Wild Space A Go Go Poster Art

Drum roll please. Presenting the black and white mock-up of the “Wild Space A Go Go” poster. Pretty cool, eh?

A real writer's journey

A writer writes – always. While this is certainly true, I have discovered a far greater truth. A writer WAITS – always. He waits for the phone to ring. He waits for his first check or contracts to arrive. And, most likely, he waits for whatever deal he worked so hard to set in place, to fall through. Given the odds, it is usually the latter. But let’s not dwell on this. Far be it to me to be such a gloomy gus. Let’s assume that whatever deal you have managed to set in place is as certain as universal health coverage getting passed in both the house and the senate. The question now becomes what the hell do I do while I am waiting?

Oh sure you could work on another one of your literary masterpieces. This is the advice that everyone gives you and sure it works all right for a while. But unless you write 24/7, you still have plenty of time to sit and worry about a deal that, while everyone tells you is just around the corner, appears to move slower than the story line in “Ulysses” by James Joyce.

You could take a tip from my cat and sleep a majority of the day. If you have no life partner or friend, this may suit you just fine. If you do have a wife, friends or even partially interested relatives, it becomes a bit more problematic. As much as it seems appealing, it will be hard to enjoy your greatly earned success from the second story window of your local sanitarium. Drugs are not an option wither and unless you can wrangle an appearance on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.

No, I have a better idea. Go out and get yourself a used Playstation and pick up a copy of Kingdom Hearts (One or Two, it really doesn’t matter). What better way to squander ions of time personally living through Chris Vogel’s “The Writer’s Journey” with Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Oh, it may take a little while to get going, but once you do, you will be jonsing to get to the next level as if you spent the last six hours circling around a seamy neighborhood looking for your crack dealer. I suppose other games can serve you just as well, but they are a bit violent to me. In KH, you never kill, only vanquish. And there is plenty of spiritual mumbo jumbo about friends and opening your heart that, while you maybe to cynical to believe it, become a bit more comforting when uttered by the likes of Goofy or King Mickey (yes, you heard me. Apparently, Mickey Mouse is now a cross between Shakespeare’s Henry the V and Lucas’s Obi Wan Kenobi).

I personally am playing KH 2. I went right to the sequel, as it was in the discount bin. Don’t bother getting hung up on the storyline, concentrate on all the pretty colors and knocking the shit out of the heartless. I recommend a wireless remote, your phone right beside you, (so you are ready for a call if and when it comes) and a bowlful of something green. The latter is to help you assimilate into this brave new world.

I hope I helped you with your problem.

Meet the Cast

First things first. My eldest.

I am pleased and very excited to announce the cast of the original musical “Wild Space A Go Go.” All of these talented performers will be a part of the world premiere. Thank you to everyone involved and all the actors and actresses who auditioned. You were all great!

Cast

Jill, Chi-Chi & Madge: Ashley Moore

Barbarette Blade: Lisamarie Harrison

Captain Buck Braddock: TBA

President & Cadet Wally Wallace: Norman Wilson

Doc Rock: Nathan Dunkin

Danielle, Tickle & Beulah: Stephanie Heuston

Tess & Beatrice: Leah Yorkston

Cha-Cha & Euthanasia: Ashly Will

Princess Areola: Rebecca Teran

The Empress: Nicole Cooper

The role of Captain Buck Braddock has yet to be cast but I should be able to announce something by the end of the week.

For more information about any of these fine actors you can visit www.wildspaceagogo.com or become a friend of Wild Spaceagogo on Facebook. The Facebook page has over 400 friends and is growing every day!

In other news:

The first production meeting for the motion picture “The Touristers: Baja Adventure,” is scheduled for February 27^th with callbacks held during the first week of March. As always, zero readers, you will be the first to know.

Final Callback Auditions for "Wild Space A Go Go."

1/19/2009 Final auditions for “Wild Space A Go Go” were held at The Embers on Saturday and, I’m pleased to announce, were a rousing success! After the auditions, director, choreographer and creators met and finalized casting. With so many talented actors/performers, matching each to specific role was a bit more complicated than I had anticipated. With a few exceptions, all of the creative team seemed to be on the same page. Where there were differences in opinion, the director had the final say, which, I believe, is how it should be. That being said, I do think there are one or two surprises that will blow audiences away. Many thanks to all that participated. To those that were not cast, thank you for your hard work and preparation. You all have wonderful careers ahead of you. In the next few days, I will announce the cast and will try to include pictures of each and the roles they will be playing.

On a separate note, I brought along my new Nikon to document the process. This turned out to be a learning experience and what I learned was that I am sorely lacking as a photographer. Shooting in low light, with a flash, almost all of the pictures turned out to be a blurry mess. Maybe next time I should carefully read the manual before setting off on a career as photojournalist.

Great Auditions

Well, seems all that worrying was for nothing! After watching all the wonderful actors and actresses at last Saturday’s auditions, and, combining these candidates with those already seen in December, I’m quite confident that we can cast this musical!

I even think we can cast our lead character Barbarette! Val, the director, and Kurt, the composer, agree and now it is just a matter of bringing all these candidates together one last time for the callbacks, at The Embers this coming Saturday, to match these talented performers with the roles.

We will be looking at a couple of more people during the week, taping their performances for reviewing later. Just a precaution, mind you. Want to make sure that there is no one that we missed.

"Wild Space A Go Go" Pick-up Auditions

Today will be the second round of auditions with final callbacks scheduled for next week at the Embers. We have ten roles to fill and, so far, only a handful of qualified actors and actresses to fill the roles. At best, we could cast the role of the Empress, her daughter Areola, Space Cadet Wally and maybe a chorus person or two. Five down and five to cast! Needless to say, I ain’t liking the odds.

It is unrealistic to presume that we will finish up the casting today. It seems we have too many important roles to fill and too few qualified candidates who wish to audition. The main problem seems to be conflicts with other productions being cast in the Portland area for roughly the same dates. It looks as if Portland is a pretty small pond and the pond has been fished dry by other productions before we got there. Last time I checked, it was reported that we had only three actors and actresses coming in today. Again, not liking the odds.

Kurt will be attending the PATA auditions next week and will be attempting to recruit out of there. His hope is that he will be able to buttonhole a few likely candidates and invite them to the callbacks. It’s a reasonable plan and we’ll just have to see how that works out. I will keep you posted.

During the nine years working as a Field Supervisor, I accomplished two things. The first was a mystery novel, “The Holographic Detective Agency.” If you are in Portland, you can check it out at your local library. If not, you can buy a copy at Amazon.com or listen to yours truly lull you to sleep by reading the first chapter at:

http://web.mac.com/jplinde/iWeb/HDA/Podcast/711CA68B-B9D8-45D6-9571-F52FEB0912F2.html

Although sales have never been what anyone would ever call brisk, it was a way for me to keep writing. As the sage says, “A writer writes, always.”

And that brings us to the other project, a musical titled “Wild Space A Go Go.” WSAGG was first conceived in the mind of its musical composer, Kurt Misar. He envisioned a full-length stage musical that parodied the Italian science fiction films of the 60’s such as “Wild, Wild Planet.” Basically, his problem was he couldn’t find anyone dumb enough to write a libretto. That is where I come in.

Kurt and I had worked together in the 70’s but he had no idea of where I was. Last reports were that I was residing in Los Angeles. Stalking me on the web, he found an old web site that someone in Seattle had designed. He called her, they somehow managed to locate me and the rest is musical theatre history.

Kurt and I got together to discuss his ideas. We both were on the same page as far as theme. We agreed that it should be a take-off with a distinct 60’s style in look as well as content. I went home and mulled over his countless pages of ideas. What I finally came up with was a story that had the desired 60’s flavor, but with a contemporary, new millennium, theme. The idea that kept nagging at me was, what happened to Barbarella after she turned 35? Did she have problems adjusting to her own changing body? Did her goals in life change with her body? What if this aging, questioning sex kitten was forced to land on a planet of shallow women where the crime of aging and physical imperfection was banishment to another dimension? These were ideas and themes that would definitely keep me interested. And these ideas were how the story got written.

Kurt, along with his lyricist partner Brad Beaver, and I worked on the story, deciding where all the beats and plot points would be. Kurt began working on music, Brad lyrics, while I worked on a rough draft of the libretto. In six months time we had a very rough draft of the libretto and over half of the songs. Actors were recruited to read the play. We recorded the actors and based on both performance and their feedback polished off the 2^nd act.

After much polishing, a years worth in fact, a reader’s theatre presentation of the play was performed in front of a live audience at the Coho Theatre in Portland, OR. Actors read from the libretto and sang the songs to a recorded soundtrack. To be honest, the audience had no idea of what to expect and didn’t even realize that the work was a comedy. Yes, the writer of the libretto did not get one laugh for the first 15 minutes. Trouble. After the presentation, feedback was taken from the audience and it was back to the drawing board for the three creators.

After much discussion among the creators, it was decided that a prologue needed to be added, to literally inform the audience that they would be seeing a musical comedy. Yet again, we drafted ideas and came up with something that worked for all three partners.

Originally, Kurt had envisioned a world premiere of WSAGG in the summer of 2008. He would be executive producer and would be responsible for raising all the money from investors. The work would not be performed in a theatre space but in a converted warehouse with all monies earned to pay off the investors. After the investors were paid, the creative partners would share any subsequent profits.

The summer of 2008 came and went and there was no production of WSAGG. In 2009, Kurt paired down his plan, limited the capitol needed to roughly half and approached a gay nightclub in Portland, The Embers, about hosting a run of the show. They agreed with an opening date of April 23, 2010. A creative team was put in place. Valory J. Lawrence will direct, Dan Murphy will execute the choreography and Chris Whitten will design the stage and lights. Auditions will be continuing later this week, 1/9/10 with callbacks scheduled the following week. So far, we have seen some very talented people! Alas, as of now, we have not seen our Barbarette. Stay tuned!

The Touristers (A brief history)

The story of “The Touristers” from gleam in creator’s eye until sale is long and just as complicated. The entire process was thirty years in the making. Frankly, that the screenplay sold at all and that I am still around to tell the tale, speaks volumes and should provide at least a glimmer of hope to all those who have spent a good portion of their lives immersed in the screenplay lifestyle, alternating furtive glances between a blank computer screen and a phone that never seems to ring. I’ve had at least two literary agents (to be honest, it may be more), countless meetings with studio executives and even an option or two that paid a bit more than the ever-popular one dollar variety. But this blog is not about that. No doubt, your screenwriting tales would prove to be far more entertaining than mine. This is about a screenplay that, despite the odds, somehow made it all the way to production and, in the process, netted the writer a producer’s credit so that he could document every step, or misstep, along the way.

Ancient History

The first draft of “The Touristers” was written in 1981. It was the third screenplay I ever attempted and written on an old Brother word processor that used thermal paper and heat instead of a ribbon. This should give the reader a bit of perspective on how old this project really is. Let’s just say it was at least a decade before “Final Draft” software. My typing skills were minimal at best, the “Brother” thermal font was totally unacceptable by industry standards, my spelling was atrocious, I had total disregard for the principles of Strunk and White and I set my margins haphazardly (meaning, hey, the character’s name is capitalized and at the center of the page – that’s good enough!). After a frenzied thirty days of writing, my opus was complete. And why proof read it before I sent the manuscript out? This was a work of genius and any corrections would only spoil the story’s natural beauty.

Query letters went out to a WGA provided list of agents that accepted unsolicited submissions and within thirty days I had my first hit from Manhattan Artist’s Agency in New York. A complete novice, I signed with the Max Bialystock immediately and within another thirty days of signing with the agency was called and told that someone wanted to negotiate an option of one thousand dollars. This whirlwind courtship was heightened by the fact that the person wishing to option the screenplay was none other than John Ratzenberger of “Cheers” fame. The show was a hit and John, no doubt, felt that he needed to stretch his creative wings. I was told that he wanted to direct my script and I never had a clue whether he intended to play the lead role of Marion C Carlson, the gym teacher, as well. Famed producer Roger Corman was approached to produce and distribute and the budget was set at under a million dollars. Way under a million if my memory serves me correctly. My fee for the whole shebang was to be ten grand.

Time passed but I was sure that my dream was very close to becoming a reality. I decided to take a trip down to LA and meet with John to discuss the script. Arriving, I called John at his Paramount office and was told he would be too busy to see me. Seemed he was in the middle of a very important episode and he needed to devote all his efforts to that. “That’s okay,” I said. “Do you think he could get me a couple of tickets to the show’s taping?” There was a long silence on the other end of the phone and it was followed by a curt “no.” So much for my writing dreams soon becoming reality. I never heard of John Ratzenberger again. It was my first lesson, among several hundred more I would accrue along the way, in that wonderful business we call show. Please keep in mind that I am only reporting things from my perspective. For his side of the story, you would have to go straight to the source and talk to John. We have never spoken before or hence but, currently, I believe he is traveling around in his Winnebago speaking at ultra conservative tea rallies. Good luck with that.

Defeat was never an option to me. It is my most endearing quality. “The Touristers” script was shelved and I continued to write along with my full-time job at the time, performing stand-up comedy in clubs and colleges throughout the US and Canada. I wrote a basketful of terrible scripts and a couple of good ones. The benefit of all this creative activity had one clear effect - it made me a better writer. Not only did I slowly master the screenplay form but also typing, spelling and punctuation improved – although there are still a good number of people who insist that I use entirely too many commas.

As stated earlier, I had more than a few meetings with film executives, optioned a couple of screenplays for real money, divorced, moved down to Los Angeles to pursue my dream, moved back in less than one year with my creative tail between my legs. I remarried, and am happily still. I continued my stand-up career until that too bottomed out at the end of the millennium. But still I continued to write.

Forced by an empty wallet and child support payments, I accepted a full time position with a Research Company. Being a so-called creative, I was at first stunned into a total lack of productivity. But it didn’t take long and again, the ever-consistent muse called and I answered. Again my writing was met with little enthusiasm. I seemed to outgrow any talent I had managed to accrue. I attended Robert McKee’s seminar and wrote two more screenplays. All were met with the same enthusiasm I had been treated to in the past. Any executives or agents I had met along the way had long since forgotten me. I took a year’s worth of UCLA screenwriting classes and somehow turned all that I learned about writing for film into a novel.

A popular comedian on the circuit asked me, “What are you going to do if writing screenplays doesn’t work out? The odds are stacked against you and it obviously isn’t working.” I ignored him in the same way I had ignored any other rejection but since, the thought has crossed my mind more than once. Maybe I do really suck and should just give it all up. Besides, I am very quickly approaching the half-century age mark and we all know how that works out for aspiring screenwriters.

And so it was, after all these years and the constant defeats that I returned to “The Touristers.” Reading it over for the first time in more than ten years, I instantly recognized that there was something special there. The story elements were all present. Even as a newbie, I had instinctively mastered those. With the time that passed, I learned important lessons regarding, arcs, character beats and dialogue. Old characters in the script were jettisoned for newer and better ones. The acts were tightened and a prologue was added to introduce the villains of the piece before their first meeting with my protagonist. It took another two months to get to where I thought the draft was acceptable.

I sent it out to agents, managers and producers (some I knew, others I did not) and they all passed – again. And it is here that we enter the realm of current history as opposed to ancient.

The Web and Willie Bolin Jr.

I believe that the last desperate road a writer can is the web. There are countless websites and Internet services that promise to get a writer’s material discovered. I don’t have to tell you, they are as countless as the stars in the heavens and fulfillment of their promises seems to be just as distant. The “discovery on the web” scenarios represent the lottery for the writer and any real pay-off is just as allusive. Subscribing or posting a logline is a creative message in bottle cast upon a vast sea where the nearest land is far beyond hope. But what the hell, I had nothing better going. Why not? I tried all the free services with no response. And then, late one night, I came upon the site that would eventually change my life. One look at the poorly designed site and I knew that any submission would be a Hail Mary pass at best.

Willie Bolin Jr. followed up immediately with a request to see the script. I sent it to him and he followed up with a phone call. Although Willie was advertising his site for writers looking for a manager, he asked me if I had any interest in pursuing the script as a producer. I was not really interested as trying to find funding for a motion picture was not viable to me, or any of my friends, for that matter. He took my reticence in stride and said that he would pursue it as an independent picture and secure funding himself as an executive producer. And that, my friends, is exactly what he did. He incorporated soon after setting up a LLC as The Touristers Company.

Gathering a small core group of industry professionals around him, Willie took the steps to get the picture made. He did this with no experience at all in producing. All of the people he recruited had experience in their particular fields. There were producers, directors and actors. This group would gather every week at a neighborhood Denny’s and discuss ways to get the picture made. I wish I would have been there at these meetings to record what transpired, but, alas, I was a thousand miles away in Oregon. As the weekly meetings progressed, some would drop out and others would be lured in with the carrot of co producing “The Touristers.” It certainly helped that everyone believed in the script. Key positions in the film began to take shape. Matt Zettell would be directing. Keiko Nakahara would be DP. Randy Sauceto would be co producing and working the sound. Willie kept me in the loop with the constant emails from all involved.

Along the way, Willie auditioned actresses for the villain and was able to secure the services of two very talented actresses Cassie Fliegel, would be playing Scorpia, and Dallas Malloy would be her henchperson Lizard. Again, all of these people who got involved did so with no money changing hands. Other actors signed letters of intent to appear in the film. All this was secured by an angent representing George Takei, M. Emmett Walsh and Victoria Pratt. All became involved because of a love for the material.

Basically, securing funding was the only real problem. If it were possible to get a movie made on pure enthusiasm, we would have been off and running a long time ago. But movies need money and securing it proved to take over a year.

Showing interest and investing capital are two different things. Many times we thought we were all set only to have a backer pull out at the last minute. Originally we had planned on shooting in the summer of 2009. This got bumped to October and this process appeared to be able to go on forever until… (to be continued)

Next entry: A brief history of "Wild Space A Go Go."