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WHAT YOU SAY

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Joy,

You have a point. As a screenwriter/film major, I truly understand, but in hollywood the quality and the way the screenplay is written are very important. I myself think that some of my stories are good enough to make a movie, but production companies see it otherwise. Of all the screenplays I have written, only two seemed to be hollywood quality. Because of that reason, agencies are interested. But that is just one step in getting a story for consideration. They keep on telling me to rewrite them, which is a normal procedure for a story. Selling a story is very difficult. It takes years and years of consideration, patience, and rejection.

You mentioned about a celebrity wanting to make a true story about raising twenty children. That storyline in my opinion is very weak. Even though it is a true story things must be changed. That certain plot alone will not sell. There are alot of actors out their black, white, and yellow(Asian) who think they could write, but writing is another thing. There are of course some successful actors/writers/producers out there but it is rare.

Because of limited storylines in films, writers with a new idea have the advantage; almost all the plots possible have been thought of. That's the reason why there are many remakes in Hollywood. That's also one of the reasons why black films are emerging more and more. Yes, Hollywood will take a chance if the executives think it is clear cut. And there are two coming up called "Barber Shop" and "The Friday after Next." But then again these films focus on stereotypes once again. It might make a decent amount of money, but it will be unlike comedies with white roles.

Another factor why ethnic films do not sell is because we are still living in a racist society. But now if you have a star like Jackie Chan who has been proven to sell megabucks all over the world, you have a megahit regardless of what language it is. It may not be a hit in one country, but it will be a hit in another. He is even known by some tribes in Africa who celebrates Jackie Chan Day.

If you have African-American stars like Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, or Samuel L. Jackson who are known for serious roles, people will be curious and they will see the film regardless what roles they play. The problem is that superstars like them do not want to play just any role.

People do not want to see interracial couples on screen. Most of them that are is between a White male/Asian female/Black female relationship. We live in a society dominated by the white community and it is something that we need to accept.

I once turned a Samurai script with an all Asian role to an agency and they seemed to be interested and wanted me to rewrite the script. I turned it in by curiousity and figured that no one would be interested because it is about the Japanese Samurai. Note that a response from an agency is rare and they happened to have responded to me. You have to write query letters that often get rejected and if they accept to read your story it still does not guarantee representation about 90 percent of the time. I followed Hollywood structure of course. I still have not found the time though as I am in the process of rewriting another screenplay in which agencies have shown the most interest. Rewrites take about a year to complete. As you can see, it takes time.

Funding also takes time, which can take between 1-6 years and even 10 years. A story that is good will take less time to fund than the so so story. That is why hollywood executives are very sentimental when it comes to making films. Say that the film takes 40 million dollars to make. The film when released will have to make 120 million dollars before the producer and company can earn any real profit. A film that is number one that makes 11 million in a certain week that took 30 million to make is considered a flop for that week. That is why they still have many commercials of these so so number 1 films.

When a story is rejected, they probably have a good reason because some of the profits that were lost on the previous film will have to be earned by the future films they make, which can take a very long time. They also have to depend on overseas profits which is harder to make because they are dealing with a totally new audience that would not want to see the type of films they make. If it were that easy to earn money, minority films would be more often made. But that's not the case.

The films with minority stars that do fairly well are directed mostly by a Caucasian. The films directed by a minority that do fairly well are starred by Caucasians or a highly well-accomplished member of the minority.
Hollywood style is getting quite old. I, a writer with knowledge of hollywood filmmaking can predict the ending of each film, but I do respect the way it is written. I will not discuss these structures because you may never view films the same way ever again. That is why we see a growing number of Hong Kong/Asian directors in Hollywood and will continue to see. African-Americans are also getting a break. Look at the guys who directed "From Hell." Seeing the film, I could detect a difference in the way it was structured, which is why I liked the film very much. Why was it different? It is different because the film was made from an African-American Point of View. However, if it was made by a Caucasian or an Asian director, the film would have turned out differently. It would have been worse or better. It is hard to tell.

Hollywood filmmaking and Hong Kong filmmaking are totally different things. It should not even be put in the same category. That is why hollywood itself has shown a great interest in the art of Hong Kong filmmaking.

Look at "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"
The Chinese love nature and culture, therefore, many of those are shown in that film. look at the scene when Chow-yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh first introduce their love for another. Look in the background and the way it was filmed. It's just beautiful. That scene alone represents the embodiment of their secret love affair without even the words. That is why that film made so much money even with the subtitles which people tend to get annoyed by in a certain period of time. It was something new and unique. Just look at the films of the great John Woo. There are pieces of nature everywhere like birds which seem to glow and represents a certain meaning of hope and peace somewhere else in the world. There may be hatred going on in a scene, but somewhere else there is hope and peace going on. Look at the sentimentality of Hong Kong films. Most Hong Kong directors show that great emotion and laughter that most hollywood directors do not. Asians as a whole are very sentimental people, which are often shown in the films they make, therefore, their films tend to be more life-like depicted with certainly more violence and blood. White directors are somewhat hesitant and can't show the same amount of violence as Asian directors, partly because they just do not experience many prejudism and discrimination in their lives. Many Asian filmmakers grew up in a different environment, therefore, they truly know how it feels to be in that certain situation. The result is a more violent and more depicted film like more slow motions and bloody scenes and extra fluid movements that can only be understood by a fellow asian person. I'm refering to non-historical pieces.

Black films emerged in a similar situation, but it does not show the same structures as Hong Kong filmmaking. Black films are Hollywood structured but tend to show darker sides of society like drugs and street crimes, which do not focus always on the dramatic events and scene limitations which are crucial to filmmaking. Most of the time, the dialogue, subplot, and the scene set-up is poor. What is the meaning of each characters' action? What is the purpose of his sayings? People would see a character and have no clue of why he is even in the scene or story. This is of course the main supporting characters I'm refering to. I'd see these things many times in Black films.

I saw a trailer of the Friday After Next and it showed a man slapping his momma. Ummm.. Let me think. They just lost a couple of mommas there black and white and Asian to see their film. That scene was unnecessary and should not be in the film. It is a comedy, but it should have certain limits in which people can adore. There are other ways to make a scene work without using such disrespect and poor depictions of son/mother relationship in the African -American community. This film will not make money for that reason; they have lost respect from certain people including me and some of my black friends. They would not even think of showing such disrespect to their parents, which is why they have lost taste.

People want to see action, but just don't want to see people getting high and killing each other by just pointing guns at one another or try to be overally funny. People want to see true emotions that can be depicted by laughter and sadness.

Peace..
Ray Saturday, September 14, 2002 at 10:52:15 (PDT) [68.96.110.59]

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