Big news this week - development for the promotional video is underway!!!
First a little background. For someone with no industry experience, I have been blessed - and more than a bit lucky - to run across some amazingly talented people. One of the first was Ethan Hunter, a screenwriter and producer from Wilmington, NC.
How does one with lofty aspirations but no connections find a screenwriter? Go to the Google!
I knew Wilmington was likely my best bet for local talent, so I googled “screenwriters wilmington nc”. A lot of stuff popped up, but about halfway down was an entry for an Ethan Hunter on LinkedIn. He posted a few things he had written and they were a bit quirky and very clever - exactly what I was going for. And he also listed a few movies he had worked on, one of which - Suicide for Beginners - was available on Amazon. So I rented the movie, gave it a watch, and… absolutely loved it! It is extremely funny, more than a bit dark, and very well produced. [It also has a cameo of Corey Feldman as a pot-smoking next door neighbor - a huge acting stretch for Corey haha - and features horror movie icon Sid Haig in his last acting role before his death.]
I thought to myself: I’ve got to connect with this guy. So I DM’d him on LinkedIn. Well, come to find out, Ethan rarely if ever uses his LinkedIn account. But on a fluke, he happened to check his messages and we were able to connect. Fast forward a few weeks and we are lunching, discussing our favorite fat white vampire, and eventually doing a deal to have Ethan adapt FWVB into a screenplay!
Okay, so what does this have to do with the promotional video? And why would a priest, a vampire and a bat go into a bar???
Well, Ethan did an incredible job on the FWVB adaptation. [Apparently, you don’t take a 300 page book and just make it verbatim into a movie - who knew? Oh, right, Ethan knew.] After reading the book, he was really able to pull out the essence of the main characters and plotlines while playing up - and significantly enhancing - the inherent comedy of the book. Come movie time, I think you all will love what Ethan has done!
One of the trickiest aspects of the adaptation was how to tell the story of Jules in a way that is engaging and entertaining. Rather than go with traditional linear storytelling, Ethan suggested to have Jules narrate the majority of the movie through flashbacks and voiceovers.
Here’s how it goes:
The climax of the movie is a fight to the (second) death between Jules and his antagonist Malice. Before heading off to the big battle, Jules decides to pop into St. Joseph Catholic Church to right some wrongs through one last confession.
So the movie starts with a vampire in a church, trying to give a confession. Comedic gold! But vampires in church are flammable - again, who knew - so the vampire and the priest end up in a bar. Comedic genius!! And this is how story of Jules unfolds, told to a priest in a bar through first person narration.
Time for my own confession: I lied, there’s no bat in the bar. Or at least no explicit mention of a bat in the bar, although I suppose anything is possible. But there definitely will be a bat in the movie - and in the promo!
Which brings me back, finally, to the promotional video. Remember I mentioned the movie Suicide for Beginners? Well, Ethan had a partner on that movie - producer and director Craig Thieman. I will highlight Craig in another post, but Ethan & Craig have developed a script and a plan to start production in October. With real (stand-in) actors, special effects, vampires & priests in bars, and yes, a fat bat! It’s going to be fun to see and a real milestone on the road to bring Jules to the big screen. I can’t wait to share it with you when it’s done!!!
SP