Lee Forgang's Lounge Discussions

Congratulations on the completed script!

Now edited and better than ever.

Hey Ana, at this point I just want to say Congratulations on your script and definitely keep it moving!....I don't have too many suggestions as I am also working on getting one of my specs off the ground as we speak however, continue doing your homework, reading, networking, discussing, and connecting as you're doing now...and things will absolutely start falling in place! I wish you the best.....sounds like a great movie - please share when it comes to life....take care Ana =)

I read the script. Geat story!

The thing to remember about something like a "what's going to sell " handbook no mater what the subject that it can take forever to write and get the thing published and by the time its on the shelf for you to buy the dynamic has changed. Its hard to sell any script. Historicals have the extra budget issues with making it look realistic so there is an issue and will get in the way of you making a sale but it boils down to what do you write? I write fantasy adventure and they can cost the earth. I think the trick if you are dedicated to telling a historical story is to find a way of telling it economically.

I like your comment about telling an historical story economically. Trouble is I think part of the audience enjoyment of this genre is seeing the costumes, surroundings and manners/mannerisms of another time. (eg. in my case the 1880s in "Wilde About Oscar") Some of the scenes would just need the actors in costume, but other more expansive crowd scenes with hansom cabs, old-time gaslit streets etc.???... expensive! Somehow the Brits seem to do it well like "Jane Eye", "Tristan Shandy", all the Merchant Ivory films and of cause the hugely popular "Downton Abbey" series.

The Brits and a many others have a much longer theater history, so settings, costumes and props appropriate to historical tales are more ingrained in the culture. Take a look at Spielburgh's Amistad; the costuming suffices but comes across to me as 'thin' and somewhat painted on. Though shot here, 12 Years A Slave seems to have a much better tuned look, not to mention a Brit Director.

Yes Ralph, 12 Years A Slave had excellent costuming, as did of course Lincoln, a movie I like very much. Generally I think the Brits have the edge in historical romances and dramas. With my 2 historical scripts, I'm entering Brit. competitions and am almost ready to pitch to producers there.

Like Biblical films, the historical genre appears to resurrect periodically with upgraded technology and new spin directors. Like Spielberg's Lincoln and Cameron's Titanic. However, historical editions of biblical stuff is harder to manage - mostly because belief is dna embedded and no one wants to let it be dented by historical details. This says the Jews of Judea were heroes in challenging Rome's emperors - else we'd all be worshiping Jupiter today. Five Roman historians of the 1st century agree: http://www.amazon.com/Ben-Hur-II-Happened-Century/dp/0994201842/ref=sr_1...