Just What The Hell Do We Think We're Doing? (And How Do You Fit In?) posted by kza

Good question. I’m not entirely sure, either.

Again, the Big Idea, as Burley posted below in “Statement of Purpose” is to write a screenplay completely through this newfangled medium called the InterWeb. Every idea, every outline, every piece of communication between the Mic Rockah and B-to-the-G, will be posted here.

(This will be slightly harder than it seems, since we’ve been known to talk on the phone and hang out every once in a while. I believe we decided that if — horrorz! — we should accidentally talk about the screenplay in a non-Spitball!-approved medium, we’ll post the contents of said dialogue here. That should be interesting.)

So far, so good. But what about you, Dear Reader? It would be fine and dandy if this site was just a collection tank for our Bob Loblaw, but would anyone care? If we built a screenplay on the Web and no one read it, would it exist?

(OT: If a bear shits in the woods, does Timothy Treadwell videotape it? A: Yes.)

In other words, as interesting as this project is to us personally, it would be more interesting to us if it was interesting to you. So towards that, we’ve decided to allow you, yes you, that guy in North Carolina, to contribute to the screenplay. And by contribute, we mean anything you want: ideas, characters, dialogue, whole freakin’ scenes, if you wish. It should also go without saying that we crave feedback — what works and what doesn’t — on all levels of the screenplay’s construction, and I was taught that the best way to criticize a piece of art is with another piece of art.

But here’s the catch: This is not, repeat not, a screenplay-by-committee thang. Ultimately, we, the two dudes with the funny names, decide what the screenplay is, and what goes in it and what doesn’t. And our names (probably not the funny ones) go on the cover page.

But waitafrickin’minute, you say. Why the hell should I bother contributing to your shitty-ass screenplay? What’s in it for me, the guy from North Carolina?

Another good point. Normally, absolutely nothing.

Except.

We’ve decided to make this screenplay, as the computer geeks call it, “open source”. What this means — as I understand it — is that the screenplay is public domain. Grymz has the full low-down on that; but the long and short of it is that everyone owns the screenplay. (And thus, no one does. Note to self: The Incredibles’ Syndrome as open source advocate. Must think on.)

So whatever you write for this project, you can use in whatever way you want. You can also use anything we write for this project. You can use the whole damn screenplay if you want. I think there are issues about giving credit, but otherwise, it’s all fair game. Think our first thirty pages are super-keen, but the rest sucks? Take it and write your own second and third act. Like one of the characters but find the rest to be toilet paper? Do it to it, man. As the Wu-Tang Clan once opined, it’s yourz.

Will any of this work? (And what exactly does “work” mean in this context?) I dunno. But if there wasn’t a chance of failure, it wouldn’t be an experiment. One day, Burley and I hope to be working at this professionally, clockin’ lots of dollars. And when that day comes, a funny little idea like this won’t be possible for us to execute — Disney or Paramount or Mark Cuban or whoever the hell would certainly frown on it. But we aint there yet, so while we’re still young, we’re going to do something that hasn’t been done before.

And if you want to join us, all the sweeter.

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