Bittersweet. Funny. Amazing. Tussling with IM Anonymous (hello, darling), trading witty repartee with Jake Hollywood. Reading Christian Howell's long comments, smiling at lovely Emily's posts, laughing at the great haikus, and judging the Magnanimous Feet competition...Who can forget the talented MovieQuill? Or Dare Kent, winner of the Halloween competition? Good times.

The Rouge Wave has gone from three readers - me, my mom and my cousin Wayne to between 150 and 200 readers on a slow day and over 350 on a good one. Wavers are from all over the world, in dozens of countries and virtually every continent. Many, many more read the Rouge Wave than comment - we have lurkers. And a couple of trolls but the Wave-inatrix makes short work of them as we all know. Mostly, we are, as advertised, a happy little corner of the screenwriting universe and the Wave-inatrix has such fun flipping on the lights every morning to provide a little info-tainment.

There are so many guest bloggers to thank - most recently Billy Mernit, but so many others who took a few minutes to give Wavers their point of view. And the Mini-Wave-inatrix, for reviewing several movies last summer. And thank you to my partners Margaux, Dave and Andrew for gamely throwing in as well. My good friend Signe at the Great American Pitch Fest has been so good to the Rouge Wave and of course Christina Hamlett has been as well. And Casper, my web designer, my right arm and my good pal; I couldn't wake up in the morning and do one damn thing right without you. Oh, there are just so many of you who are the wind beneath my wings. Including you, Rouge Wavers.

Thank you Rouge Wavers - thank you for continuing to come back to see what's happening on the Rouge Wave. Thank you for your wit, your cantankerousness, your humor and your smarts. I've had a very good time being the mistress of the Rouge Wave and if it's all right with you guys, I'll continue doing so.

Cupcakes for all my friends!

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Caroling During the Strike by Andrew Zinnes

OK, Rouge Wavers! Grab some eggnog and sing! And a
one, and a two...

On the first day of Strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to me -
a headache behind my eye.

On the second day of strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to me
- two sources of lost income, and a headache behind my
eye.

On the third day of strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to me -
three trips to unemployment, two sources of lost
income and a headache behind my eye.

On the fourth day of strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to me
- four fights with my producing friends, three trips
to unemployment, two sources of lost income and a
headache behind my eye.

On the fifth day of Strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to me -
five Golden Arches (where I'm working now), four
fights with my producing friends, three trips to
unemployment, two sources of lost income and a
headache behind my eye.

On the sixth day of Strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to me,
a six pack of beer to ease the pain, five Golden
Arches (where I'm working now), four fights with my
producing friends, three trips to unemployment, two
sources of lost income and a headache behind my eye.

On the seventh day of Strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to
me, seven days of hope last week, a six pack of beer
to ease the pain, five Golden Arches (where I'm
working now), four fights with my producing friends,
three trips to unemployment, two sources of lost
income and a headache behind my eye.

On the eight day of Strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to me,
eight cents a DVD, seven days of hope last week, a six
pack of beer to ease the pain, five Golden Arches
(where I'm working now), four fights with my producing
friends, three trips to unemployment, two sources of
lost income and a headache behind my eye.

On the ninth day of Strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to me,
nine more reasons to join the DGA, eight cents a DVD,
seven days of hope last week, a six pack of beer to
ease the pain, five Golden Arches (where I'm working
now), four fights with my producing friends, three
trips to unemployment, two sources of lost income and
a headache behind my eye.

On the tenth day of Strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to me,
ten producer lords a leaping around what the writers
want, nine more reasons to join the DGA, eight cents a
DVD, seven days of hope last week, a six pack of beer
to ease the pain, five Golden Arches (where I'm
working now), four fights with my producing friends,
three trips to unemployment, two sources of lost
income and a headache behind my eye.

On the eleventh day of Strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to
me, eleven pied pipers leading production to indie
land and abroad, ten producer lords a leaping around
what the writers want, nine more reasons to join the
DGA, eight cents a DVD, seven days of hope last week,
a six pack of beer to ease the pain, five Golden
Arches (where I'm working now), four fights with my
producing friends, three trips to unemployment, two
sources of lost income and a headache behind my eye.

On the twelveth day of Strike, the WGA/AMPTP gave to
me, twelve WGA negotiators drumming to the beat of
their own drum (and making no headway until the
Spring), eleven pied pipers leading production to
indie land and abroad, ten producer lords a leaping
around what the writers want, nine more reasons to
join the DGA, eight cents a DVD, seven days of hope
last week, a six pack of beer to ease the pain, five
Golden Arches (where I'm working now), four fights
with my producing friends, three trips to
unemployment, two sources of lost income and...

...A HEADACHE BEHIND MY EYE!!!!!!!!!

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Red Letter Day at Paramount

As promised, the Wave-intrix took not one, not two but ten dozen mini-cupcakes to Paramount today as she again hoisted a sign joined the picketers. I cannot express often enough what an honor it is to join in alongside writers, famous and un, who walk the picket line at various locations daily. I felt like an imposter at first, not being a member of the WGA but as have other volunteers, I have been on the receiving end of nothing but gratitude and friendliness. Today I even got a WGA baseball cap and a pin that says My words matter. There was another pin that said Suck my pencil but I wisely opted out of that one.

About an hour after I arrived, Sarah Silverman joined the growing crowd and by noon there were over a hundred picketers in a slow-moving mob. Later, a podium and microphone was set up and a handful of luminary writers took a few moments to speak including one who instructed us all to look at the brick and mortar of the Paramount Building and reminded us that every brick was paid for by ideas that began in the heads of writers. Harlan Ellison issued same sage, profanity-filled advice about exactly how one should negotiate with the producers. It involved a baseball bat.

By the time the Wave-inatrix left, the cupcakes had long ago been devoured and the sun was getting low. All right, not low - like, it was maybe 1 when I left. Zagat's report: the Paramount gate is definitely more populous and fun than CBS Television City (though today was a special event and the numbers were higher) but I missed my friends at CBS today and that is where I shall return. We don't get no stinkin' Sarah Silverman, we get Danny Bonaduce on a bike. But that's my favorite spot and I'm stickin' to it!

My Photo Album:



Here's John Augustwho's written movies like GO, THE NINES, CHARLIE'S ANGELS, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, BIG FISH, TITAN A.E. and tons more.



Here's Josh Olsonwho's written INFESTED, HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and a bunch of other projects.



See that grey-haired guy down low in the middle? That's Harlan Ellison. Sorry Wavers, I didn't have a good spot. Harlan has written tons and tons of sci-fi including Star Trek, Babylon 5 and Outer Limits. Sorry, I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool fan girl so I can't go on much more about him except to say his speech today bordered on creepy-violent. He looks a little bit like Roger Ebert.



And here's my god daughter Ella, who's 17 and works in a French bakery in Berkeley and who I apparently caught between blinks. Say hi Ella! Ella speaks English, French and German fluently is a laugh riot and is one of the Wave-inatrix's top five favorite people in the world. She has nothing to do with the strike. Bye Ella!

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Speechless

For anyone who has not checked out United Hollywood, it is the place to get the latest update on the strike, picketing locations, etc. And it is at United Hollywood where you can find the brilliantly conceived Speechless. Check out Woody's contribution:

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