What’s Up With My Annabelle Creation?

Just under a week ago RedLetterMedia’s Half in the Bag episode for Annabelle: Creation dropped on YouTube. What’s more fascinating than the review of the film itself is Mike and Jay talking about the My Annabelle Creation contest. The idea of the contest was for up and coming filmmakers to craft a short film set within the “Conjuring” universe. The winner of the contest was awarded a meeting with New Line execs and director David F. Sandberg about developing the short into a feature length film in the vein of the Conjuring film universe. On the surface it sounds like a fantastic idea, until Mike pulls out some of the fine print from the contest’s rules and found some pretty shady details. In this article I wanted to take a look at this controversy, what’s been said by others since the RLM review, and what it all could mean. So, without further ado let’s get to it.

-What’s the Big Deal?-

Within the rules of the contest the studio is given a three year option to make a feature length version of the film for fifty dollars. If the option is exorcised with the three year time frame another fifty dollars will be paid to the creator. This in and of itself is a rather shady deal. A typical option on other material (i.e. A script, novel, comic) lasts from twelve to eighteen months with a claus to extend the option by three to six months. Even if a film has an eighteen month option extended for the additional six that’s a still a year less than the contest’s.

In addition to the exclusivity of the option let’s look at the monetary amount provided for said option. Fifty dollars is not only insultingly low by typical standard option prices, but it makes the purchase price even worse. A typical option for a non-WGA affiliated writer tends to be around a couple thousand dollars. Not much, but still more than fifty. But an option’s price is often a percentage of what the purchase price will be. Example, your option could be $1,000 or ten percent of the purchase price. Making the script’s sale around $10,000. That mean’s that Annabelle: Creation’s option is 100% of the purchase price.

-What are the Best/Worst Case Scenarios?-

From the looks of everything presented New Line holds all the cards in this deal. Although if we play the Devil’s advocate there are “potential” perks for winner Julian Terry and his short The Nurse. The best case scenario would be that Terry gets to move forward crafting a feature length film based off The Nurse. Along with his debut film being studio produced it could include a strong marketing campaign and wide theatrical release. Not bad for a director’s first feature length film.

Even if the studio decides not move forward with the feature that doesn’t mean Terry is out of luck. Winning this contest has raised his profile to the point where he has been in contact with multiple talent managers. Anyone struggling to break into studio filmmaking knows how big of a coup it is to get a manager. This gives Terry the ability to get other projects he’s working on off the ground. I have no doubt other studios/producers have seen The Nurse and would be interested in bringing Terry in to direct a film for them. Still not a bad deal.

The worst case scenario would be to see New Line take The Nurse and develop the feature length version without Terry’s involvement. In that case he’s left with a hundred dollars and watching from the sidelines as The Nurse gets made. The cynic in me sees how this could happen, but the optimist in me wants to hope that Terry has an ally in his corner. David F. Sandberg has come out after the controversy stirred up stating that he’s talking with New Line to clarify the agreement. Sandberg’s short Lights Out was optioned by New Line leading to his own feature film debut. His hand in this contest feels like a genuinely good guy who caught a break wanting to help another filmmaker catch a similar break. Although he may not be a big name (yet) he’s made two films for New Line that have grossed over a hundred million dollars on relatively small budgets. If New Line wants to stay in business with Sandberg they’ll listen to his concerns and make sure Terry comes out of this contest with a good deal.

These are my thoughts, but as usual what are yours? Do you think that all this controversy is warranted? Or is this just the Internet blowing things out of proportion? Would you be interested in seeing The Nurse become part of the Conjuring universe? Let me know. Remember you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @sdfilmthoughts. As always, thanks for reading.

Directors in Movie Jail

A few articles back I spoke about the absence of Richard Kelly from the world of filmmaking. Although there have been rumblings for years about what his next film would be there has been no concrete answers. Today I wanted to look at a handful of directors who are in “Movie Jail”. What is this Movie Jail I’m talking about? Basically it’s when a person screws up so fantastically that getting another job is next to impossible. Without further ado let’s dig into these careers and see what caused their downfalls.

-Michael Cimino-

Yep, we must begin with the man who is a textbook example of how to torpedo your own career. Hot off the success of the Academy Award winning film The Deer Hunter Cimino’s next project is one that lives in infamy. Heaven’s Gate ran over-budget, behind schedule, and landed with such a huge thud at the box office it forced production company United Artists to be sold off to MGM. Cimino made a few smaller films afterwards, but ever since 1996’s Sunchaser not much has been heard from the man. Odds of a Comeback: With twenty years now separating him from his last feature I’m going to say it’d be generous to assume there’s even a ten percent chance he’ll return.

-Stephen Norrington-

There have been some great directors who got their start in the VFX industry. Right off the top of my head David Fincher comes to mind. Norrington’s resume included Aliens, Alien 3, and the underrated Hardware before he made his directorial debut The Death Machine. Showcasing his skill for visuals he then went onto direct New Line’s Blade and gave Marvel a much needed hit film. Sadly his next comic book film was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Between floods in Prague and strenuous relationships between the the studio and Sean Connery League had issues even before it debuted in theaters. The fact that it opened a week after Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl became a monstrous hit was the final nail the coffin. Odds of a Comeback: Although Norrington said he’d never direct another film after League his name has been attached to other projects, but nothing has come to fruition. I’d say there’s a fifty percent chance he’ll make another film.

-John McTiernan-

Arguably one of the best 80’s action directors, McTiernan was responsible for such big hits as Predator and Die Hard. His success even carried over into the 90’s with The Hunt for the Red October, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and The Thomas Crown Affair, but the man hasn’t made a single film since 2003’s Basic. There’s a long story behind this career falling apart, but long story short: wiretapping a producer, FBI investigation, almost a year in prison, and declaring bankruptcy. It’s been a long road for this man. Odds of a Comeback: Not good, let’s say there’s a twenty percent chance of another film. But if Stallone were willing to take a slight risk he’d get McTiernan hired to direct the next Expendables film.

-Kerry Conran-

Personally, the fact that Conran is on this list hurts me the most. Ever since I rented Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (on VHS no less) I’ve loved it. The amazing visuals, pulp sci-fi story, and impressive cast make this movie a rare gem. It’s too bad that the film didn’t fair well with the general moviegoing audience. Although he was initially slated to direct John Carter of Mars for Paramount he exited (or was forced out of) the project. After that he worked on commercials and in 2012 made a short entitled Gumdrop. Aside from his directorial debut not being a big hit Conran also mentioned that he’s not a big fan of self-promotion. And in Hollywood self-promotion is the key to success. Odds of a Comeback: This one is a toss up. In spite of my admiration of Conran I must remain objective. Optimistically I’d say forty percent as the man could pull something fresh out of his bag. Realistically I’d say twenty percent as Sky Captain came out in 2004 and aside from Gumdrop nothing new has even been mentioned. But I’m rooting for the man.

-Richard Stanley-

After making two indie films that proved Stanley had a knack for interesting visuals and trippy stories (Hardware and Dust Devil) he was brought up to the big leagues. New Line hired him to craft a live action adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic tale The Island of Dr. Moreau. What followed was a giant heaping mess of a production. In spite of Stanley crafting a strong script and storyboarding some down right horrifying scenes he was forced off the project a mere three days into shooting. Twenty years later and there’s no sign of Stanley making another film. If you’re a fan of documentaries about filmmaking I recommend watching Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau. Not only does it tell Stanley’s story, but goes into how off the rails the film’s production went after he left. Odds of a Comeback: While not working on feature films Stanley has kept busy making short films and documentaries. Honestly, I have no idea on this one. So let’s go with a ??? percent chance.

These are just a handful of directors who’ve dropped off the map for one reason or another, but in a town that let’s convicted child molesters continue to work so long as they make money any comeback is possible. As usual, what are your thoughts? Are there any directors that you miss? Of all the people I mentioned which one would you like to see make a comeback? If you’re interested I’ll leave a link to my article on Richard Kelly below. As always, thanks for reading.

https://sdfilmthoughts.wordpress.com/2016/04/30/where-the-hell-is-richard-kelly/