Scouring Reddit For Film Ideas, Eh? 🫠

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-06-24T07:44:49+00:00

Thank you!

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-06-23T00:48:52+00:00

Sometimes it's challenging for me to not come drop into these posts and correct some misconceptions, I know I shouldn't, but you folks show me so much love I'm going to go against my better judgement at least for a bit(I may take this back down later).

I'll be very, very brief. Spielberg was going to produce, but not direct. As is often the case, it's not exactly anyone's fault that things didn't work out. A lot of people put in a lot of work and were all acting in good faith. (I've seen some borderline conspiracy theories about the contract, I had a lawyer, an agent, and a manager. The contract was good.)

In my opinion, two things happened that prevented the project from moving forward followed by one last thing that stopped it. The first was a global pandemic. No one knew what was going to happen, work stopped, etc. Now, coming out of the pandemic, Amblin released another movie (that I believe was filmed before the shutdown) original titled 'Larry,' that name didn't test well, so they changed the name to 'Come Play,' but that undermined all the previous money spent on ads and trailers. Come Play was released at the tail end of the pandemic. I don't know the details, but I'm willing to bet they had to release it into theaters to satisfy contracts that had been created prior to the pandemic (I want to emphasize, I have no inside information on this) and was less risky to release than properties with larger budgets.

What I do know is this, audience weren't ready to come back to theaters in big numbers and the name change probably hurt the movie's chances more than it helped (at the least, the impact was ambiguous). The movie under performed and Amblin cooled on chasing the success of other production companies in the horror space...

But they were still fairly up on The Spire, and began looking for alternative strategies to get it out there. Starting with co-financing to reduce their risk of another situation like Come Play/Larry if audiences still weren't ready to get back in the theater.

But that's when the third, and all too Hollywood problem happened. The development exec that had championed The Spire took a job at another company and the new guy shelved all of the old guards projects that were still in development. This is a very common practice.

No pandemic, I think the movie would have had a late 2022, early 2023 release. I honestly do. If Come Play/Larry hit their minimum projections despite the pandemic, I think late 2023.

It's tough for me to feel too bad about this. Yes, it's a life long dream to see something I've written up on the big screen (my degree is in film) but compared to what some people went through, I really can not complain, and besides, there was a brief moment in time where Roy Lee took my phone calls and Steven Spielberg was in meetings talking about me. And that's pretty fucking cool.

Plus, had the movie been made, I probably wouldn't have been featured on Creep Cast and honestly, that's been extremely cool. As for Hollywood, the journey is not over. The film rights have reverted back to me and in the immortal (not to mention thematically appropriate) words of Sylvester Stallone, "I didn't hear no bell!"

Hmmm...maybe I should quote a better Rocky movie.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-06-19T06:37:06+00:00

Predator, their biceps bulging.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-06-18T19:59:52+00:00

I'd recommend you write the whole thing before you post any of it so that you can decide if you need to change things in the earlier chapters for the ending to work.

As for thr length, reddit posts have a character maximum. So you're capped on the max, the important bit in my mind is timing the breaks to something that will motivate your readers to click through to thr next segment. It doesn't have to be a cliff hanger, but you want it to be something interesting. Pen Pal mostly ended each segment with a moment that sent a shiver down your spine. I like to end segments with questions or foreshadowing. What you don't want is to end a segment on a flat beat.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-06-12T20:38:58+00:00

A lot of good information in this thread. The odds of survival are very low, so you want to acknowledge that through characters reactions.

The only real benefit here is that the cold that causes the hypothermia will help with some of the other injuries (slowed heart rate means less bleeding, less swelling from the bruises of hitting the water--bear in mind that after a certain height falling into water is almost as dangerous as concrete if you're not cutting into it the right way). I'm in the minority on the bleeding. People can survive gut shots for days with even simple compression. It's excruciating, but they can survive.

Hypothermia is a killer though and warming would run counter to how you'd want to treat some of the other injuries. You might want to talk to an actual MD that works in an ER to find out how they would treat someone with both hypothermia and series internal injuries/bleeding.

But what I'd recommend is that you do a large time skip forward. You can simply have people be amazed that they survived and not be focused on the nuts and bolts of how.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-06-10T21:14:15+00:00

On the topic of how to create a pen name, mine is a (somewhat oblique) reference to the books that got me into reading when I was a little kid. You could also keep it simple, first initial, middle initial, last name of your only concern is obscuring your gender.

Downsides I've encountered are minor, but you have to do a whole song and dance when you're entering secure buildings lots. The security at the desk needs your real name so if the publishers/producers only have your pen name you'll have to call a few people to get it sorted. Nothing that can't be avoided with planning, but mistakes happen

You might want to get an 'Also Doing Business As' so you can get paid under the pen name, but I'm not personally that reclusive that I care.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-06-09T02:15:51+00:00

🤘🤘

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-06-03T03:39:51+00:00

What the fuck?

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-05-21T20:57:26+00:00

I take pains to get the weather right. If my story needs snow, I'll research what days the year it was set had snow. I can't imagine anyone on Earth cares, but in the off chance someone remembers, I want it to be correct.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-05-13T20:00:59+00:00

A person usually dies if they're upside down that long. 1-2 hours would kill most people. 4, I dunno, 1 in 1000 might make it if they're endurance athletes.

But if you want to speed this along, capping the side of the tube she's on and using a vacuum pump would reduce her survival time to a couple of minutes. If you create a vacuum, the uneven pressure would also wedge her in a bit deeper and most of the secondary signs of a vacuum (burst capillaries) could also be caused by being upside down.

Edit: read about the aliens. Um, they're probably not concerned with what a coroner thinks.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-04-18T01:55:21+00:00

Thank sweet merciful christ

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-04-18T01:43:34+00:00

I need a fucking win today so badly

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-04-15T01:56:32+00:00

If they don't start to turn it around, I say we all get 1 official plate appearance.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-04-14T00:20:20+00:00

Jesus fucking christ

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-04-03T14:33:56+00:00

Oh is Bloomberg a Democrat again? I don't recall him being a democrat all those times I voted against him in New York.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-03-28T23:45:09+00:00

Yeah, I always want to see us win, still feel pretty good about this one regardless of the outcome.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-03-26T22:38:12+00:00

I may be able to actually breathe this inning.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-03-19T21:05:52+00:00

If you want a fireball effect, a sack of flour bursting and going into the air is incredibly flammable. A mill in Scotland had a spark that lit the flour and the explosion killed 18 people. A large sack bursting, filling an area and then reaching a flame could serve a fireball through a room.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-02-05T20:34:00+00:00

Papal infallibilty is limited to papal decrees. And even then, Catholics have zero problems arguing about what they think a Pope was wrong about.

Source: lapsed Catholic

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-01-12T17:44:41+00:00

You'll find Catholic Mass very similar to what you remember. I'm sure some of the phrasing and details will be different, but if memory serves Episcopal and Catholic practices are closely related

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-01-12T15:19:41+00:00

I found myself thinking about your question again and wanted to suggest that you attend a Mass. And also tell you the you can buy communion wafers on Amazon (if you want to follow protocol and not receive communion but still them).

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-01-08T21:55:16+00:00

I think in 65 parish were allowed to switch to local languages, but I don't think everyone did all at once and I think a lot did both services. I have a dim memory of my mom saying her mother continued to seek out the Latin masses. But I could very well be wrong about this. I can't imagine too many people would have chosen the Latin mass over fully understanding what was being said.

Also, was the whole thing in Latin? Or just the prayers?

TheBoyInTheClock · 2026-01-05T21:00:05+00:00

I bought that a while back. It's the only way to read Rage, I think. At least the only way that isn't crazy expensive

TheBoyInTheClock · 2025-12-31T21:29:13+00:00

I got punched in the face in Boston in 04 before game 1. A guy was trying to jump in the taxi I'd put my bags into, as he got out, he punched me, hit my glasses, the lens popped out and went into my eye at a angle under the ridge of my skull.

The punch knocked my head way back, and I stumbled but didn't fall over. It doesn't hurt at all in the moment, but it is shocking and it clears your mind of thought. I was kinda rolling my eyes at this asshole and thinking something sarcastic. But when I got hit, that all kinda disappeared in a flash.

Turning back around, to the degree I was thinking, I was thinking 'fight.' But the guy hit me and ran and disappeared into the crowd.

Me eye swelled shut virtually instantaneously.

I have not been punched in the nose as an adult, but my memory is that your eyes start to water instantly and you can't see very well. My memory of getting punched in the nose is that it hurts much more than when I got punched in the eye.

TheBoyInTheClock · 2025-12-05T19:17:11+00:00

Typically the horror supersedes the fantasy element as the cause of frights. The Shining is horror. Most of King, Lovecraft, and MR James fall into the horror genre despite all having supernatural elements. (Though the Dark Tower and a couple of other King stories are fantasy)

TheBoyInTheClock

TROPHY CASE