Designed By Committee
A typical day in Hollywood :
Movie Exec 1 : Okay people, Shrek 3 is coming out soon, so we need to start work on another one of those animated movies so we can get the trailer attached.Movie Exec 2 : A farting troll!
Movie Exec 3 : A nose-picking goblin!
Movie Exec 4 : I’ll get Chris Tucker’s agent on the phone to see if he wants to read for the trash-talkin’ sidekick.
Movie Exec 5 : …and we can end it all with a cover of “Daydream Believer”.
ALL : Perfect!
Movie Exec 1 : NOO!! We’ve got to come up with something original here. We need to step outside the box and come up with the next big thing.
Movie Exec 4 : How about…penguins?
Movie Exec 3 : And they surf!
Movie Exec 5 : Cowabunga, dude!
ALL : HAHAHAHAH!!!
Movie Exec 2 : I think I can get James Woods and Jeff Bridges!
Movie Exec 5 : …and we can end it all with a 13-year old Green Day song!
Movie Exec 1 : Perfect! People love penguins. You’ve got a green light as long as you call it Surf’s Up and make sure it’s out in time for summer vacation.
Maybe for the sequel, they can make a movie about a ragtag group of anthropomorphic animals from that invades the world of humans. That’s only been done 5 or 6 times recently.
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Christ, it took 25+ years to get a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie made. You can’t tell me they were working on another shitty penguin cartoon in 1980.
Comment by Scott — May 21, 2007 @ 10:22 pm
I can tell you from personal experience that it’s never, ever that easy. Of course, it is fun to sit around the table and pitch out the stupidest idea you can think of. What’s more fun is talking to money people about it. :P
Comment by Damien — May 22, 2007 @ 3:45 am
That is pretty much the way it is over at the Sci-Fi Channel.
Comment by Kryten Syxx — May 22, 2007 @ 5:34 am
I remember watching that trailer and thinking. This is a parody video, right?
I have lots of great ideas for movies. But as Damien said, getting the money people on board? Different story. My favorite example of this, “The Big Picture.” One person said, “When you see dreck you think? “Why can’t my crappy movie get made?” Because you don’t have dreck AND money.
Comment by spocko — May 22, 2007 @ 1:15 pm
Hey, Kristen, it’s funny you should say that about Sci-Fi, I’ve got to pitch them on a show. Do you work there? Drop me a line if so.
Comment by Damien — May 22, 2007 @ 3:36 pm
Is it going to be an example of great cinema? Of course not. Is it likely to be remembered more than two weeks later by anyone over 12 whose seen it? Of course not. But that’s not the point. It’s a kid flick, and while there are occasional great children’s films that a wonders of originality, sometimes all kids want is to chomp some popcorn and have a good giggle or two. Surf’s Up isn’t something I have any particular desire to see, but my daughter will likely enjoy it, and I’m not going to begrudge her a little eye candy and silliness. One of the first things you learn as a parent (unless you’re one of the whack jobs who lives in flashcards-for-infants and schedule-’em-to-the-gills land) is that sometimes it’s good for kids to just enjoy something that’s silly.
Comment by Armagh444 — May 22, 2007 @ 8:26 pm
hey, forget that penguin crap, let’s do one about a rat in paris that’s a chef! kids will love it, because they’ll relate to it so well!
as for sci-fi channel, i’ve wanted to write a parody movie about cognitive genetic intelligence experiments that go wrong, and call it “bad cgi - a sci-fi original”
Comment by skippy — May 23, 2007 @ 9:45 pm
Hey man, don’t knock Pixar. Their films are generally more creative, better written, and don’t talk down to their audiences or assume they’re all hyperactive morons like most cartoons do.
Comment by Pai — June 11, 2007 @ 6:59 pm