Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Give Me Work!

Most of the heavy lifting for the screenplay I was writing has been done. I don't really know what is up with the other project on which I am supposed to be working.

Which means-- I am unemployed at present. Need screenwriting work.

The trouble with writing scripts is that you can't show completed assignments to prospective clients. You have to wait until the movie is out in the theaters before people can make the judgment whether to hire you for a project. But, movies always cost a lot of money, regardless of where they are made. In a small market like Nepal, a small budget is a bigger deal than a slightly larger one.

I have completed two commercial scripts--both romantic comedies. I want to write a full-out, unapologetic action movie, perhaps something that can set itself up for a sequel. But, even if everything goes as scheduled--there is no reason why it shouldn't, because the equipment has already been secured and failing to utilize it will result in a fine--my first screenwriting effort will be "published" in December.

I don't want to write for myself right now. That just seems too self-indulgent and dreamy, and I would likely take too long to complete a script if it is strictly for myself. But, that time has come. I should decide whether I want to write a piece aimed at pleasing the critics, at Nepali commentators who keep complaining about the lack of "story" in Nepali cinema. [This will be different when "Dasdhunga" comes out later this month]. Or, if I want to start with a couple more strictly commercial ventures. It makes a lot more sense to prove the worth of one's craft in the market, where the rewards are tied directly to the consumer's purse and thereby to the consumer's labor, before appealing to the consumer's aesthetics or artistic sensibilities with one's art.

So, off-chance, if you are in the market to produce a commercial Nepali movie, and want to put me to work over the next few months on a movie script, let me know. But, entertaining inquiries regarding commercial ventures only.

Or, think of it this way--you can commission something from me now, when my services come cheap, then keep the script in the vault for a year or two, wait for my profile in the commercial Nepali movie scene to rise, and then capitalize on the product. Yeah? Yeah? Come on! Any takers?

3 comments:

  1. I'll take 2 please:

    1. First one themed 'Naughty Nurse Comes Calling'

    2. Second one themed 'Mithi and Laddoo: The Dynamic Duo'

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  2. "Mithi and Laddoo: The Dynamic Duo" sounds about right. I have a feeling it will be about two Nepali stoners who go looking for Bhang laddoos on the day of Shivaratri and get into all kinds of shenanigans. Perhaps it can also have a naughty nurse in it, because I think there might already be a "Naughty Nurse Comes Calling" somewhere out there.

    Laddoo could be someone working security at a bank in "downtown" Kathmandu, who is being targeted by a gang of bank-robbers, but it just isn't their day, is it, when they try to kidnap him on his one day off after a really long time--on Shivaratri! And, by the time they pick him up, he *has* managed to get hold of some Bhang laddoos.

    Alright. I think we could collaborate on this one. We could first develop a plot of sorts, then write a few scenes. I think Mithi and Laddoo could be the first Nepali "dynamic duo" hippies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nepal's own Cheech and Chong or Harold & Kumar :D
    I like

    ReplyDelete

Yeah. Do that. I'm lurking, waiting for your comments. Yeah. Do it just like that. You know I like it. You know you want to. Yeah.