Edgar Church movie project?

[dpj303-migration]

Hello, all. I'm the person behind the project. I wanted to respond to a few things here. Most importantly, the "lawsuit". This is my mia culpa.

 

In the current -script verison, there are title cards which provide parenthetical comments on subsequent events in the lives of the people involved in the story. The idea is to display photographs of the actual people, just before end credits, in order to acknowledge them as actual human beings and not simply characters.

 

One of about 6 title cards reads, "Edgar's heirs would later file suit against Chuck. They were unsuccessful".

 

At the time this was written it was an internal placeholder on what was, and in fact, is, just a rumor. My story makes no other mention of this alleged event. The actual shooting -script would have researched this allegation ahead of production.

 

Because this supposed event took place outside the frame of the story I am trying to tell, it simply wasn't a point of particular interest to me.

 

What I have made the mistake in doing is to take what was intended to be a pre-production, internal notation, and repeat it into the public domain, as if it were confimed fact. For that I am sorry.

 

To be clear, I have checked with the city of Denver, and I found NO CITY RECORDS relating to this allegation.

 

As I say in the interview, into which Mark Seifert has put a great deal of attention, my story does take artisitic and cinematic license, and I explain why that is the case.

 

However, I feel that I need to correct the public record about this, because, I'm afraid, I let things run ahead of actual events.

[dpj303-migration]

This is cool but I don't see this having much of a broad audience appeal. The story is great if you collect Golden Age comics but beyond that what is the hook to get someone to put money into a project like this.

 

Yep.

 

I saw your name in the credits Jeff, what did you contribute?

 

Really? They probably lifted most of the stills from my website.

 

 

Nearmint,

 

I pulled three pics from your site. And thank you for your PM on Oct. 3rd asking to read the -script. Sorry I couldn't accomodate you, without knowing who you are, and you never replied back.

[dpj303-migration]

This is cool but I don't see this having much of a broad audience appeal. The story is great if you collect Golden Age comics but beyond that what is the hook to get someone to put money into a project like this.

 

Fortunately for me, that's probably why this great story hasn't been told in this medium before.

 

How about these story ideas:

 

- A guy spends most of his life flying commercial arilines and living in hotel rooms. He makes his living laying people off.

 

- After a plane crash, a guy is marooned on an island for 4 years. There is NO ONE else to talk to for most of the picture. All we see him do is search for water, food, fire and shelter.

 

- A talking fish loses his son and requires the help of another fish to go find him.

 

- Let's watch a guy paint by dribbling paint with sticks on a canvas for 1:40 mins.

 

- A guy is confined to a wheelchair, can barely speak and we watch him learn to paint with his left foot.

 

Any takers?

[comicnoir]

In it's own way, this is the Treasure of the Sierra Madre. A quest for something, in this case comics, that brings out the worst and the best in people. A human story with comics as the McGuffin (Hitchcockian term). This could be a great story, if done well.

[dpj303-migration]

 

I'll note that the highest rated cable shows include, Storage Wars, American Picker, Pawn Stars, etc.

 

"Discovery" strikes a universal theme, to be sure.

[G.A.tor]

I think the movie, if done right, would do well and be well received... comics are "mainstream" to the extent that hollywood is heavily vested in superhero/comic character movies right now... with the right promo, this movie could initially fill seats and then if the content is "meaty" enough, garner good reviews and broader appeal

[dpj303-migration]

GA.tor, thank you for your ability to see the potential that's here.

 

I'm certain that the story has depth and broad appeal. That's what's energized me to pursue this, up to this point.

 

I've mentioned to Mark and other outlets that my circle of objective readers are NOT comics fans.

 

Everyone of them has returned coverage (feedback) that is very, very positive. It was only after I had that kind of response, from that audience, that makes me sure that this story is special.

[zosocane]

Dpj303, have you seen the (about 2002?) movie, 'Comic Book Villains' with Cary Elwes? The film is loosely based on the Mile High find. Anyway, one of the best scenes in the film is when a down-on-his-luck dealer stumbles across a GA collection left behind by a deceased collector who was a loner (survived by his mother). The mother doesn't want to part with the collection. Another dealer-character in the film specifically compares the collection to the Mile High collection.

 

My point is that the concept of stumbling across a treasure trove of comic books does have broad appeal. Unlike 35 years ago, non-collectors today "get it" -- i.e., that certain comics are quite valuable.

 

[EDIT -- Dpj303, I saw from the earlier thread just now that you're well aware of 'Comic Book Villains,' so please disregard my question]

[nearmint]

This is cool but I don't see this having much of a broad audience appeal. The story is great if you collect Golden Age comics but beyond that what is the hook to get someone to put money into a project like this.

 

Yep.

 

I saw your name in the credits Jeff, what did you contribute?

 

Really? They probably lifted most of the stills from my website.

 

 

Nearmint,

 

I pulled three pics from your site. And thank you for your PM on Oct. 3rd asking to read the -script. Sorry I couldn't accomodate you, without knowing who you are, and you never replied back.

 

I'm a wannabe screenwriter with four features scripts and two teleplays under my belt. I developed a sci-fi comedy with the producers of "Elf" a few years ago, and was being considered for a staff position on a Flash TV series before Warner Brothers scrapped the project. I've been on the cusp of success several times, just not quite there yet.

 

I asked to read your -script because I was curious, that's all. Good luck with the project.

[lou_fine]

 

One thing that I'd forgotten prior to researching this a bit is John Snyder's career in the Commerce Dept. Given that combination of politics and economics, (and the fact that his name is John K. Snyder Jr), it makes me darn curious if he is the son of or otherwise related to John W. Snyder who was Truman's Secretary of the Treasury.

 

No, I believe that John's father was the Treasurer for the State of Indiana back in the back in the late 60's or early 70's. As for John himself, I believe that most of his work within the Commerce Department was related to tourism issues.

 

I have a copy of an Inside Collector magazine from the early 90's in which a cover feature was done on Snyder and his personal collection. I believe he was also interviewed during one of Vincent's radio webcast's, although I never got around to listening to it yet.

 

Anybody know what is happening with Snyder nowadays? Especially curious since I noticed that he was no longer listed as an Overstreet advisor in this year's edition of the guide. I assume that he is probably retired now, but still rather surprising that he would be dropped from OS's list of advisors since I imagine he would still keep his toes in the marketplace.

[dpj303-migration]

 

lou_fine wrote:

 

No, I believe that John's father was the Treasurer for the State of Indiana back in the back in the late 60's or early 70's. As for John himself, I believe that most of his work within the Commerce Department was related to tourism issues.

 

I have a copy of an Inside Collector magazine from the early 90's in which a cover feature was done on Snyder and his personal collection. I believe he was also interviewed during one of Vincent's radio webcast's, although I never got around to listening to it yet. ...

 

 

Here is the link to the Comic Zone Radio interviews with John Snyder.

 

As I recall, one of them is disabled.

 

http://comiczoneradio.com/interviews/?q=john_snyder

[dpj303-migration]

Over on my project site, I've uploaded a 1 min. video of my initial walkthrough of Edgar's basement. You have to be a backer to view, but it's there is you chose.

 

See Update #6

 

 

DJ

[dpj303-migration]

In one of the John Snyder interviews (linked above), he mentioned a 1979 article in the Washington Post.

 

In that WP article, Bob Overstreet estimated that there were only 2,000 comic book collectors back in 1970. (see link here)

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19791013&id=5uMeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q2cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6819,5530495

 

At the time of the '79 article, Overstreet estimated c. 200,000 colletors. That's explosive growth.

 

The last estimate I've heard about the present day community is 500,000.

 

Anyone have a better figure?

[aggr1103]

Sorry to necro a thread, but I was curious if anyone had heard anything more about this project. I know that the director/producer's kickstarter attempts had fallen on their face twice, but are there still plans to do this movie, or not?

[Johnny545]

Sorry to necro a thread, but I was curious if anyone had heard anything more about this project. I know that the director/producer's kickstarter attempts had fallen on their face twice, but are there still plans to do this movie, or not?

 

Curious as well..anyone have any info?

[Sqeggs]

In one of the John Snyder interviews (linked above), he mentioned a 1979 article in the Washington Post.

 

In that WP article, Bob Overstreet estimated that there were only 2,000 comic book collectors back in 1970. (see link here)

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19791013&id=5uMeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q2cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6819,5530495

 

At the time of the '79 article, Overstreet estimated c. 200,000 colletors. That's explosive growth.

 

The last estimate I've heard about the present day community is 500,000.

 

Anyone have a better figure?

 

Only 2,000 comic collectors in 1970? That seems way too low. So much so that it's hard to believe that Bob Overstreet, of all people, would have said it. I wouldn't be surprised if the circulation of the RBCC was that high.

 

In another thread, Bob Beerbohm and I compared recollections of comic conventions in the SF Bay Area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. While they were small scale affairs compared with modern cons and my memories are hazy, I have to believe that attendance topped 1,000 and, of course, only a fraction of collectors in the area would have turned up. I don't think anyone has any real way of knowing, but I would guess that there were probably at least 20,000 collectors in the U.S. by 1970 and probably many more.