Rewrite? Make that "reconfigure!"

Re two posts down:

Contract negotiations with the producer noted below seemed to go fine when it was solely a series of oral/verbal discussions but once the physical contract arrived said contract wasn't for a "film option" but for an "acquisition" of the intellectual property that I was developing into a screenplay (I was, in fact, on a fourth draft, working in good faith)! Dude was trying to fuck me. So I killed the deal before it really began, and have written it off as an almost interesting waste of time (an entire year!), and made contact with a gentleman from the Circle of Confusion agency/management company who had recently expressed an interest in the same intellectual property. After several excellent conversations (and a feel of solid rapport) I have agreed to enter into a management relationship with CoC both for the aforementioned (or, um, not mentioned) property and for myself as a writer.

Onwards.

Sturgeon Creek: sample lettered page

Lettering begins on Sturgeon Creek

Happy to report that Erik Swanson began lettering Sturgeon Creek this week!

Rewrite!

From two posts down:

6. "Screenplay project 1." Screenplay (several drafts later) accepted by producer. Still going back and forth on the contract. We've also agreed that I should add more back story elements to Acts 1 and 2, which I've promised to do by the end of January. Mum's the word until producer tells me it's okay to blog about.

Contractual points worked out. New (additional) French production partner (via US producer) just provided me with a list of changes for the third draft and, I must admit, they're dead on in terms of criticism and overall thoughtfulness. I look forward to the rewrite, due the 28th....

The year ahead (work to accomplish)

Another year over, a new one just begun. As usual, I’m probably being overly ambitious, but we'll see (all too) soon enough...

2007 PROJECTS TO COMPLETE:

1. Sturgeon Creek
2. God’s Dog
3. Pale Witness
4. Ross Campbell comic book project
5. Screenplay project 1 (pre-production tweaks)

2008 PROJECTS TO DEVELOP/COMPLETE:

1. Umbra 2 as screenplay
2. Steph Dumais comic book project
3. Babylon project as juvenile novel
4. The Bean Man graphic novel
5. Springfield project as graphic novel
6. six children’s books

MIRAGE COMMITMENTS:

1. edit/co-write The Forever War trade
2. edit TMNT Adventures trade reprint collection
3. write single issue of Tales of the TMNT (3rd part of C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa trilogy)

PITCHES:

1. Marvel. Mini-series idea for the Marvel Adventures imprint.
2. Vertigo. The above-listed Babylon project; or perhaps something else.

OH, YEAH:

Get an agent.

The year in review (work accomplished)

And so this is Christmas/New Year's and what have I done, or haven't done, on personal projects this past year?

On the face of it, not much to show it seems. Let's review:

1. Sturgeon Creek. Final draft of dialog completed but have been struggling with the voice-over. I've therefore asked letterer Erik Swanson to letter the entire 120 pages dialog-only, after which I will write the voice-over. Erik, always a sweetheart, ever the professional, has agreed, even though it will undoubtedly mean moving dialog balloons around in order to place in the added voice-over. I don't think I've ever been as anal about a project as this one... but there you have it.

2. God's Dog. Still need to do a final pass on the script to the first issue, dialog tweaking mostly.

3. Pale Witness. Art by D'Israeli is done, but I'm not entirely happy with my script so I've asked my wife Sónia to step in and give this a pass, as I really think it needs her poet's vision.

4. "Comic book project with Ross Campbell." Just need to type it up and send it off to the ever-patient Ross.

5. Umbra 2. Still jotting notes and playing around with 3 possible plots. And can't decide whether to write this up as a graphic novel or screenplay. Or both.

6. "Screenplay project 1." Screenplay (several drafts later) accepted by producer. Still going back and forth on the contract. We've also agreed that I should add more back story elements to Acts 1 and 2, which I've promised to do by the end of January. Mum's the word until producer tells me it's okay to blog about.

7, "Screenplay project 2." Screenplay approved after several drafts, payment made. And then the green light turned to red just as pre-production was about to begin. Damn. And I can't talk publicly about the project for another couple of months.

8. This blog. Been ignoring it. Probably due to the lack of (perceived) progress.

While it may seem like a lot to some, to me it's not. I really feel like I've squandered a lot of time this past year, time I could have spent writing. Shit, I feel a New Year's resolution coming on...

The priest they call him

A 4-stage figure drawing of the main character from my upcoming series collaboration with artist Dario Brizuela.