WORKING OUTSIDE

LegalDispatch 0.32

Howdy.

Temperatures in LA have declined from their previously-apocalyptic levels, so I’m taking the opportunity to work outside today. It’s glorious.

WELCOME

For reasons totally mysterious to me, this past week has seen a not insignificant spike in subscribers. To those new to these dispatches, welcome and thank you for joining. If there are any particular subjects of interest that you’d like me to cover — and this goes for all of you, really — please sound off in the comments. It would be my pleasure to oblige.

THIS PAST WEEK

With little exception, this past week has been consumed with moving forward on the screenplay for Too Dead To Die. I often juggle so many projects that it feels like an actual indulgence when I’m able to devote almost my entire attention to a single story. It’s a delight to spend so much time with Simon Cross and his daughter Lily. Their relationship is the bedrock of Too Dead To Die and the characters are coming to life for me on the page.

No doubt this is the case because Howard Chaykin has rendered them so wonderfully in the graphic novel. Here’s a random, unlettered page from our upcoming publication just for fun:

Art by Howard Chaykin. Colors by Gustavo Yen.

SPEAKING OF ART…

…I just got in the first three pages of Star Wars: Revelations from the incomparable

Salvador Lacrocca. I wish I could share them here, but that’s not within my purview. Still, they are — like Salva’s pages always are — stunning and remarkable. You’re all in for a treat come November.

LIFE’S WORK

David Milch served as co-showrunner of Hill Street Blues in its last two seasons, co-created NYPD Blue, consulted on Murder One, created Deadwood, and wrote a host of brilliant scripts. He’s just released a memoir, Life’s Work, that I’ve just started reading and it is a stunning achievement in writing. His gift for dialogue is brought wonderfully to bear in talking about himself and describing events in his life. The way he plays the English language like a finely-tuned instrument makes you long for the parallel universe where he went into prose rather than TV.

Simply put, I can’t recommend this book enough. If you’re a fan of his writing, you’ll be fascinated. If you’re a fan of writing, you’ll be ensorcelled.

Oh, and what makes this book even more remarkable is that Mr. Milch has written it while in the grip of Alzheimer’s.

It’s available for purchase on (where else?) Amazon.

OTHER THINGS THIS WEEK

As I alluded earlier, I’m biologically incapable of working on only a single thing. And so, despite my aforementioned focus on Too Dead To Die, this week has also been dedicated to completing LucasFilm’s notes on Star Wars: Revelations, reviewing the letters for Han Solo & Chewbacca #7, submitting a short pitch for a potential new television project (let’s call it PROJECT HONDA), and if all goes according to plan for the rest of the day, I’ll also ship out a proposal for a new creator-owned comic.

NEXT WEEK

Next week, I expect my focus to remain on Too Dead To Die. That said, I just received an outline in connection with PROJECT MARBLE that needs reviewing. In addition, I’m determined to get a few more proposals/pitches off my desk.

Yes, there’s been a lot of pitching/proposaling (?) going on for me lately. This work has been concentrated in the areas of television and comic books (though one of the proposals I owe is neither). It’s a phase I not only find myself in, but many of my peers as well, lately. In other words, a lot of unpaid work. Such is the nature of the entertainment business.

I see a fair amount of conversation bubbling up online about the idea of film and television writers getting paid for pitches. The idea, while interesting and possessing a dollop of fairness, is nevertheless fraught with potential impact from the Law of Unintended Consequences. I haven’t fully thought this issue out — haven’t come close — but my gut tells me that pitches-for-pay would negatively impact beginning and so-called “middle class” writers, as producers and studios direct their development dollars towards writers with more experience who are, therefore, deemed to be more of a “safe bet” for said dollars.

But like I said, I haven’t really kicked the tires on the whole thing and, therefore, am speaking out of my ass.

I can’t think of a more appropriate note to end on than “speaking out of my ass” so that is where I shall leave you for this week.

I’ll be traveling next week — College Tour, Part 2 — so I’m not sure if I’ll be putting out an edition of LegalDispatch next Friday. We’ll see.

Be good to each other.

Best,

Marc

Encino, California

9.16.22