Pushing The Boulder Up The Hill

Thanks for all of your encouragement and your patience. Here is a little more that I can tell you from "The Fraggle Frontier."

I've got a better understanding of what's happening right now in the development process. All parties are circling up to keep this ball moving down the field (although it's always more like pushing a boulder up a hill). For those of you who are frustrated and impatient about how long this is taking, Welcome To The Movie Business! This is nothing new. Each project of this size involves huge amounts of money and lots of people (and multiple companies) agreeing on the same creative, financial and strategic plans. And then some of those plans take a lot of time to execute. Yes, I am speaking in code again, but this is what I can tell you.

The good news is that the material that I've handed in is solid. Everyone loves the story, the script, the comedy, and my approach to making the movie. All the main characters have fun arcs and their own adventures within the big story. And we've never wavered from the main story and the approach -- to say a lot of important things about our society and what's really important in life. That's always been important to me, and it's always been important to Henson and the Weinstein Company. Because frankly, it was always important to Jim.

More good news to report: while awaiting production greenlight, I have continued to have very productive meetings as if I'm already making the movie. I'm meeting with my top casting choices, I'm meeting with some really cool music talents, and I am continuing to visually develop the movie. I've storyboarded two new sequences and am in the middle of contracting some concept artists to create some very big full-color scenes from the film.

And I will say again that we are striving to bring on any and every ORIGINAL PUPPETEERING CAST MEMBER that we can. Some may not work out, but that is what we are shooting for.

I was also encouraged to hear that Henson is going to publish a series of Fraggle Rock Comic Books. I think it would be cool to tie some of those comics stories to the mythology of the feature, maybe even cook up a direct prequel or B-story. I'm just throwing that out there, Henson Publishing. Call me!

But the news that you really want to hear -- the news that the movie is moving into production -- just hasn't happened yet. There are some major chess pieces that need to be in place to make sure this film has the best possible budget, distribution and promotion when it comes out. And I'm sure that's what we all want! The time we take now insures that this is a major release that brings a lot of hype and excitement and creates a new generation of Fraggle Fans. So as I wait, I'm proceeding with all that I can do on my side. I just wanted to feed you all something, anything, as you check the blog. At least this lets you know that I'm not dead or sleeping and that I'm working my tail off.

Yes, I've had a tail added. That's how far I've gone to keep a Fraggle perspective.

In other Cory News, I am cooking on some new pitches to take out. These are wildly different movies, so it has been fun. One involves a lot of crazy music, another involves storyboarding a 150-panel action sequence, and another one has got me designing robotic technology and weapons. So with the uncertain future this job carries with it, it's still a pretty cool job.

Peace from the Trash Heap,

Cory

FOLLOW ME, SOLDIER! And yes, that's a Churro I'm smoking.

The Lord of the Rings... with singing and dancing

If you are in the L.A. area this month, you must see this show: "Fellowship!" The Musical Parody of 'The Fellowship of the Ring'. My friend Joel co-wrote and directed it, and it has received much hype since being remounted this year. Yes, it's funny, but the music is also actually GOOD. Let's just say the highlights include a duet between an Elf and a Dwarf, and Aragorn rocks an 80's power ballad.

A Very Thin Update

Sorry guys. The reason there have been no updates here in such a long time is because there is nothing to report. I am in a baffling holding pattern. The last draft of my Fraggle Rock script received raves, quite a while ago. It is now in the hands of bigger people than me. Beyond that I have no real info to give.

In the meantime, I am simultaneously prepping three pitches at once for other features. All different genres, all extremely fun. But yes, I really, really, really, really, really want to make a Fraggle movie this year. 

So you can all join me in "sitting tight," something I don't do very well at all. The best thing to do while you're waiting is to go see Up, one of the best films I've seen.... ever.

Invasion of the Adorable Robots

Is the world ready for a Fraggle Movie?

You tell me... Check out this experiment in human kindness.

You Can't Beat a Muppet Heist

There's been some stuff happening with the Fraggle Rock script that I will talk about soon, but you need to see this first. 

THIS IS OFFICIALLY AWESOME.

Why can't I SEE this movie? Right now?

That Leaky Internet

It just keeps happening.

A rough cut of Wolverine leaked online this week.

The GOOD news is that Ain't-It-Cool-News has gotten behind the filmmakers' privacy. If you love something, you don't destroy it. And in this case, Wolverine will come at you with the claw!!!

The New Me

That's it. I'm done. 

In a few short days, I've gotten myself waist-deep in the slimy swamp of internet fan chat. My reaction to a leaked script prompted me to write a cocky, snarky post here, which then has spawned lots of cocky, snarky posts from others. Then I decided to school those snarky people. "I'll show them that they don't know what they're talking about. I'll show them!" 

And then what? I get more comments about who I am, what I stand for, how thin my skin is, etc. And not just here on my blog, but other chat boards and Muppet fan sites. 

What am I doing? I'm not even focusing on the GOOD stuff out there anymore.

So I'm done being that guy -- the guy who responds to every smart alec on the web; the guy who patrols the chat boards to correct facts. It's too much. It's making me a negative person, and a negative force in the world. So forget it.

This is my decree: The new mindset here on my blog will be more positive. I'm going to be a lot less active on the fan sites and the "comments" section of this blog. If a hater stops by to throw stones, their comments will be deleted. If someone out there has their facts wrong, I will only combat that will real information here. And I will be not be giving any interviews to fan sites, at least not for a long, long time. I will just be posting here, on this blog, and being the sunnier, more positive person I need to be.

What can I say? My wife was right. She warned me that this would happen about three months ago. I started interacting more with fans because I thought this would give me a better idea of what fans want. And for a while, it did. But now it's just opened me up to the uglier type of fans; the pettiest, most critical, self-entitled ones. This is not helping me be a better filmmaker, or helping the "Fraggle Rock" movie at all. 

So I'm done. New day. New me. New blog.