Who ya gonna call? If you ask screenwriter Boyan Blocka he couldn't tell you.
VANCOUVER, BC – The ‘writing sample’ is a right of passage for writers to submit their materials to network television as it demonstrates their take on established characters and stories. In fact, this is how Ronald Moore established himself on Star Trek: The Next Generation before eventually moving up the ranks with his re‐imagined Battlestar Galactica series.
And yet, this practice is almost unheard of in film.
“ ‘Chain‐of‐
Legal precedent aside, Mr. Blocka also faces stiff competition from two writers from the NBC show ‘The Office’ – Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky – who were hired on recently by Columbia Pictures along with Ghostbusters alum, Harold Ramis to pen a sequel. Their first draft is expected within months.
Despite all this, Boyan remains undeterred, citing how contentious the 5‐way rights situation still is. “Having spoken with Fred Specktor (Dan Aykroyd’s agent) a while back, I know how hard Dan worked on getting consensus for ‘Hell Bent’ (Mr. Aykroyd’s attempted sequel). Dan’s version eventually became the new videogame and new writers were brought on to attempt a new draft ‐ so if the rights‐holders don’t all like Lee and Gene’s story, they’re back to square one – again. As such, I’ve spent four years researching, writing and polishing my screenplay. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of a courtesy read.”
Chronicling his journey, Boyan has gone so far as to launch a website: http://mygb3.com and a petition campaign he calls “Write to be Read.”
Concludes Boyan, “right now I’m telling my story one person at a time, if that’s what it takes, then so be it. If a writer has no faith in what they’ve done, they have nothing.”
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