Darkoz history
February 3rd, 2019 at 12:20:56 PM
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Well here it is. How I came to be homeless and then AP
Some people speculated I had problems with drugs and/or alcohol to find myself homeless. I showed some of those posts this week to friends and family who couldn't stop laughing
I have NEVER tasted alcohol
Never smoked a cigarette or puffed a joint
Never been high in anyway aside from sex and gambling highs
One friend quipped a drug test on me would only find toxic levels of Doritos and Pepsicola
I also have never tasted hot coffee, hot tea or hot chocolate.
Im known to eat chef boyardee cold out of a can. I have a weird palate. And I always have felt I am an easily addicted person. Ironically that has made me extremely immune to addiction since I refuse to even try anything
Anyway here is my story
Through the 90's I worked my way up in the specialized field of negative cutting in motion pictures.
A negative cutter physically cuts the scenes from a camera roll and places them in order. Then cement splices them so the finished film can be printed at the lab for theatrical screening
Like tearing the Mona Lisa while trying to frame it I was being trusted not to cut the film in the wrong spot sometimes with $150 million dollar negatives.
If the film was one frame off the synch would be wobbly. Two frames and the film was out of synch noticeable to the naked eye.
If I had a film with 3000 cuts and I got 2,999 correct and one wrong I usually was threatened with a lawsuit. I was dealing with temperamental film artists and very powerful people
If my splices opened up while running through a lab printer entire feet could be destroyed. Labs refused films cut by people they didnt trust because they too could face lawsuits.
As a result I had a zero advertising expense budget. I came highly recommended by the labs. I was insanely busy.
I also was able to charge a lot due to all the perfectionist niche examples I gave above. Usually I made between $20,000 and $50,000 per month.
In 2003 I decided I really wanted to be on the artistic end. (I had self-financed a film, cut my own negatives to save money and that was how I got my start in negative cutting so I was just returning to my roots)
I optioned a comic book property and using the contacts made in Hollywood began shopping it. It was a dark reimagining of the Wizard of Oz
You guys are smart. I am sure you can guess what it was called.
The screenplay was being written and artists were being attracted. The producers of "Bridge to Terabithia" as well as the producers of the Batman films were attached
Then in late 2004 the labs perfected scanning entire rolls of negative to digital. No need for a negative cutter. It was faster, cleaner and safer. Even filmmakers who wanted to do it the old fashioned way were talked out of it by the labs who were thrilled at the loss of the insurance claims due to open splices and damaged film. The same labs which had sent me all my business were now directing my clients away from using me
November 2004 I made $49,000. I didnt even make $30k all of 2005.
Every movie in the history of motion pictures had the need of a negative cutter. We were as important as obtaining a camera to shoot the movie. And now we were all relics. An entire niche industry over 100 years old wiped out in 6 months
Now at entry level again jobs offered to me wouldn't have even covered my interest payments. Payments easy to make at my old salary were now impossible.
I had savings
I also had Dark Oz. Everyone was looking at getting the project off the ground within 2 years. As executive producer I was looking at a $300k up front check IF the film was greenlit
I was prepping LLCs while going bankrupt spending all my savings on the film.
I sold all my belongings as the time dragged on. I invested any money from the spare negative cutting job that came along.
Friends and family at first supported me. And as the years rolled by their support began to wane. By 2007 I was bouncing around from friend's house to family members still waiting for Dark Oz to get into production
By 2009 I had exhausted my welcome. I still was allowed to visit and bathe at my support group domiciles but not sleep. And so I hit the subways
2009 I snuck into the NY Comicon just to take a meeting with the producers. I was probably the only person sleeping on the subways of NYC doing Hollywood deals
I figured it would make a great rags to riches story. If it was published I would call it "The Yellow Brick Road To Hollywood."
If you think lawsuits take a long time you have never tried to get a Hollywood movie made
Then after sleeping for nearly 2 years on the subways April of 2011 came the Dark Oz earthquake. Sam Raimi had quit Spiderman 4 and Disney had scooped him up for "Oz, the Great and Powerful".
My producers all assured me we were good as long as there was no greenlight. We were all nigh on 8 years in development.
And it certainly was no surprise there was a Disney film. I was acutely aware of every Oz film project in Hollywood. It was a race to the finish.
And I lost!
September 2011 Disney gave their project the greenlight. I had one last phone call from the producers who gave me the 411. Dark Oz was now officially dead.
8 years. Tens of thousands of dollars invested. All wasted. All gone.
Dark Oz wasnt the only Oz project killed. Here is a link to them all.
Dark Oz is the 4th down. I suppose thats not too shabby considering I was sleeping on the subways while working on it.
http://newwwoz.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-oz-movies-that-could-have-been.html?m=1
I spent the next 3 months just staring out the windows of the subway not caring and not planning anything.
And then one day due to trackwork that made the usual train I took uncomfortable to sleep I switched trains and though I saw a mirage. I thought I saw a casino in NYC.
Those were all in Atlantic City to my knowledge.
They had just opened. I was not into gambling after dabbling in my youth and discovering you couldn't win. In fact the reason I joined this forum in 2009 was WizardofOdds came up in a google search for competing Oz movies. And that site led me to here.
I went into Resorts World Casino in January 2012 just to kill an afternoon. Curiosity!
I had three cents in my pocket and no expectation of playing any games. I spent an hour looking around and went to leave
And then I saw The Sign...
No, not a sign from a higher power. It was a sign on the wall.
It said: "NEW MEMBERS GET $10 FREEPLAY"
I suppose that was my first advantage play small as it was. And I wound up self teaching and learning and well here I am.
Ironically I did end up with that rags to riches story and my book when I publish it is the memoir of how I did it. It is not a how-to book.
But clearly from just the AP Nightmare thread even memoirs put fear into other AP,s
Anyway. That's my story!
Some people speculated I had problems with drugs and/or alcohol to find myself homeless. I showed some of those posts this week to friends and family who couldn't stop laughing
I have NEVER tasted alcohol
Never smoked a cigarette or puffed a joint
Never been high in anyway aside from sex and gambling highs
One friend quipped a drug test on me would only find toxic levels of Doritos and Pepsicola
I also have never tasted hot coffee, hot tea or hot chocolate.
Im known to eat chef boyardee cold out of a can. I have a weird palate. And I always have felt I am an easily addicted person. Ironically that has made me extremely immune to addiction since I refuse to even try anything
Anyway here is my story
Through the 90's I worked my way up in the specialized field of negative cutting in motion pictures.
A negative cutter physically cuts the scenes from a camera roll and places them in order. Then cement splices them so the finished film can be printed at the lab for theatrical screening
Like tearing the Mona Lisa while trying to frame it I was being trusted not to cut the film in the wrong spot sometimes with $150 million dollar negatives.
If the film was one frame off the synch would be wobbly. Two frames and the film was out of synch noticeable to the naked eye.
If I had a film with 3000 cuts and I got 2,999 correct and one wrong I usually was threatened with a lawsuit. I was dealing with temperamental film artists and very powerful people
If my splices opened up while running through a lab printer entire feet could be destroyed. Labs refused films cut by people they didnt trust because they too could face lawsuits.
As a result I had a zero advertising expense budget. I came highly recommended by the labs. I was insanely busy.
I also was able to charge a lot due to all the perfectionist niche examples I gave above. Usually I made between $20,000 and $50,000 per month.
In 2003 I decided I really wanted to be on the artistic end. (I had self-financed a film, cut my own negatives to save money and that was how I got my start in negative cutting so I was just returning to my roots)
I optioned a comic book property and using the contacts made in Hollywood began shopping it. It was a dark reimagining of the Wizard of Oz
You guys are smart. I am sure you can guess what it was called.
The screenplay was being written and artists were being attracted. The producers of "Bridge to Terabithia" as well as the producers of the Batman films were attached
Then in late 2004 the labs perfected scanning entire rolls of negative to digital. No need for a negative cutter. It was faster, cleaner and safer. Even filmmakers who wanted to do it the old fashioned way were talked out of it by the labs who were thrilled at the loss of the insurance claims due to open splices and damaged film. The same labs which had sent me all my business were now directing my clients away from using me
November 2004 I made $49,000. I didnt even make $30k all of 2005.
Every movie in the history of motion pictures had the need of a negative cutter. We were as important as obtaining a camera to shoot the movie. And now we were all relics. An entire niche industry over 100 years old wiped out in 6 months
Now at entry level again jobs offered to me wouldn't have even covered my interest payments. Payments easy to make at my old salary were now impossible.
I had savings
I also had Dark Oz. Everyone was looking at getting the project off the ground within 2 years. As executive producer I was looking at a $300k up front check IF the film was greenlit
I was prepping LLCs while going bankrupt spending all my savings on the film.
I sold all my belongings as the time dragged on. I invested any money from the spare negative cutting job that came along.
Friends and family at first supported me. And as the years rolled by their support began to wane. By 2007 I was bouncing around from friend's house to family members still waiting for Dark Oz to get into production
By 2009 I had exhausted my welcome. I still was allowed to visit and bathe at my support group domiciles but not sleep. And so I hit the subways
2009 I snuck into the NY Comicon just to take a meeting with the producers. I was probably the only person sleeping on the subways of NYC doing Hollywood deals
I figured it would make a great rags to riches story. If it was published I would call it "The Yellow Brick Road To Hollywood."
If you think lawsuits take a long time you have never tried to get a Hollywood movie made
Then after sleeping for nearly 2 years on the subways April of 2011 came the Dark Oz earthquake. Sam Raimi had quit Spiderman 4 and Disney had scooped him up for "Oz, the Great and Powerful".
My producers all assured me we were good as long as there was no greenlight. We were all nigh on 8 years in development.
And it certainly was no surprise there was a Disney film. I was acutely aware of every Oz film project in Hollywood. It was a race to the finish.
And I lost!
September 2011 Disney gave their project the greenlight. I had one last phone call from the producers who gave me the 411. Dark Oz was now officially dead.
8 years. Tens of thousands of dollars invested. All wasted. All gone.
Dark Oz wasnt the only Oz project killed. Here is a link to them all.
Dark Oz is the 4th down. I suppose thats not too shabby considering I was sleeping on the subways while working on it.
http://newwwoz.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-oz-movies-that-could-have-been.html?m=1
I spent the next 3 months just staring out the windows of the subway not caring and not planning anything.
And then one day due to trackwork that made the usual train I took uncomfortable to sleep I switched trains and though I saw a mirage. I thought I saw a casino in NYC.
Those were all in Atlantic City to my knowledge.
They had just opened. I was not into gambling after dabbling in my youth and discovering you couldn't win. In fact the reason I joined this forum in 2009 was WizardofOdds came up in a google search for competing Oz movies. And that site led me to here.
I went into Resorts World Casino in January 2012 just to kill an afternoon. Curiosity!
I had three cents in my pocket and no expectation of playing any games. I spent an hour looking around and went to leave
And then I saw The Sign...
No, not a sign from a higher power. It was a sign on the wall.
It said: "NEW MEMBERS GET $10 FREEPLAY"
I suppose that was my first advantage play small as it was. And I wound up self teaching and learning and well here I am.
Ironically I did end up with that rags to riches story and my book when I publish it is the memoir of how I did it. It is not a how-to book.
But clearly from just the AP Nightmare thread even memoirs put fear into other AP,s
Anyway. That's my story!
For Whom the bus tolls; The bus tolls for thee
February 3rd, 2019 at 12:24:33 PM
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Another fake story.
Just kidding.
Just kidding.
February 3rd, 2019 at 12:30:31 PM
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More like riches to rags to riches, haha. That's a great story and I only wish the movie could have been. However, then we likely wouldn't have you, so I guess it all worked out in the end?
Also, you gotta try you some hot chocolate. C'mon, man.
Also, you gotta try you some hot chocolate. C'mon, man.
"Just because I'm not doing anything illegal, doesn't mean I won't have to defend myself someday." -Chip Reese
February 3rd, 2019 at 1:40:50 PM
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OMG, I have the Dark OZ #1 comic book and I always thought it was a great concept for a film.
There are many ways for a film to turn out badly, but if it had been done reasonably well I think it could have been a smash.
I am stunned. Small world.
There are many ways for a film to turn out badly, but if it had been done reasonably well I think it could have been a smash.
I am stunned. Small world.
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
February 3rd, 2019 at 1:47:57 PM
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Quote:Then in late 2004 the labs perfected scanning entire rolls of negative to digital.
And you didn't see this coming. My brother
owned a camera store from the late 80s till
2005. He totally saw digital coming and
ruining his business years before it happened.
He saw that digital cameras who's showing
up everywhere, you could buy them in all
kinds of places. Camera stores would soon
be obsolete, so he got out and lost nothing.
How is it that you were in this business making
all this money and was taken totally by surprise.
As far as making a movie goes, I'm not in that
business at all, and even I know how almost
impossible it is not only to get a movie made,
but to make a profit.
You lost tens of thousands, that's all? That's
nothing, people routinely lose hundreds of
thousands and the movie never gets made. If
you really were homeless for as long as you
say, you have nobody to blame but the
ridiculous decisions you made along the way.
If this story is true, I totally believe your robbery
story. The person who let that happen, is exactly
the type of person who would blindly drive
himself into homelessness by making one
reckless decision after another.
It does not suck to be me.
February 3rd, 2019 at 2:05:21 PM
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Quote: EvenBobAnd you didn't see this coming. My brother
owned a camera store from the late 80s till
2005. He totally saw digital coming and
ruining his business years before it happened.
He saw that digital cameras who's showing
up everywhere, you could buy them in all
kinds of places. Camera stores would soon
be obsolete, so he got out and lost nothing.
How is it that you were in this business making
all this money and was taken totally by surprise.
As far as making a movie goes, I'm not in that
business at all, and even I know how almost
impossible it is not only to get a movie made,
but to make a profit.
You lost tens of thousands, that's all? That's
nothing, people routinely lose hundreds of
thousands and the movie never gets made. If
you really were homeless for as long as you
say, you have nobody to blame but the
ridiculous decisions you made along the way.
If this story is true, I totally believe your robbery
story. The person who let that happen, is exactly
the type of person who would blindly drive
himself into homelessness by making one
reckless decision after another.
EvenBob, your signature line is: "It's not enough to succeed, your friends must fail." Gore Vidal
After reading your post, which seems to have no other purpose than to belittle and demean DarkOz for his 'failure' in his film venture, I wonder whether you have any friends.
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
February 3rd, 2019 at 2:08:40 PM
permalink
Quote: EvenBobAnd you didn't see this coming. My brother
owned a camera store from the late 80s till
2005. He totally saw digital coming and
ruining his business years before it happened.
He saw that digital cameras who's showing
up everywhere, you could buy them in all
kinds of places. Camera stores would soon
be obsolete, so he got out and lost nothing.
How is it that you were in this business making
all this money and was taken totally by surprise.
As far as making a movie goes, I'm not in that
business at all, and even I know how almost
impossible it is not only to get a movie made,
but to make a profit.
You lost tens of thousands, that's all? That's
nothing, people routinely lose hundreds of
thousands and the movie never gets made. If
you really were homeless for as long as you
say, you have nobody to blame but the
ridiculous decisions you made along the way.
If this story is true, I totally believe your robbery
story. The person who let that happen, is exactly
the type of person who would blindly drive
himself into homelessness by making one
reckless decision after another.
EB
Scanning a frame here and there is one thing
Scanning millions of frames at 2K resolution (then the expensive industry standard) and then doing an intermediary interpositive of sufficient quality for theatrical release was a different story.
There were a number of other factors in the process and profession that made it prohibitive until well that breakthrough occurred
At any rate it is clear your only intent is to ridcule anything and everything so dont be surprised when I say anything you post in my threads will no longer be answered by me
For Whom the bus tolls; The bus tolls for thee
February 3rd, 2019 at 2:17:36 PM
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Quote: darkozEB
Scanning a frame here and there is one thing
It just seems like a wild mistake that
you were in such a high demand
high paying profession and didn't
bother to keep up with the tech
side of it. My brother saw digital
coming in the mid 90's and knew
he was doomed. He constantly
kept himself up to date by reading
industry magazines and publications.
You seem to have been taken totally
by surprise, like you thought what
you were doing would last forever.
Reply or don't reply to my posts, why
should that matter to me. I post for
my own edification, I've said that
many times. Here, I'll give you the
definition of edification to save you
the trouble of looking it up:
ed·i·fi·ca·tion
/ˌedəfəˈkāSH(ə)n/Submit
the instruction or improvement of a person
It does not suck to be me.
February 3rd, 2019 at 2:44:20 PM
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you should have adapted to the times. You had the connections and the knowledge, no reason you shouldn't have just moved into another side of the business.
Expect the worst and you will never be disappointed.
I AM NOT PART OF GWAE RADIO SHOW
February 3rd, 2019 at 3:05:07 PM
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Quote: GWAEyou should have adapted to the times. You had the connections and the knowledge, no reason you shouldn't have just moved into another side of the business.
I have heard this criticism before and its not totally without merit
There was no lateral movement I could have done that would have prevented me from the same drop in income
The best way to explain it is remember all those people who developed films in darkrooms?
What adjustment could they have made into digital film?
How many people here are anxious to have their digital films developed?
There were other film jobs I was offered but all bottom rung. And after 15 years of driving my way up to the top I put my faith in the film project
We all take life gambles. Some we win. Some we dont
For Whom the bus tolls; The bus tolls for thee
