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Scott

Get ready for the next step, when that analytics program downloads Final Draft and writes a script that will be a "sure thing." Wouldn't that be the ultimate test of this program's "genius?"

I have taken my glove and slapped its "face."

Nat Peluso

I love that you have a typo in "Raiders of the Lost Arc" which is funny because I actually thought that was your point - ie that there is no 'arc' for Indy. Unintentional puns AND irony, in one post! Awesome, Billy. :)

Agnes Fernandes

Ha! Great post Billy!
Got two funny comments, plus one that you should seriously consider:
- Sadly, Millenium Films is already a client of Mr. Bruzzese, so the much awaited bowling scene in Expendables 3 will be cut!
- Also, I heard that Mr. Bruzzese approached the Venice Film Festival to offer them advice in their selection of movies in order to make the festival more profitable, to which the Italians responded in two short English words :-)
- It's time to compress your romcom knowhow into a Mernit-software that you could license to Mr. Bruzz and other wannabe experts and earn royalty every time they dupe a new executive on the block!

Dennis Fischer

Here is a similar approach by the UK-based company epagogix:

"The Formula - What if you built a machine to predict hit movies? By Malcolm Gladwell":

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/16/061016fa_fact6?currentPage=1

What do you think about that?

mernitman

Scott: Yes, let's challenge it to a cyber-duel. Seems only fitting for the insult given to our noble profession.

Nat: Face red AGAIN (the "pun" was entirely unconscious) but glad that it proved amusing.

Agnes! Millenium and Vinny seem made for each other, if you ask me. And... Love the Italians. Never a people to mince words. Meanwhile, the very notion of Mernit software fills me with horror - it's bad enough that I have to deal with my own inner operating system, given the status of (what my late dad used to refer to as) my soup-strainer head.

Dennis: Yes, I remember reading this in the NYer, years back, and my impression was - better to enjoy reading Gladwell than to ever have to deal with something "created" by epagogix!

Nanny Cool

I have nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award.

Seth Jaret

Great post, Billy! And I really enjoyed your class. Here's a piece I wrote in response to the same New York Times article: "The Algorithm of Hollywood"(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-jaret/the-algorithm-of-hollywoo_b_3246877.html).

Like minds.

SCRIPTMONK!

I have heard a lot about this topic over the last couple weeks, and the screenwriter's response has always been twofold:

1. Laughter and ridicule since they know it is a load of crap.

2. Dread and terror since they know their work will eventually be controlled by the type of people who might take this seriously.

Whether this "analysis" has any merit or not, I believe it would damage the collaborative nature of the development process. Writers and suits have been at war since the beginning. Their cooperation has always been tenuous at best. Using this type of approach will bring out the worst in both sides and encourage far uglier battles than ever before.

mernitman

Thank you Nanny!

And thank you, Seth - nice post.

ScriptMonk: You know I agree. It would help if more execs were willing to learn a bit more about the creative process... and if more screenwriters were a little more willing to understand the specific agendas of the buyers they deal with...

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