{"id":133881,"date":"2024-12-06T07:24:45","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T00:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133881"},"modified":"2024-12-06T07:24:45","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T00:24:45","slug":"why-george-r-r-martin-broke-the-cardinal-rule-of-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133881","title":{"rendered":"Why George R. R. Martin Broke the Cardinal Rule of Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tYou might know <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/george-rr-martin\/\">George R.R. Martin<\/a> as the mind behind the biggest book and television show in history: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/game-of-thrones\">Game of Thrones<\/a><\/em>. But what you probably aren\u2019t aware of is that he\u2019s also self-financed four short films based on the tales of a dear friend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn the early 1960s, a 15-year-old Martin in Bayonne, New Jersey, was in search of a very rare DC comic. \u201c<em>The Brave and the Bold<\/em>\u00a0#28 was very important,\u201d the literary giant tells\u00a0<em>The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>. \u201cBecause it was the first appearance of the Justice League of America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe author managed to find and buy the comic \u2014\u00a0for a quarter \u2014 off of a fellow teenage boy in Arlington, Texas. This boy was named Howard Waldrop, and it was the beginning of a life-long friendship. \u201cI love the guy. I miss him still,\u201d Martin says. \u201cHe was certainly my oldest friend in the world of science fiction and fantasy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWaldrop was an American science fiction author who worked primarily in short fiction. He spent most of his life in Austin, Texas, often combining elements such as\u00a0alternative history, pop culture, the\u00a0American South, old movies or classical mythology into his writing. His work was, in parts, celebrated \u2014 in 2021, he was honored with the\u00a0World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. Waldrop is generally considered more of a cult figure compared to his peer, Martin, who went on to see huge mainstream success.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tMartin and Waldrop remained friends all the way up until January this year, when on the 14th, Waldrop died from a stroke. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cWe started writing letters to each other, actual letters \u2014\u00a0that was something we had in those days,\u201d Martin says of the comic purchase. \u201cWe just hit it off long distance. We were both aspiring writers. That was our first exchange. It was in 1963, there was a guy named John F. Kennedy in the White House. [But] I did not actually meet Howard in person until 1972.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tNow Martin has paid homage to his old friend by producing a short film \u2014 one that he hopes will be an Oscar contender \u2014 based on one of Waldrop\u2019s short stories: <em>The Ugly Chickens<\/em>, produced by Martin, was written by Michael Cassutt and directed by Mark Raso. The half-hour movie is adapted from Waldrop\u2019s short of the same name (which won him a Nebula Award in 1980).<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tMartin and Waldrop\u2019s relationship braved the stormy seas of Martin\u2019s stratospheric rise to fame when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/hbo\">HBO<\/a> acquired the television rights to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/game-thrones\/\" id=\"auto-tag_game-thrones_1\" data-tag=\"game-thrones\">Game of Thrones<\/a> <\/em>in 2008. The same success had not quite found Waldrop. \u201cHoward was not commercial,\u201d Martin says. \u201cI wrote a lot of short stories and sold them, but eventually I started writing novels and series, because you can\u2019t live on short stories. They didn\u2019t pay very much.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"THE UGLY CHICKENS by Mark Raso (2024) - TRAILER\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mU6S-K5ugk8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThis isn\u2019t to say Waldrop wasn\u2019t talented \u2014\u00a0quite the opposite, says Martin: \u201cHe was an amazing writer. There was no one like Howard.\u201d And it\u2019s not as if Waldrop\u2019s career was without acclaim. But his peers, including Martin, worried about his finances and health towards the end of his life. With the financial success Martin enjoyed thanks to <em>Thrones<\/em>, he wanted to strike a deal to turn some of Waldrop\u2019s stories into short films, but it wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s hard to get anyone to finance a short film,\u201d Martin tells <em>THR<\/em>. \u201cMovie theaters don\u2019t want to show short films. I own a movie theater myself, so I know that. And it\u2019s hard to get the big studios to make them. I tried for a number of years\u2026 I finally gave up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThen the author decided to break \u201cthe cardinal rule of Hollywood.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWith Waldrop\u2019s health deteriorating, Martin was determined to honor his friend by bringing his work to the big screen. \u201cThe cardinal rule of Hollywood is: never use your own money. I broke that. I [thought], \u2018God damn it, I\u2019m gonna use my own money,&#8217;\u201d he adds. \u201cSo we put these films into production \u2014 three of them are now finished. Two more are in post-production.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<em>The Ugly Chickens<\/em>, starring Felicia Day (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/supernatural\">Supernatural<\/a><\/em>, <em>The Guild<\/em>), has been shot alongside adaptations of Waldrop\u2019s short stories <em>Mary-Margaret Road Grader <\/em>and <em>Night of the Cooters<\/em>. The movies are now screening on the festival circuit, with <em>Chickens<\/em> already securing a best short film nomination at the HollyShorts Film Festival (the Oscar-qualifying short film fest based in Los Angeles) and a special mention nod at the DuHok Film Festival in Iraq.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<em>The Ugly Chickens<\/em> is about a professor, Paula Linberl, who, after learning that the supposedly extinct dodo bird might still exist, sets out on a cross-country expedition to unravel the mystery. \u201cI think the environmentalism is the thing that you look at,\u201d Martin says of the tale\u2019s appeal. \u201cBut the story is fun. When you read Howard\u2019s story, you\u2019re going to learn a lot more about dodos than you ever possibly thought you wanted to know.\u201d [<em>Laughs<\/em>.] <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tMartin was able to show his friend a rough cut of the film before he died. \u201cI was very thrilled that he liked it a lot,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Well, we\u2019re almost finished. We got a few more post-production things to do, but we\u2019ll show it to you.\u2019 But of course, that never happened. He died six days after he saw the rough cut.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large is-resized alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:608pxpx\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/THE-UGLY-CHICKENS_Still-4-e1733409100329.jpg?w=3000\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"0\" width=\"608\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Felicia Day in \u2018The Ugly Chickens.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThere was one change made to Waldrop\u2019s original piece of writing: switching the lead from \u201cPaul\u201d to \u201cPaula.\u201d Martin says the gender didn\u2019t matter, but hints at changes in the adaptations of his own books \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/george-r-r-martin-house-of-the-dragon-problems-1235991254\/\">something he has previously been vocal about<\/a>. \u201cMaybe I\u2019m one of the few people in Hollywood who still thinks that when you adapt a work of art, a novel, a short story, you should do a faithful adaptation,\u201d he says. \u201c[It] annoys me too much because they change things and I don\u2019t think they generally improve them.\u201d<strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIs it fair to say Martin is using his own career to get Waldrop a level of recognition he never quite achieved? \u201cI suppose you could say that,\u201d Martin responds. \u201cI hope these films will get him a lot more readers, because he has a lot of books and he has a lot of short stories. If these little 30-minute shorts do well enough, if they can earn at least some of their money, then we\u2019ll do more of them. Howard has 100 stories at least, but they\u2019re all wonderful and unique in their own way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tOf course, it wouldn\u2019t be a conversation with George R. R. Martin without asking how he\u2019s balancing these projects with the long-awaited sixth and final book, <em>The Winds of Winter<\/em>, in his <em>A Song of Ice and Fire <\/em>series. \u201cUnfortunately, I am 13 years late,\u201d he says<em>. <\/em>\u201cEvery time I say that, I\u2019m [like], \u2018How could I be 13 years late?\u2019 I don\u2019t know, it happens a day at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tHe continues: \u201cBut that\u2019s still a priority. A lot of people are already writing obituaries for me. [They\u2019re saying] \u2018Oh, he\u2019ll never be finished.\u2019 Maybe they\u2019re right. I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m alive right now! I seem pretty vital!\u201d He adds that he could never retire \u2014 he\u2019s \u201cnot a golfer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tFor now, Martin is focused on his love for Waldrop. The adaptations of his short stories are, in many ways, an ode to a 61-year friendship, that all started with the Justice League of America. \u201cThat comic book is probably worth $10,000 today,\u201d Martin says of <em>The Brave and the Bold<\/em> #28. \u201cBut Howard never cared about that. We would laugh about it together. I was lucky to have friends like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-features\/george-r-r-martin-howard-waldrop-ugly-chickens-game-of-thrones-1236078329\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You might know George R.R. Martin as the mind behind the biggest book and television show in history: Game of Thrones. But what you probably aren\u2019t aware of is that &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133881\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}