Godkiller and Development Hell

I first wrote Godkiller after my 51st rewrite of a screenplay for a Hollywood studio. I was so frustrated with the shitty-by-committee process of Hollywood development that I decided to just sit down and write the bizarre, insane, and certainly not mainstream-friendly story rolling around in my head during the downtime between rewrite deliveries and development notes.

I don’t mind the structure that Hollywood demands so much as the hollowness, simplicity, and general lack of balls. But the problem with fighting development execs’ notes is that I know all too well how audiences respond to experimental, combative films… those execs ain’t wrong when they say such-and-such “is what people want” and such-and-such “is what makes money.” When I ramble on about the films, comix, plays, and art that I find inspiring and that changed my life and worldview, there’s a sad truth that ties them all together… they all lost money and/or had very small audiences. Oops. Try walking into a studio development meeting and using Ken Russell’s “The Devils” as an example of why it’s ok to include a scene of the Eucharist being eaten out of the love-interest’s vajayjay (consensually – which somehow makes it worse). Trust me, it doesn’t really work out so good… “The Devils” was such a blockbuster that it’s still not even available on DVD (eek!). Nonetheless, I highly recommend you seek out a VHS copy on eBay or read the Huxley play it was based on “The Devils of Loudon”–which, of course, is out of print. So there you have it. While writing a potential $100M epic for a major studio, I referenced a 1971 film that isn’t even available on DVD and the book it’s based on is out of print. And I wonder why I feel out of place in this town…

Despite it’s name, Godkiller is actually a sweet story about a couple of kids trying to do the right thing. It’s a pretty traditional hero’s journey which ties in with a greater mythology I’ve been developing for jeez almost a decade. But my personal outlook is that life’s pretty fucked up and most of us don’t really live PG-13 or even R-rated lives, so why watch or read stories that are really just censored versions of life? So in my hero’s journey… well, shit goes down.

I’m very excited to see Godkiller come to life in this exciting and different way, and I’m astonished by Anna’s ability to bring it to life through a lens that I find more evocative and exciting than anything I could do with a camera. This should be a fun journey, I can’t wait to see it when it’s done!