Jason Clark - 6/9/07
June 9, 2007
JASON CLARK:
Dreamworks Animation 3D Producer
Dreamworks Animation 3D Producer
JASON CLARK is recognized as a hands-on creative producer and industry innovator in the world of live-action/CGI features. Currently, he heads the task force assigned to the mission of incorporating state-of-the art 3-D at Dreamworks Animation. By 2009, Dreamworks is slated to produce and release all animated features in 3-D. Clark is also currently producing a feature-length animated version of Jay Ward's classic, MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN, for Dreamworks Animation. Clark executive produced Academy-Award nominated MONSTER HOUSE, working with Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg for Columbia Pictures. MONSTER HOUSE, a live action/CGI hybrid motion picture utilizing groundbreaking 'Performance Capture' technology, was simultaneously released in 3-D in July 2006. Clark executive produced the box-office hits STUART LITTLE and then STUART LITTLE 2. Independently, Clark produced and financed critically acclaimed KILLER DILLER released in early 2006. Clark partnered with director Rob Minkoff to create Sprocketdyne Entertainment, based at Columbia Pictures. Previously, Clark executive-produced HAPPY TEXAS, an award winning 1999 Sundance Film Festival official entry. Clark's other production credits include the cult classic, HOMEGROWN (Tri-Star), SINK OR SWIM (Lion's Gate) and several other action features starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, including Columbia Picture's MAXIMUM RISK and Universal's SUDDEN DEATH and THE QUEST.
(Above information from the press release by Hilary Smith, Scriptwriters Network)
On Saturday June 9th, 2007, Scriptwriters Network members welcomed Dreamworks Animation superstar, Jason Clark, who spoke for members and guests at the Charlie Chaplin Theatre inside Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. Some big-time animation fans came well-armed with questions, which resulted in a wonderful back-and-forth dialogue between Clark and attendees. It made for a fascinating afternoon, even for those not into the world of animation. Clark’s experiences and advice can apply to anyone working in the industry.
“A Mouse Lives in a House with a Family – How Complicated is That?”
Clark started off by talking about his experiences as Executive Producer of STUART LITTLE and STUART LITTLE2, both directed by Rob Minkoff. Based on the book by E.B. White, the movie follows the adventures of a charming little mouse named Stuart who gets adopted by a human family and ends up having issues with the family cat, which then leads him into further adventures in the neighborhood. “Ever since I was a kid, I loved Stuart Little and E.B. White,” Clark said, “and even though Rob Minkoff wasn’t as familiar with the material as I was, we both took on the project gladly. We both had an innocent sense of confidence that the project would happen -- but it definitely presented challenges.” One challenge involved the sets: “At first it looked simple. Rob and I thought, okay, a mouse lives in a house with a family -- how complicated is that? But not only did we have to create the human family’s house, we also had to create Fifth Avenue, and we had to create the Central Park pond ON A SOUND STAGE! Then there was the challenge of the script. “M. Night Shyamalan’s script is the version that got the movie greenlit, but his version turned out to be poetic and lyrical – but without enough action -- so the final script ended up being a patchwork of many writers.”
One Cool Mouse
There was also the challenge of Stuart Little’s character. “In animation, you have to flesh out your characters and imbue them with some kind of point of view so people can feel they know them and can say things like, ‘Bugs Bunny would never do that!’ Too often, animated characterizations are thin and audiences don’t connect. Stuart Little isn’t just some character from ‘Toonville’, we had to place him in the real world. Stuart Little had to be the star of the movie. He had to walk and talk and emote. He had to carry the movie. Stuart Little is guileless. But there were some pressure from some corners of the studio to make Stuart Little ‘cool’ by having him wear a leather jacket and sunglasses. So we did a test screening and a focus group on the characters in the movie, and in the end it was the kids who educated the marketing executives that Stuart Little is already ‘cool’ just the way he is –so he doesn’t need a leather jacket and sunglasses.” That thinking worked, because audiences found Stuart Little endearing. “This is just my personal opinion,” Clark said, “but this was one of the problems I had with the movie of Charlotte’s Web – the spider was too spider-like and not endearing.”
On Creating Competitive Fear
Jason Clark went on to discuss some other vital industry topics, such as what gets greenlit and why. How often have you seen a movie and said, “How did that movie ever get made?” What William Goldman once said seems to be true: “Nobody knows anything” – meaning nobody really knows in advance how a movie will do in the marketplace. It’s a mystery. So everyone is afraid of passing on what turns out to be a hit film. “What this does is it creates “competitive fear” in the industry,” Clark said. “People are afraid that somebody else will get a hold of a script first -- so if you’re a screenwriter, you can actually use this. You can say something like, ‘Samuel Jackson is reading my screenplay,’ or ‘I think Sony wants it.’ That gets the competitive juices going. That has caché! That gets the fear factor going. And it’s a lot better than saying, ‘Samuel Jackson read my script and he didn’t like it.’ The important thing to remember is that in Hollywood nobody will do anything for you unless you are offering them something – so always think in terms of what you have to offer that’s valuable to somebody else, rather than focus on how to get somebody to give you your big break.”
On Creating the 3-D Experience in Films
As stated above in his bio, Jason Clark currently heads the task force assigned to the mission of incorporating state-of-the art 3-D at Dreamworks Animation. Intriguing new technology is involved. By 2009, the studio is slated to produce and release all animated features in 3-D which should give a huge boost to this new technology and increase the number of screens that can handle it. “Since the introduction of stereoscopy (“the viewing of things as in three dimensions” -- Webster’s dictionary), nothing much has changed in the way we look at movies over the last fifty years, in spite of better sound and equipment. And then digital technique happened. Today we have this digital equipment that creates a picture as though seen with two eyes – at 144 separate frames per second, 72 with each eye, and the brain stitches them together, so when we see both projections with glasses, our brain sees 3-D. Digital 3-D opportunities are opening up. What we can do with digital cinema technology today is create a 3-D experience where you can immerse yourself in the movie – where a character on the screen seems to reach out to you until he’s in your face -- and you actually feel uncomfortable because he’s in your personal space and you are actually relieved when he looks down and breaks eye contact.”
On Being a Writer in Hollywood
“I never have enough time,” Clark went on. “I have 600 pages to read every weekend. I’m driven by market forces like everyone else, which means in picking material, I have to pay attention to the zeitgeist and project myself two or three years down the road.” And, like many others, Clark has had the experience of getting projects stuck in “development hell.” “It’s hell. I don’t get it. I don’t know how people put up with it.” But, obviously, writers can increase their chances of success by writing good, salable scripts. “You have to know your market. There has to be a plan and you have to understand the point of view of the people who can get movies greenlit. You have to understand why they say yes and why they say no.”
On Pitching and Persistence
When you do write that hopefully salable script, you’ll probably have to pitch it. “Pitches should be fifteen to twenty minutes,” Clark says. “Otherwise people fall asleep. And if you have any control over it, pick your days and times to pitch. Mondays are bad. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings are best, around 10 or 11. In your pitch, make sure you include ‘moments’ that the execs can connect to. Have character moments and emotional moments that are theatrical. Give the execs two or three of these moments in your pitch. After your pitch, you can leave a draft or some other kind of leave-behind.” Clark adds: “If you are pitching animation, bring a statue of your character or a 2-D ‘leave-behind,’ which is a drawing that looks and feels like the movie.”
Clark’s final bit of advice to screenwriters involves that word we’ve all heard so often – persistence: “You have to keep working it. Just wear ‘em down until they say yes.”
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* Sylvia Cary, MFT, has been a member of the Scriptwriters Network for over a decade. She is a licensed psychotherapist, author (4 published books), and screenwriter. Her historical script, Peg’s War, won first place for features in the Carl Sautter Memorial Screenwriting contest and has been optioned by a Los Angeles production company. She has a “book-doctor” business called Therapists Who Write (www.TherapistsWhoWrite.com) focused on helping psychotherapists and others in the healing professions get published, plus a “script-doctor” business (Scripts on the Couch) focused on helping screenwriters make sure their characters hang together psychologically. Contact at: Sylvia@SylviaCary.com