(update): Sharing a project I embarked upon roughly 10 years ago. Though, WHEN I INITIALLY DECIDED TO SHARE THIS PUBLICLY HERE A LITTLE WHILE BACK, I WAS sure sharing IT will lose me some followers, BUT I SHARED it just the same. In light of A THEN-RECENT announceMENT, it made me see the CONTROVERSY from a perspective I never considered, a perspective that did not remotely cross my mind when I came up with MY OWN STORYLINE WITH THIS SPECIFIC CASTING IN MIND 10 years ago, IN THIS CASE, THE CASTING ACTUALLY CREATING THE STORY VERSUS THE OTHER WAY AROUND. Here's that project and my story in the simplest way I know how to describe it:
With the announcement of the upcoming James Dean film a month ago, I've thought long and hard about sharing a project I myself came up with 10 years ago. With the exception of a select few, meaning less than ten, it isn't a project I've shared out loud with anyone for fear of my idea being stolen. Then, last month, with the "Casting of James Dean," my fear happened, and it's something I've been fearing all the more, that someone else in a position and means to do something with it would come up with the same idea concept and "beat me to the punch."
As soon as I saw the headline, I went to the ones who knew and have seen my project immediately in frustration, as the story of my life seems to be an idea being stolen from me, quite literally, in plain sight in various theatrical shows I've put on during the years (yes, this has happened to me during fashion/theatrical shows ... literally. And I couldn't believe my eyes), to stories I have written. So, with this, I took care. Even in contact with someone close to one of the subjects in my project who was very considerate of my privacy.
After I calmed down, I read so many comments, none of which were in favor of the idea of casting a classic film individual who is no longer with us, and in some cases, those who wanted to know if there was a way to shut the James Dean project down.
Whether you agree or disagree with the concept of CGI'ing our classic film stars or not, it was a young girl's fanciful dream of mine that I wanted to pursue. From the point-of-view of what I wrote in my query letter sent to that said subject contact,
As soon as I saw the headline, I went to the ones who knew and have seen my project immediately in frustration, as the story of my life seems to be an idea being stolen from me, quite literally, in plain sight in various theatrical shows I've put on during the years (yes, this has happened to me during fashion/theatrical shows ... literally. And I couldn't believe my eyes), to stories I have written. So, with this, I took care. Even in contact with someone close to one of the subjects in my project who was very considerate of my privacy.
After I calmed down, I read so many comments, none of which were in favor of the idea of casting a classic film individual who is no longer with us, and in some cases, those who wanted to know if there was a way to shut the James Dean project down.
Whether you agree or disagree with the concept of CGI'ing our classic film stars or not, it was a young girl's fanciful dream of mine that I wanted to pursue. From the point-of-view of what I wrote in my query letter sent to that said subject contact,
... the thrill I get when seeing Cary Grant walk down the hall with Jimmy Stewart in The Philadelphia Story excites me every time I see it, beyond comprehension and expression. And being a huge fan of Marlon Brando and Paul Newman, it struck me one day that two of the most inspirational actors of their time; of our time, in this business never actually worked professionally together on screen. What a missed opportunity ... thus ... I started working on a story that would finally unite these two at last ... Seeing what the power of technology can do these days, and what an essential part it plays in films, I thought it may not be impossible at all to pair these two together in a feature film as if they were still alive today, just as they were in the 1950s…"
Thus, my script LEGENDS: LOCK 'N LOAD had been born. Which, in my script, pairs Marlon Brando and Paul Newman together for the first time onscreen. In my "adolescent" mind, wanting nothing more than to see Brando and Newman in their height of cinema together onscreen, in a Sky Masterson/Harper sortofaway.
After my completion of the script, I came up with a 3-minute concept reel to showcase, in animatic form, a visual summary of the story in a SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (2004) esque manner …
Partly due to the major amount of negative feedback on this story, this isn't a project I think I will any longer try to pursue, and yet ... mostly because so many hours, months, and years, went into creating this 3-minute reel, I'm sharing that story, that reel with you, with the slightest young girl dream still inside of me that would very much like to see this dream realized and if the opportunity came ... Would sincerely consider what dreams may come. I am that girl. This is that story. Here is LEGENDS: LOCK 'N LOAD:
And if you've watched it all the way through, I wouldn't worry about "THE OLD WOMAN" if I were you. She's fine. She actually plays a very significant role later that affects the outcome of Max and Blair in the storyline at its climax. But … That's a story that looks like will have to be shelved ... For now.
—Dominique Breckenridge