The Screenplay Diary: "Between Love and Orgasms"... Based on a True Story?

What do you do when a screen story gets too close to real life?

Every writer, no matter the genre, will eventually run into (or run over and fall into) that giant sucking sinkhole of creative quicksand... alliterative pun full intended... the, “how close is too close?” question.  Mulling this over for a solid five minutes before I began writing today’s entry in The Screenplay Diary, it got me to thinking about something you see in the super short TV trailers for films about to be released (or released straight to DVD).

Something I now call, “the source tag”.

“A true story”… “Based on a true story”... “Inspired by true events”... “From an original concept developed by”... “Stolen from the intellectual property of”...  Seriously, where does it end?  And where does a writer have to draw the hard line between life informing fiction, and autobiography? 

You tell me when you figure it out, because I have no idea.

As with pretty much anything I’ve ever written that has ended up read in public places, the crafting of personal words usually find their way into the light because of very personal experiences.  Personal, that is, unless they are the very personal words of some other “character” in the story.  And sometimes, a story that’s too close can take on an unanticipated (at least for the viewer) element of extreme Cinema verite.    

For the sake of once such character, this Screenplay Diary marks the end of one in particular which has dominated the last several of entries.  For all who have been regular readers here, it’s time for you to say goodbye (for now) to the character of Buddy.

                                                                               

INT. WAREHOUSE – Late Afternoon

Buddy sits at his computer in the dispatch office.  Robbie enters, and flops into a spare office chair, never looking up from texting.  Buddy’s desk phone rings.

                                                                                BUDDY (on phone)

                                                Yes?  Sure... be right there.

                                                                (mutters, half in Tagalog)

                                                Ina fucker.

                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                Who’s that?

                                                                                BUDDY

                                                Randall.

                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                The big boss?  What’s he want?

                                                                                BUDDY

                                                He’s going to fire me.                    

                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                He can’t do that!

                                                                                BUDDY

                                                He thinks he can.

                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                What are you going to do?

                                                                                BUDDY

                                                I’ve got peek-chures.  Sa aking lock-air.

                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                In your locker?  Pictures of what?

                                                                                BUDDY

                                                Peek-chures of Randall giving me my job back.

                                                And maybe a raise.

                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                No really.  Pictures of what?

                                                                                BUDDY

                                                Ang pinakamahusay na hindi mo alam. 

            Best you don’t know.

Robbie stops texting.

                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                Seriously, why?

                                                                                BUDDY

                                                Because then, I would have to kill you...

                                                and the goat.

The desk phone rings again.  Buddy answers it.

                                                                               BUDDY

                                                 I'll be right there... Randall.

See you later Buddy.  And see you all later too.  Next time... a love story.

Copyright © 2012 Bill Friday 

The Screenplay Diary: "Between Love and Orgasms"... The Resident

The secondary character in a film can do one (or several) thing(s) to help a screen story come to life... or pull the plug on a story’s failing life-support... quicker than that brilliant soliloquy you’ve already written 100 pages in advance, for your lead character to monologue during the great, big, Shyamalanesque, didn’t-see-it-coming reveal at the end of the final scene.  The secondary character can inform the plot, move the story along in both actions and words... especially when the lead characters are stuck hip-deep in some kind of lead character, existential quicksand (like all lead characters tend to be).  

The right kind of secondary character, good guy or bad guy, lights the fire... or kicks the ass... of the leads.  And a great secondary character, whether it’s Heath Ledger’s The Joker in The Dark Knight, or Ken Jeong’s Leslie Chow inthe Hangover, or even Anthony Michael Hall’s Farmer Ted in Sixteen Candles, the best secondary character is usually a scene stealer.

In The Screenplay Diary, I have introduced one particular secondary character, Buddy.  In this entry, Buddy’s last for a while, this secondary character is introduced (with the audience) to his own secondary character.  The supporting actor’s “supporting actor”.  Kind of like John Cusack’s Bryce... standing side by side with Farmer Ted... in Sixteen Candles.

In “Between Love and Orgasms”, the secondary character of Buddy, best friend and messenger company boss to the script’s main character, Robbie, encounters own best-supporting nemesis in a character known as “The Resident”.

INT. Office – NIGHT. 

Robbie and Buddy sit in swivel chairs... Buddy working the dispatch computer, Robbie on his iPhone.  The clock on the wall reads “11:49”.  

Out of the frame, the loud sound of a large office access door, opening and closing.

A MAN... Black, early thirties, wearing horn rimmed glasses and a cardigan... enters, without speaking.  He walks through the frame, straight to the MEN’S ROOM.     

                                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                                                (texting)

                                                                Who’s that?

                                                                                                BUDDY

                                                                                (half in Tagalog)

                                                                Ang aking bagong kasama.  My new roommate.

                                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                                                (not looking up)

                                                                Where’d ya find him?

                                                                                                BUDDY

                                                                He works days... here... in customer service.

                                                                                               

At the edge of the frame, the men’s room door squeaks open.  The man walks through again.  He makes no eye contact with Robbie or Buddy.  Out of the frame again, break room kitchen noise is heard... dishes, microwave, a can falling from a soda vending machine.

                                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                                                (still texting)

                                                                Then why is he here... now?

The kitchen sounds go silent.  The man carries a bowl of popcorn and a can of soda into the main office area.  He gives a blank look at Buddy and Robbie, and then heads to his office cubicle.  He sits at the desk, and begins to watch a movie from Netflix on his desktop company computer.   

                                                                                                BUDDY

                                                                He lives here... now.

The man giggles at something while watching his movie.

                                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                                For how long now?

                                                                                                BUDDY

                                                                Ng ilang araw... sa isang lingo.  About a week.

                                                                                                 ROBBIE

                                                                When is he leaving?

                                                                                                BUDDY

                                                                I didn’t ask.

                                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                                Every night?

                                                                                                BUDDY

                                                                Every night.

LOUD BELLY LAUGHTER booms from the cubicle.

                                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                                So he’s a resident.

Robbie gets up to leave.

                                                                                                BUDDY

                                                                Don’t go.

                                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                                Why?

                                                                                                BUDDY

                                                                Siya ay mabaliw.

                                                                                                ROBBY

                                                                                (tilts head)

                                                                Hmm?

                                                                                                BUDDY

                                                                                (whispers)

                                                                He’s cray-see.

The man appears, seemingly from nowhere, staring blankly at Buddy and Robbie.

                                                                                                THE RESIDENT

                                                                Anyone want popcorn?

The man heads back to the break room without waiting for an answer.

                                                                                                ROBBIE

                                                                I’m outta here.

And I’m outta here... till next  time.  

Copyright © 2012 Bill Friday

The Screenplay Diary: "Between Love and Orgasms"... Just Keep Writing

A couple of days ago, I got an exceptionally nice mention in a blog post written by a very dear friend, in which she mentioned my ongoing efforts at writing a screenplay.  After reading the post (and spending another day mulling over the idea that sometimes people recognize you as much for your attempted accomplishments as they do for the ones that you have actually accomplished), I realized that it had be months since I posted my own article on where I am in the process of taking an idea, and turning it into a finished, 100 plus page manifestation of the original spark inside my dimly lit writer’s mind.

My conclusion (after the day of mulling) is that, while life can be life’s own biggest ball and chain, there comes a time in the writer’s life when he just has to take the advice of his 9^th grade typing teacher and (thank you Mr. Wanous), “Just keep typing”.  There will never be a better time for putting your story on the (computer) screen, than the moments you have right the hell now.  It doesn't matter if it’s a few words out of a character’s mouth, scribbled in the margin of a work report from the night job you blame for keeping you from writing in the first place... it doesn't matter if it’s an illegally thumb-typed (remember that texting to yourself while driving is also a finable offense in California) memo on the notepad app on your cell phone.  And it sure as hell doesn’t matter if it’s one brilliant plot twist that you have on a wallpaper post-it on your laptop.  Script is script.  And writing is writing, even when it doesn’t feel anymore like writing than Cheetos feels like food.

“Just keep typing”.

As always, I will leave you with a small portion of the unfinished script of Between Love and Orgasms.  In this scene, between Robbie, the main character, and his best Tagalog-speaking, Filipino work friend Buddy (a character I always see being played by the one and only Ken Jeong), Buddy is attempting to explain why the only thing worse than sex with your next-door neighbor’s Russian wife is sex on the internet.


                                                                                               BUDDY
                                               Paano ko ito sinasabi? It's kinda like bragging
                                               about a  3 inch penis in a roomful of porn stars,
                                               and getting away with it... until you decide to
                                               meet for real, and then Ikaw ay fucked sa 
                                               pamamagitan ng hindi pa fucked.


                                                                                               ROBBIE
                                               Google translate that one for me please.


                                                                                                BUDDY
                                                You get fucked by not getting fucked.

So, I'll keep typing... and see you next time.

Copyright © 2012 Bill Friday

The Screenplay Diary: "Between Love and Orgasms"... Taking a Turn for the Words

My favorite story (out of many) about the bringing of story to screen is the story of the 2005 Academy Award nominated film Sideways.

The film was an adaptation of the novel of the same name, written by a relative failure by Hollywood standards (author Rex Pickett), ironically about a man who is a failure as novelist. The story also mirrors Pickett’s life as a quasi-alcoholic in search of success in mid-life, after years of failed attempts to break through to mainstream industry acceptance.

Sometimes lost in the story of the making of Sideways is the tucked-away fact that Pickett’s novel was still unpublished at the time it was being turned into the surprise hit of 2004. Director Alexander Payne “discovered” the story, reading the novel in waiting on a flight from Edinburgh to Los Angeles. But for me, the part of the “lost in the story” story that influences me the most is that a finished, but unsold, story served as an industry “calling card” to get the story of Sideways in the hands of the right person to make Rex Pickett’s words make it to the big screen. Which led me to this conclusion...

The Screenplay Diary: "Between Love and Orgasms"... How to Write a Movie in 21 Days

“The you who started the script is different from the you who finishes it.”

Viki King

While I’m not in favor of gimmicks, I am in favor of the idea of freeing my mind from the things that slow me down in the creative process... like thinking.  If I’ve already done my thinking... and on this story, I have... then maybe just letting go, like author Ray Bradbury often suggested, so the characters can do the talking, is the exact, right thing to do.

So when I found screen story writer Vicki King’s book, “How to Write a Movie in 21 Days: The Inner Movie Method”, in a stack of um... lightly read... paperbacks, I decided to give it another look.  The essence of the author’s instruction is simple.

Don’t over think.

And since I’m still closer to the beginning of this (Lord, I hate the word) journey, I figured it wasn’t too late for a little light, and often profound, reading along the way.

The Screenplay Diary: "Between Love and Orgasms"

This is a new feature, and for me, a new project.

After a very intense creative period this past spring and summer, writing a regular weekly column on a website I had written for since January of 2007... and having left that long-term situation rather suddenly... I found my writing, and my blog, absolutely dead in the water.  My greatest creative outlet had dwindled to participating in comment threads on Facebook, and starting and stopping maybe three dozen failed "somethings" of a page or less... in a lot of cases much less... in a folder on my laptop.

One idea would come, and another would crowd it out just as fast, and nothing worth posting or publishing.  And sometimes, the best thing that can happen to a writer is writer's block.