Those that have followed me for any length of time via Mania, Myspace, etc., knows of the elasticity following my project "The Life and Times of Igor."
(If you haven't, just click the tab down and to the right to see past postings on the subject.)
The guys at Mania love it...they love it more than anything else I've ever come up with. They also know I'm always knocked over by some random development in Hollywood with somewhat similar projects that get pushed forward while I just shelf the project for X amount of time, yet something always stands me back up.
Well I'm looking North this time.
Besides, we're constantly being inundated with remakes, reboots, and re-envisionings which ultimately lead to our regurgitation.
The population wants something new and different, and we keep getting handed the same thing over and over again.
There are no mavericks in Hollywood. No one is capable (or willing) to rock the collective boats of Los Angeles. Even Steven Spielberg has fallen victim to the notion of remakes with "Harvey."
Plus the fact trends are more important than original thinking as well: reboots are a trend, vampires are the trend again. And then they collided with Robert Downey Jr. being thrust into the role of Lestat in yet another reboot, this time of "Interview With The Vampire."
I don't want (or intend) to cash in on trends. I give trends the finger. I also avoid following the crowd, which is why my "Igor" project has been shelved time after time, no matter how much the people have enjoyed it.
It really is annoying -- the one project everyone likes the most is the same one half a dozen agents here in America have nibbled at, yet passed over but then, a month later, someone whose "in the biz" gets his project pushed forward because he's in those "Underworld" movies.
It's never been what you know or what you can do, it's who you know.
Well I know what the agents have likely been "afraid" of: it's quirkiness; its British sense of humor mixed in with American slapstick sensibilities, and its originality.
I came THIS CLOSE to having the comic book version made...with one major flaw: I didn't have (or know) an illustrator. That was upsetting, but it was also a relief, as this is meant to be seen, not read. Igor and Frankenstein singing "Unskinny Bop" in prison is something that can't be captured with dialogue bubbles, it has to be SEEN and HEARD. Think Zaphod Beeblebrox and a hunchback pretending to be Bret Michaels and you've got a formula for inspired craziness.
And that formula fell flat on people who really didn't get it. They all wanted to read it, and once it even disappeared in the bowels of a New York agency for over a year (I had to call to get it back from them, even though I'd provided the standard SASE.)
But they didn't get it. But then Hollywood doesn't understand anything new, original, or inspired these days. It's become a machine, just wash, rinse, and repeat until the fabric has worn through.
But I still continue with promotions for "Sweet Dreams" and "Summertime Blues."
I think it's because I'm a masochist.
Warm up the accordion, Igor, I feel the need to sing.
