Cheap Noir
For several months, I've wondered what to do with a noir thriller I wrote throughout last year. Finally I have my answer - it's up for sale!
On the one hand, it's easy to see how a studio could spend 20 to 40 million working with a very atmospheric director, and create something that makes stars sexy again.
On the other hand, some young filmmaker could either steal the locations or recreate them in innovative ways, and for a tiny, tiny budget, get a really fantastic black and white throwback homage with a twist, a compelling look at the city of Los Angeles, and a deep underlying message.
You know, it could even work on stage. I'm not even kidding.
It would have been beautiful and fun to shoot, but I'm ready to move on. If anyone knows someone who should read it, here's the log line:
In the strange purgatory of Los Angeles, a woman wakes up at the scene of a crime with no memory of who she is. To unravel her past, the SOUTH AFRICAN investigates a web of diamonds, betrayal, and murder in the City of Angels.
Creatively, this wasn't an easy choice to arrive at. Many folks told me to sit on the decision, and they were right - I just came to the same place. Writing this script was an act of love for a performer I know to be great, and who committed verbally to the film. Time and distance have proven otherwise, and I'm left with a wonderful, magical story of deep wounds and powerful redemption.
Much of the world of Cheap Noir is about HOW the story is told. In the absence of working with that particular actor, I'm more interested in revealing worlds like Receiver where the universe exists on it's own terms, and my team and I become explorers after a fashion. In Cheap Noir, truth itself is misleading. In that way, it's a close cousin of films like Fight Club or the Third Man.
Those filmmakers had to be very careful about what they let the audience see, and how. My recklessness is one of my greatest assets, and unless it serves my creative community to make otherwise, I want my first films to reflect that quality. Recklessness and sophistication. Explorer. That's me.
What's more, I like it.
On the one hand, it's easy to see how a studio could spend 20 to 40 million working with a very atmospheric director, and create something that makes stars sexy again.
On the other hand, some young filmmaker could either steal the locations or recreate them in innovative ways, and for a tiny, tiny budget, get a really fantastic black and white throwback homage with a twist, a compelling look at the city of Los Angeles, and a deep underlying message.
You know, it could even work on stage. I'm not even kidding.
It would have been beautiful and fun to shoot, but I'm ready to move on. If anyone knows someone who should read it, here's the log line:
In the strange purgatory of Los Angeles, a woman wakes up at the scene of a crime with no memory of who she is. To unravel her past, the SOUTH AFRICAN investigates a web of diamonds, betrayal, and murder in the City of Angels.
Creatively, this wasn't an easy choice to arrive at. Many folks told me to sit on the decision, and they were right - I just came to the same place. Writing this script was an act of love for a performer I know to be great, and who committed verbally to the film. Time and distance have proven otherwise, and I'm left with a wonderful, magical story of deep wounds and powerful redemption.
Much of the world of Cheap Noir is about HOW the story is told. In the absence of working with that particular actor, I'm more interested in revealing worlds like Receiver where the universe exists on it's own terms, and my team and I become explorers after a fashion. In Cheap Noir, truth itself is misleading. In that way, it's a close cousin of films like Fight Club or the Third Man.
Those filmmakers had to be very careful about what they let the audience see, and how. My recklessness is one of my greatest assets, and unless it serves my creative community to make otherwise, I want my first films to reflect that quality. Recklessness and sophistication. Explorer. That's me.
What's more, I like it.
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