Episode 9: Watch out Hollywood!
Today's "Misadventure" is again different, because it involves nothing mischievous. But it's still worth the telling, because I'm still pretty awed by the whole expereince, now that I'm reminded of it.
The story begins with me in sixth grade. (Yes, early.) My friend was reading a copy of the novel Ender's Game, and he kept bragging it up. "Oh it's the best book I've ever read!"
Yeah, yeah, I bet.
He showed me his favorite part, which was of the main character beating up a bully in the most violent way possible. (And the bully actually dies.) Somehow... this didn't draw me in.
Then seventh grade rolled around, and I was invited to fly to Colorado to visit my uncle. So, at a book fair at the school (yes, the book fairs work), I spotted a copy of Ender's Game and thought to myself--what they heck, why not. So I got my mom to buy it and brought it with me on the plane. Before long the book was read, and my seventh grade self enjoyed every page. So much so that I began hunting down Orson Scott Card novels and consuming them. In one of these, Card thanked his online community - www.hatrack.com. This intrigued me so I went there, using my crappy 56k modem and AOL (shudder).
On his site there was a lot of buzz regarding an Ender's Game movie, and a portion of Card's original movie script was posted. I read that right away, but noticed a few things and - being the enterprising youth that I was, decided to write him a letter. I critiqued his excerpt, but under an alias because I wanted to be taken seriously--which meant pretending to be an adult. And, for some reason, that involved making a bogus name. So I became Mr. Robert Fischer (this was before I knew that the real Bobby Fischer was a raging-insane lunatic).
Card apparently liked my thoughts, because he sent me a private e-mail inviting me to a copy of the whole manuscript. Provided that I give him feedback regarding it in its entirety, and that I refrain from sharing it with anyone publicly. (Telling me that very few people had been able to see it, outside of the film making community.)
I was ecstatic and agreed immediately. He sent me the draft and I printed it out, going through it several times with a pen. Before long I sent him my notes - I'd even spotted two glaring mistakes that somehow had been overlooked until now. One was an error with a character refering to the wrong thing - and the other I don't remember... Nevertheless, he was glad for my notes and his secretary e-mailed me, inviting me to a free copy of his latest novel (can't remember which book), personally signed with a thank you note from Card. I accepted, but said that I would prefer a book from the Ender series. Saying that Ender's Game was probably the most appropriate, but that I was more interested in Speaker for the Dead (because I wanted to read it). And so Speaker for the Dead is what I received.
I also had to explain that Mr. Robert Fischer was an alias, and that my real name was Richard Sanders. Which his secretary found odd, but didn't press the issue. I don't think I told them I was only in 7th grade. Though I did find it ironic that Card is famous for writing books about kids acting out the roles of adults, and here I was.
I received the book. But I didn't want my involvement with the film to end there. So, as usual, I decided to test my limits and ended up over-stepping my bounds. At one point I even recommended deleting a whole scene (or two) and offered to rewrite the scene. He wasn't interested in any of that, but thanked me anyway. I can't remember the rest of our dialogue, but I think the series of e-mails between us lasted for a little while.
So there you have it. And for you doubters out there... here is a picture of the book. Nothing too personal, just a quick signature.
It says: "to Richard - Thanks for your close reading of the Ender script!"
Later (that same year, I think) he did a book signing at a mall in Utah (one that I think is out of business now), and I went to meet him. I told him who I was - to his surprise. A kid? To prove my identity I brought along the header page to his movie script. Which I had him sign.
Here's that:
It says: "to Richard - Good to finally meet you!"
We were at the back of the line, so I had a few minutes to chat with him. Mostly about the upcoming movie. "What actor should play Ender?" came up. He said he was most interested in Jake Lloyd. And I let him know that I thought was a bad choice, because I thought Jake Lloyd was a bad actor.
He didn't agree. I still remember his exact words, "You have no idea how good of an actor Jake Lloyd is." I didn't respond to this, except inside my own head--where I wondered, how he(Card) knew Jake Lloyd was such a good actor. Did he sit in on Jake's acting lessons?
I recommended Haley Joel Osment and that was the end of that.
I haven't corresponded with him since.
But I still think the whole experience was pretty cool.
And, for the record, the movie was never made, despite having directors and studios attach themselves to it from time to time. But it's still listed as "in production" so who knows, maybe in 50 years you'll get to see it.
Today's "Misadventure" is again different, because it involves nothing mischievous. But it's still worth the telling, because I'm still pretty awed by the whole expereince, now that I'm reminded of it.
The story begins with me in sixth grade. (Yes, early.) My friend was reading a copy of the novel Ender's Game, and he kept bragging it up. "Oh it's the best book I've ever read!"
Yeah, yeah, I bet.
He showed me his favorite part, which was of the main character beating up a bully in the most violent way possible. (And the bully actually dies.) Somehow... this didn't draw me in.
Then seventh grade rolled around, and I was invited to fly to Colorado to visit my uncle. So, at a book fair at the school (yes, the book fairs work), I spotted a copy of Ender's Game and thought to myself--what they heck, why not. So I got my mom to buy it and brought it with me on the plane. Before long the book was read, and my seventh grade self enjoyed every page. So much so that I began hunting down Orson Scott Card novels and consuming them. In one of these, Card thanked his online community - www.hatrack.com. This intrigued me so I went there, using my crappy 56k modem and AOL (shudder).
On his site there was a lot of buzz regarding an Ender's Game movie, and a portion of Card's original movie script was posted. I read that right away, but noticed a few things and - being the enterprising youth that I was, decided to write him a letter. I critiqued his excerpt, but under an alias because I wanted to be taken seriously--which meant pretending to be an adult. And, for some reason, that involved making a bogus name. So I became Mr. Robert Fischer (this was before I knew that the real Bobby Fischer was a raging-insane lunatic).
Card apparently liked my thoughts, because he sent me a private e-mail inviting me to a copy of the whole manuscript. Provided that I give him feedback regarding it in its entirety, and that I refrain from sharing it with anyone publicly. (Telling me that very few people had been able to see it, outside of the film making community.)
I was ecstatic and agreed immediately. He sent me the draft and I printed it out, going through it several times with a pen. Before long I sent him my notes - I'd even spotted two glaring mistakes that somehow had been overlooked until now. One was an error with a character refering to the wrong thing - and the other I don't remember... Nevertheless, he was glad for my notes and his secretary e-mailed me, inviting me to a free copy of his latest novel (can't remember which book), personally signed with a thank you note from Card. I accepted, but said that I would prefer a book from the Ender series. Saying that Ender's Game was probably the most appropriate, but that I was more interested in Speaker for the Dead (because I wanted to read it). And so Speaker for the Dead is what I received.
I also had to explain that Mr. Robert Fischer was an alias, and that my real name was Richard Sanders. Which his secretary found odd, but didn't press the issue. I don't think I told them I was only in 7th grade. Though I did find it ironic that Card is famous for writing books about kids acting out the roles of adults, and here I was.
I received the book. But I didn't want my involvement with the film to end there. So, as usual, I decided to test my limits and ended up over-stepping my bounds. At one point I even recommended deleting a whole scene (or two) and offered to rewrite the scene. He wasn't interested in any of that, but thanked me anyway. I can't remember the rest of our dialogue, but I think the series of e-mails between us lasted for a little while.
So there you have it. And for you doubters out there... here is a picture of the book. Nothing too personal, just a quick signature.
It says: "to Richard - Thanks for your close reading of the Ender script!"
Later (that same year, I think) he did a book signing at a mall in Utah (one that I think is out of business now), and I went to meet him. I told him who I was - to his surprise. A kid? To prove my identity I brought along the header page to his movie script. Which I had him sign.
Here's that:
It says: "to Richard - Good to finally meet you!"
We were at the back of the line, so I had a few minutes to chat with him. Mostly about the upcoming movie. "What actor should play Ender?" came up. He said he was most interested in Jake Lloyd. And I let him know that I thought was a bad choice, because I thought Jake Lloyd was a bad actor.
He didn't agree. I still remember his exact words, "You have no idea how good of an actor Jake Lloyd is." I didn't respond to this, except inside my own head--where I wondered, how he(Card) knew Jake Lloyd was such a good actor. Did he sit in on Jake's acting lessons?
I recommended Haley Joel Osment and that was the end of that.
I haven't corresponded with him since.
But I still think the whole experience was pretty cool.
And, for the record, the movie was never made, despite having directors and studios attach themselves to it from time to time. But it's still listed as "in production" so who knows, maybe in 50 years you'll get to see it.
