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Word around town is that Sony Pictures has paid $3 million for White House Down, an action drama spec script by James Vanderbilt, the scribe behind the studio’s summer tentpole The Amazing Spider-Man. Can’t think of a spec that sold for more this year. The film will be produced by Mythology’s Brad Fischer, Vanderbilt and Laeta Kalogridis. WME made the deal. Vanderbilt’s script work includes Zodiac, he’s adapting Red Riding for Steve Zaillian’s Film Rites and Ridley Scott, and is doing a production rewrite on Robocop.
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That kicks ass. Vanderbilt kicks ass, and a booming spec market is great for us all.
In summary: Kick ass.
I’ve read both. Vanderbilt has ripped off Olympus. He should be sued for 3 million.
Didn’t this spec already sell three weeks ago to Millennium? It was called Olympus is Down back then. Damn, now even specs are getting recycled.
Sounds like Vanderbilt is in the Shane Black league. Much respect to someone that finishes something on their own first and then sells it.
Good writer, crap films..
So, Die Hard in the White House is worth 3 million?
With a last name like that, I’m sure he needs the money…kidding, congrats Jamie!
Is it an epidemic that many of our screenwriters today are born very rich with very little struggle and equally little talent yet the success rate doesn’t match? In other words are executives just happy to know these rich kids in case they need a job someday? Vanderbilt, Benioff, Hamburg, Mazin….oh the list is long. The top 1% of screenwriters is made up of 80% of kids with family net worths over $10 million. Is that strange? A new form of nepotism. I know when I worked at CAA how many rich kids were in for meeting yet their ability was not enough for them to be in the building. Yet every agent wanted to befriend them. False security? I watch a writer struggle for years until he hooked up with a connected rich kid. Then they became top screenwriters. The deals always come but the work doesn’t justify the deal. What happened to the great writer like Paul Schrader, Robert Towne, Paddy, who wrote to write great stories? Where is the Deadline story on why rich kids become screenwriters?
Jane: nobody wants to hear or even consider your ridiculous and compelling argument. The system is NOT broken, it works fine works fine works fine works fine works fine works fine works fine works fine works fine wrks fie wrx flnmwrkzshdkmm
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(C:)
You actually raise a great issue; the industry needs to take a look at the emergence and dominance of the Trust Fund Screenwriter (especially on the feature side of things) and consider whether on the whole this is a good thing.
The issue isn’t so much the sheen of being rich and connected (although that always helps), it’s that NO ONE IN THIS TOWN PAYS THE WRITER and it has become virtually impossible to spend the years it takes finding your sea legs (learning the craft, generating material, forging relationships) unless Mommy and Daddy are paying your rent.
No one pays for development. No one pays any real money for options. No one pays for rewrites. Young writers’ entire lives are basically done on spec now. Who can afford to do that for the three to five years it often takes to find stable work as a writer? Rich kids.
This town has fallen to a default position of essentially having writers subsidize development by asking them to eat and pay rent and churn out product but not paying them for any of it, and before long the town is going to be left with one type of writer to choose from.
And yes, you can see it. You can tell. You can tell when you take five consecutive meetings with kids fresh out of USC or NYU with $150,000 degrees they didn’t pay for and you know don’t have to worry about paying rent from their own pocket for the foreseeable future. Yes, you tend to get a certain type of product from these writers. It tends to reflect the fact that they’ve sure seen a lot of movies.
I would love to find the voices that reflect a diversity of experience, but it’s becoming rarer and rarer. Diablo Cody is a wonderful example — but what writer in her position could afford to live in LA two to three years taking meetings and writing and not earning in the meantime?
Sigh. I think I have another Trust Fund Scribe waiting…
I rep writers.
If you really think JV and Hamburg and Benioff have little ability, and you know writers of greater ability that are overlooked and need representation, please name them and provide their email addresses here. I will happily contact and read the work of anyone who you think is more talented than the list of guys you mentioned.
I agree about all except for Mazin.
I just think it’s hilarious that you left Mazin’s name off when you repeated Ted’s list.
Jane’s list, I meant. I will also add (just so this isn’t a totally useless post) that I always hear about “rich kid” screenwriters who don’t get anywhere because they can’t write.
I did not name Craig Mazin because he’s the one guy I haven’t read on that list. No offense, Craig.
No one is saying JV or Hamburg or Benioff have little ability, we’re talking about THE TYPE of writer who has A CHANCE to succeed in the current climate. I’m sure the captains of the yachts who race around the globe are talented sailors, but only a certain segment of the population gets a chance to ever captain a yacht. That’s what we’re talking about here. Is the trust fund screenwriter trend (it is unquestionably a trend) a good or bad or indifferent thing for the industry as a whole?
I worked at one of the big three agencies for a year, it was the worst year of my life. Went on to have a great agency career at a mid-size agency.
This is all tooo true. Come on dude, you know it is.
Ted H. – Thank you. I wrote that in the middle of my sleep so it wasn’t all on point by you got the gist.
Challenge – here’s the kicker. At the agency we had specs read different times. One knowing the writer and what kind of family they were from and then another time as anonymous. Every single time that the writer was known by his family he got a coverage to meet. He had interest. When the same script was anonymous 99% of the time it was passed on altogether.
It’s the American Idol mentality. If they are on TV they are good. Most of the time they are not. They are good mimics. Not originals. Not talents. That’s what Trust Fund Screenwriters (thanks Ted) are today. They mimic stuff. Sound cool. Play the game. But what we lose as an industry is great material or at least less of it gets through because these Trust Fund Screenwriters take up space.
I’ve done my homework. Sort of a hobby but I may actually be writing it as an article for a major media outlet. The numbers are devastating. The quality of output is D yet they are A+ writers. It doesn’t add up. I think this is going to become a big question in the coming year as media outlets start picking up on it. I’m sure Deadline will at some point do that article.
Go down your list of top screenwriters. Do your homework. You will see most are Trust Fund kids. And most, unlike Benioff, have written great material. I have no problem with them getting in the door. But if they get in they better damn write something great to keep them at the top.
Thank you.
PLEASE write this article.
Yes PLEASE!
@ challenge — OK, say you find an undiscovered gem of a talented feature writer from a working class background and you sign him today. Great. Are you putting him in a new house on Monday?
No, you’re sending him off on meetings to start with. Then you’re sending him off to work on spec. Then you’re sending him off to “build relationships,” then you’re back to sending him out to develop on spec with the relationships he’s building. This is all great, but this all TAKES TIME. A lot of time. Years, on average. In the meantime how is this writer putting food in his mouth and affording to live in LA?
This talented non-trust fund writer has a shot, great, he’s still not getting paid until one of his films goes into production and you know that could be years from the moment you sign him. This is assuming he’s still able to afford a house and health insurance and living expenses in Los Angeles off the zero dollars he’s generating while you’re building his career over the course of these years. The lightning strike spec sales by unknown writers are great, we all know those are the exception, not the rule. The rule is hard work over a span of years. Not months.
Right on, Ted! Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I am a working feature and TV writer from a working class background. It’s been hell to break through. I have a lawyer, no reps.
I’m glad somebody finally had the balls to post this. His credits are a crappy horror flick, and three huge box office bombs. The problem is that agents really do still control the business, and most of them are corrupt and stupid asslickers. Hollywood survives not on original work, but on mining successful novels and comics, and an endless stream of sequels and remakes. This is how the undertalented, overpaid and connected can park themselves at the feeding trough. Schrader, Towne and Chayevsky made it on pure, raw talent and perseverance. Schrader drove around LA at night for years, and went alone to porno flix to smoke dope. He WAS Travis Bickle (without the murders). Vanderbilt was driven around LA in a limo.
I was born into a true middle class family on the East coast. Grew up dreaming to be a writer, got a good degree, got a good job (not writing or anything like it), moved out to LA, and continued working that job until I finally broke in with a spec sale. I now make more money than anyone in my family ever has, but am by no means a Benioff or a JVB.
Now that I’m here, I’m astounded as to how many of my “fellow” writers meet the above-criteria. Another successful writer friend who comes from similar modest roots refers to this as “the cared for.” Hollywood is teaming with “the cared for.” But they don’t work nearly hard enough because they don’t have the fear. Fear makes the caveman hunt. If I didn’t come up with the fear, I’m not sitting here in my underwear on a weekday posting on Deadline.
I’m an ultra-baby writer and I’m being, let’s call it, “subsidized.” It’s not an endless line of credit, my family is not ultra-wealthy, but my parents were successful professionals and we have enough. I am incredibly ambivalent about the whole thing, and it’s almost impossible for me to talk about without sounding either self-hating, hypocritical or ungrateful. I just try to be aware of my good fortune and I try to actually use it and not just take for granted that it’ll be there and so on.
This is an incredibly important subject though, not just about writing but about arts in this country in general.
With all due respect and curiosity, is it true that all those names you mention come from millionaire backgrounds? I’m skeptical when I skim Benioff’s wiki and see someone who appears to have lived a real life and actually, you know, created stuff. But I agree it’s a juicy topic worth exploring.
David Benioff’s father, Stephen Friedman, is the former head of Goldman Sachs.
you actually have no idea what you’re talking about. jamey was not handed any silver spoons contrary to what you assume and he’s worked his ass off for everything he has. he’s self made, truly and you shouldn’t shoot your mouth off without actually having any knowledge. so there.
I’ve known Jamie’s parents for years. They’re not rich. You people have no idea what you’re talking about. He made his own way with talent and good business sense and deserves every good thing that’s come to him.
You judge a man by his name and demonstrate your ignorance. I knew Jamie well in school and no one worked harder than him. His success comes as no surprise to anyone who knows him.
What’s the gist of this spec? Doesn’t really say.
Well said. I would love to read that piece. Execs fear of losing their jobs leading to cultivating these relationships is good copy. Please do it DH.
Hype. It will never get made.
Good Lord. I can only dream of the day when Deadline publishes an article about me and the nastiest thing anyone can think of to say is, ‘Man that dude already has too much money!”
You missed the point. It’s not the money you have. It’s the crap or mediocre you write.
Excuse the spelling errors. I’m posting on the go.
However don’t excuse my hunger for quality work and delicious burgers.
Most of the movies made nowadays are from scripts allocated from the trash at UCLA.
To put down David Benioff you have to hate structure an cinema. I’m the first hearty fella to hate on bad work.
His structure is perfect. His character and dialogue are wonderful and his tv show is the most anticipated event for nerds all around the world.
If you want to put down an authors work make sure he isn’t one of the greats.
Lastly, DB is a tall handsome man. Maybe you’re bitter because he has brains, looks and a gorgeous wife.
Boom!
Sorry but David Benioff has failed his way upwards. His track record is one of underperforming and outright disastrous movies. I think STAY may actually be the only produced film in cinema history where the spec purchase price was actually LESS than the box office gross. Seriously.
But he’s tall and rich and good-looking and sits at the cool kid’s table. So, there you have it.
STAY + KITE RUNNER + WOLVERINE = guy’s fucking BRILLIANT!!! How much can we pay him?
I think we owe a big thank you to Anonymous Jane!
Finally the truth is crashing out.
HW – you said it. Most people get one chance. If they fail they go no further. Why do Trust Fund Screenwriters get a second chance, a third chance. WHY?
As for Benioff, he’s definitely not the one to pick on here though. 25th Hour was a well written script. The Trust Fund in him is what made Stay, a awful script (coverage was awful), such a big sale. So since he is a Trust Fund Screenwriter and execs. want to stay near him his crap keeps him moving forward.
How many tries does someone get before we give others a chance? And the tries they are getting are for life altering money.
It’s a shame. I was recently reading a book interviewing Schrader, Town, Goldman etc., and everything they discuss is the antithesis of these Trust Fund Writers today. But, the writers like to look like writers. Does seem to me the Trust Fund part of it makes for good socializing and good producing.
Keep the comments coming. We’ve hit the Truth nerve.
@ Anonymous — OK, Benioff has produced respectable work (25th HOUR), but the hype surrounding him is completely out of proportion with his track record and proven abilities. People act like he is the Writing God From On High and are so desperate to work with him it’s embarrassing — and yes, it is in large part because his daddy was Mr. Goldman Sachs and oh my God he was a fucking BOUNCER he’s so tough and cool and he’s married to a hot actress and is friends with Marc Forster and did we mention his daddy was Mr. Goldman Sachs?
It’s not because of WOLVERINE or KITE RUNNER or STAY or BROTHERS. That’s a middling track record at best for a writer who’s had every advantage at his disposal. It’s not the track record of Anointed Writing God.
Have you ever read Benioff’s draft of Wolverine? Not everything is Tom Rothman’s fault.
I have many friends who just graduated from USC and they paid their $150,000 with loans and work to pay rent (or take out loans) and try and write as much as they can. Sone work as assistants and managed to sell a pilot 2 years after graduating. This notion that film students are rich and comfortable is far from the truth. At least at the MFA level where many are more mature and can from modest backgrounds.
We have had USC writers win the Nicholl and get on the black list in recent years. They are not heirs to million dollar companies as far as I know.
The issue raised here about rich connected writers is new and interesting to me and if it is true its a real shame.
Yes there are plenty of talented and hard-working writers that fit the profile you just described. HOWEVER — how long are they going to be able to keep doing this? One year? Two years? When do they actually need things like, you know, health insurance, or god forbid, want to start a family?
Building a stable writing career takes years. It’s very, VERY hard for the kids you described to do this without some major means of outside support.
I seriously agree with the rich writer comment. So sick of working on TV shows with writers who all know each other from Crossroads. Sounds like a great, encouraging school, but people come out of there thinking everything they write is awesome.
Mazin’s parents were both public school teachers in NYC. He’s talked about it on his podcast with John August. I’m pretty sure they were thousandaires, not millionaires.
sounds like something tony scott would direct, maybe good for a redbox rental.
Let’s not pick on names. If you dig just a little you will see the truth is there. As for Mazin, his credits before the big one are questionable as to why he was even in the room to begin with.
I actually agree with Ted. J and Anonymous. In fact I checked up on a couple of writers and found two out of six that I quickly researched were from a prominent backgrounds and none of them had written quality yet they were credited on some very crappy big movies.
JK5000 – you are correct. These “writers” are producers in “writers” clothing. They talk the talk because of the family, get in rooms with talent they wouldn’t otherwise be in the room with and then they “write” something sub par and the talent does it. Let’s not forget. It’s an insecure business. Even the A list actors are that way.
The Trust Fund Screenwriter. Love it!
Danny McBride is probably the only other person even in Mazin’s league when it comes to the Lukciest Schmuck In Hollywood prize.
It’s the American Idolization of screenwriting. There is no development in music anymore as well. You look pretty, sing horribly and you can be a music star. We aren’t finding the Aerosmith’s, Dylan’s etc.. Same goes for screenwriters. As was mentioned above, without money to develop you get Trust Fund Screenwriters. You don’t get innovative or just simple great writing.
Hey Everybody,
Did you just see the deal Vanderbilt got. He now has a production company with Bradley Fisher. It’s PRIVATELY FUNDED!!
By Bradley staying close to this Trust Fund Screenwriter, Bradley just secured himself a job. He bought the writer’s script. Stayed close. And now has his own production company that the writer is funding.
Anonymous Jane – you rule!
Sorry Jane, but no amount of money can buy Benioff’s talent – you’re gonna have to face the fact that its not lack cash but your own lack of ability that has prevented you from reaching his success. Once you write a novel like City of Thieves or 25th Hour, or create an amazing HBO show, or write numerous produced scripts, you can dare talk about his worth as a writer.
See, this part of what I’m talking about — “Oh my God the guy actually published a novel! He’s fvcking amazing!”
Lots and lots of people publish perfectly nice novels that get perfectly nice reviews. 25TH HOUR and CITY OF THIEVES are both perfectly nice novels. There are literally HUNDREDS of similar novels published every single year by writers equally as talented and you will never hear of these writers and they will never be paid millions of dollars to write stuff like WOLVERINE.
So nobody wants to throw props to the production team here, huh? Brad Fischer is a straight shooter who is all about the work…an obvious rarity in the land of make believe. Congrats B!
so what?? yes life is unfair the things you are describing happens in every single business rich kids are treated with more respect and they can afford to earn nothing for years, so you exposed them?? how could it be solved? a fund for young writers? give me a break that is not how life works……also just because someone is rich doesn’t mean that they are not talented they are also likely to be highly educated it just bugs me when people treat rich people like they are morons because they have money is no different that rich people looking down on poor people.
Some of you people are deeply bizarre and I fear have almost no understanding of the business of screenwriting. You’ve got your sails billowing with the stinky wind of resentment, but you don’t know the people you are talking about, and have no idea what their lives are like… but don’t let that stop you! The funny part to me is that your guns are aimed at screenwriters, for god’s sake. If there’s a less easy, fun path to success in Hollywood, I’d like to know it. The work is backbreaking and difficult, and the result deeply misunderstood on its best day. Trust me, non-writers, if you don’t want it and earn it, you cannot survive in the job.
Yes, the work is back-breaking and difficult, and a little easier to slog your way through for several years when you don’t have to worry about paying bills. That’s the point here. Not that rich kids don’t work hard at writing, it’s just a helluva lot easier for them to work hard without holding down two other jobs in the meantime.
No one is aiming their guns at other screenwriters, people are aiming their guns at taste- and decision makers who know less about how to evaluate material and more about looking who’s sitting at the cool kids’ table and making all their decisions based on that. No one blames Benioff for cashing the checks, we do blame people who read STAY and WOLVERINE and think that’s great writing.
Your opinion about what is good writing isn’t the truth. It is just an opinion.
well no, you’re wrong there… No opinion at all in the statement that Wolverine and Stay are shitty writing. That’s 100% fact. And anyone who thinks otherwise should happily sit at home and watch DVDs — but please do not work in the industry.
I think this thread is touching a nerve because many of us believe (or like to believe) that writing is one of the only talent-based, meritocratic parts of the industry. Yes, nepotism and favoritism plays a huge role in Hollywood as it does in EVERY industry, and people accept that — especially when producers and directors and especially actors get to where they are through money and family connections.
But we like to think that writing is different. Any hardworking schmuck with an Underwood and something to say can tell the next great story and get their ticket punched, right? It’s becoming less and less so, and it’s becoming increasingly apparent and obvious to everyone involved that it’s becoming less and less so.
The only realistic advice to aspiring writers nowadays looking to get to home plate is to be born on third.