Before I delve into my thoughts for this week, let me begin with an entry from an October 2010 online journal entry of mine.
No, it doesn't include any sappy love notes or the 'angst' of being a young adult in a topsy-turvy world. What it does include is how I came to discover that my favorite author of all time was granting me permission to adapt one of his short stories into a short film.
That author's name is Stephen King.
The Shining, Cujo, Misery, It, Carrie, Salem's Lot, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Pet Sematary, Silver Bullet, the list literally just goes on and on and on and on and on.
So, if you will, allow me to dust off 25-year old Derek and share with you his blog entry written in October 2010:
"I suppose if I am to shed light on my day-to-day existence, I should share this monumental moment that ended up being one Hell of a birthday gift this past August.
My birthday (25th, BTW) fell on a Monday this year, which produced the appropriate groan of “Son of a b****, it’s my birthday and the work week’s just starting”. However, after powering up my Mac and opening up my email, I discovered a gem of an email that brightened the entire week, and then some.
A message from Stephen King’s office. Yes, THAT Stephen King. This requires some explanation, and I’m more than happy to provide it…
A little over a year ago, I picked up King’s latest collection of short stories entitled Just After Sunset (at the D&E in Outlook, of all places). I blazed my way through it, but one story in particular caught my eye and stayed with me long after reading it. Fast forward almost a year later, and I re-read the same story. It was then that I became fully committed to adapting it into a short film, and I contacted King’s people requesting permission to do so.
That email on my birthday was the response I got. It contained a contract which I was to sign, along with a witness, and I also was to include one American dollar. On the Friday of that week, I sent everything on its way and I now have the rights to the story, which I’ve been feverishly writing notes on before I get down to scripting it.
The short story in question is called Mute. It’s a quick read at just over 30 pages and has a total of five characters, with two of them being very minor and more of an afterthought. Without giving too much away in describing it – although who am I to stop you from going out and reading it yourself – Mute is about a man driving along the highway in Anywhere, USA and thinking about all the trouble he’s been having at home. He stops to pick up a hitchhiker who is deaf and mute and ends up using his new passenger as stress relief, venting about his problems and his worries about the future. Of course, being a Stephen King story, there might be some tragedy involved and things may not be what they seem.
Mute is one of those stories that reminds me of a good Hitchcock tale. The questions that it raises about morality and forgiveness really hooked me and the content and characters just scream “MOVIE!!!” when I read it. I hope I can do it justice.
If all goes to plan, I’ll be shooting this just after the new year, either late in January or early February. In the meantime, I’m looking at a pre-production cycle entailing the writing process, location scouting, casting auditions, budget raising and equipment rentals/purchases. Oh my, the excitement that awaits me."
So that was 2010, written almost 12 years ago. Man, I can just hear the young adultness in those words. Younger Derek, if only you knew what life had in store for you, my man.
A few months later in February, my script for this project was finished and I had a couple of readthroughs of it with my best friend, who's another King fanatic and horror movie aficionado. I remember thinking that the script was solid, the dialogue was on-point, and the scope of the intended production wasn't too demanding. I basically believed that I could crank this one out over maybe a long weekend if I had a few people on my crew and some talented actors.
I put out some feelers, and I had some interest in a couple of roles, but nothing really went anywhere. As such, my script has basically been hibernating for the last decade and change on a flash drive that I threw it on. Heck, I even still have the letter that King's legal people sent me granting me permission to adapt his story. Sure, the "autograph" my Stephen at the bottom of the page came from a custom stamp, but I still think it's cool. That counts as an autograph, right?
The truth is that the years have gone by, and I'm feeling whimsical about things that I never fully invested myself in when I was younger. Well, I'm older now, and I'm grateful to be able to say that I certainly have a lot more connections now than I had in 2010. Back then, I was a young reporter who was still a 'rookie' in the job and was trying to find his footing. Now, well, let's just say I'm a 'seasoned veteran' with a few notches on my belt.
I guess what I'm trying to say is - does anyone reading this wanna make a Stephen King movie with me?
I know that there is a mountain of acting talent in this community, and I'd love to hear from some of them if making a short horror film is up their alley. As well, if anyone is interested in production roles - cameraman, boom operator, production assistant, editing - then I say, Let's talk! I'm not a hard man to find, whether it's in-person or online. If you're creative and you love the movies, then chances are I'd love to hear from you.
I've had the script in my possession for over a decade. I feel like it's time to revisit this story and give it life again. Time to blow the dust off and see if this project is worth sinking my teeth into again.
Hey, nothing gets done until you take the first steps, right?
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
