An Overnight Success UPDATE

In my last Overnight Success story post, I told you about a feature script I wrote about some buddies ordering a Russian mail order bride. Here's what I wrote:

...while walking the picket line during the writer's strike, I had another feature idea:

"Mail Order Bride"

LOGLINE:

Michael Cera and Jonah Hill are best friends until Michael Cera's girlfriend comes along. Left out and alone and drunk, Jonah Hill orders a smoking hot mail order bride from Russia and he and Michael Cera both fall in love with her. But she's not what she seems...

Let me be honest: this script is good. Lots of jokes. Pretty good story. I was proud of it. People liked it. I think my manager might have even liked it. Well, he didn't do anything with it, but he did hook me up with an agent.

I met with the agent, and surprisingly enough, loved him. He was at a smaller agency, and the place seemed more my style. Plus, he brought in a feature agent to talk to me too. Even better, they loved "Mail Order Bride"! Thank God.

I decided to sign with them. They gave me notes on the script and I rewrote it. Then, together with my manager (supposedly), sent it around to various feature companies.

Coincidentally, on Friday this was reported on deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: 20th Century Fox has acquired the spec From Mia With Love, a John Hughes-style comedy written by Seth Grahame-Smith, David Katzenberg, Bryan Shukoff and Kevin Chesley. Katzenberg will direct, and he and Grahame-Smith will produce under their Katsmith Productions banner.

The coming-of-age comedy is a mix of Risky Business and Weird Science. Some plot elements could change, but the pitched premise had three guys so desperate to lose their virginity that they order up a Russian mail-order bride, figuring they can send her back. She is smoking hot but arrives with baggage and no plans to bed the lads, though she helps the trio become more suitable mating material.

Wow, apparently all Russian mail order brides are "smoking hot".

So that was a fun Friday for me, but I harbor no ill will. I'm sure David KATZENBERG is a plucky young fella, similar to myself, just making his way up the Hollywood ladder on talent and talent alone. It's crazy though, such similar ideas. I just don't understand what David KATZENBERG has that I don't.

I can't figure it out, I mean, I'm Irwin Handleman, he's David KATZENBERG, I don't know what it could be. I'm sure David KATZENBERG has lots of great credits, especially writing and directing things. At least I think he must. I know I've heard the name KATZENBERG before.

Oh well, another one bites the dust. I'll live to fight another day. I just hope that my next idea isn't similar to anything Larry Spielberg is writing.