Zeros 2 Heroes - The People's Publisher

TK Terminator aka TK Junior says that he wants to see Blake Undying win this contest, no offense to TK Senior. @@@:>

TK Terminator says, ''Mommmm! Help!!!!! Can Dad really ground me for five years??? And what does he mean by no PS2, no TV and no internet? Can I change my vote?''

Fett, I honestly believe you can make a case for each and every one. Part of the problem, right now, as far as I can see, is that each of the twelve winners only wrote one 22 page comic, and have sometimes given the rest of us a peek at the future storyline, but almost none of us have presented a story that would fit into a film (Will might be the only one who has). This makes it hard to judge how the concept we know would fit into a story to be adapted to a film. I know how I would take one story line from Minus One and turn it into a film, but how and where do I present this? I think we need some goal posts here!
I'm off now to wipe clear a certain PS2 memory card!
Okay, okay, TK Junior, just kidding!

Actually, Tenzil, the first Mind Crimes story is very self-contained, as I created it to be a graphic novel or mini-series, so the story would fit perfectly into a film. One way of describing it for film would be to say it's a futuristic version of The Fugitive.

But regardless of the initial intentions and lengths of the stories in our pitches, I'm sure all the winners could take certain key characters and key story elements from their concepts and write a great film. I don't envy the judges their task.

Something I'd be curious to know is if there's a budget limit to the films the fund supports. Most of these comics would need huge effects budgets to be done right.

Ooh... we're talking about this!

Just to put it out there -- my guess is budget wouldn't be too much of a factor for this development round. I think the criteria will be more based on a) story potential as a movie, and b) would the movie actually draw an audience? So... lots of great picks there... though for some reason I think Black Jack O'Breen and Minus One are up there...

I'm just excited because a 1 in 12 shot is about the best odds at development funding any of us have ever seen in this country!

Just page X of November's Song looks expensive as a movie scene to me... And Hero High would have expensive super-inspired FX, too, I'd think. Blake Undying could definitely be done on a lower budget, although big explosions and special makeup FX for his gorily detailed demises would make it a more satisfying movie.

But, wow, a 1 in 12 shot at development funding is pretty amazing for any of us, I should think.

Script probably isn't the only thing to be considered. It's not just the story, but the person that is being invested in. It makes sense that a big part of the decision to award development money would have to do with how the individual creators conduct themselves with regards to overall quality and professionalism.

If someone doesn't seem like they have the right stuff, they probably won't get the development deal. They don't want to give the money to a writer and then have them choke and not deliver the goods. I'm sure it happens.

We are essentially a bunch of greenhorns - each of could potentially be an oscar winner - or maybe not. I think inspiring confidence in our ability is going to be key.

You're absolutely right, Crackwalker. As it says in the features section, our 'background and pedigree' is going to be a key factor. Otherwise, we wouldn't even have to do a new personal pitch, since our story pitches are already up.

Z2H is in the business of reaching out to new talent - the challenge from their perspective is to find people that they know are ready to make the leap from amateur to pro.

You could have a great idea, but then fall apart when it comes to sitting down at a production meeting and making compromises, or doing interviews with media, or meeting deadlines... etc. Things are very different when suddenly all eyes are on you and it's game time.

This is kind of what I was talking about when I mentioned the goalposts above. Not just for how the winner is going to be picked, not just for how we have to go about drumming up support, but what, precisely are they looking for?
Or, does what they are looking for even matter?
If the winner of this is based solely on support from the community and who can get the most votes out does that make this nothing more than a popularity contest?
I hope not and not only because I wouldn't be the winner.
I hope there is some degree of merit and worthiness to the decision of the final winner.
One way or the other, it's going to be something.
And those of you have commented on the odds are so right: we will never have a better chance than this.

Now now Tenzil, don't be modest. You could definitely be prom king. But I don't think they are gonna hand out 15K based solely on the say-so of a handful of internet voters.

I would guess that there's a jury of some kind who have experience with scouting new talent. They'll most likely have key things they're looking for that indicate someone has potential. It's probably not in their interests to reveal that to us, since it would taint the process a bit.

I mean if they say 'we want to see someone with quality x' then all the candidates will start frontin' like they have quality x, and it will be cloud the waters. That doesn't help anyone.

Second guessing and strategizing will only get you so far before it starts to make you paranoid and then you choke.

I think the best approach is to have confidence in your own abilities, and play to your own strengths, whatever they happen to be. If you give it your best shot and don't hold back, then you'll have no regrets.

This is a good opportunity for us, so we each have to make the most of it and take advantage of the exposure. I plan to strut my stuff as much as possible - maybe someone will be impressed by what they see and a new opportunity will come up from outside the Harold Greenburg thing. We don't know who's watching, do we? It's a free intenet, innit?

Have there been new details posted about this yet? I'd sure like to know the timelines, so I can do some mental prep. Are we talking this summer or... next year?

Plus, I kinda expected that the APTN winners would be added to this mix as well. Would they wait to include winners from CCN3?

Even at 1 in 12, the competition is tough. There's a broad range of 'pedigrees' and talents... I hope the judges are open-minded about the selection and not already pre-attached to specifics.

Dawn of Heroes? So that's what they are calling that one now? There I go missing those frakkin memos again...Wait a minute....

In his April 5th blog, ChiefZero said that they would be unlocking another campaign for the CCN winners (courtesy of the Harold Greenberg Fund) 'in the next few weeks'...so if things are still on track, this campaign should be starting soon.

Crackwalker, I'm not doubtful of my abilities or my story: I know I can write and I know my (expanded) story will make a great film. What I am afraid of is a popularity contest. I hope that what you suggest is correct and that many factors will lead to the winning pitch. I agree that we shouldn't know everything "they" are looking for but it would be nice to know what factors are to be conisdered and how and when we are to let people know how are storyline would go for one film. Right now the 22 page pitch you all see for Minus One is far too short for a feature, and the long term picture is far too large. When and how do I let the community know how I would fill up 90 - 110 minutes of celluloid with my creations? And so on. I also agree that we should not hold back: this is a great chance for us all to shine.

It seems like we all have at least a first story-arc planned out to some degree. 4-6 issues of comic makes for a good sized feature-film story. It's just a matter of working it into the three-act structure.

I don't know if budget is a concern with 'them' right now or not. They may not want a writer to worry about that for the first draft; they may prefer to have your unfiltered vision for the first draft, and then make their own decisions about scaling it down for budget or other production reasons.

As for the popularity contest aspect of all this - there just nothing to be done for it. The Vox Populi has always been fickle, especially when you get a larger voting pool. Someone can be top of the charts one week and then fall out-of-favour the next, for no apparent reason.

For my part, I'm just trying to focus on my work, and enjoy the process as much as possible, and learn as much as I can. So far it's been a blast, and from the sounds of things, most people feel the same way.

This is a whole other thing I haven't even been thinking about, honestly. I just wanna get the book made...

But maybe that has to do with me positioning Alma as a book, in the sense that I've never wanted, really, to snip off the first chapter and only have that exist. I've always wanted the full first story to be made. Which, really, is a result of Alma being written as a movie to begin with. I dunno if it's good enough, but it's certainly the right length!

But, yeah, really... I just want to get the book done first. [Not that I'd say no to the good people at the Fund.]

Funny thing is, Will, it was your thoughts on this topic in the forums that got me thinking about whether Mind Crimes would transfer easily from comic to film (which I think it would, length-wise, anyway).

But, like you and Crackwalker (and others), I'm not really thinking about this campaign (outside of when I read and respond to blogs and forums) until my comic book is finished.

Unless the campaign starts sooner, of course, in which case I will certainly do my best to convince the good people at the Fund that I have what they're looking for...whatever that happens to be.

I'd like to think the finished books are going to be a factor in the decision process for the Fund folks. After all, they are, as the Chief has said, a great visual selling tool for our talents as storytellers.