Xixax Film Forum

The Director's Chair => The Director's Chair => Topic started by: Xeditor on January 22, 2003, 07:30:39 PM

Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Xeditor on January 22, 2003, 07:30:39 PM
Everyone has Adaptation in their top 10 list, but he is still not on the board?
Title: Re: Kauffman?
Post by: RegularKarate on January 22, 2003, 08:14:25 PM
Quote from: XeditorEveryone has Adaptation in their top 10 list, but he is still not on the board?

ummm... he's not a director.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: sphinx on January 22, 2003, 08:18:12 PM
spike jonze is the director, charlie kaufman is the writer.  so far, jonze has made two films
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Duck Sauce on January 22, 2003, 10:12:34 PM
Well, its a good thing you made this post. Anybody know anything about Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless mind? I mean anything? Also, has anybody seen Human Nature and can reccomend it?
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on January 23, 2003, 12:31:23 AM
Quote from: Duck SauceAnybody know anything about Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless mind? I mean anything?

PURISTS BEWARE: *SPOILERS*

Premise: This is the story of a guy, Joel (Jim Carrey), who discovers that his long-time girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet), has undergone a psychiatrist's (Tom Wilkinson) experimental procedure in which all of her memory of Joel is removed, after the couple has tried for years to get their relationship working fluidly. Frustrated by the idea of still being in love with a woman who doesn't remember their time together, Joel agrees to undergo the procedure as well, to erase his memories of Clementine. The film, which takes place mostly within Joel's mind, follows his memories of Clementine backwards in time as each recent memory is replaced, and the procedure then goes on to the previous one, which is likewise seen, and then erased. Once the process starts, however, Joel realizes he doesn't really want to forget Clementine, so he starts smuggling her away into parts of his memory where she doesn't belong... which alters other things about his memories as well. (Kirsten Dunst plays the psychiatrist's receptionist; Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood play his lab technicians).


After taking a break to return to broad comedy form for one movie (Bruce Almighty), Jim Carrey returns to more serious stuff with the latest lead role to spring forth from the pen of screenwriter wunderkind Charlie Kaufman. Like Being John Malkovich this new story takes within a man's mind, but even more so (most of the film). It also joins the recent mini-trend of movies (11:14, Irreversible) that (at least partially) use reverse chronology that started with Memento just two years ago. As the respect and clout of Kaufman's originality and writing skill grows, his films continue to be able to attract A-list talent, even for supporting roles (Dunst, Wood). This project also reunites with Michel Gondry, director of Human Nature, which is admittedly probably the "lesser" of the four produced Kaufman films; but few films today could stand up to comparison to Adaptation and Being John Malkovich; it's all relative.

Release Date: Fall, 2003 (platform release starting in LA/NY, then expanding wider).

Title Note: The title is quoted from the poem "Eloisa to Abelard" by Alexander Pope (1688-1744).

Click here for Photo Gallery (http://groups.msn.com/katethegreatallyouneedtoknow/eternalsunshine.msnw): where you can see the punkish look that Kate Winslet is sporting for the movie; in addition to bright orange in one half, we should also be seeing her sport blue hair in the other half of the movie...111 images!
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: RegularKarate on January 23, 2003, 12:39:36 PM
Thanks Mac...had heard the title, but didn't know much about it, sounds great... I really like the idea.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Jon on January 25, 2003, 10:13:19 AM
Human Nature was very uneven. Althoguh there were some great ideas about how sad life is, the way we live it, etc.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: rustinglass on March 19, 2003, 12:33:23 PM
There is also philip kaufman the director. Unbearable lightness of being is very good.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: life_boy on March 19, 2003, 06:56:33 PM
I liked Quills.  I thought Geoffrey Rush was great.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on November 20, 2003, 10:57:58 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.digitalcity.com%2Fmff_takefive%2Ftop&hash=bc339291387446728996b485b50247785049cbb7)

Given the furiously comic nature of Charlie Kaufman's screenwriting, it's easy to imagine him as the intensely sarcastic, spontaneously witty type. Instead, he seems to exercise that aspect of his personality on the page. In fact, the real Charlie Kaufman looks so unremarkable that, walking into a recent interview, I hardly recognized the shy, bearded man waiting across the room (though that has more to do with the fact that the reclusive writer never allows his photograph to be taken).

This is the guy behind Being John Malkovich? This is the guy portrayed by Nicholas Cage as a fat, balding and intensely neurotic screenwriter in Spike Jonze's new film, Adaptation? Adaptation is the second of three ambitious Kaufman scripts to be produced this year, along with the bizarro love-triangle comedy Human Nature and George Clooney's directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, about "Gong Show" host and part-time secret agent Chuck Barris (or so the movie suggests).

It takes some getting used to, the notion that movies as wildly imaginative as these might come from someone as mildly mannered as this. When posed with questions, Kaufman doesn't stammer like Woody Allen or blurt with Hunter S. Thompson's gusto. He takes his time and thoughtfully crafts his responses, hesitantly deflecting his gaze as he speaks. He's shy, not sheepish, and his answers reveal something of his true personality. We wanted to know what Kaufman looks for in movies, what inspires him, so we asked him to recommend five films of personal significance. Here's what he picked.

What Happened Was...
(1994, dir: Tom Noonan, starring: Karen Sillas, Tom Noonan)
It's a two-character movie that takes place in one apartment. It's about a first date. I've seen the movie maybe 10 times, and I always find something new in the dynamic between these two people. I was asked to present a movie that I really liked at UCLA last year, and it's the first time I saw it with an audience. It was amazing the kind of stuff people were laughing at. There were things that I found really moving and horrifying that people were laughing at, and I didn't mind it. I thought it was kind of great. That's the thing I love about good movies, that people can have different reactions to the same moment. There's a lot of stuff I don't understand about what's going on -- sometimes I find the movie very funny, sometimes it's just tragic and sometimes it's both -- but it's really fascinating to me. I just think it's true, and I think that if you can have two characters in a room for two hours, you've done an amazing thing.

Naked
(1993, dir: Mike Leigh, starring: David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp)
It's sort of similar, the way that Mike Leigh and Tom Noonan work. They workshop these things, and I think that's where they get the richness and the density in the performances and the script, the precision. There seems to be this truth found in moments that you don't see in movies that are really heavy scripted. Mike Leigh will work for six months developing these characters with the actors, not knowing where the story's going to go. It's about a drifter who comes to London to see this old girlfriend of his. It follows him on this odyssey through London, meeting all these different characters. Every single person he meets is so funny and sad and rich. David Thewlis, who plays the lead, gives one of the best film performances I've ever seen. He's such an awful character on paper, yet you find yourself having such sympathy for him. I have sort a theater background, and I really like good actors, so if I were to direct a movie, it's certainly a way that I would consider doing it.

Safe
(1995, dir: Todd Haynes, starring: Julianne Moore, Xander Berkeley)
I first saw Julianne Moore in Vanya on 42nd Street, where her character was the polar opposite of the one she plays in this movie. Here she's a stereotypical sort of upper-middle-class suburban housewife who develops one of these allergies to the world, and it takes over her life. I think she's great. She gives this almost blank, sad performance that's completely in tune with the style of the movie. It has this balance between surreality and the real world that's very impressive to me. It's one of those movies where it's also funny maybe, but you're not really sure. It doesn't tell you what to think about anything that it shows you, which is something that I always aspire to in stuff that I'm writing. All these movies are comedies in a way. In Human Nature, we wanted to strike a balance. We didn't want to make fun of Patricia Arquette's character, which was delicate because the idea of a hairy woman is so freaky to people. We had great affection for that character, and we didn't want people to see her on the screen and laugh. We didn't want it to feel like it was a Farrelly brothers presentation of a person.

Barton Fink
(1991, dir: Joel Coen, starring: John Turturro, John Goodman)
I think it's the Coen brothers' weirdest movie. It's just great, with really good performances by everybody: John Goodman and John Turturro, all the supporting people. It's full of really, really funny moments, and it's so strange and creepy. It's about this sort of Clifford Odets writer in the '30s. He's this socially conscious New York playwright who gets hired by the studios to be a screenwriter, so he moves out to Los Angeles to write this wrestling movie. It's about his struggle to write this script, but it's just very odd and demented. I think anybody who writes screenplays identifies with not knowing how. Adaptation is a very conceptual movie, but it has the same basis. The structure of the movie turns in on itself and transforms as you're watching it. It's got two stories that it follows: One is the story of the guy writing the screenplay, and the other is the story of the woman writing the book that he is basing the screenplay on. They take place in two different times three years apart. They kind of inform each other and interact in a way that things that are separated by time can, and then they come together in the present at the end of the movie in a hopefully surprising way. I was hired to write an adaptation of this book [The Orchid Thief], and I didn't know how to do it, so I decided to write what I was thinking about. I didn't tell the studio because I didn't think that they would let me do it, and I didn't have any other ideas, so I figured I would just take my chance and do it.

Ladybird Ladybird
(1994, dir: Ken Loach, starring: Crissy Rock, Vladimir Vega)
It's based on a true story, and it's about a woman in England who's considered an unfit mother. She's got a bunch of children that are being taken away from her, and she's trying to deal with that as well as a new relationship that she's starting with this really nice man. Again, it's the acting that gets me. Crissy Rock plays the mother. I think she was a standup comic or something, and this is the first part she ever had in a movie. It's one of the most real, heartbreaking performances that I've ever seen in a movie. This is not a comedy by any stretch of the imagination. It's a really hard movie to watch, but it's just so real and so compelling because of that. You feel like you are seeing an actual live person on the screen.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: aclockworkjj on November 20, 2003, 11:36:24 AM
Quote from: rustinglassThere is also philip kaufman the director. Unbearable lightness of being is very good.
Henry and June....

I like that movie.

Quote from: godardianSafe? Naked? Ken Loach?

I have a newfound respect for this guy.
To tell you the truth...i found that surprising too.  Good deal Chuck!
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: godardian on November 20, 2003, 11:50:03 AM
Safe? Naked? Ken Loach?

I have a newfound respect for this guy.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Pedro on November 30, 2003, 01:27:52 AM
Quote from: godardianSafe? Naked? Ken Loach?

I have a newfound respect for this guy.
You didn't before?
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on April 01, 2004, 09:48:42 PM
Kaufman Out For Clooney's Blood
Source: Empire Online
 
Empire Online reports that in an interview in the May issue of Arena magazine, "Being John Malkovich" and "Eternal Sunshine..." scribe Charlie Kaufman revealed he's quite pissed off with George Clooney over the way 2002's "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" went down (Kaufman scripted, Clooney directed).

Kaufman says "I was upset by the fact that he took the movie from me and then cut me out after that. Im unhappy with the end result. And Im unhappy with George Clooney. I had a movie that I wrote and that isnt it...I've always been involved in the process with Spike (Jonze) and Michel (Gondry). If there's any rewriting to do, I do it. But with Clooney it was differenteven the end of the movie is different. I mean, Clooney went on forever about how my Confessionsscreenplay was one of the greatest scripts hed read. But if someone truthfully felt that way they'd want the person who wrote it to be onboard offering their thoughts and criticisms. But Clooney didn't, and I think its a silly way to be a director".

Kaufman in the meantime is continuing work on other projects - "Spike and I recently pitched this idea for a scary movie to Sony pictures. I don't have a title for it yet and Im not even sure what the plots going to be. But that's the way I write: without knowing where something is going".
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on April 01, 2004, 10:09:25 PM
I no longer feel guilty for thinking that movie is mediocre.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: ElPandaRoyal on April 02, 2004, 04:46:51 AM
The thing is... I don't believe any newsthat come outon April Fools day.

And I also don't want to belive that Clooney is a fucko
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: LostEraser on April 07, 2004, 07:41:13 PM
I've heard news on a so called horror movie that Charlie is working on to be directed by Spike Jonze. Has anyone else heard any more on this. I guess Spike's next film is going to be Where The Wild things are but maybe this will be his next project after that. Any news? Hell, any news on any new project by him?
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on April 07, 2004, 08:28:40 PM
Quote from: LostEraserI've heard news on a so called horror movie that Charlie is working on to be directed by Spike Jonze. Has anyone else heard any more on this. Any news?

Fourth post down:
http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=1809&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45

Quote from: LostEraserHell, any news on any new project by him?

Kaufman's next script to be produced is A Scanner Darkly:
http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=708&start=30
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: LostEraser on April 07, 2004, 08:42:14 PM
lol! Of course. I should have read the whole Spike Jonze thread (that's becoming a problem here when I want to post something since some threads are so long).

And I never even looked into the Linklater thread. Kaufman & Philip K. Dick, huh? Interesting.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on April 19, 2004, 01:00:46 AM
A glimpse of Kaufman in temporary sunshine

With the growing success of his quirky, heartfelt films, Charlie Kaufman has become a Hollywood rarity -- a brand name screenwriter. The creator of such films as "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation" also has been branded as a recluse -- unfairly if you ask him. In fact, Kaufman was only too happy to talk about his current film, Focus Features' "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," which has taken in more than $26 million in its first 26 days of release.

The Hollywood Reporter: It's pretty rare that audiences are so aware of screenwriters, unless they also direct films. Are you interested in directing?

Kaufman: I guess I don't think of ("Eternal Sunshine") as a Charlie Kaufman film. I see it as a collaboration of a lot of people. There is a movie that I am planning on directing, and I haven't written it yet. I'm going to do that after (the project) I'm writing now that Spike Jonze will direct. I don't know if it's so much that I have an idea of how to direct (this idea) the way another director might not. I don't know how to phrase it exactly, because I enjoy collaboration. I just want to see what taking something from its inception -- and having more of one vision -- would look like.

THR: You've gained this reputation as being mysterious. Do you think that Nicolas Cage playing you in "Adaptation" added to the intrigue?

Kaufman: I've been referred a recluse more than once, and I'm not. With each movie, I've done press. I don't like to be photographed or to talk about my personal life. But I guess the cat's out of the bag now. (During 'Malkovich') people thought, 'Who is this guy?' There was very little known about me, and there were no pictures of me. Now there are many pictures just because if you go to any event -- or opening, or luncheon thing -- your picture's there and it's online. It's weird.

THR: Do you see 'Eternal Sunshine' as a kind of response to the standard sunny romantic comedy?

Kaufman: What I was trying to do when I wrote ('Sunshine'), and ('Adaptation'), was that the idea of Hollywood romance was something that I did not want to contribute to. I wanted to do a real relationship. So if I were going to the movies and I were to see this thing, I would think, 'Oh, OK, I can understand this. It has something to do with my life, it's not this unattainable fairy tale thing.'

THR: Do you tell these stories in sort of fractured ways to remind people they are watching a film by pulling them in and out of the movie?

Kaufman: Some people will say -- and I've seen it in print -- that I'm a smart-ass, or obsessed with mind games and puzzles and that sort of thing. I like interesting structures and I like being able to figure out a way to tell a story that feels specific to that story, as opposed to the structures for writing screenplays. And that's an issue that's addressed in 'Adaptation.' But I don't feel like I'm a smart-ass. I feel that everything I do is very heartfelt.

THR: You are now one of the few screenwriters who can attract talent to projects, the way Woody Allen or Spike Lee do as directors. Do you think about casting while you write?

Kaufman: When I'm writing, I'm not thinking about actors. I'm not thinking about stars. I wouldn't want to bring in a star to do the movie just because they can bring in boxoffice. One thing about these movies is that they are moderately budgeted and big stars come because they want to be there. They're getting paid, but not their fee. So they are there because they want to be there and they want to do the work. That was the case with Jim (Carrey) and Kate (Winslet) and Meryl Streep and everybody.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on April 19, 2004, 05:54:58 PM
Great interview--short, but great.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on July 07, 2004, 02:01:26 PM
From Entertainment Weekly:

It was a dark and stormy morning. Genius writer Charlie Kaufman - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind screenplay guy and guest of honor at the drizzly Nantucket Film Festival - was discussing his new script, which he's writing for Sony with his Adaptation coconspirator, director Spike Jonze. "This is the first time that Spike has been involved from the inception," he said. "We pitched it together." Please, tell us what it's about. "No, I'd rather not," he said. "I wouldn't know what to say." Does Sony have you on a deadline? "They don't seem to," he said. "Might be good if they did." And then he laughed and laughed....
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: kotte on July 07, 2004, 02:18:56 PM
Charlie Kaufman on Charlie Rose (http://www.beingcharliekaufman.com/multimedia/video/Charlie.Rose.Charlie.Kaufman.interview.mkv)

Seen this?

Thought it was good. But I don't like Rose.

Coen's on Rose was good too...just a side note.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: private witt on January 19, 2005, 04:37:40 PM
I like Charlie Rose but he can come across as kind of crazy and irritating.  I hate how he talks over people.  I would walk out on an interview if he did that to me.  But I'm not famous yet so maybe I wouldn't.  Kaufman is one Coen brothers looking mofo, however.   Hey, who loved Love Liza?  Jim O,Rourke?  Hell, yeah, baby!  No, seriously, why is Bill Murray so fucking sad?  How come chris Cunningham's dvd left out so much of his work? Is 21 grams the wieght of the soul or the amount of yea that Naiomi Watt's character does during the film?  I don't know these things and I need help.  I'm sick with curiosity.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: socketlevel on January 20, 2005, 01:23:51 PM
Quote from: private wittI like Charlie Rose but he can come across as kind of crazy and irritating.  I hate how he talks over people.  I would walk out on an interview if he did that to me.  But I'm not famous yet so maybe I wouldn't.  Kaufman is one Coen brothers looking mofo, however.   Hey, who loved Love Liza?  Jim O,Rourke?  Hell, yeah, baby!  No, seriously, why is Bill Murray so fucking sad?  How come chris Cunningham's dvd left out so much of his work? Is 21 grams the wieght of the soul or the amount of yea that Naiomi Watt's character does during the film?  I don't know these things and I need help.  I'm sick with curiosity.

charlie rose is the shit, most talk shows are plugs for film makers and you don't learn shit.  i like how he gets down to the beans and actually talks about good shit.  he know a fuck of a lot too.

jim o'rourke is the man.  simple nice music with some of the most fucked up lyrics you could hear.

-sl-
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on March 01, 2005, 09:52:01 AM
maybe you all know this, but i was watching him at the oscars, and the man looks a lot like seth green.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Gamblour. on March 01, 2005, 10:07:34 AM
YEAH! I noticed that too....like it was really creepy. They're both really short too, it was quite uncanny. And Charlie has better hair.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: The Obstruction on March 02, 2005, 05:41:06 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin

"with Clooney it was differenteven the end of the movie is different. I mean, Clooney went on forever about how my Confessions screenplay was one of the greatest scripts hed read. But if someone truthfully felt that way they'd want the person who wrote it to be onboard offering their thoughts and criticisms. But Clooney didn't, and I think its a silly way to be a director".


Maybe Mr. Clooney should take a hard look in the mirror and realize that his place is besides Mr. Soderberg as his loyal pet.
I mean Mr. Clooney is like a dog you have to be hard with it/him, and set boundaries for what is accepteble and what is not.

Who would be affraid to have suggery done by this man ?

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.famousdudes.com%2Fpics%2FGeorgeClooney%2Fgeorgeclooney8.jpg&hash=daacec00f5498deac345d0023c85053ed3229a3d)
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Ultrahip on June 24, 2005, 08:36:23 PM
BeingCharlieKaufman.com reports that Wilson The Volleyball (yes, from Cast Away) has been cast in the upcoming Jonze/Kaufman horror project.

so uh...yeah. that was unexpected.
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: cowboykurtis on June 24, 2005, 09:56:31 PM
scary stuff
Title: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Sleuth on June 24, 2005, 10:55:54 PM
I don't have any moeny left
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: private witt on November 20, 2005, 06:33:04 AM
Quote from: socketlevel on January 20, 2005, 01:23:51 PM
Quote from: private wittI like Charlie Rose but he can come across as kind of crazy and irritating.  I hate how he talks over people.  I would walk out on an interview if he did that to me.  But I'm not famous yet so maybe I wouldn't.  Kaufman is one Coen brothers looking mofo, however.   Hey, who loved Love Liza?  Jim O,Rourke?  Hell, yeah, baby!  No, seriously, why is Bill Murray so fucking sad?  How come chris Cunningham's dvd left out so much of his work? Is 21 grams the wieght of the soul or the amount of yea that Naiomi Watt's character does during the film?  I don't know these things and I need help.  I'm sick with curiosity.

charlie rose is the shit, most talk shows are plugs for film makers and you don't learn shit.  i like how he gets down to the beans and actually talks about good shit.  he know a fuck of a lot too.

jim o'rourke is the man.  simple nice music with some of the most fucked up lyrics you could hear.

-sl-

Yeah, I wish Bill Moyers had Charlie's job, though.  Bill Moyers is the best listener of all interviewers.  I once wrote a five page paper on Love Liza in which I quoted many a negative review of Love Liza and Jim O'Rourke's music.  I debunked every review flawlessly!
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: picolas on October 06, 2009, 01:46:40 AM
SO.
[size=9]c[/size]harlie kaufman came to vancouver to do a talk. i thought if there was any chance of meeting him afterwards i should get him a slice of key lime pie as a reference to adaptation.

i spent part of a day calling every listing under 'bakery' and 'pies' in the yellow pages. not one effing person in vancouver made key lime pies. so i had to settle for a key lime tart.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ak-snc1%2Fhs256.snc1%2F10324_1105780178244_1638960032_292232_1531053_n.jpg&hash=de5dcc5ed24da77c2164f9128dc1add1aec500ec)

my friend took a picture of me with the tart while i wasn't looking.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ak-snc1%2Fhs256.snc1%2F10324_1105780218245_1638960032_292233_4038344_n.jpg&hash=07a068028df34f857e7bf403feaac31ac346bf51)

when we got to the talk it became obvious there was no way we'd be able to give him the tart. it just wasn't that kind of venue/setup. he was carefully led in and out of the room.

it was a great talk despite the moderator doing far too much summing up of movies the audience already knew about and a couple of silly questions. but overall very inspiring.

i recorded (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=W4F9BHLN) most of the talk btw. missed the first few minutes and one (bad) question.

my friend had to leave early during the second talk and i just wanted to talk about kaufman so i left with him. we started walking down a large staircase and saw KAUFMAN standing outside the entrance getting directions. we looked at each other and BOOKED IT. we had no idea how much longer he'd be standing there.

on the way down some organizer was like "just don't run him over!"
"K."

i rushed up to him with a bunch of bags in my hands cause i hadn't finished the meal from earlier. i put them on the ground in front of him without saying a word and started unpacking the bag with the tart in it. for a second i thought there was a chance he would interpret this as vaguely threatening. like the worst assassination attempt ever or something.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ak-snc1%2Fhs256.snc1%2F10324_1108166157892_1638960032_295876_2961814_n.jpg&hash=2e1ff347fef53435b6533f8cfe56eb62c25f342e)
my friend also managed to take this photo while neither of us were looking

i stood up with the tart doing a semi-bow and said "Mr. Kaufman, I'm sorry there are no key lime pies in all of Vancouver but you can have this tart."

he was amused but there was also this amazing, awkward, classically-kaufman beat where he didn't really want to accept the tart because it was another thing for him to carry. he already had something in his other hand. there was also an odd sense he didn't get the adaptation reference.. even though he MUST'VE. but after a second he's like "...okay. thanks." and walks off. i was thrilled.

THE END
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Stefen on October 06, 2009, 02:10:09 AM
 :bravo:
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Pubrick on October 06, 2009, 02:12:45 AM
i didn't get the reference.

but awesome story none the less. massive thanks to your friend and his trusty pocket camera, that last pic especially summarizes the story really well.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: picolas on October 06, 2009, 02:19:49 AM
Quote from: P|/_ on October 06, 2009, 02:12:45 AM
i didn't get the reference.
haha.. maybe it's because i've seen adaptation so many times as well as recently. i'm hoping the next time he watches it it clicks and he's like "oh yeahhh."
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: ©brad on October 06, 2009, 08:43:20 AM
hahahah. Awesome awesome awesome.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: modage on October 06, 2009, 09:27:12 AM
We need more of these stories. 
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Pubrick on October 06, 2009, 09:35:03 AM
hmm yeah i wonder who could supply them? such a person would have to be someone who gets the opportunity to meet famous ppl all the time, somewhere real cool like NYC or something.. yeah. not many of those around since samsong stopped working for TMZ (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=1135.msg237821#msg237821).

also pic, i think his reticence to accept your tart might have been in part just regular common sense about accepting unsolicited food from strangers. especially for an OCD kinda guy. anyway, downloaded the recording but couldn't really hear much, tho it did seem like the moderator was kinda dumb, but that's what happens at these kinda things. so i hear.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: modage on October 06, 2009, 10:10:14 AM
Haha, I know.  When I met Kaufman I wasted that opportunity for awkward key-lime by getting my Adaptation DVD signed (by a green sharpie).   :yabbse-undecided:
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Pozer on October 06, 2009, 01:17:54 PM
perfect Charlie Kaufman encounter. his face in the last pic kinda reads like he got it.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: JG on October 06, 2009, 01:36:25 PM
haha, i just walked by john goodman like ten minutes ago and i was carrying chips and salsa and had my flip cam in my bag. i blew it!
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: picolas on October 06, 2009, 09:17:19 PM
Quote from: P|/_ on October 06, 2009, 09:35:03 AMalso pic, i think his reticence to accept your tart might have been in part just regular common sense about accepting unsolicited food from strangers. especially for an OCD kinda guy.
perhaps. it was still sealed, though.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Bethie on October 06, 2009, 11:35:30 PM
haha way to go :yabbse-thumbup:
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Gamblour. on October 07, 2009, 08:31:55 PM
This story made my night. Way to take advantage of the opportunity. (I also don't get the reference, wait, is it what Cage orders at the diner with the waitress he fantasizes about?)

Love that last picture. Blow it up, frame it.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Champion Souza on October 07, 2009, 09:24:59 PM
I was there, too.  It was a good talk, I thought.

The worst part was the audience's questions.  You'd think people would come up with better ideas to ask about.  I had a question about his version of A Scanner Darkly compared to Linklater's but chickened out on trying to ask it.

Unfortunately I left before you gave him the tart.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Alexandro on October 08, 2009, 07:33:46 AM
so, the people with the good questions don't ask them and the people with the bad questions are the ones asking all of them.

who's fault is it then?
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: picolas on October 11, 2009, 12:25:24 AM
Quote from: Gamblour. on October 07, 2009, 08:31:55 PM(I also don't get the reference, wait, is it what Cage orders at the diner with the waitress he fantasizes about?)
yeah. i just figured he must like it, referencing it twice.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Neil on February 15, 2012, 12:15:43 AM
It just hit me the other day I was watching 'Human Nature' that, Mr. Kaufman has a thing for red heads.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmimg.actressarchives.com%2F201011%2F3%2F4%2F3%2F113343%2Fcuts%2FMirandaOtt_Barso_179165_600_480x480.jpg&hash=bf0a6e4a2a524a80ff6fc9cd3f89123418e3edfa)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffashiongrunge.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2Ftn2_eternal_sunshine_11.jpg&hash=5ad3e7c645d2c1cea39a896eebdc6b07ce7ce5cf)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpor-img.cimcontent.net%2Fapi%2Fassets%2Fbin-201202%2F0e3547842297d8b15c0fea3e1859c961.jpg&hash=a2ae4a091e4e018f8a5d3c999f12d01bbf0e9286)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fia.media-imdb.com%2Fimages%2FM%2FMV5BMjI3NDI5MjgzMF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODY4MTA5Ng%40%40._V1._SX461_SY745_.jpg&hash=2b39b7eb315042a8e33a91392b34f36f948e7125)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F_h9hbtt0Uyew%2FS0nAIrBTOGI%2FAAAAAAAACjU%2FOJ0CzTwWE40%2Fs400%2Fadaptation_greer_v1.jpg&hash=a5e60d6865eb6492b08851ba0c6813cb917f1d40)
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: O. on February 15, 2012, 12:36:57 AM
Who doesn't?  :yabbse-thumbup:
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Brando on March 29, 2012, 02:41:54 PM

Charlie's written a novel.http://www.deadline.com/2012/03/charlie-kaufman-sets-debut-novel-at-grand-central-publishing/ (http://www.deadline.com/2012/03/charlie-kaufman-sets-debut-novel-at-grand-central-publishing/)
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on April 23, 2012, 07:23:03 PM
Charlie Kaufman To Adapt 'Chaos Walking,' Lionsgate's Next Franchise Play
BY MIKE FLEMING | Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has high hopes that the Patrick Ness young adult novel series Chaos Walking has the potential to become another futuristic Hunger Games-esque franchise. While the mission on most of those book to movie sensations is to stick close to the books, Lionsgate has done an intriguing thing on Chaos Walking: they've set Charlie Kaufman to adapt the first book in the series.

The Carnegie Medal winning book is set in a dystopian future with humans colonizing a distant earth-like planet. When an infection called the Noise suddenly makes all thought audible, privacy vanishes, chaos ensues, and a corrupt autocrat threatens to take control of the human settlements and wage war with the indigenous alien race. Only young Todd Hewitt holds the key to stopping planet wide-destruction. Doug Davison's Quadrant Pictures is producing.

Kaufman seems an inspired choice. His previous adaptations of the Chuck Barris memoir Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and the Susan Orlean book The Orchid Thief (which became the Meryl Streep-starrer Adaptation) took the subject matter into all kinds of imaginative directions not found in the pages of those books.

Kaufman, who just made a deal with Grand Central Publishing to write his own first novel, is separately working on directing his script, Frank or Francis. It's a Hollywood satire set to music where a film director feuds with a blogger, and Nicolas Cage, Steve Carell, Elizabeth Banks, Catherine Keener, Jack Black, Kevin Kline and Paul Reubens are all circling roles. Kaufman is repped by WME.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: 72teeth on April 24, 2012, 12:15:33 PM
wont happen, i know first-hand he has a hard time adapting other people's work... but im going to read em now anyway
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on May 21, 2012, 08:26:26 PM
Charlie Kaufman Working on an HBO Series to Star Catherine Keener
Source: Deadline

How amazing does this sound? According to Deadline, Charlie Kaufman is working on a half-hour comedy now in development at HBO, which he'll write and direct and which will star Catherine Keener (who'll also serve as producer).

Deadline describes the project, still untitled, as "an exploration of one day in a woman's life and how the events leading up to it can affect, or not, the reality in which she lives." Sound very... Kaufmanesque. Or like "Mrs Dalloway" meets "24," but funny?

This will be the first small-screen starring vehicle for Keener, who's worked with Kaufman before in "Being John Malkovich" and "Synecdoche, New York," and who's attached to his upcoming musical Hollywood satire "Frank Or Francis." She hasn't acted in television since appearing as Jerry's girlfriend in the "Seinfeld" episode "The Letter." Kaufman, of course, got his start in TV, having written for Chris Elliott's "Get a Life," "Ned and Stacey" and "The Dana Carvey Show" in the years before "Being John Malkovich."
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Brando on May 21, 2012, 08:33:25 PM
Quote from: 72teeth on April 24, 2012, 12:15:33 PM
wont happen, i know first-hand he has a hard time adapting other people's work... but im going to read em now anyway

I just started the trilogy myself just cause I heard he's adapting the first book. I'm 16% through the entire series cause I'm reading it on a kindle. It's a western meets sci fi and comes across as a difficult book to adapt due to the "noise." I'm actually very excited to see how he tackles the project.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Reel on June 05, 2012, 02:26:29 AM
"Say who you are, really say it in your life and in your work. Tell someone out there who is lost, who is not yet born, someone who won't be born for 500 years. Your writing will be a record of your time, it can't help but be. More importantly, if you are honest about who you are, you'll help that person be less lonely in their World, because that person will recognize him or herself in you and that will give them hope. It's done so for me, and I have to keep rediscovering it, its profound importance in my life. Give that to the world, rather than selling something to the World. Don't allow yourself to be tricked into thinking that the way things are is the way the World must work and that in the end, selling is what everyone must do. Try not to."

- Charlie Kaufmann Lecture at BAFTA (http://guru.bafta.org/charlie-kaufman-screenwriters-lecture-video)
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on July 11, 2012, 03:55:07 PM
Charlie Kaufman Pens Stop-Motion Animated Film 'Anomalisa,' 'Community' Creator Dan Harmon Exec-Producing
Source: Playlist

Charlie Kaufman might be having some issues getting his next directorial effort, "Frank Or Francis," up and running, but he's not exactly lacking for work. The writer of "Adaptation" and "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind" is adapting young-adult novel "The Knife Of Letting Go" for Lionsgate, and he's developing an HBO series starring Catherine Keener. And now, he's moving into new territory with some very, very interesting collaborators.

As pointed out by sometime Playlist contributor @williambgoss on Twitter, a Kickstarter page popped up today for a project called "Anomalisa," a stop-motion animated film written by Kaufman, his first incursion away from live-action. And he's teamed up with Starburns Industries to get the film made. What does that mean? Well, as the title might give away to fans, it means a "Community" tie-in, with the cult sitcom's creator and former showrunner, Dan Harmon, along with his friend and sometime collaborator Dino Stamatopolous, who played the occasional character of Starburns on the series, as well as being a consulting producer. But he's probably best known as the man behind cult Adult Swim animation "Moral Orel" and "Mary Shelley's Frankenhole."

The company are using the resources they've amassed for their series in the past to make the show, with Duke Johnson, who helmed the animated Christmas "Community" episode a couple of years back, as well as episodes of Stamatopolous' series, directing. And you can get involved too; they're looking for $200,000 to get the project made, with bonuses ranging from an executive producer credit to a thank you on Twitter, and everything inbetween. So far, they've taken $3000, with 60 days left to go, and given the fanbases involved, we suspect that they'll manage their target, and more.

And as for the plot? Well, it sounds typically Kaufman-esque, and far from your usual subject matter for animated films; ready the full synopsis below. . If this gets off the ground, Starburns Industries say they've got more projects in the works, from Harmon, Robert Smigel and Louis C.K, which all sounds pretty terrific,so if you want to show some encouragement, head over to Kickstarter and put a little money into the project.

Anomalisa is a stop-motion animated film written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). 

The film follows a celebrated motivational speaker travelling the country, changing the lives of countless people. But in the course of transforming others, his life has become hollow and meaningless. It's a grey and monotonous existence where people literally look and sound identical. 

Suddenly one day, a girl's voice pierces through the veil of nothingness. She fills him with such a rush of "aliveness", he's willing to abandon everything and everyone, including his own family, and escape with her to a better life.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Reel on August 08, 2012, 06:31:53 AM
Quote from: Reelist on June 05, 2012, 02:26:29 AM
Charlie Kaufmann Lecture at BAFTA (http://guru.bafta.org/charlie-kaufman-screenwriters-lecture-video)

Here's a 5 min excerpt of that speech with a cool little short film behind it. What I have to offer (http://vimeo.com/45097801)
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Champion Souza on August 09, 2012, 10:22:32 PM
Quote from: Reelist on August 08, 2012, 06:31:53 AM
Quote from: Reelist on June 05, 2012, 02:26:29 AM
Charlie Kaufmann Lecture at BAFTA (http://guru.bafta.org/charlie-kaufman-screenwriters-lecture-video)

Here's a 5 min excerpt of that speech with a cool little short film behind it. What I have to offer (http://vimeo.com/45097801)

I want Kaufman to write another screenplay that moves me as much as that speech did. 
There's an audio file of it on that site if people didn't check the link.  Worth listening to.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: InTylerWeTrust on August 09, 2012, 10:27:02 PM
Quote from: Reelist on June 05, 2012, 02:26:29 AM
"Say who you are, really say it in your life and in your work. Tell someone out there who is lost, who is not yet born, someone who won't be born for 500 years. Your writing will be a record of your time, it can't help but be. More importantly, if you are honest about who you are, you'll help that person be less lonely in their World, because that person will recognize him or herself in you and that will give them hope. It's done so for me, and I have to keep rediscovering it, its profound importance in my life. Give that to the world, rather than selling something to the World. Don't allow yourself to be tricked into thinking that the way things are is the way the World must work and that in the end, selling is what everyone must do. Try not to."

- Charlie Kaufmann Lecture at BAFTA (http://guru.bafta.org/charlie-kaufman-screenwriters-lecture-video)

Wow.... Just... Wow....

That Quote is so going on my bedroom wall. This quote and Jonathan demme's "Life writes your script" speech is probably the best advice for writers out there. It sure helps me.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Robyn on August 10, 2012, 06:48:28 AM
Quote from: InTylerWeTrust on August 09, 2012, 10:27:02 PM
Quote from: Reelist on June 05, 2012, 02:26:29 AM
"Say who you are, really say it in your life and in your work. Tell someone out there who is lost, who is not yet born, someone who won't be born for 500 years. Your writing will be a record of your time, it can't help but be. More importantly, if you are honest about who you are, you'll help that person be less lonely in their World, because that person will recognize him or herself in you and that will give them hope. It's done so for me, and I have to keep rediscovering it, its profound importance in my life. Give that to the world, rather than selling something to the World. Don't allow yourself to be tricked into thinking that the way things are is the way the World must work and that in the end, selling is what everyone must do. Try not to."

- Charlie Kaufmann Lecture at BAFTA (http://guru.bafta.org/charlie-kaufman-screenwriters-lecture-video)

Wow.... Just... Wow....

That Quote is so going on my bedroom wall.

Welcome to the club!
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on March 28, 2013, 01:59:14 PM
FX Orders Charlie Kaufman Comedy Pilot
Source: Deadline

FX Networks has greenlighted How And Why, a half-hour comedy pilot from Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman. It tells the story of a man who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works, but is clueless about life.  Kaufman will write and direct the pilot and serve as executive producer. FX Prods will produce. How And Why joins another recently ordered FX comedy pilot, animated Chozen from Grant Dekernion, Danny McBride and the team behind Eastbound & Down. Dekernion is writing and executive producing Chozen, about a white rapper, recently out of prison, who uses his new survival skills in his quest for redemption. McBride and Rough House Pictures will executive produce with Floyd County Prods. Characters will be voiced by Saturday Night Live's Bobby Moynihan, Michael Pena, Hannibal Buress, Kathryn Hahn, Nick Swardson and McBride.  FX Prods is producing.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: ©brad on March 28, 2013, 07:26:26 PM
Well I'm excited.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: wilder on May 14, 2013, 12:37:15 PM
Charlie Kaufman To Co-Direct Animated 'Anomalisa,' Jennifer Jason Leigh & David Thewlis Among Voice Cast
via The Playlist

It's funny how the complaints subside if a Kickstarter project is taken on by someone you like. For example: last summer screenwriter/director Charlie Kaufman and former "Community" writer/producer Dan Harmon (two pretty successful guys in their own right) hit the crowdfunding site looking for backers to help get the stop-motion animated "Anomalisa" off the ground. And they certainly didn't face Zach Braff-ian levels of discontent and went on to quietly double their $200,000 goal (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/anomalisa/charlie-kaufmans-anomalisa). And with some cash already in hand, they're headed to Cannes hoping that the movie industry will now front the rest.

Kaufman, who co-wrote the script based on his own play, will also co-direct the project (with Duke Johnson), which has since lined up Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan and David Thewlis for voice roles, with Carter Burwell (the longtime Coen Brothers  collaborator who is also composing the music for the upcoming "August: Osage County") providing the score. Impressive, stuff.

It's unclear if this is now aiming to be a feature (it was originally conceived as a 40-minute film), but production is already underway on the movie so perhaps it's sticking with its short format. The story itself follows Michael, a celebrated motivational speaker whose life has become hollow and meaningless. But that all changes when he meets Lisa.

The movie is aimed at adults (as the Kickstarter site says, it's "about a man crippled by the mundanity of his life" -- fun!) and it'll be interesting to see what interest it generates in the south of France.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: classical gas on July 09, 2013, 10:00:25 PM
Kaufman and del Toro to adapt "Slaughterhouse Five" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jul/09/charlie-kaufman-slaughterhouse-five-film)
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Lottery on July 09, 2013, 10:37:42 PM
When I found out about that, it made me confused and upset and happy. I like both dudes. But I think there might be better people for the job. Or they could just leave it alone. That said, Del Toro probably ends up only doing like a fifth of the movies he wants to do.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: wilder on January 14, 2014, 04:54:11 PM
Michael Cera & John Hawkes To Star In Charlie Kaufman's FX Pilot 'How And Why'
via The Playlist

It has been six years since we've had anything on any screen from the mind of Charlie Kaufman. It was 2008 when he delivered "Synecdoche, New York" and since then, while the promise of this Hollywood satire/musical "Frank Or Francis" has been teased, it has yet to find the momentum or money/support to get made. But once again, television is giving someone of Kaufman's unique talent a place to flourish. Last spring came word that over at FX, Kaufman was writing a TV series called "How And Why," but there were few other details. But today, not only does it have stars but we now know a little of what it's all about.

Deadline reports that Michael Cera and John Hawkes have signed on to star in the half-hour comedy show. The premise? The series will follow a man clueless about life, yet who is smart enough to explain how and why a nuclear reactor works. And yes, that is the sort of perfectly oddball logline we'd expect from Kaufman. He'll be writing and directing the pilot episode, and executive producing too, but no word yet on if or when this will go to series. But fingers crossed everyone. (And if you need more Kaufman in your life, don't forget he's also co-directed the animated, Kickstarter funded animated effort "Anomalisa (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/tag/anomalisa)").
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: wilder on March 18, 2014, 06:01:32 PM
Sally Hawkins & Catherine Keener Join Charlie Kaufman's FX Pilot 'How And Why'
via Deadline

Oscar-nominated Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) and Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich, Capote) have joined the cast of FX's How And Why, from Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, Synecdoche). They join John Hawkes and Michael Cera in the half-hour comedy pilot, which begins production this spring in North Carolina. How And Why tells the story of Goodman Hesselman (Hawkes), who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works but is clueless about life. After losing his gig hosting children's science show How And Why, he tries to start over with a new show in a little TV market in the middle of nowhere when he encounters the supernatural world. Hawkins and Keener's character information was not provided, but if the show receives a series order, Hawkins will be a series regular and Keener will guest star. Kaufman will direct the pilot and exec produces with Anthony Bregman. How And Why is produced by FX Productions.

Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: MacGuffin on July 21, 2014, 08:27:22 PM
FX Passes on Charlie Kaufman Comedy 'How & Why'
The Michael Cera and John Hawkes starrer is now being shopped to other outlets.
Source: THR

Charlie Kaufman's return to TV may not be as soon as he thought it would be.

The comedy pilot How & Why from Kaufman, who won an Oscar for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, has been passed over at FX, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Producers are now shopping the comedy starring Michael Cera to other outlets, with Netflix having already passed on the project, THR has learned. IFC is seen as a potential home for the comedy, though it's unclear if that will actually happen given the price tag associated with the comedy.

How & Why, which was ordered to pilot in March 2013 [4], tells the story of a man who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works but is otherwise clueless about life. Oscar nominee John Hawkes (Winter's Bone) stars as Goodman Hesselman, host of the How & Why show at the center of the comedy. After losing his passion for the show, he is replaced by a younger host and relocates to a different town to start a similar program with significantly lower stature. Cera (Arrested Development) will portray Mendelson, Goodman's new boss. Sally Hawkins co-stars [2], with Catherine Keener guest-starring.

Kaufman penned the script, exec produces and directed the pilot for FX Productions. The series marks Kaufman's return to half-hour comedy following Fox's Ned and Stacey, which ended its two-season run in 1997. His TV credits also include Get a Life, The Dana Carvey Show and Adult Swim's stop-motion entry Moral Orel in 2006.

How & Why joins Paul Giamatti entry Hoke as being passed over at FX. The cabler is still prepping pilots Death Pact, Kurt Sutter's Bastard Executioner and an untitled Zach Galifianakis and Louis C.K. half-hour, among others.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: wilder on October 22, 2014, 06:53:14 PM
Steve Carell, Charlie Kaufman Lock 'I.Q. 83′; Viral Outbreak Dumbs Down World
via Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Charlie Kaufman has been signed to do a page one rewrite of I.Q. 83, an adaptation of Arthur Herzog's classic 1978 science fiction novel that Paramount is now developing as a star vehicle for Steve Carell. Mad Chance's Andrew Lazar is producing with Walter Parkes. The plan is for Carell to play Dr. James Healey, who led a group of scientists that conducted DNA experiments that unleashed an airborne virus that ravages the population. The affliction isn't fatal but pretty bad; it progressively lowers the IQ of the afflicted, more effectively than a marathon of the Kardashians' reality show. It becomes a race against time as the scientist struggles for a cure, even as he feels himself growing dumber. He watches crowds regressing into animal packs and sees the president of the United States try to comfort the masses, only to babble and drool on television.

Lazar first set the project at DreamWorks almost 20 years ago, and a succession of screenwriters never cracked it. Ownership went to Paramount when it took possession of many of the development projects DreamWorks left behind. Herzog wrote it as serious science fiction, but the aim of this new version is to do a scathing satire, on the order of Doctor Strangelove, the 1964 Stanley Kubrick-directed classic.

Herzog was a political speechwriter in the '60s who also turned out books that included The Swarm and Orca, both of which were adapted into features. Kaufman has the quirky sensibility, evidenced in such films as Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, that makes him a novel choice for the new take. He will go back to Herzog's book and work from that. They'll worry about a director when Kaufman gets the script right. Lazar previously worked with Carell on the Get Smart feature and with Kaufman on Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind.

Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: wilder on September 16, 2015, 03:06:02 PM
Paramount Acquires Charlie Kaufman Stop-Motion Pic 'Anomalisa' – Toronto
via Deadline

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F9Dn7IUG.jpg&hash=58157b6424d1fe74be7ee7c0810dc6b388a8d343)

In a deal that sources peg at north of $5 million, Paramount Pictures has made its second major acquisition of an otherwise dull Toronto Film Festival. The studio that just made a $10 million U.S. rights pre-buy deal based on promo footage of the Meryl Streep-Hugh Grant comedy Florence Foster Jenkins, has closed a deal for the stop-motion pic Anomalisa, directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson. They are going to release it December 30 in New York and Los Angeles and roll it out after that.

The pursuit of this one was brisk, with A24 and Sony Pictures Classics among those in the hunt. The film has really snuck up on people and wasn't heralded before it made a splash in Venice, where it won the Grand Jury Prize. The deal was made as it played in Toronto in the Special Presentations category. It was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign and is the second movie at Toronto to gain traction coming from those origins, with the first-person POV Midnight film Hardcore close to a deal with several suitors bidding last night for a wide-screen release. CAA and WME Global brokered the deal with attorney Erik Hyman. Hanway is handling international.

Paramount has increasingly relied on the festivals to put films on its slate, while the studio overhauls itself internally because it just hasn't been generating enough of its own movies. The studio paid premiums to pre-buy at $20 million the Denis Villenueve-directed Story Of Your Life at Cannes, which stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker. Last Toronto, Paramount paid between $12.5 million and $15 million for the Chris Rock-directed Top Five. Who could turn down such exuberance, when Paramount is giving prestige films the full studio treatment and wide releases?

Said Paramount chairman and CEO Brad Grey: "The film is a spectacular achievement of artistry, one that we are incredibly pleased to be a part of. Charlie is a filmmaker of immense vision and craft and he and Duke have created a film that stands alone as one of the year's best."

Said Kaufman, Johnson and producer Rosa Tran: "Anomalisa has been a three-year labor of love and we are thrilled the film has now found a home at Paramount with people who are passionate about the film and are committed to sharing it with the world."

The logline: Michael Stone, husband, father and respected author of "How May I Help You Help Them?," is a man crippled by the mundanity of his life. On a business trip to Cincinnati, where he's scheduled to speak at a convention of customer service professionals, he checks into the Fregoli Hotel. There, he is amazed to discover a possible escape from his desperation in the form of an unassuming Akron baked goods sales rep, Lisa, who may or may not be the love of his life.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: wilder on October 29, 2015, 01:56:09 PM


Release Date - December 30, 2015
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on October 29, 2015, 02:40:24 PM
Wow, he's a little fella.

Also excited for the movie...
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: wilder on January 25, 2018, 02:53:13 PM
Charlie Kaufman Goes To Netflix Write & Direct 'I'm Thinking Of Ending Things'
via The Playlist

Based on the book by Iain Reid — which features a book blurb by Kaufman — the story follows a suicidal woman en route to meet her boyfriend's parents, before he unexpectedly deserts her and drives off alone. Here's the book synopsis:

In this deeply suspenseful and irresistibly unnerving debut novel, a man and his girlfriend are on their way to a secluded farm. When the two take an unexpected detour, she is left stranded in a deserted high school, wondering if there is any escape at all. What follows is a twisted unraveling that will haunt you long after the last page is turned.
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: wilder on July 03, 2020, 04:19:49 AM
The Profile of Charlie Kaufman Has Changed - NYT (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/magazine/charlie-kaufman.html)

His book (https://www.amazon.com/Antkind-Novel-Charlie-Kaufman/dp/0399589686) is out next week and the new movie premieres on Netflix September 4th
Title: Re: Charlie Kaufman?
Post by: Drenk on August 01, 2020, 08:08:56 PM
Quote from: wilder on October 22, 2014, 06:53:14 PM
Steve Carell, Charlie Kaufman Lock 'I.Q. 83′; Viral Outbreak Dumbs Down World
via Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Charlie Kaufman has been signed to do a page one rewrite of I.Q. 83, an adaptation of Arthur Herzog's classic 1978 science fiction novel that Paramount is now developing as a star vehicle for Steve Carell. Mad Chance's Andrew Lazar is producing with Walter Parkes. The plan is for Carell to play Dr. James Healey, who led a group of scientists that conducted DNA experiments that unleashed an airborne virus that ravages the population. The affliction isn't fatal but pretty bad; it progressively lowers the IQ of the afflicted, more effectively than a marathon of the Kardashians' reality show. It becomes a race against time as the scientist struggles for a cure, even as he feels himself growing dumber. He watches crowds regressing into animal packs and sees the president of the United States try to comfort the masses, only to babble and drool on television.

Lazar first set the project at DreamWorks almost 20 years ago, and a succession of screenwriters never cracked it. Ownership went to Paramount when it took possession of many of the development projects DreamWorks left behind. Herzog wrote it as serious science fiction, but the aim of this new version is to do a scathing satire, on the order of Doctor Strangelove, the 1964 Stanley Kubrick-directed classic.

Herzog was a political speechwriter in the '60s who also turned out books that included The Swarm and Orca, both of which were adapted into features. Kaufman has the quirky sensibility, evidenced in such films as Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, that makes him a novel choice for the new take. He will go back to Herzog's book and work from that. They'll worry about a director when Kaufman gets the script right. Lazar previously worked with Carell on the Get Smart feature and with Kaufman on Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind.

That was funny to read that again, and I have a weird sense of déjà vu right now, but I've probably already had a sense of déjà vu while quoting wilder...

Anyway, that Kaufman website is great! You can find the script for Frank or Francis and the FX pilot How and Why among other rarities:

https://www.beingcharliekaufman.com/index.php/scripts-writing/scripts-writing/film-scripts/page-2?category_id=1

https://www.beingcharliekaufman.com/index.php/scripts-writing/scripts-writing/tv-scripts