Heatwave / City On Fire
Year:
2009
Role:
Writer
When a sudden, unexplained rise in local temperatures threatens to turn the whole of Los Angeles into a lifeless desert, one scientist believes she knows why it is happening. But, in order to prove her theory, she must expose the greed of a giant corporation out to make money. It’s now a race against time to stop a catastrophe from happening.
Note: this film is also called “City on Fire” in some markets.
The Story:
My Thoughts:
The film is... unwatchable. There’s no shame in admitting that, especially since I had nothing to do with the production — or the numerous rewrites that took an okay script down to the basement of Terrible and beat it with the Suck Stick. It was written in two-weeks for a low-budget production company that, in addition to its booming business in disaster movies, ran a no-budget gay TV network.
As a starving screenwriter, they said two magic things that got me to take on the various challenges and indignities to churn out a script and attach my name to pure, unadulterated crap: it’ll get made and you’ll get paid. It was and I did. Ten rewrites I had nothing to do with and a co-screenwriter I’ve never met later, behold the magic that resulted. (On second thought, don’t. Your brain is far too important to have it sucked out your eyes.)
Am I complaining? No. I was treated fairly. What they did with what they bought is their business. There’s an element of zen required to survive in this business and I have it over this script. The film was released theatrically here and around the world — my first!! — and again on pay TV and DVD.
Check out the IMDB page here.
I've posted the original screenplay over in the "Writing" section of the site. It's a different take on the story. I had about two weeks to write the thing, so its as good as two weeks gets.
Watch it:
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