Marvel, The Punisher

"The Dead Can't Be Distracted" is a fan-made film based off of Marvel's character, The Punisher. Unfortunately, we'll never see this film because Marvel recently sent them a letter demanding that they cease all production and distribution:

“While we appreciate your affection for the character, we must demand that you immediately stop your unauthorized use, advertising, sale and/or distribution of any production of The Punisher or any other Marvel character-based films therefor, and any other use of the images, likenesses, artwork or other intellectual property owned by Marvel.”

“Your actions confuse consumers into believing that they are viewing an authentic Marvel production or one sponsored or licensed by Marvel, when they are not.”

“Marvel reserves the right to take whatever remedies are available to it at law and in equity, and shall do whatever best protects its interests.”

(Taken from this blog)

The creator of this film, Mike Pecci, was taken aback by this letter... many fan-made films have be released before. Wonder Woman and Judge Minty (based off of Judge Dredd), to name a couple prominent ones. Like these short films, "The Dead Can't Be Distracted"looks like an incredibly well done independent film. I mean check out this short teaser trailer:

This is no teenager-made film in a basement with a JVC 100 and flashlights. It's clear that he put a lot of time and effort into this. Mike Pecci is a big fan of Marvel and enjoys everything they've released. This made it that much harder when he received a letter from them to halt all production of the film.

On top of this he received full support from Marco Checchetto, the artist of The Punisher comic books, who said quote:

“HOLY SH$T!!!  I'm very impressed!!! I don't know how you did it, but you hit the full atmosphere of my pages!”

(taken from Mike Pecci's blog post)

So why now? 

Fan-based films have been released before, so why did Marvel choose to tackle this one? Marvel said it would confuse their audience, but Pecci clearly states in the film that it's a fan-made piece. It's possible that Marvel has it's eyes on making another Punisher movie soon and wouldn't want it to mesh with their creation. After all, the Avenger series will dry out in another 5 years or so and it seems logical they would then move on to the Marvel's Knights (which includes The Punisher). Regardless of the reason though, this brings light to a bigger issue... 

Greed.

I'm not here to go on a boo-corporate rant. That's not what this is. But recently we have seen an immense increase in audience-made content. Cameras a cheaper, and special effects programs are easier to learn. YouTube and other sites enable videos to be shared with anyone. It's inevitable that the remaking and remixing of ideas will not only continue, but increase. Why? Because people like to see content they're already familiar with. 

Everyone loves the Harry Potter Puppet Pals video because of their familiarity with the world of Harry Potter. The creators of this video didn't come up with Harry Potter but they wrote the song and created the video. Do they deserve recognition for it? I would say so. If they made a revenue, would J.K. Rowling deserve a piece of it? I would say not. I love the woman dearly, but she put in no work for the creation of this video besides providing a stigma of an idea. She wrote her books, and made money off them that she deserved. She also assisted in the creation of all the Harry Potter films produced by Warner Brothers, and I would say she deserved a piece of that revenue too. But what about a Harry Potter board game that she didn't help out with at all? Yes, she provided the idea. But I believe people deserve money for the work they do. And the creation of that board game required no extra effect on her part. 

It goes something like this:

"Hey! They're making money off my idea! I deserve some of that money too!"

It makes sense on the surface, but compared to the work the "idea stealers" put in, did you really DO anything besides come up the idea? Some might say you deserve money for that, but I say you should stop being so greedy and just let the real workers get their pay check. 

Obviously there's a big grey area. It goes on a case by case basis because some "idea stealers" are just in it for the money too. In fact, most probably are. So what we have to bank on is the work they put in for it. The creative, physical, and intellectual work. It's a rough system and it would need a lot of clarification. But the clarification is necessary because this is an issue that is not going away. Yes we are stopping the stealing of ideas with the current system, but we are also stopping a lot of genuine creative talent. That means there's room for improvement. 

Let me bring is back to Marvel real quick. Harry Potter Puppet pals was created with no problem and gained all the attention it deserved. "The Dead Can't Be Distracted", however, will not. And this film is not some cheap viral YouTube video.... there was a cast, crew, and excessive hard work. 

Of course we all understand the value of copyright. Without that protection, there could be no industry. But we're not talking about stealing someone else's property. We're talking about a cooperate machine that owns thousands of characters, most of which were bought from the original artists. This isn't necessarily a bad thing... love it or hate it, Marvel has been keeping us entertained for over 70 years. 

But fan films are important. They're important for the fans to feel like they're apart of the story and for the company's brand (in this case Marvel) to grow stronger with the audience. I would love to see "The Dead Can't Be Distracted", and if you would too then please send @Marvel a tweet and voice your support of fan-made material. 

Final Project Idea

I have a small idea for the final project.  It's going to need some more elaboration, some more thought and some time to develop, but I think it could become something better than just an idea.

The premise?  A movie playing inside someone's head.

I'm thinking the typical kid, probably no younger than 13 and no older than 20, not realizing what they have.  Life gets "rough" for the character, and by "rough" I mean maybe they don't score with their love interest or they're doing poorly in a class- so nothing too tragic but enough to put our main character down in the dumps.  But then, all of a sudden, he sees camera's around him accompanied by lights, microphones, and an entire film crew.

Why? His life is being made into a movie.

The director keeps changing what he doesn't like about the character's life, as if he is changing what he doesn't like about the film he is creating.  Sometimes, the kid likes the changes the director makes and sometimes he doesn't.  Eventually, throughout the story, the character realizes that he is in charge of his own life.  He learns through the director that he enjoys his life just the way it is, and that he can do whatever he wants.  He also learns that the drama in his life is nothing too tragic, and definitely isn't anything a movie could be based on.

Annie Inspired

As I got thinking about the project Haley, Hannah and I are working on, I got thinking to what other stories are similar so I could get some inspiration.  Thinking about the two characters that we have envisioned (a couple in the Prohibition Era getting themselves into trouble for selling alcohol, and stupidly turning in themselves for reward money), I immediately thought of a funny couple from the childhood classic Annie.  

Rooster Hannigan and Lily St. Regis from Annie are a conniving, ridiculous couple who are trying to help Mrs.Hannigan get reward money.   (Gee, sound familiar?).  I just couldn't believe how similar these two characters are to the characters that Haley, Hannah and I have envisioned in our heads for this project.  They're silly and try to plot ridiculous schemes.  I think that we should definitely use Tim Curry and Bernadette Peter's interpretation of these characters to our advantage when we think about putting this project together.  Not to mention we could probably get a few costume ideas from this film as well.

Our project and Annie also take place around the same time period, the 1930's and Prohibition Era.  Again, I think watching this 1982 version of Annie will help us encompass a comedic interpretation of this era.  Annie is a movie that focuses on the light side of the Great Depression and 1930's, and puts a comedic twist to a time that wasn't so bright and happy.   Since that is the approach our group is going for, I think it would be a smart idea to study this movie.

So I think I'm going to pop in this version of Annie, as well as the 1999 television remake of Annie directed by Rob Marshall to help come up with a more solid idea for this project while I'm home on break.

An Idea

So a few months ago an idea came to me. It may not have been the best idea back then but after seeing all of these videos that Arturo has been showing us, I think that I may actually decide to put it to work. However, I know there are a lot of copy right stuff so that's why I was hoping I can get some input from all of you.

The idea that I came up with was to write the script to the second League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Now I know that this won't be easy what so ever, however, it's always been an idea of mine to write a script relating to another movie. Like, one idea I had happened to be to write the script of how the Joker became the Joker in the Dark Knight. But after thinking about that one, it would be too difficult only because of the fact that there would be different versions because of the comics that featured him as well as. After realizing that it would just be too hard, I scrapped the idea until now.

I have always loved the Joker since I saw him in The Dark Knight, but in order to do this script I want to make sure I am not doing anything wrong with the whole copyright stuff because if it's good enough maybe I would actually try to bring it to someone who would possibly want to do something with it. Now I know to some people this may sound ridiculous but I am willing to try and give it a shot because it's always been an idea of mine to do something like this.

So I either want to do the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen second movie or write a movie on how the Joker became the Joker. I know they are on total opposite ends of the spectrum but I want to try and I want some input from you guys to know what you think.

Treatment for Johnson's Jewelry

This is a treatment I wrote for a web series.  I wanted to post it on here to get some feedback on it.  Thanks!

Johnson’s Jewelry

Tyler Chadwick

TREATMENT OCTOBER 16^TH, 2012

OVERVIEW:

“Johnson’s Jewelry” is a lighthearted family sitcom web series that follows the Johnson Family as they try to run a family jewelry store with little knowledge of the jewelry business besides the mothers experience in making craft jewelry.  The family experiences many humorous trials and tribulations while trying to start up and operate a successful business while dealing with stiff competition from the other jewelry store in town.  Throughout their journey, they learn about each other through missteps they make in their business and hijinks they pull on their local competitor.  While there are serious undertones in this series that deal with the bad economy, being without a job, trying to find a career, and support your family, Johnson’s Jewelry follows a dysfunctional, yet loving family’s journey to create their own family business and legacy.

CHARACTER SET-UP:

The story follows 45 year old, John Johnson and his family: his wife Jill (42), his older son John Jr. (20), and his younger daughter Jessica (16).  John is a failed Computer salesman of 20 years and was recently fired from his job.  He is a smart man but lacks social awareness and common sense.  His wife Jill, a pushover stay at home mom who loves jewelry and crafts, convinces John to use their retirement and savings fund to open a jewelry store.  John decides that it’s a good idea and he can apply his computer sales experience to computer.  His son Jr., as they call him, is a college dropout and plays in a crappy garage band.  His daughter Jessica is the smart and successful one in the family, sometimes to smart for her own good.  She is a start athlete in volleyball and a scholar with high ambitious but is arrogant sometimes and is a narcissist.  The family fights a lot, always more playful than serious, but are considered the protagonists in the story.  Some episodes will find certain family members as the antagonists but that wont last more than an episode at a time because there is never any real tension.

The true antagonist of the story is Bobby O’Brian of the Jewelry Palace.  Bobby has a pompous, egotistical, and narcissistic way about him and refers to himself as the Jewelry King.  He is well known for his annoying commercials that air on Television and Radio.  Up until the Johnson’s start their jewelry business, Bobby had the only jewelry shop in town and now the Johnson’s are in direct competition with his “empire”.  He makes many trips to the Johnson’s shop to provoke the Johnsons, trying to ruin their business and always trying to shut the Johnson’s business down.  As a family, the Johnson’s decide to constantly prank the “Jewelry King” as they become rival businesses, always creating trouble with each other to see who has the better jewelry store.  Jr. usually leads these pranking attempts while Jessica has to be corralled over time to join in with the family’s activities. 

This will all take place in Lancaster, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia, PA, and Harrisburg, PA.  Lancaster is a fairly metropolitan, yet suburban town that is famous for it’s Amish people, which will add to some of the humor in the web series.  We meet this family just as John is getting fired from his Computer Salesman job.

STORY:

The story starts on a medium shot of John Johnson and you hear the words in the background, “You will never work in the computer business again.  You have disgraced this company for the last time. You are fired!”  This is the audience’s first look at John, painting him as a failed computer salesman and by his overexpressed emotions from the few shots in the beginning, he is already being painted as a goofy guy who hasn’t succeeded at much in his life; always getting new, well paying jobs, and then somehow screwing them up. 

The next scene is John arriving at his typical average American home to his wife and two children, who are going about their everyday business.   While Jill cooks, Jessica and Jr. are in the midst of a heated argument and from it, you get the sense that this is a daily thing.  John then breaks the news to his family about losing, yet another job.  Both of his children just kind of sigh and walk away because they have seen their father fail many times before.  Jill tries to console John by telling him that he can find another job like he has before but John seems fairly distraught.

This fades out and then fades back in to an overhead shot of John and Jill in bed with the lights off showing that they both are close to finding sleep.  But then, Jill turns to John saying that she has an idea.  John, half asleep, agrees to hear her idea out but it is apparent that he is much more concerned with falling asleep.  Jill begins to talk about all of the crafts that she does and all of this new jewelry that she’s been making, mainly out of necessity because they don’t have the money to buy the extremely expensive Jewelry Palace downtown.  She tells John how all of her friends love her jewelry and wish that there was a place in town that sold more inexpensive, nice jewelry.  She then pitches the idea to John and in his stupor, he agrees that it would be a good idea. 

When he awakes to an empty bed the following morning, he stumbles into the kitchen to see books, papers, charts, posters, everywhere throughout the kitchen and living room with Jill sitting at the center of it all writing furiously on a piece of note paper.  When she looks up to see John’s astonished face, she tells him that she’s been working all night and morning on a business plan and idea and she’s already found a place that they could buy to put the business in, and all they would need to do is get a loan from the bank.  John, tries to calmly talk with his wife about how he was asleep last night and thinks he should try and find another job.  Jill clearly becomes distraught, and with a few tears, John gives in and says that he will read through her material and look at the building with her. 

They cut to a scene of them looking at an extremely crappy old gas station store that has hundreds of rodents living in it, chipping paint, caved in ceiling tiles, dirt everywhere, and many other things that are aesthetically pleasing about it.  Throughout the walkthrough with the realtor, Jill tries to put an overwhelmingly positive spin on everything, even though it is clearly a mess.  After all is said and done, they go ask the bank for alone to start the business which ensues into another funny scene of them begging the bank and entering into a back and forth negotiation with multiple people at the bank before they prevail. 

The first episode ends with them getting the keys to the place and bringing their kids with them to unlock it.  The kids have not visited the place yet so when the parents open up the doors and let them inside, the kids freak out.  The last shot will be a tight medium shot on both of the kids’ faces, clearly astonished that their parents would do something so stupid. 

In the following episodes, the family cleans up the jewelry store, starts compiling an inventory of jewelry, and meets the Jewelry King of the Jewelry Palace who is very upset that they have ruined his empire over the Lancaster Jewelry market.   In the episodes to follow, he will begin to do things to try and ruin the Johnson’s plans: everything from delaying shipments, planting mice in their store, and paying people to try and sell the Johnson’s fake gold and jewelry.  The Johnson’s will fire back, with pranks led by Jr. that are meant to get even with Bobby O’Brian, the Jewelry King.  

Copyright Tyler Chadwick October 16th, 2012

Some times the crazy ideas are the best ones

I thought I was ready for school for school this semester. I was bored at home tired of working minimum wage jobs and manuel labor for under the table cash.

last semester I went hardcore. maximum credits. job on a show at ic tv. multiple clubs. I was spread thin. and what happend was everything i did sufferd the cost of not getting enough attention.

This semester I thought i was going to take it easy on my self take less courses and doing less clubs, but  c'est la vie some how I am even more spread thin then ever before. over whelmed with stress I became extremely introspective wondering about what I want to do in the industry and trying to figure my self out. It was in one of these moments of self meditation when I got a crazy Idea.

What did I come to Ithaca for? I came to make movies. to learn how to make movies. I never considered my self an artist. But recently i came tot he realization I am. my free time is spent creating. weather it be  writing short, storys script, music, jokes for my standup ( I am an amateur stand up comedian). but mostly I am insane im not ashamed to admitted it and every great artist is insane in one way or another. I am not trying to say I am a great artist, but that i do possess the qualities of one.

When my professor Arturo Sinclair told me he dropped out of college to make movies at age 15 i was  impressed to say the least. it was such a simple answer to a question that seemed so complicated. how do you mange to do in life exactly what you want to do. you just do it.

I've done it before in life. when I was a freshman in highschool I wanted to fly to chicago to visit my best friend and go to lollapoolza. I had no money. my parents said if i would pay for it i could do it. (proably assuming i could never get the money.) to solve my problem i designed a Teeshirt I could sell at my school. to make a long story short I sold over 100 shirts and grossed over a thousand dollars and funded my trip.

this summer i was strapped for cash again but i could not get hired at any job in town. so i made a job. i started my own window washing service and made 4 times the money i could have at a regular minimum wage job in a quarter of the time.

The point I am trying to make is sometimes in life when you want something you just have to go take it. you can't sit around waiting for opportunity to find you.

now if you have read all of that you are proably wondering what my crazy Idea is. and it is simple I want to make a film a real film I can be proud of.

this is just a rough Idea and I am begging for input and advice.

If you look at the Ithaca website for the price of tuition and fees you see this chart

Tuition and fees	$35,278
Board	5,980
Room	6,874
Health insurance	575
Total	$48,707

48,707 dollars a year is more money then I have ever seen in one place
If you are like me which i suspect there are quite a few you are not on scholarship or only partial scholar ship your parents help you pay some of the cost you use the money you make over the summer to help pay tuition while keeping some so you can buy things you want and need and you take out some student loans a massing a daunting debt especially with the uncertainty of of the future this can be terrifying.

well what if after the spring semester when you have a massed junior or senior standing and become way more polished in the skills it takes to make a movie you take a gap year and put those skills to use.

in this gap year plan to spend $10,000 put into the project of making a movie its a fraction of the money you would spend a year when at college and at the end of it all you would be part of something amazing. an original film that you co-produced had direct influence over.

If I can get 7 more people on board with this idea thats 80,000 dollars we could invest into this project.
with that money we could rent equipment pay for meager room and board, pay actors, and pay for permits for what ever we need too.

we could create a great low budget film and it would be ours.

on the side we could also use the equipment were renting to document the entire process so by the end of the gap year we have our own film and the footage to make a documentary about they entire project.

The type of people I would be looking for to join me on this crazy project are as follows
- A Head cinematographer
- A Head sound designer
- A Director
-  2 editor
- A lighting expert
- a costume/prop designer

of course i would also expect of these core people to be multi talented and can fill in to any other positions needed

we would need a script a great script that can be shot easily that does not demand to much capital.

It seems crazy. but at the same time it seems very possible. and at he end of it all we know we went for it. and will probably learn more then we every thought possible about this industry and our selves.

this is just a skeleton of an idea and i need help from YOU to fill the skeleton with meat and organs and blood and life.

if you are interested in this please contact me my phone number is  609-610-4445 and my email is Austin.Scharfstein@gmail.com

help me make this crazy idea into a crazy story.