This is the book and TV business, chasing people with a following because they can't develop anything good on their own.   This guy returns from San Diego to Los Angeles, lives with his profane dad and puts stuff up on Twitter.  Quotes every three four days.  Gets 1.2 million people following him.

Justin Halpern
shitmydadsays.tumblr.com
Move back in with your parents, commit your 74-year-old father’s obscenity-strewn wisdoms to text, post them on Twitter and, if you’re Justin Halpern, end up with 1,288,000 followers, a book deal and a show on CBS. Halpern started after he moved home from LA to San Diego last year. “You look just like Stephen Hawking… Relax, I meant like a non-paralysed version of him. Feel better? Fine. Forget I said it.”

Apple has done much to change the film industry with its Final Cut Pro software including the editing software, DVD production software, Motion and its other technology.

Check out this chart to see where they get the Revenue - and where the technology is going.

Writers have been hidden in the film process for many years.  Their names may be known among industry professionals at the studios and Lit agencies, but not among the public.  They too felt the keen intrusion of technology earlier than most film industry professionals.  When personal computers were invented in the early 1980's, their craft was opened up to thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people.   These aspiring writers simply thought, "I type, therefore I can write."

Incorrect.

The operation of a mechanical-electronic device - a computer - does not necessarily make one a writer.   A writer studies and practices the form and the practice of writing.   Screenwriting is the most susceptible to this technology creep of familiarity.  There's lots of empty space in a film script that one doesn't have to worry about and, besides, everybody who has seen a movie can write a movie, right? The WGA noted that there are 80,000 submissions a year to their writing registration service.   Almost 7,000 finished scripts a month.  That's a lot of competition.

Everybody who has listened to music, can play play a musical instrument, right?

Everybody who has driven a vehicle, can drive a NASCAR race car, right?

Not quite the same.  Screenwriting is changing permanently.

Screenwriters dancing the one-step

Producers, studios get a pass on script rewrite fees

Rewrite gigs are a gold mine for the top tier of scribes, but for many other writers, a twist on an old motto rings true: Will work for free.

For writers who have sold a script or landed an assignment, studios have gone from making deals that included a traditional first draft, two sets of revisions and a polish to what are called "one-step" deals. It's essentially payment for that first draft, with fees for additional work left to be determined.

This video is an interesting reference on the various elements of stock footage, animation and interviews.  I'm going to use it for "In Harm's Way".

I've found some fun articles on this website, dedicated to Old Hollywood.  The Florentine Gardens was a good one which described the old days of Radio and Hollywood.

DearOldHollywood.com

While I thought that Borat was a wildly funny film and didn't see Bruno, the most recent Sacha Baron Cohen movie was getting pitched at a number of studios by some well-known comedy writers.

In a rare piece of 'Show' in 'Show Business', the head of Paramount, Brad Grey, sent an actual goat to both WME and its client, Sascha Baron Cohen.   An actual goat.   And it must've been a well-trained goat because it took a dump in t

he agent's office.   If it takes one in a lawyer's office (the bane of the industry), then it would be a very well-trained goat.   Suffice to say that showmanship goes a long way because it looks like Cohen and WME are going with Paramount.

Paramounts gets the Goat of both WME and Cohen

In the heyday of holiday, all sorts of publicity gimmicks were used to get attention for films.  Some were certainly cheap and over the top - but publicity was limited then to newspapers and radio.  Now it's all the internet with everybody hashing it all out. Media saturation.