I’m psyched about my latest screenplay contest placement, being named a finalist and winner of a major Canadian competition and one of the prizes is that the script will be read in its entirety in a taped staged reading in June in Toronto with some of the top actors in that city. I’ve won before and placed highly with various of my scripts, but this is the first Canadian contest win and it feels surprisingly good to get acknowledgement from my native country even though I haven’t lived there in more than 20 years. I guess you can take the boy out of Canada but not vice versa.

Okay, I admit it, I live in Southern California because of the weather and I don’t really want to move back to the land of the ice and snow or have to watch out for that yellow snow and watch out where those huskies (and bear and moose) go.

Still nice. I may fly up for the reading though it’ll cost a small fortune. I’ll have to see how my latest writing assignment is going at that point and make a last minute decision.

I was in Malibu last night with my wife, eating outside at a dining landmark in that tiny town, watching the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat and enjoying the heck out of that. I still can’t explain the fact that I absolutely hate the Celtics and yet still want them to beat the Heat. Several Lakers fans I know agree: the Celtics are the ultimate evil and yet we want them to beat LeBron’s team. I simply can’t explain it. Nor, honestly, do I care to.

Elections are creeping up on us here in the States. Can’t say as I’m too excited. At worst it will be a lesser-of-two-evils situation. At best it will be a lesser-of-two-evils situation. Actually at best it will be a tidal wave of discontented voters choosing a third party if for no other reason than a protest vote. I won’t hold my breath for that one though; people get the government they deserve, after all, which does not in any way speak well of American voters (or Canadian for that matter).

L.A. Kings are on the way to a Stanley Cup victory and I love it, because at least one L.A. team will be a champion, though it is odd; hockey in Hollywood? Still doesn’t seem quite right to this Canadian cowboy.

That’s all I got today.

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

Oh no, not more Laker talk! Yup, sorry. As a Laker fan but also a fan of fair play and clean, intelligent sport, I’m conflicted. One the one hand I want the Lakers to win, always. On the other hand I see a team that is filled with violent, arrogant, undisciplined players and when I look at a team like the Spurs or Boston, I see not a bunch of players, but a team. Sure, some of the other players are jerks too; can you say Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett? But the Celtics are a team composed of three superstars each of whom gave up something valuable to be together and win a championship in their fading NBA years.

The Spurs have been like that too. I remember when superstar David Robinson took in rookie Tim Duncan, taught him the ropes, fostered him, then stepped back and actually let him take over the team. Try to imagine Kobe or Bynum doing that. Right. You can’t. Neither can I. Worse, neither can Kobe or Bynum. Selfish, arrogant, not overly intelligent kind of describes a lot of the Laker players. Wife beaters is another term that applies to three or four of them as well. Headcases. Dysfunctional. Take your pick.

So what do “we” do about it? First thing is, as the saying goes, the fish stinks from the head down. Owner Jerry Buss’s son Jimmy has to go. I know it won’t happen, but we’re talking about what should happen, not necessarily what will happen. My choice would be to give the president’s job to Kupchak, or maybe Jerry West or even Phil Jackson. Let an actual basketball man or woman run the team.

Second, once the front office has been sorted out, get rid of the coach. I’m sorry, but when you’re losing a game that will mean the end of your season, you don’t sit your star player on the bench at the start of the fourth quarter, which is exactly what Coach Brown did in the last game against the Thunder.

Third, and this hurts most of all, trade Kobe if you can. Now he has a no-trade clause, but there may be a way to prompt him to demand a trade. Why trade one of the ten greatest players in league history, one of the five greatest Lakers ever, a player who would have won this year’s scoring championship if he’d truly wanted to (he was thirty eight points from winning it but he chose not to play as some sort of team spirit thing - bet he’s sorry he pulled that one)? Because he is not David Robinson, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett. By that I mean he will not make a sacrifice for the team. He will not give up control of the team on the floor, will not groom his own replacement and step back when it’s time to give the team to that replacement the way that Robinson did with Duncan. So as long as you have Kobe you will have Kobe and the rest of the team walking three steps back and to the left of him, carrying his train.

You can’t build an exciting new team when every player is subservient to Kobe. You can win a championship or two, they did it when they brought Pau over, but look what eventually happens. And what happens when every year Kobe will be less than he was the year before. Some people believe he had a great year this year. No, he had a year in which he scored a lot of point but only by stealing shots from everybody else on the team. Sitting out that last game does not make up for a year of hogging the ball.

I’m not blaming Kobe, he is who he is and he’s still an amazing player to watch, but if you want to watch the Lakers and not just Kobe, you have to trade the self-named mamba.

Third, trade Bynum. Head case. Immature. Inconsistent. Brooding. Arrogant. Ignorant. Shall I go on.

Get rid of Metta World War. Hard worker, tough but a headcase. I think we have enough of those. Get rid of Blake, the run stopper. Start playing Glock. Get a top five point guard in here, a replacement center for Bynum, or maybe move Pau back to center and let Jordan Hill play power forward.

But whatever you do, don’t trade Pau. The guy is a top five power forward and the only reason he’s been inconsistent this year is because he’s on a team full of headcases. Get rid of the headcases, not the top five power forward.

That’s all I got, but it’s a start. Have a great weekend.

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? “Follow your bliss.” Variations on that include “Do what you love and the money will follow.” Follow who? I’ve done what I loved and watched the money follow the utility bills out the door; does that count?

No, seriously, I wrote about this in my as-yet-unpublished self-help book “Enlighten This, Motherfucker!” No, that really is the title. And it takes a huge swipe at the whole self-help industry, and rightfully so. This is an industry of individuals who for the most part make a living off of conning people into thinking they can have, do, or be anything they want simply by thinking it so. It’s kind of like when Captain Picard used to snap: “Make it so!” Except that these crooks (and that is exactly what many of them are) snap “Think it so!” and expect you to pull your dreams out of your ass and start living them.

Yeah, not so much. For most of us, it’s more like what John Lennon said: Life is what happens while you’re making other plans. In other words, all the effort and struggle and yearning we put into most of our dreams is a sideline to the day jobs and real lives we’re living, and we sometimes miss a lot of that real life while dreaming and scheming for things that are as unlikely as getting hit by lightning, and sometimes just as heartbreaking when they don’t come to fruition for us despite our grandest or most persist efforts and most positive attitudes.

It’s a numbers game, mostly. It reminds me of that character from M*A*S*H, Me Lay. He explained his name by saying that he would go up to women and say “Me lay you.” Apparently out of 50 women, one would say “yes” to his crass come on, so he became known as Me Lay. Kinda’ like making your dream come true. Fifty million people want to be the next Babe Ruth. How many do you think are actually going to get beyond even Little League? Right. Not quite fifty million.

In a way it’s also like “The Little Prince.” In that book, the title character claims that anything he orders will come true. He illustrates by ordering the sun to come up. When another character objects that the Little Prince was only ordering things to happen that were bound to happen anyway, the Little Prince smiles and says something to the effect that that is actually the secret of ordering things to happen.

Maybe that needs to be our secret too: making our dreams in line with reality. Here’s a neat little example: I want to make a good living as a screenwriter. Well, let’s look at the reality behind that dream. There are about 400 films produced and shown in mainstream theaters in American in a year. There are about 100,000 screenplays written in a year. So, on the face of it, it looks like I have a 1 in 250 chance of getting my film purchased, produced and exhibited in theaters in the States. Not so fast. In addition to the 100,000 scripts that are written THIS year, there are tens upon tens of thousands written in previous years that are still circulating looking for a home. So I’m probably competing against hundreds of thousands of screenplays. Well, so maybe my chances are 1 in… 1,000. Still better than the lottery. Hold it now; of the 400 films made in a year, the vast majority of them are written by a relatively small pool of veteran screenwriters, and nearly all of those films are either adaptations, sequels, prequels, or remakes of previous material, and the scripts are assigned to this small group of “inside” writers.

How bad is it really? Well, the top screenwriting organization in the world is the WGA, the Writers Guild of America. You can’t get into the WGA unless you’ve already sold the equivalent of a feature film, and not just sold it, you have to have sold it to a WGA signatory producer. So these are the already successful, already “made it” screenwriters. At any one time 45% of these successful writers are unemployed. Ninety percent of these “made it” screenwriters have to have day jobs to supplement their meager screenwriting incomes.

Look at it another way. There are more major league baseball players than there are screenwriters making a full-time living in America. Think about that. It would actually be easier for me to be hired by an NBA team than to make a full-time living as a screenwriter. You can’t see me right now, but I’m laughing my ass off (sorry, I should have said LMFAO).

My point? Live your life to the fullest. Yes, have dreams, pursue them (God knows I’ve spent my entire life pursuing mine), but take the Little Prince’s advice and make sure those dreams are reasonably attainable, otherwise you’re likely to be standing at the edge of the ocean “ordering” the waters to part and wondering why nuthin’ is happenin’.

NBA. HA!!! I’d have as much chance of making to the NBA as being a full-time screenwriter!!!

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

Imagine a world with 6.5 billion fewer people. No, seriously. No country with more than, say… 100 million people… at most. Let’ say America has… 50 million people. How much better would the quality of life be? How much easier would it be on the environment? How much easier would it be to serve those people and to control them in terms of law enforcement, prisons, the justice system, education, and healthcare?

I’m not talking eugenics here, or genocide. I’m talking a planned campaign to get the world’s population back in control and to perhaps save the planet in the process. Imagine our current level of technology, agricultural knowhow, social infrastructure, applied to one seventh the population? We could make up for the smaller workforce with automation, while ensuring that everyone who wants a job would have one.

We could have our pick of housing; not just crammed apartment or condo living, we could have our pick of houses, real houses. There are 76 million houses in the States - not condos or apartments, but actual standalone, single family houses. 76 million houses for a population of fewer than 50million. Let’s say that each family has three members in it: two parents and a child. That means that there would be something like 17 million families. 76 million houses for 17 million families. Did I mention we could have our pick of houses?

Imagine highways with one seventh the traffic, one seventh the pollution, one seventh the crime. In fact crime would be much less than that, because crowding leads to much greater crime. No crowds, no crowding, very little crime.

Our economy could perform at a far slower level and still service and employ all the willing workers in the country.

Fantasy? Maybe. But still a worthwhile goal. How do we accomplish it? Well, education would be one step. Advertising campaigns would be another. Financial incentives not to conceive would be yet another. I’m not talking the Chinese model which is based on autocracy and in many cases brutality. I’m talking changing the cultural norm. When what we see on television are people who are happy because they don’t have children, because they have their freedom and more money because they don’t have children, when all advertising is slanted that way, that alone will greatly reduce the population. Most of all we need the will to make that change.

So, to quote John Lennon: imagine…

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

With all of the issues being discussed in this upcoming presidential election, the one that is not being talked about is this: fundamental change. Patch this, slap a Band-Aid on that, are you for or against gay marriage, and my answer to all of that is: really? Maybe even: really really?

This is the worst economic downturn in America and the world since the Great Depression. In some ways it’s even worse than the Great Depression because this isn’t just cyclical, it’s systemic. It isn’t just that we’re running out of gas and we’ll be fine when we can manage to find that gas station and fill the tank. It’s that the engine of the car and of the country is malfunctioning and there is no fixing it, at least not as easily as just doing a fill up.

The country’s manufacturing base is mostly gone. No more steel mills, no more electronics manufacturing, car manufacturing is starting to rebound but will never be what it was when America reigned supreme in that area. Even Hollywood, the most American of all industries, though doing record business, is doing so only because they’re raising prices to try to make up for sagging attendance. How long can that go on? After all, by raising ticket prices the theaters are essentially punishing the people who do go to the movies to make up for all those who can’t be bothered anymore or who, quite simply, can’t afford it anymore.

Rents are starting to decline, vacancies are rising. People are still losing their houses and the banks are refusing to make loans with the money they got from taxpayers. Homeless numbers are rising. Real unemployment (not the phony unemployment rate politicians use) is about 12 percent and that does not include those who are underemployed. An engineer working at Wal-Mart for $15 an hour is not buying new furniture or new cars, and that causes even more unemployment when furniture manufacturers and retailers lay off and close because of a lack of purchases from all those Wal-Mart employees/former engineers.

What do we do? We change, but change is the one thing no one, especially the politicians (including Obama and Romney) seem willing to even consider much less effect. First, we need to stop our $5 billion-a-day oil habit. That’s what it costs us to import oil. A billion dollars a day. If you had the choice of deciding whether to allow gay marriage or a new health plan on the one hand, or switching from the oil standard to some form of renewable energy, which would you do? Right. Then why aren’t our politicians doing it? Because the voters aren’t forcing them to.
Bottom line, as it always is, is that people get the government they deserve. And people do not deserve better than the pathetic Obama or the frightening Romney unless they’re willing to vote for someone other than two parties that have shown themselves to be incompetent at best and totally corrupt at worst.

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

I’m 55 years old. Not an old man but no longer a kid either (except perhaps compared to Larry King…). I’ve lived and continue to live an incredibly blessed life. It’s had its… interesting moments, but this morning was one of my better ones, when I found out from one of my best friends that his wife does not have breast cancer as was feared and that she will be fine. And the smile I have on my face right now is not one of my forced smiles that I use to perk myself up and to get through the day, it is a genuine smile of joy. I thank the universe for my friend’s good fortune, because my friends’ blessings are automatically my own.

I’m in discussions with a number of producers about one of my scripts, “Storefront,” and it’s looking more and more like it’ll be “when” it gets produced and not “if” it gets produced, which is very nice, of course. I’ll be deciding by the end of June on which of the various excellent production companies I co-produce the script with. It’ll be my first producer credit and we’ll probably end up taking the finished film through the festival circuit. I’m hoping we do Telluride and Sundance at least, and maybe TIFF (Toronto) and also Tribeca, four of the festivals I’ve wanted to attend or return to. Telluride especially, simply because it is the most beautiful place I’ve been to in my entire life, and because one of my screenplays won an award in that stunning village 8 years ago and it’d be so sweet to come back with an actual film rather than just a script this time.

I think this year will one of great change for me, might move to a different house, maybe even a different town, will definitely get something produced, hopefully not just “Storefront” but even just that one would be nice, change is in the air and I welcome it, as long as it’s positive of course. And even if it doesn’t seem positive, there really is a silver lining to most clouds, the trick is to be patient enough to find it.

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

I think I mentioned in a previous blog just how odd Hollywood is, and that one of the problems is that Hollywood does not, as pro sports leagues do, use any kind of farm system that finds and fosters new screenwriting talent and projects. If I may say so, I’m a prime example.

One of my scripts, “Storefront” just won one of the biggest screenwriting competitions in Canada. Another script, “Spokes,” is in the semi-finals of a big American contest, the Bankable Script competition. Yet another script is currently in the quarter finals of the big Fade In screenwriting competition. Last year I had a first, second and official selection at the big Action on Film festival, semi-final at several other competitions - none of which are the Oscars or Golden Globes, but still… where is the interest from the “majors” here?

Zip. Nada. I was a writer on a feature that was shortlisted for a Best Picture Oscar. I wrote a script that John McTiernan (“Die Hard,” “Predator,” “Hunt for Red October”) attached himself to direct before his legal troubles sidelined him, co-wrote a script that is in pre-production and fully funded at $25 million. Can’t even get an agent, much less a pitch meeting with a producer.

And you have to know there are writers a lot better than I am out there who are in a similar situation. Hollywood is a closed shop. Which is ironic, because the talent and great scripts are out here, outside the friggin’ walls, and until they let that drawbridge down and raise the gates at least a little, we’ll keep getting “Battleship” and “John Carter” bombs and endless crappy remakes and adaptations and reboots and sequels with less creativity than a fifth grader trying to justify a bad report card to his parents. And Hollywood’s report card stinks. Why? Because it keeps the talent on the outside and the accountants and execs on the inside.

Not always. There are the occasional good, and very occasional great film, but to say those are the exceptions is to understate the problem by a long shot.

Get out from behind the Hollywood barricades, guys and gals, or at least let the talented outsiders in once in a while.

Otherwise? Hollywood, dead man walking, the sequel… or remake… or reboot… or adaptation… or prequel… or…

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

I just found out that I won an apparently major Canadian screenwriting competition (you’d think that as a Canadian I’d know whether the competition was major or not, but I’ve been away from my native country too long to be familiar with the film industry up there). It’s nice, not just because it’s supposedly a big competition, not just because it’s really quite nice to get recognition from my fellow Canucks, but also because the prize is that my script gets a taped, staged reading with some of the top professional actors in Canada in Toronto at the end of June, in front of a packed house that apparently includes many Canadian producers.

When I told some of my friends about the contest win, one of them, Toni, wondered how I manage to do so much: screenplays, novels, writing assignments, non-fiction books, along with a full-time day gig. It’s funny because I’ve actually slowed down in the past two or three months after the most amazingly creative period in my entire life. There was an 18 month period during which I wrote six or seven screenplays, did a major writing assignment on a script that is now in pre-production, a non-fiction book, and a novel, which for me at least is absolutely astonishing.

Then I kind of hit a wall about two or three months ago. I forced myself to keep writing, because… well… just because, and I’ve actually finished the first draft of a new script, adapted one of my novels to screenplay and did some work on a couple of other ideas, but compared to what I’d done in the previous year and a half it was actually a slow-down. It almost felt like a manic swing of a bipolar condition, or at least from what I’ve read that it’s like - just this amazing, effortless churning out of writing, including “Storefront” which is the one that just won the contest, so it wasn’t just quantity but apparently quality too. I’m not bipolar and certainly wouldn’t want to be, but this one period gave me a taste of that wild upswing in creativity and energy.

I desperately want to attend the staged reading in Toronto (this script has had one previous taped staged reading), but it’ll depend on how I’m doing with my latest writing assignment (I’ve just been hired to adapt a novel by an East Coast producer). I have only six weeks to do the entire adaptation, so it all depends on how far I am into it as to whether I can afford to take a weekend off to fly up, but I’d like to.

If I do manage to go, I’ll try to blog about it either during or after the staged reading.

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

Just learned my micro budget script, “Storefront” was a winner of the Canadian WILDsound screenwriting competition and will be staged with some of Toronto’s best actors next month. It’s particularly nice to have my home country recognize my work.

“Storefront” is about a confirmed bachelor with a deadly fear of commitment, who is threatened with death unless he marries the next woman he meets.

My production company, Surf City Films, is co-producing “Storefront” and seeking funding and a co-producer.

Estimated budget for “Storefront” is $145,000, though I have it on good authority that it can be done for as little as $85,000.

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

I’m certainly not saying anything shockingly new when I opine that the American film industry is one of the world’s oddest industries. Rules are different here in Hollywood (not sure what the rules are for Bollywood, Nollywood and other film industries around the world - who knows, they may even be logical and practical). Here’s one of my favorites: low budget scripts are harder to sell than higher budget scripts. There’s actually a very good reason for that seemingly illogical rule, however.

You see, there are really four general kinds of costs when making a film: above the line, below the line, P&A, and distribution. Above the line means the cost of hiring directors and actors, as well as fees for producers and writers. Below the line means all the rest of the cast, from DPs to Ads, grips, best boys, lighting, sound, costumes, makeup, hair, etc. etc. P&A stands for Prints and Advertising. Prints are the physical copies of the film that you make from the original film. These are the prints that go to the theaters and are used to show the actual film at those theaters. Now one note: as theaters go from analog to digital display, the cost of prints will plummet, because instead of spending up to $2,000 for every single print (for as many as 4,000 screens), the cost will be the few cents it costs to make a DVD of the original film. Advertising is the cost of advertising your film on posters, perhaps on television or newspapers, etc. Distribution is the fee you pay to theaters or other venues to show your film.

So, why are cheap films harder to make? Well, because as it stands now, the cost of P&A are so high for even an inexpensive film, that for low budget films can create a situation where the cost of P&A far outstrips the cost of the original film. For example, Robert Rodriguez’ film “Desperado,” for example, began as a $7,000 micro budget film. The studio bought it and the had to spend $2 million on P&A, but the film didn’t do well because it had no stars in it and the production quality of course was minimal. So what seemed like a bargain, a feature film shot for $7,000, ended up losing the studio money.

Another reason is that lower budget films can’t manage the production values of more expensive films nor the name actors, so that they end up having a hard time pulling in an audience. Finally, lower budget films have a harder time attracting investors, for all the aforementioned reasons. So you may have a fine little script with a $100,000 budget for instance, and not be able to get it made because no-one wants to take a chance on it and no-one can see a way to make money off it.

Another seeming illogical rule of the American film industry is that the industry is built to discourage new talent. Now this one may actually be illogical, LOL. There’s actually a role model that Hollywood might want to look at: professional sports. Most pro sports have a farm system in place that is built to not just find talent but foster it and funnel it to the pro level. And it works incredibly well.

Hollywood has a farm system like that… kind of, consisting of the various screenwriting competitions and screenwriting schools/programs throughout the country. But Hollywood doesn’t use that system. Why aren’t the winners of the top screenwriting competition being hired or mentored by the studios and/or major production companies? Why aren’t the winning scripts being developed instead of the crap that’s being produced now? Why aren’t leading producers and studio execs visiting the film schools to scout for talent and great screenplays?

The biggest load of crap in Hollywood is that there are so few great scripts. Bullshit. The truth is that there are so few great scripts that make it through the nearly impenetrable Hollywood submission system. It’s not that they’re not out there, it’s that Hollywood won’t let them in here.

But, there is very little incentive to change - audiences still show up, even if in diminishing numbers, and the studios and distributors make up for the slightly shrinking audiences by raising prices so that every year is a record year despite the shrinking number of tickets sold. And now they have 3D which allows them to hike the prices even higher. But there is a diminishing return, and the ever increasing prices is slowly eroding the customer base even further.

We’ve seen it before: huge companies and entire industries slowly wiped out by their own inability to adapt. Netscape. Department stores like Sears and Kmart and Montgomery Ward. Hollywood would certainly be one of the biggest industries to go under, but it’s possible if they keep taking the audiences for granted and refuse to adapt to the changing times. With digital filmmaking and digital display capabilities growing world-wide (more than half of the theaters in the U.S. will be displaying film digitally by the end of 2012), and with growing streaming capabilities, it may soon be the case that the film industry goes the way of the book industry: a market flooded with cheaply made product bypassing traditional distribution channels.

We’ll see. And yes, I did go to the movies this past weekend. And as usual it was at best okay and at worst horrible. Typical Hollywood fare.

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

Had a great long weekend. Busy, did a lot, spent a ton of money on new furniture without even knowing what we’re doing with the old furniture, LOL, ate and drank way too much, went cycling for the first time in literally years, enjoyed my beautiful So Cal beach town, and even did some writing on “Making Gone,” my truly bizarre and in some ways disturbing but never boring new script.

Prepping for a new writing assignment that’ll begin sometime this week when the first payment arrives. Adapting a novel, which I haven’t done in a while; looking forward to it.

Still adjusting to what I knew was inevitable: the Lakers losing. Way too dysfunctional to win, really, and the dysfunction starts with the star, Kobe, and extends outward. I may be wrong but I think the most well-adjusted person on the team is Pau Gasol, and he’s being blamed the most, because they pushed him out of his position to make way for the bull in a China shop, Andrew Bynum, the crown prince of dysfunction, with so much unrealized potential he could run for President. And after pushing Pau out of his position they then bitched that he wasn’t playing as well as he did while in his position. Whaaaaat?

Trade Bynum, not Pau. That’s what I say, for whatever that’s worth. I know, I know: if you don’t like basketball you’re going to hate today’s blog. Get over it. I’m a Canadian and I learned to love basketball, so you can too.

But, anyway, luckily there’s a back-up plan: the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics, two teams so old that they make the Lakers look like spring chickens, and yet somehow they managed to make it to the finals while the Lakers moped their way to the nearest bar. The Spurs, especially, built around three decrepit stars who just keep performing, not bitching, not whining, just doing their job to the best of their abilities and putting the team first. Not only is there no “me” in “team,” there’s no “L.A.” in “team.”

Oh well, that’s about it for today, shallow as piss on a plate, I know, but all I got at 7:38 in the morning on a Monday - sorry, Tuesday.

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

Do you know what I do in the morning? I mean besides scratching my hairy old ass, burping, peeing, occasionally farting (and yes I know how incredibly sexy all that sounds)? I force a smile on my face.

I wake up when the fucking alarm clock goes off with a sound that makes an elephant’s trumpeting howl sound warm and fuzzy, I slam my hand down on that poor beaten-up old clock radio, feel like shit for the moment it takes me to remember to smile, and I force that motherfucking smile onto my face and get on with my day. I do affirmations throughout the day. I listen to positive thinking subliminal CDs on the drive into and from work. I do tapping (EFT) in time to the subliminal CDs. I take a 2.5 mile walk every lunch hour and think “success” over and over and over in my mind during that walk.

Today I learned that one of my very best friends’ wife may have breast cancer. I won’t say too much more because I don’t want any of my other friends to recognize who he is - he’s chosen to tell me and only me and I have to honor that.

The smile’s gone for now. You see, I can march through the mud and shit in my own life, but when one of my friends falls or sinks into it, a forced smile just seems… selfish.

When I get up from my desk to go get my umpteenth cup of coffee, I’ll plaster that smile back on my face, but it’ll be for my co-workers, not for me.

My friend, may God bless you and your lovely wife and may this somehow be for the best, though it is beyond our ability to see that far or imagine that big. This may be the hardest thing you ever face, but you are a hero and a champion and I know you will see it through and be by her side. Yours is the life, character, strength, passion, and love, of a hero.

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

Today’s might be more of a blahhhhg than a blog, not because I’m depressed but rather just thoughtful about things in general and about jobs and career specifically. I have a great day gig, I really do, and a tremendous boss and wonderful co-workers in a brand new building in a growing, thriving company, all of which gives me something rather rare these days: relative job security and a good salary. I should be happy and most of the time I am. And even when I’m not completely thrilled about life, I’m not really that far down the happiness ladder.

Still and all, once in a while I think everyone looks around to see where they are on that happiness ladder, and where they are in the world and in their lives. Are there even better opportunities out there? Is it time to re-evaluate their life plan, their career progress, and whether it’s time to make a change of course. In sailing it’s called a Critical Path. A boat will naturally veer from one side to another and the captain has to constantly bring it back on course. That middle course between port and starboard wanderings is called the Critical Path. It’s also the name of a brilliant Buckminster Fuller book but that’s neither here nor there.

So how is our critical path doing ? Are we still on that path? Should we be on that path or do we need to plot a new course for ourselves? Move to another industry, or another position within the industry we’re already in? Try to turn a hobby into a career? Start our own business? Move to another city where there might be more opportunity? Start scouting competitors in our current industry to see if we can get, if nothing else, at least more money for what we do?

And then there’s job satisfaction. Actually that should come first. Or, at worst, second to pay (hard to be satisfied if you don’t make enough to pay your bills). Am I there? Well, I’ve been trying to turn a hobby into a career for many decades now and have accepted at least the possibility that that might not happen, at least accepted it to the point at which I’m not about to slit my wrists if I don’t ever become a full-time screenwriter or novelist, or even get majorly depressed. So the only other change I’m really looking at is whether I can move back into the film industry in a non-writing capacity - development executive, screenwriting teacher, story editor, perhaps.

It’s a young man’s game and I’m no longer young, at least not in body, though in heart I am forever young and enthusiastic and excited by story and film and novels and writing in general. But still, it’s hard to disguise wrinkles with just enthusiasm, so who knows?

Sometimes though, it’s worth just looking around, even if no real change is made. If nothing else, it gives us perspective on things and maybe even just makes us grateful when we see that we’re higher up that happiness ladder than we used to be, or maybe just higher up than most other people are in this economy.

Ciao.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist (“Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds” and “God Wars: Living with Angels”, available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books (“The Screenwriting Formula” and “How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies” available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC’s prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.