Posts Tagged ‘Mr. Unlucky’


Posted on January 12, 2010 - by

Mr. Unlucky wins Champion Screenwriting Competition

unlucky_scriptGot some good news to kick off 2010. After a series of near-misses, short-lists, semi-finals and finals, Mr. Unlucky finally stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park. That’s right, my little screenplay about leprechaun gangsters, true love, road trips, diabolical corporate executives, game shows, breakfast cereal, a 1960 Plymouth Valiant and the unluckiest guy in the world is the official Champion of Champion.

Righteous!

Now let me tell you – this is my kind of screenwriting contest. Prizes were handed out over beers, fortune cookies and steaming plates of Kung Pao on a Friday nite in Hollywood. The next two days were a blur of high-fives and bourbons at the Coach & Horses, a weekend crash course in screenwriting (courtesy of Mr. Jim Mercurio) that featured a cold reading of our scripts by the talented and ever-so-handsome AJ Quartermaine, and finally taking my beautiful out for a steak dinner at Musso & Frank’s to celebrate.

Musso & Franks, photo by bhampton1963 (Flickr)

Musso & Frank's, photo by bhampton1963 (Flickr)

And just in case you were worried that this sudden success will go to my head, allow me to share a little story. The Falcon was in the shop that weekend, so the very first thing I did after winning the contest was slide the winner’s check into my pocket, walk down to La Brea, and wait 45 minutes for the bus to take me home. In the rain. Damn right it’s glamorous being the Writerman.

Just watch for me on Entourage next week, baby.

Thanks Jim!

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Posted on December 23, 2009 - by

Jim’s totally excellent screenwriting seminar

I must admit: I’ve always been a little suspicious of screenwriting seminars and the people who teach them. If Robert McKee really knows how to craft a Black-List-topping, low-to-mid-six-figures-selling, Oscar-winning screenplay, why doesn’t he sit down and write one of his own, instead of charging me and you and everyone we know a thousand bucks to learn his patented secret formula? I mean, what could a guy like this Jim Mercurio character possibly teach that couldn’t be learned from watching Chinatown for the 23rd time?

It was with this general air of skepticism and a mild hangover that I entered Jim’s A-List Screenwriting class on a Saturday morning. And, by the time we hit California Pizza Kitchen for lunch, my headache and my doubts had vanished. Jim really knows his shit.1

Jim’s unique way of thinking about writing opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at a script. In short order, he armed me with a ton of ideas for exploring character, revealing theme, tightening plot and turning up the funny in my stuff. The guy is a diet-soda-fueled tornado of insights and ideas. His knowledge of film is encyclopedic. His DVD collection is first-class. And his course is fun, fast-paced and seriously inspiring. He’s also way funnier in person than this photo makes him appear. I strongly recommend.

  1. Full disclosure – I did not have to pay for Jim’s class, I won a free pass from the Champion Screenwriting Contest. So, I have no idea what he charges, but I would say if you’re serious about writing the movies then it’s probably worth it to scrape a couple of bucks together and give it a shot. [↩]

Posted on May 26, 2009 - by

CineStory Screenwriting Awards

memorial_day_bbqWhile I was busy playing bocce in the park and trying to live up to my vow to BBQ every meal for Memorial Day weekend, I heard the good word from CineStory:

My hard-working, good-looking script Mr. Unlucky survived the first round of judging and made it to the quarterfinals of the 2009 CineStory Screenwriting Awards!

thanks CineStory!


Posted on December 1, 2008 - by

PAGE Awards for two of my scripts!

double

Some days, good things do come in pairs. Two of my scripts made the semi-finals of the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards:

MR. UNLUCKY – a 21st century fairy tale about leprechaun gangsters, true love, breakfast cereal and the unluckiest guy in the world.

1-800-SUPERHERO – an hour-long TV pilot about a Regular Joe trying to survive high school at super-powered Cosmic City Central.


Posted on October 7, 2008 - by

Silver Screenwriting Semi-Finals

You can call Mr. Unlucky “butter,” cause he’s on a roll!

white_heat1The exciting and glamorous Silver Screenwriting Competition just gave my script two thumbs up by naming it a semi-finalist. Even better, in a totally unprecedented move, Julie actually picked up the phone and called to tell me about it. I didn’t get to talk to her because I was busy stuffing my face with cupcakes (seriously, I was), but she left an ever-so-lovely message filled with adjectives like “hysterical” and “hilarious” when talking about the script.

Nothing like a mouthful of cream cheese icing and a voicemail box full of compliments to make a brother feel like he’s on top of the world, ma!


Posted on September 15, 2008 - by

Mr. Unlucky makes top 10 at UCLA

First time lucky!

This looks like a good sign. The UCLA Screenplay Competition was the first contest I sent my new screenplay (MR. UNLUCKY) in to, and it made their Top 10.

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I gotta give props to the UCLA Writer’s Program. Mitchell and George, the two instructors I worked on Mr. Unlucky with, were both very smart, encouraging and funny as shit. And the people at the UCLA Writer’s Program office are so frickin’ nice. They even  interviewed me and the other winners.

Seriously, drop by their office sometime and let them shower you with sunshine and butterflies. Be sure to swing by the Westwood In-N-Out on your way home. You’ll swear you’ve been sucked through a wormhole into an alternate-universe version of Los Angeles, where everyone knows your name and all the food is wonderfully cheap and magically delicious.


Posted on September 1, 2008 - by

Bluecat (hearts) Mr. Unlucky!

Just found out that the Bluecat Screenwriting Contest picked my script MR. UNLUCKY as a semi-finalist. Sweet! You know Bluecat, right? It’s the contest run by Gordy Hoffman, who once wrote a movie for his brother to star in.

Thanks Gordy!

“This is really a wonderful script. It reminded me of Jon Favreau’s Elf (script by David Berenbaum) in the way the story mixes fantasy elements with real characters and settings. I found it to be witty, intelligent, and tightly-paced.”

-Bluecat Judge


Posted on January 21, 2008 - by

The Cheeseburger of Inspiration

People love to ask screenwriters, “Where do you get your ideas for movies?” And while I imagine they are expecting responses involving magazine articles, true-life stories or amazing coincidences, when I get asked that these days my answer is a simple one:

A cheeseburger.ricks

The thing is, the story has absolutely nothing to do with grilled meat or sesame seed buns. But the idea came to me in a blinding flash while I was eating a cheeseburger at Rick’s Drive In, and so Mr. Unlucky will always make me think of my favorite food.

Hooray for cheeseburgers!

And in case you were wondering, here’s the idea that the mystical Cheeseburger of Inspiration handed me:

Mr. Unlucky

When the unluckiest guy in the world wakes up to discover that someone is stealing his luck, there’s just one thing he can do: hit the road with an unemployed leprechaun, the only honest girl in Las Vegas and a 1960 Plymouth Valiant in an impossible quest to get it back. Along the way he learns the secret of how luck is bought and sold at the Luck Exchange, tracks down the fabled Lucky Star, uncovers a plot by a diabolical CEO to seize control of all the luck in the world and appears on Wheel of Fortune. A comedy about breakfast cereal, true love, and learning to believe in yourself.

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