I've been writing for the screen since 1999. I moved from Seattle to Hollywood in November of 2004. Three of my five screenplays are making the rounds.
My latest comedy, FALSE SECURITY, took 2nd place in the WriteSafe.com contest for the third quarter of 2005.
I wrote, produced, and directed a short film titled, Memoir.
I gained representation as a screenwriter in 2006.

davidcdanielATgmail.coµ

In June I spent some time on the set of The Soloist as a background actor. I like being on sets, even hot dirty sets like Joe Wright's. I didn't meet him, but I got to see him work. He's very methodical to the point of being maddeningly slow: He called 9 takes (I counted) of Robert Downey Jr. getting out of a car, closing the door, and walking across the street. I could see both Downey and the monitor and I'd swear in court that all 9 takes were essentially identical. More time was consumed when Mr. Wright decided he wanted a short push on Downey as he crossed toward the camera. I watched his DP's crew lay 10 feet of rail on the lumpy L.A. street and then meticulously level every inch.

And here's my slightly belabored point: Joe Wright did what he does as a director because he was the show's director. It didn't matter what I thought of his speed or style or approach. He was doing his job and I was doing mine and when my work is added to his and everyone else's work on that show it will be released in theaters across the world as a product of Hollywood, California. Joe probably knows how to answer the question: Who are you?

I was asked that question on Wright's set by the sound man as he sat behind his sound cart. I was nearby looking at four monitors set up in front of four empty folding chairs each with a pair of headphones dangling from the backrest. I couldn't resist putting a pair over my ears, thus prompting the sound man's question.

The literal question was not the issue, but how it was asked. The question was mostly rhetorical: He didn't really care who I was but he was 99.9% certain that I had no business touching his headphones. I was being scolded in the Hollywood tradition. I apologized to Mr. Sound Man. I was out of bounds.

It's not that there's a hierarchy per se in Hollywood. It's more like concentric circles of overlapping relationships. Who you are as a Hollywood pro is mostly determined by one's past and present relationships. One could say Hollywood relationships will get you through times of no money far better than money will get you through times of no relationships. And I think that's the same as it ever was.

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