stephen root and bosnia.

So I turned in my screenplay to my manager, Dave. Which is not dissimilar to an afternoon bike ride through the streets of Bosnia. It's just a very dangerous situation. Having said that, I'm extremely happy with it. I think the structure is solid, the dialogue and jokes aren't forced and just dark enough, and the characters are believable. And, if I do say so myself, it's a good story. If Dave is critical, which is his job, I'd like to think it's going to be about little things.

If he doesn't like it? I don't know. I think I'll try to scrape together money from wherever I can and make it myself. (Though, I want to direct it no matter what, so maybe that would be a blessing in disguise.) I see what's being produced and sent out into the world and most of it sucks. This is not a revelation. There are only so many "There Will Be Bloods" — a movie that, as I've stated a number of times, is already one of my favorites. And I think with even limited funds, I might be able to crush those uninspired productions like a grape. I know how this must sound. But I believe it's my best work and if I can't feel great about my best work, I may as well just pack it in and leave town.

I've started to think about actors. Real ones. Ones that, if I end up doing it myself, would be impossible to get. Funny enough, I ran into one of my favorite actors yesterday, Stephen Root.
I've thought he was brilliant for years and there we were filing through used Elvis Costello CDs together. I told him, "I'm a big fan of your work and, evidently, your taste in music." Nice guy. We started talking Elvis, but ended up talking for quite some time about many other things. Though, eventually, I felt pretty uncomfortable because... well... I didn't want to say something stupid to Stephen Root. Anyhow, I hastily said, "good talking to you and take care," and as I walked away I realized that he IS the character of Sammy. Sammy's much older, but Stephen Root can become pretty much anything he wants. In fact, he's perfect. And even though Sammy's not a big part, (yeah, i know — there are no small parts... blah, blah, blah....) I found myself hoping to get it to him. So who knows? Maybe I'll send it to his people. Worst case scenario he says no.

But maybe, just maybe, he says yes.