{"id":10,"date":"2008-01-13T04:15:10","date_gmt":"2008-01-13T04:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/frankrogala.com\/blog\/?p=10"},"modified":"2014-03-17T11:10:50","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T18:10:50","slug":"can-youtube-com-save-screenplay-doomed-by-loss-of-rights-and-writers-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frankrogala.com\/blog\/can-youtube-com-save-screenplay-doomed-by-loss-of-rights-and-writers-strike\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Youtube.com Save Screenplay Doomed By Loss of Rights and Writer’s Strike?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For Immediate Release\r\nJanuary 13, 2008<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Integrated Entertainment Management, 2166 W. Broadway, #268, Anaheim, CA 92804<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Contact: Frank Richards (888) 372-6523<\/span><\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n

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\r\n\r\nCan Youtube.com Save Screenplay Doomed By Loss of Rights and Writer's Strike?<\/span><\/strong>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Screenwriter, Frank Rogala, has made a last ditch YouTube.com*<\/a><\/em> \"video pitch\" to save his movie.\u00a0 After six years of research, writing and rewriting, in February 2008, Rogala will lose the rights to the story his screenplay is based on. \u00a0Complicating matters, the Writers Guild of America <\/em>strike has shut down Hollywood's normal channels of communication.\u00a0 As a first time writer, Rogala is not a member of the guild and violates no agreements by trying to place the screenplay with a production company or studio.<\/p>\r\n

The screenplay is based on the book Retards, Rebels and Slackers<\/em> by Jaina Bell, a no holds barred story of a staff member working in group homes for the developmentally disabled.\u00a0 The author drew upon 9 years experience as a staff member in group homes to create a realistic picture of the developmentally disabled that intrigued Rogala, who found the book while he was finishing his first film, Won't Anybody Listen<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Won't Anybody Listen, a feature length documentary, was picked up for theatrical distribution by Seventh Art Releasing<\/em>, and critically acclaimed by major publications (The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety<\/em> and The Los Angeles Times<\/em>).\u00a0 Television broadcast rights were bought by the Sundance Channel <\/em>and Netflix <\/em>now holds DVD rights.<\/p>\r\n

The screenplay has been retitled There's No Place Like \"A Home\"<\/a> . <\/em> Described as Superbad <\/em>meets One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest,<\/em> the film is a drama\/comedy.<\/em> \"Bringing a story like this to the screen requires a deft touch,\" explains Rogala.\u00a0 \"The story has roles for dozens of developmentally and intellectually disabled actors. Mental Retardation Specialists warned me that family members and friends of the developmentally disabled could be very emotional. There was a 'hate' email campaign started against the project when it was first announced,\" Rogala reveals. \"After that, I made sure to explain the genesis of the whole project and my intentions on the web page for the film<\/a>. When you feature the intellectually and developmentally disabled in a comic light you have to walk a fine line between humor and exploitation. I feel like I finally have it right, professional readers that I hired to help me review the various drafts of the screenplay have told me that the screenplay has a number of meaty roles for actors and actresses and is precisely the type of story that critics and the academy love,\" Rogala explained.<\/p>\r\n