Finished “Red State” around 1-ish. Totally different than anything I’ve written before. Very fucked up. Shortest script I’ve ever written, too, as well as the least dialogue-driven (not to say there’s not a lot of dialogue in it still; just not nearly as much as I’m used to writing). It’s a weird, relentlessly bleak and extremely unsettling affair, that “Red State” script. If you didn’t know I wrote it, and you read it, and I told you afterwards that I’d written it, you’d be like “Bullshit.”


After letting said story stew in my head for nearly a year, the actual writing of “Red State” didn’t take very long at all. Granted, I’d done about twenty pages of an outline that I worked off of, but from the moment I started the actual screenplay (from “INT AIRPORT – DAY”) to the moment I finished what I’d consider the first draft (“The End”), it was a five day affair.


When I’d gotten to page 87, I sent it to Scott, Malcolm and Bryan to read. All came back thumbs up. Mosier had excellent notes and suggestions, as per usual, so I went back, stripped stuff out, wrote new stuff, and wound up with 84 pages. 11 pages later, I was done. Like I said: shortest script (in terms of page count) I’ve ever written.


Mos was out when I finished writing, so the first person I sent the end pages to was Malcolm. Malcolm IM’s me back, quite simply, “I dare you.” That made me chuckle.

The blog’s been a fascinating read since it first started a couple years ago, so we say WELCOME BACK to what looks to be some daily, at least more regular posts. Fascinating stuff that the dude can manage to pull all nighters watching 90’s flicks and playing online poker. Ah, the life of Hollywood, eh? We’ll of course remind you of anything interesting that shows up in the blogs as they continue, though we of course encourage you to make Kevin’s blog pages a part of your daily web travels.

A few other “Red State” bits from the board as well. Regarding fears over the budget and subject matter:

“We’re kind of anticipating… reluctance, shall we say, from the money people. This flick wouldn’t necessarily occur to some as “audience-friendly” on the page. It’s one thing to hand them a script full of funny stuff with proven characters that a niche audience has enjoyed previously; it’s another thing to hand them this.


Which is not to say that I fully expect them to show me the door. I just wouldn’t be shocked if Harvey and Bob were like “We can’t go for the ride with you on this one, Kevin.” In that instance, Scott and I would just explore other financing avenues that’ve historically shown interest in what we do (Lionsgate, indie investors, etc).”

And on the excitement level over making the picture:

“A bit. Because it’s outside of our wheelhouse, there’s a touch more excitement, due to the fact that we’re heading into unchartered (for us) waters on this one.”

Kevin and Scott plan to bounce some further script tweaks off of each other before the pass it on to Harvey and Bob. Once again, expect more psychological horror than gore, but from the sound of it, this one’s gonna be way intense. Man we’re stoked. Two totally different but COOL films scheduled for 2008 from View Askew. Keep with us for the latest!

And hey, speaking of efficiency — We’re beta testing a new search that will give you tons of control over the news you search for — We’re betting it’ll come in very handy when you’re trying to track down something from years ago. We’ll be giving you your own chance to test drive News Askew SuperSearch in the coming days. We sure hope ya like it.

It is written.


Finished “Red State” today.


Shortest flick (in terms of page count) that I ever wrote. Least amount of dialogue, too (not to say there’s no dialogue; just that there’s about half as much as I normally write).


Unlike any other script I’ve ever authored, to say the least. Very fucked up. If I’d never said anything about it in the press and put it out under a pseudonym, I doubt anyone would ever connect me with it.


Can’t wait to shoot it.

Kevin’s kept the plot details of this one fairly secretive so far — We know that there’s a very small cast set for this one, though no credible rumors regarding the roles at this stage of the game. We know it’s horror but not in the traditional sense. Due to the a small cast, we’re not expecting to see a mass murder bloodbath type picture here, but something likely more psychological. Kevin compared it to “The Shining” in a recent interview.

Stick with us for the latest news on “Red State” and everything else in the Askewniverse. This is the first time we can recall that Kevin’s had TWO scripts written and ready for shooting at once. We’re anxiously awaiting for these two post-Clerks II follow ups.

KEVIN’S “SUPERBAD” AT THE PREMIERE



THE SMITHS MEET “THE SIMPSONS”



THE KING OF THE SAN DIEGO CON, WITH SPECIAL “REAPER” GUESTS!

Affleck in talks to star in comedy


New Line is in negotiations with Ben Affleck to round out the cast of ensemble comedy “He’s Just Not That Into You,” with Drew Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen producing through their Flower Films banner.


Shooting starts Sept. 10 in Los Angeles, with Ken Kwapis (“License to Wed”) directing.


Along with Affleck and Barrymore, “You” will star Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson and Justin Long.


Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (“Never Been Kissed”) adapted the bestseller about modern-day relationships by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, who worked together on “Sex and the City.” The book focuses on how men and women often misconstrue the intentions of the opposite sex.

Terry Moore, wife of showrunner Ronald D. Moore, told fans at the official SciFi Channel Web site that despite what he said during a recent interview with AOL, Smith of “Clerks” and “Dogma” fame will not take the director’s chair for “Battlestar Galactica.”


“No he’s not,” Moore said in a post. “Scheduling conflict.”


There has been no statement about the recent development on any of Smith’s Web sites, or through any interview sources, but it does appear that Smith’s dream come true was, in the end, just a dream.


Will the media be in an uproar?


“No, they probably won’t,” Moore said of SciFi Channel’s publicity team having to counter this story. “Something like that only registers on message boards.”

Aw, Ron – We’re upset, darn it. We’re waiting for some more official type news on this rather than forum posts, so please watch here for a word from us or from Kevin. Regardless of what happens, we still have the Reaper pilot (quite possibly the best pilot of the new Fall season) and Kevin’s take on a new hero for the Heroes spinoff. Man, what a great year of TV we’ve got on the way.

Also big thanks to one of our favorite sites, /Film, for the shout-out, as well as the other sites who Tracked Back to us. You can see track backs as part of the News Askew comment system, which automatically lists sites that have picked up the story. Coool.

This might take some investigation… I was at an American Eagle clithing store with my daughter today… On those large screens on the back wall they were playing a clip promoting an upcoming show (I believe it’s on MTV) about a group of kids who all work in a amll. The lead actress was being interviewed and she described the upcoming show as “it’s like a modern day MALLRATS”.

We’ll clear this up right quick — MTV shows this “show” titled “It’s a Mall World” from time to time, usually during new “Real World” episodes. The new program is a mall-based webisode show that runs over at the American Eagle Outfitters site, exclusively. So, more of a promotional tool than a series. Other than taking place in a mall, and featuring young people, we don’t really see other similarities.

In which a special guest fills in for one of our heroes, prompting a heavy bout of reminiscences about what kind of purchases can set off parental fisticuffs, how metal is metal, what it means to be man-friends in Jersey, and saying goodbye to 42nd Street – all of which is interjected by a discussion of nature’s most evil arachnid.”

Get your FREE copy of SModcast exclusively at View Askew’s entertainment portal, Quick Stop Entertainment. Enjoy, and be sure to leave some comments or thank the guys for providing us with such fantastic free audio, week after week. SModcast is the perfect antidote for the Monday morning workday blues.

We can’t wait to see what he does with Heroes and now, B-Star G! Here’s some of the interview’s juicy bits:

Will we see you doing more TV?

I know that I’m going to go up and direct an episode of ‘Battlestar Galactica,’ which I’m kind of stoked about. It’s cool, but it is scary because it is like, “What the f—? I can’t bring anything to that show.” That show is genius and they have a very distinctive visual style. But you are safe as a kitten. If you go in there and say, “I’m going to shoot everything in one big master shot,” they’ll go, “No you’re not, because that is not what we do on ‘Battlestar Galactica.'” I guess it is more about performance-oriented stuff, but at the same time that cast is top notch. How do you f—– direct Mary McDonnell?

Did you get to pick which hero you wanted to introduce?

Yeah. Tim Kring was like, “You write and direct it dude. It is your world, you do what you want.” That of course was appetizing as hell. Last week, I went in and pitched my story and every three minutes into my breakdown I was like, “Now mind you, you can say no at any time and put a nail in this because I realize it might not be your cup of tea,” but they kind of went for it. It is very in keeping with what ‘Heroes’ is, but tonally it is different than what they normally do.

Are you putting in a cameo for yourself?

Oh, heavens no. Nobody wants to see me on ‘Heroes.’

‘Red State’ is a horror flick, right?

That’s the horror one. It is a little different. I’ve only made one kind of a movie, a comedy with more dramatic elements to them or sometimes just a flat-out comedic, but always in the arena of comedy. Most days, I don’t feel like I’m a filmmaker. I just feel like I’m a guy who directs his own scripts. I felt like if we did a horror movie, which is outside my comfort zone, it would be a nice test to see if I could pull off a film that I am not known for making.

Is this a straight horror film, or ‘Shaun of the Dead’ type of horror?

Not ‘Shaun of the Dead.’ I’m sure there will be a little bit of humor in it, but it’s not like a comedic horror film. I don’t know how they are going to market it. The last thing you want to put on the poster is “from the director of ‘Clerks.'”

So what’s Kevin got planned tonally for Heroes? Something a bit lighter, perhaps? Maybe even DARKER? And with this being Galactica’s last season for sure, every episode’s going to have major plot stuff going on, so there’s no doubt Kevin will solidify his spot in TV history with this gig.

The above’s just a taste of this new 2-page exclusive interview, so don’t miss the complete interview with TV Guide.