Skydiving Movie Proposal (First Draft)

[downplay 0]

I propose creating a skydiving movie based on real experiences
and traditions of the sport.

Below I've created a list of questions and answers I would have
about the sport. There are more questions to be answered and
better answers to these but I wanted to post a first draft to see
if there is any positive response.

(Mods: Please move this thread if not in the proper forum category).

The BS Project (Brother Search Project)

(1) What is the BS Project?

(2) How do we make a movie script worthy of the big-screen?

(3) How is it different from the other Hollywood movies that include skydiving?

(4) Who can participate in the project?

(5) Why a movie?

(6) Who is the audience?

(7) Who has creative control?

(8) How do we target the audience?

(9) What experience do I have?

(10) How long will it take?

(11) Why write a movie about skydiving?

(12) What type of stories am I interested in?

(13) What about privacy, permissions, etc?

(14) What will be the greatest challenges for me in the project?

(15) How can you help?

(16) Hasn't this been done before?

(17) Is there a backup plan?

(18) Why call it the BS Project?

(19) Don't movies increase the number of idiots in the sport?





(1) What is the BS Project?

The idea is to portray skydiving from a realistic point of view in the movie theater with some class and style. The plan it to sell the dream of flight like never before!

(2) How do we make a movie script worthy of the big-screen?

We collect true stories of all kinds, both past and present, from the skydiving community on a members-only forum & website.

We need stories of sport, risks, incidents, friendships, accidents, incidents, miracles, struggles overcome, etc, etc. We can also collect phrases, songs, traditions, ceremonies, etc.

All the information can be sorted, edited, categorized, and so forth as it is gathered. Once the collection covers enough areas of the sport, I will step back and look at all the stories and weave a first movie from the best stories. Tales for a first movie will be carefully selected to help the public relate to the characters.

(3) How is it different from the other Hollywood movies?

First, just the way it will be made. It will be constructed mostly from real stories and experiences. Also, at least the first movie will be carefully targeted at the public through story selection and character development.

All movies will be designed to span the gamut of emotion and intensity of the sport with a ring of truth, class, and style. There should still be plenty of room for the binging and fringing side of the sport as well ;o)


(4) Who can participate in the project?

I think anyone who is a skydiver, who is a long-term family member of a dedicated skydiver, etc.

(5) Why a movie?

Skydiving is a visual, physical sport. It is my opinion that nothing less than a movie could do the sport justice.

In addition, movies tend to reach a wider audience, generate more publicity, and make more money than any other medium.

(6) Who is the audience?

The movie will be broadly aimed at the public and skydiving community. It will be for anyone who ever jumped, dreamed of flight, and even those "why would you ever jump out of a perfectly good airplane" folks.

(7) Who has creative control?

There are just too many chiefs in the skydiving community and not enough Indians to make it a vote. However; I would like to run some online polls if the project gets any external funding.

Some creative input may be available in exchange for financial and other support of the project.

(8) How do we target the audience?

In a first movie, use the collected stories to create characters to which people can relate.

If a first movie is successful, then maybe we can take more risks in a sequel.

(9) What experience do I have?

I've written a few magazine articles for Skydiving, Parachutist, etc. I've been in the sport of skydiving for 10 years, have 1,200 jumps, have been a static-line jumpmaster, and a tandem instructor.

I am also friends and acquaintance to a wide variety of skydivers from students to instructors to champions of competition.

Writing good dialogue can be difficult. Fortunately I hang out with some witty assholes ;o)

(10) How long will it take?

Working on it part time I imagine a script could be worked out in a couple two-three years. If anyone is willing to finance the project, the timeframe could be moved up significantly.

(11) Why write a movie about skydiving?

For me there are many reasons personal and financial.

Times that I have spent skydiving and with skydiving friends have been the best of my life--by far! I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have discovered the sport of skydiving. I was raised in a very uptight, strict environment. The in-your-face socialization and mind-blowing physical experiences of skydiv ing have really helped me to "come out of my shell" and learn about the world and myself. I have a long way to go but I never would've gotten this far without the sport and all of my friends.

I wish to honor the sport and its participants of the past and present. The sport has an incredibly rich past of characters, events, technological developments, etc, etc

I also don't like most of the portrayals of skydiving that I've seen in movies. I think they are either too goofy and/or unreal. I don't like the people of our sport looking like a bunch of whack jobs or smugglers or whatever. Of course there is that side, but I want to show people more of the every day spirit of skydiving and the dream of flight through real stories from the sport.
I consider skydiving to be an adventurous celebration of life. I want to movie with a little class and style. (Don't worry; there will be plenty of dialogue dedicated to the wilder sides of the sport as well).

I also think the size and health of the sport is directly related to numbers of students flowing through the DZ schools. Movies can be excellent advertising. I think the sport could use a boost in the current uncertain economic times. If developed artfully, we can sell the dream with an edge of reality like never before!

Finally, I want to make money, get out of debt, and travel the world skydiving, surfing, snowboarding, and surfing. A couple of movies will do that far quicker and better than a shelf full of novels ever could.

(12) What type of stories am I interested in?

First jumps, student jumps, student stories, DZ dramas, pure fun, friendships, romances, technological advances, legal battles, feuds, traditions, sport, competition, malfunctions, injuries, death, and anything else related to the sport directly or indirectly.

(13) What about privacy, permissions, etc?

Permission will be sought where reasonable and the privacy of all people involved will be maintained as requested.

Names, locations, etc. can be modified to provide some anonymity. Some may prefer the publicity of using real names and places. I don't care whether if we use real names so long as respect is maintained for the people who the stories are about.

(14) What will be the greatest challenges for me in the project?

I will have to learn to write good dialogue.

Finding time to work on it between part-time jobs and other projects.

It is also very difficult to get scripts in front of the right people in the movie industry. This is a big risk and is reason many movies never see the silver screen. I know a few television people, some members of the Screen Actors Guild, and a few stunt men. I will just have to exploit what connections I have and hopefully others who wish to help the project can do the same.

(15) How can you help?

Type out a great story, song, phrase, or tradition from your skydiving experiences and then post it in my thread or send it me in email at [email protected].

Make a comment or send a post encouraging me to pursue the project. Make a suggestion about project organization or style. Suggest sources of information or funding.

Send money to support a website, forum, or my time working on the project. It is difficult for me to afford being around the DZ lately, but that is exactly the best place to work on such a project.

This is what I could think of quickly off the top of my head. Making a world-class big screen movie will be quite an undertaking and I am sure I will need much more help.

(16) Hasn't this been done before?

When I am through developing my movie(s), no one will say that it has been done before! I wouldn't bother otherwise.

(17) Is there a backup plan?

There is always television!

(18) Why call it the BS Project?

Mainly, I think the size and success of the sport is directly related to the number of students flowing through the DZ schools. Movies always boost the number of tandems and students. I think a movie or series of movies could be good for the health of the sport and industry in such sour economic times.

Basically, a movie should result in more brothers in the sport.

I also think its funny that "BS" also stands for "Bull Shit!"

(19) Don't movies increase the number of idiots in the sport and corresponding dangers?

Yes, of course more numbers means more idiots, dangers, and injuries. Skydiving is not a safe sport for everyone. There is always risk and the more people involved means the more incidents. I would prefer to have more fun friends in the sport and take the rest as it comes. If you want a safe sport, skydiving is not for you (however; I firmly believe it can be approached safely).

Only about 1 in 100 students becomes a skydiver for any time as it is. It would be nice to have enough skydivers to support a few more drop zones, sponsored athletes, events, etc, etc. I think the current level of sport participation makes it difficult on everyone who wants to be a professional in the sport.

[quade 3]

You should really take a screenwriting course. It also wouldn't be a horrible idea to learn how films are made. This could be an interesting independent documentary, but this is not how anybody goes about writing a feature film script.

Good luck.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[downplay 0]

I agree on taking classes, etc. As for how scripts are made,
I am sure there are techniques but at the end of the day, it
is mainly a dialogue between characters, is it not?

I am certain anything I can learn about how movies are made
could be helpful but I don't want to produce or direct, only
script one or more films.

So feature film scripts can't be created through developed
characters living a real story that happened?

[MakeItHappen 15]

Quote

I agree on taking classes, etc. As for how scripts are made,
I am sure there are techniques but at the end of the day, it
is mainly a dialogue between characters, is it not?

I am certain anything I can learn about how movies are made
could be helpful but I don't want to produce or direct, only
script one or more films.

So feature film scripts can't be created through developed
characters living a real story that happened?

Try writing a screenplay for the novels Double Malfunction and/or A Dark Night.
Both of those books are based on real people and events in skydiving.
Many times real life characters must be blended to make for a good screenplay.
Screenplays are usually much more than dialogue.
You have to describe the scene and write in pictures not concepts.
eg write the description of the scene as "It was a dark and stormy night." instead of someone saying "We are on a weather hold."

BTW, Google is your friend and can find some great web sites that show you how to write dialogue and scene descriptors.
Practice on short interactions you see at the DZ.

Other places to find tips and techniques are the director's commentary on dvds, existing screenplays and then watch the movie, depositions, observing others. Documentaries help too, even if you want to do a 'story'.

It is much harder than you think. I wrote the VO for the Al Krueger dvd. When I gave it to Duffy to read, he changed part of it because he said the spoken version was awkward. It read ok, but when spoken it did not have the same feel to it.

The most challenging part will be to create a story line that will be entertaining.

PS - 'Unforgettable Jumps' also has some great stories.

.

.
Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[NickDG 23]

What you are proposing is too all over the place. You'll have to drill down to get something that will flow. The best movies don't start with a lot and whittle down they begin with a simple premise and build from there. So first start with the truth of it.

Here's the pitch . . .

"Dropped – A Life on Thin Air"

FADE IN - A rudderless and confused young man named Lance Airworthy goes to the local DZ and makes his first jump and that night, for the very first time, he drinks beer and gets laid. Lance loves skydiving and quickly becomes an Instructor and that night he drinks beer and gets laid. After a while Lance gets his Rigger's ticket and that night he drinks beer and gets laid. Right after that Lance survives his first plane crash and that night he drinks beer and gets laid. Lance eventually gets a little bored with skydiving and makes his first B.A.S.E. jump and that night he drinks beer and gets laid. Back at the DZ Lance becomes the chief Instructor and that night he drinks beer and gets laid. Lance soon has a falling out with the greedy DZO and that night he drinks beer and gets laid. In trying to get away from the DZ "may I" system Lance starts organizing night bandit beach jumps for his friends and in the day time he drinks beer and gets laid. Lance goes freelance with his skydiving instructing and rents Cessna aircraft and takes them out into the desert to do his own version of private AFF and at night he drinks beer and gets laid. Lance sees the USPA going to hell and decides to run for elected office, five minutes later, he comes to his senses and drinks beer and gets laid instead. Lance gets too old for the day to day DZ grind mostly due to sore liver and groin issues and becomes a fun jumper and that night he drinks beer and gets laid. Lance has his first bad B.A.S.E. jumping accident and spends a year in plaster sipping beer through a straw and painfully getting laid. Lance, now late in life, never saved a dime over his entire skydiving career and finds himself in deep financial straits. Running out of a convenience store one night after stealing a 12-pack of beer Lance is gunned down by a rookie police officer. Lance needed the beer because he was on his way to get laid. And although he thought himself forgotten by his fellow skydivers hundreds of them showed up at his memorial and that night they all drank beer and got laid. - FADE OUT

Now all you have to do is fill in the little bits and one day soon we'll all be applauding as you walk out on stage and they hand you that little golden statue . . .

NickD

[Halfpastniner 0]

Eh id go see it

BASE 1384

[LouDiamond 1]

We visited this topic several years back and developed a running storyline based on people here on dropzone.com. Do a search for "dropzone.com the movie".Someone actually went as far as to create a short trailer. It really was fun, as back then, everyone involved actually knew and jumped with each other.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[kkeenan 13]

Did you steal that screenplay from Guy Manos ??

_____________________________________
Dude, you are so awesome...
Can I be on your ash jump ?

[matthewcline 0]

"Lance" is that you?

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[I3uller 0]

This sounds like an endless summer for skydiving haha.

[Skwrl 56]

[Quote]
Here's the pitch . . .

"Dropped – A Life on Thin Air"
[/Quote]

Slow clap, 90's style.

Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography

Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

[quade 3]

Quote

I agree on taking classes, etc. As for how scripts are made,
I am sure there are techniques but at the end of the day, it
is mainly a dialogue between characters, is it not?

No. A screenplay is a blueprint for how a movie will be made. It includes dialog, but it also includes action; enough so that every person that reads it has enough information to create every shot in their head. Oh, that's never how it actually turns out, because the director and others will have their say, but the entire movie has to be on the pages of your script to begin with. It also ABSOLUTELY must be in what is considered to be standard screenplay format to even be read. This includes length of script and where plot points fall in it. If you don't know how to write a screenplay, nothing you write will ever be read by anyone in Hollywood. I don't mean anyone important, I mean anyone; period. It's just the way that works.

Quote

I am certain anything I can learn about how movies are made
could be helpful but I don't want to produce or direct, only
script one or more films.

As do literally thousands of other people which is why learning how they are made is vital. Nobody wants to read the script from somebody that could do it, they all want to read the script from the guy that HAS done it. That shows up pretty well in the first couple of pages.

Quote

So feature film scripts can't be created through developed
characters living a real story that happened?

They are every day, just not the way you're going about it. Among the issues; no company is going to want to read a script they think they might have problems with further down the line. If somebody thinks there might be an issue because you "stole somebody's life story" without their permission . . . that's a problem. Opening up your project to wide discussion and input is a potential problem with authorship and ownership.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[DSE 3]

Not to mention that a screenplay rarely is pitched as a finished work, and *no* studio will accept an unsolicited script. Ever.

Quote

potential problem with authorship and ownership.

For this very reason.

Downplay, if you *really* wanna play with this, buy a copy of Final Draft.
It won't help much with the creative process, but it does help you quickly understand the developmental, presentation, formatting, blocking, etc. Expensive, but it's the standard of the industry these days. Has really useful templates for television, film, corporate, multicamera, etc.
Quade is spot-on, as usual. It ain't as easy as everyone seems to think.
If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

[vikram 0]

I think the the only way a skydiving movie will be successful in the main stream market is if:

A> Jessica Alba or equivalently hot lead character
B> Sex appeal, romance, and adventure

May be she wants to get revenge on the bad guy for killing her father and she steals his money by airlifting a safe, cracking it and jumping out without getting caught.

A mix b/w the italian job, blue crush, and into the blue? There's got to be a story line and skydiving is a major part of it...but not the only part....

[Faicon9493 114]

Quote

Quote

I agree on taking classes, etc. As for how scripts are made,
I am sure there are techniques but at the end of the day, it
is mainly a dialogue between characters, is it not?

I am certain anything I can learn about how movies are made
could be helpful but I don't want to produce or direct, only
script one or more films.

So feature film scripts can't be created through developed
characters living a real story that happened?

Try writing a screenplay for the novels Double Malfunction and/or A Dark Night.
Both of those books are based on real people and events in skydiving.
Many times real life characters must be blended to make for a good screenplay.
Screenplays are usually much more than dialogue.
You have to describe the scene and write in pictures not concepts.
eg write the description of the scene as "It was a dark and stormy night." instead of someone saying "We are on a weather hold."

BTW, Google is your friend and can find some great web sites that show you how to write dialogue and scene descriptors.
Practice on short interactions you see at the DZ.

Other places to find tips and techniques are the director's commentary on dvds, existing screenplays and then watch the movie, depositions, observing others. Documentaries help too, even if you want to do a 'story'.

It is much harder than you think. I wrote the VO for the Al Krueger dvd. When I gave it to Duffy to read, he changed part of it because he said the spoken version was awkward. It read ok, but when spoken it did not have the same feel to it.

The most challenging part will be to create a story line that will be entertaining.

PS - 'Unforgettable Jumps' also has some great stories.

.

You should also read the book Skydiver Driver, written by Mike Fischer.

[downplay 0]

Quote

Try writing a screenplay for the novels Double Malfunction and/or A Dark Night.
Both of those books are based on real people and events in skydiving.
Many times real life characters must be blended to make for a good screenplay.
Screenplays are usually much more than dialogue.
You have to describe the scene and write in pictures not concepts.
eg write the description of the scene as "It was a dark and stormy night." instead of someone saying "We are on a weather hold."

BTW, Google is your friend and can find some great web sites that show you how to write dialogue and scene descriptors.
Practice on short interactions you see at the DZ.

Other places to find tips and techniques are the director's commentary on dvds, existing screenplays and then watch the movie, depositions, observing others. Documentaries help too, even if you want to do a 'story'.

It is much harder than you think. I wrote the VO for the Al Krueger dvd. When I gave it to Duffy to read, he changed part of it because he said the spoken version was awkward. It read ok, but when spoken it did not have the same feel to it.

The most challenging part will be to create a story line that will be entertaining.

PS - 'Unforgettable Jumps' also has some great stories.

.

Yes, thank you. All good advice. If it is more difficult than I
think then it will just take longer.

I also know that a bad director or poor cast can kill a good
movie script as well. Many scripts never even get read by
anyone important. Maybe I'm wasting my time but I've
found its pretty hard to succeed without daring to fail.

If magic was easy it wouldn't be...magic.

I will check into those books but they don't sound like the
right type of story to me. I think you need a beginner
story. The angle of bringing a student up in 'Point Break'
was decent but I've heard some pretty compelling true
stories that might work as well.

So far I haven't come up with a better way to gently
introduce an audience to the jargon and culture of the
sport.

I suppose there are other ways for a person to
become familiar with the sport. There are non-jumping
related jobs at some of the large DZs. There are also
family members of skydivers and groupies. However;
I haven't heard many compelling stories for the sport
from these members of the community.

[downplay 0]

Very cool, I will definitely check it out!

Quote

We visited this topic several years back and developed a running storyline based on people here on dropzone.com. Do a search for "dropzone.com the movie".Someone actually went as far as to create a short trailer. It really was fun, as back then, everyone involved actually knew and jumped with each other

[downplay 0]

Quote

Not to mention that a screenplay rarely is pitched as a finished work, and *no* studio will accept an unsolicited script. Ever.
.

So, you pitch an idea for a script to a studio and then write it?
It would then be solicited? Or do studios create the ideas and
then contract writers? Or what?

[DSE 3]

No. You hire a lawyer or agent (or both) and THEY handle things for you.
Send a studio a script, you'll receive the package back, unopened ie; "return to sender."
Studios don't have time, money, or desire to "train" you how this process works.
On the web, you'll find hundreds of pages of information about how this process works.

[skittles_of_SDC 0]

That's brilliant Nick. A skydiving themed porno. Anyone have Nicole Sheridan's phone number?

[denete 2]

Quote

That's brilliant Nick. A skydiving themed porno. Anyone have Nicole Sheridan's phone number?

Already been done.

SCR #14809

"our attitude is the thing most capable of keeping us safe"
(look, grab, look, grab, peel, punch, punch, arch)

[sparkie 0]

forget it. No movie will ever be better than "cutaway"

[kallend 1,625]

Quote

forget it. No movie will ever be better than "cutaway"

Very true, that!

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[quade 3]

Quote

forget it. No movie will ever be better than "cutaway"

The movie gets a bad rep for the bad acting and some of the sillier artistic license it had to take with the sport so that viewers could have a chance of understanding what was going on, but look at the characters and you'll see a lot of truth. I can look at every skydiving character in that movie and match that character with somebody I know in the skydiving community. Some of those characters only had a few lines in the entire movie, but said a hell of a lot.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver