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Glad to hear it! :)
Just look how big the discord is between Star Trek fans (Trekkies) and the official owners/production houses of Star Trek, CBS (for the TV Series) and Paramount (for the pictures). With a huge crowdfunding effort initiated by a bunch of fans, "Star Trek: Axanar" got into production (http://www.axanarproductions.com/). These die-hard fans truly disliked the direction CBS and Paramount were heading to with Star Trek.
And now CBS and Paramount join forces together to sue/prosecute these people, while away from this they can't even cooperate together on a streamlined multi-verse/universe. They strictly divide the TV Series production from the movie productions, weaking the "Star Trek"-franchise overall. "Star Trek" to that extend could really learn from "Star Wars" and how Disney/Lucasfilm offer a platform to ideas of fans. And so can James Bond.
So in all honesty? I don't give a damn about all this networking, "pitching", trying to get hired by literary agents who care more for writers with the most network connections and not the best ideas, and trying for years to let your idea being heard by official representatives of the movie industry. I'm tired of the same automated message "We do not accept unsolicited treatments, so we kindly ask you to never contact us again". This was the case for me with MGM and EON Productions.
WE have damn good ideas no? We know as much about our 'love baby' James Bond 007 as the official producers Barbara Broccoli, Michael Wilson & Greg Wilson and financer MGM. Time they take our ideas more serious, instead of openly admitting that they "feel so tired after "SPECTRE" ". 'Cubby' said on his death-bed "Don't let them screw it up!". Well, sooner or later the last true family business will be eaten as well by big (Chinese) movie conglomerates if you don't watch out....if you keep taking larger breaks. Therefore we fans are also here to help!
EON Productions Ltd. and MGM could learn a great deal from Disney, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Marvel at this very moment. Not creative-wise, but mostly from their damn smart marketing and financing strategies.
I was replying to Gustav's comment.
Besides, you and I were essentially touching on the same thing - I'm sure there are plenty of us that could come up with a truly cracking idea, but not all of those ideas are going to be great.
An idea is an idea. Your criticism about "SPECTRE" shows very well that you can apparently get pro's creating a crappy story treatment and a fan creating a much better story treatment. My point is: An idea is an idea.....and that isn't solely defined by being a pro or a fan. Being open-minded for good ideas is the keyword for a good film. I think most of us will agree with that.
Hopefully my story isn't laughably bad in your eyes though. Happy New Year to you by the way @Creasy47 :-).
I plan on finishing your outline soon enough. I'll probably just re-read it from the beginning in one sitting eventually like I meant to do, but got sidetracked and started to forget the tinier details over time. I still have a Word document saved on my computer somewhere with a bunch of bullet points about your treatment, however! I'll be sure to continue off that and posts my thoughts in the near future.
Don't worry buddy :-).
Thanks ;-). Soon there will also be an interview about it from the main Dutch Bond fanclub ;-):
http://www.jamesbond.nl/
I will (Google-)translate it a bit for you ;-). It was really a nice interview with Jorrit van der Valk from the JamesBond.nl fanclub!
Also, having done all this, writing this, made me u-turn completely on the recent reaction of screenwriters Neal Purvis & Robert Wade. It actually angered me a bit :-(:
http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/27/donald-trump-may-have-ruined-the-possibility-of-another-great-james-bond-movie-6410019/
If I haven't told you thank you for sharing MoW and that I truly enjoyed the treatment then now here you go.
Thanks @McDonbb :-). It's very nice of you to say this.
Hopefully Purvis & Wade get a kick under their buts and do something similar. Because right now it seems they lost every bit of inspiration. And let's face it, it isn't that difficult to come up with a nice an original story.
http://www.jamesbond.nl/interview-murder-on-wheels-een-james-bond-verhaal-spoiler-alert/
As of late I'm actually more dissatisfied with the Bond producers. It just seems that, on the whole, Barbara and Michael are....tired of the Bond films? I said on many occassions that there won't be a new Bond film until 2019, and I am patient enough to wait for that. But from a business perspective it worries me that Barbara and Michael seem okay that they lose some kind of...market share in the action movie genre? Just look what "Mission: Impossible", "Kingsman" and "Fast And Furious" are doing. Their young fanbases can live without Bond. And the more Bond is going to hoover around into obscurity, the more it hurts the Bond franchise.
Having said all that.....I just really hope that the Bond producers are throwing themselves out of that 'safe elitary haven' for a while by kicking of a real convention/discussion with actual Bond fans. It is very good if a bunch of fans start brainstorming with the Bond producers about story possibilities. It could give them a fresh and new perspective on the franchise. Something that Neal Purvis & Robert Wade don't seem able to do.....
https://www.autoblog.nl/nieuws/officieel-red-bull-racing-krijgt-een-nieuwe-naam-102565
As I said on the other thread? I am going to throw my support behind the new team once in action!
It would've been an even better idea to do it in SP but alas they've already spunked their wad on that one so going back to showing him in shadow a la FRWL and TB is nonsensical at this stage. Which means there's a good chance of them doing it.
But for every good one there's a bad idea, so I'd say proven writers is a safer bet. And @Gustav, the reason you got that automated message is because they likely recieve so many unsolicited submissions that it's impossible to read them all. And it'd be pointless having someone on their payroll to file through all the stuff they'd recieve from fans just on the offchance that they found something good when they can just hire professional proven writers to come up with a new story for them.
The reason you have to know people is because if not, every man and his dog would be trying to get their idea for the new Bond film made. It's crap when you have an idea you're really proud of and know there's no chance of it getting made but there isn't really a way around it. Without actually reading it, there's nothing to differentiate your submission from all the crap ones they'd recieve on a daily basis, and if they give you the time of day they'd have to do the same for everyone.
And if you were serious you could always graft and try and make a career out of it. @RC7 for example works in film/TV as a script writer. So it isn't impossible to get there but it isn't as simple as writing a Bond film and them listening to your idea because you're far from the only one who thinks they have a great idea for the next Bond film. They're not being unfair, it just isn't feasible for them to take unsocilited scripts/pitches. At least they had the decency to respond and explain that it was nothing personal instead of leaving you waiting.
I'm not experienced in the film industry whatsoever so I might be talking out of my arse but if you were really serious I think your best bet would be to save your Bond idea, and do your best to put yourself out there (network, etc) with original work. Then once you're working as a screenwriter you could work on meeting people conencted to Bond if you wanted, but I think if you got into screenwriting with the specific goal of writing a Bond film you might end up disappointed.
Nonsensical in what way? If they do it properly..I think it might work and could put the real villain more up-front.
Blofeld pulling the strings of another villain works as build up to a final denouement further down the line but alas we've already had said denouement. There would be no mystery or suspense about this all powerful guy controlling the film's villain because we already know everything about him. All it would serve to do would be to undermine the main villain as we would know he's not top dog and has to go and get Blofeld's approval for everything.
FRWL Blofeld as a prelude to YOLT Blofeld works. But it doesn't work in reverse.
It really depends how it's done I think. Did the villain Largo suffer from a behind-the-scenes version of Blofeld pulling the strings? Did the villains Rosa Klebb and Donald Grant really looked less convincing, because Mr Catstroker was having this small yet significant cameo from behind the scenes?
I really think it's all a matter of how it's being executed. Screentime of this so called "Blofeld" (remember the actor in FRWL playing him was credited "?") is indeed important. The audience need to know that Blofeld is perhaps the main 'CEO', but certainly not the main executioner/villain. Most importantly though, is the fact that perhaps the audience can see what's happening, but that MI6 and James Bond 007 are left in the blue completely....and that this secrecy is not even revealed in this film (Bond #25). That's how I wrote the treatment.
Most likely Blofeld won't return at all, and Bond #25 could very well become a 'Goldfinger'-esque standalone Bond film. Yet by focussing mostly on the re-imagined Irma Bunt and the Elon Musk-esque Jack Spang in my story treatment it is A) A satisfying standalone Bond film/mission for Craig, and B) a proper film continuity/chronology-wise, without dwelling too much into this.