Tracking Board and OWA grids

curmudgeon

Well-known member
About three weeks ago, a listing for Indy 5 turned up on an industry tracking site, among a number of other Disney titles that were in need of writers.

The post is password protected (for member's eye's only) but you can get the gist of what's in it from the responses they got after after tweeting a link to it:
https://twitter.com/MyTrackingBoard/status/443540207816560640

Dis/LFL are supposedly looking for someone to write.

As for the site's reliability... two of the Disney projects they listed that same afternoon have since been reported about in the trades. Deadline "exclusively" revealed the existence of one the day after the Tracking Board posted about it, and Variety ran an exclusive last week about the other one.

So, we'll see...
 

Udvarnoky

Well-known member
It all sounds plausible to me, but they really need to make that crucial jump from "looking for a writer" to "the script is finished." It could take a solid year for a screenplay to get written once the assignment is given, and we can't afford to go back to the drawing board fifty times for this installment because Spielberg doesn't like this or Lucas has reservations about that. Everybody needs to agree on the story upfront, and then spend a decent amount of time getting a script for it into best possible shape. And then shoot it already.

Take your time and hurry up!
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
I figured this deserved its own thread. I was briefly a member of The Tracking Board 3 or 4 years ago, mostly for access to screenplays. Before that I followed script sales at Done Deal before they became a pay site in 2006. Here are some of the log lines they listed before then, an example of what one might find with The Tracking Board password:
Title: Indiana Jones 4
Log Line: Undisclosed.
Writer: Frank Darabont
Agent: WMA
Buyer: Paramount Pictures & LucasFilm
Price: n/a
Genre: Action Adventure
Logged: 5/31/02
More: Story by George Lucas. Steven Spielberg to direct. Lucas and Spielberg to produce. Harrison Ford to reprise role.
Title: Indiana Jones 4
Log line: Adventures of the swashbuckling archaeologist.
Writer: Jeff Nathanson
Agent: Andrew Cannava of UTA
Buyer: Paramount Pictures
Price: n/a
Genre: Adventure
Logged: 10/27/04
More: George Lucas will produce. Steven Spielberg will direct. Harrison Ford will star. First set up in May 2002.
Agencies release monthly "grids" of open writing assignments (OWA) or priority ones (POWA) which would have the same information. Also for directors (ODA). Haven't seen one in a while...
 

Indy's brother

New member
After reading this, and knowing how many rabid fans traverse this site (wether they post or not anymore), I can almost hear the din of unsolicited fanscripts rustling in the distance.....
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Udvarnoky said:
...we can't afford to go back to the drawing board fifty times for this installment
What is this "we" business?:confused: Who is "we"? The filmmakers or the fans?:confused:
Indy's brother said:
After reading this, and knowing how many rabid fans traverse this site (wether they post or not anymore), I can almost hear the din of unsolicited fanscripts rustling in the distance.....
Right. "Rabid fans" like you who have never read the film novelizations.:rolleyes:
 

Udvarnoky

Well-known member
Stoo said:
What is this "we" business?:confused: Who is "we"? The filmmakers or the fans?:confused:

"We" as in anyone with a vested interest in seeing a fifth movie with the original team. Was I really so oblique?
 
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Indy Jones

Active member
Personally, I will be happy without Lucas or Spielberg involved in the interest of getting the production to happen sooner with Ford if need be. I trust other writers with Indy, and I'm sure other directors could be found that fit, which would probably excite people who hated KOTCS.

I want another one or two with Ford. If George or Steven are involved, the window in which Ford could make two might pass by if those two are in the mix.
 

foreignerfred

New member
Moedred said:
I figured this deserved its own thread. I was briefly a member of The Tracking Board 3 or 4 years ago, mostly for access to screenplays.

Does anyone have a membership now, want to GET ONE, or know someone who IS a member?

It would be nice to see what's actually up there. I mean, if it's as detailed as what Moedred posted for Indy V, that would be more news that we've had in months, if not years.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
I've long considered a $24/yr subscription to Done Deal Pro because I enjoyed it in the old days. Maybe it's just a fancier version of Deadline, but I figure it's worth a look. I got a deal once through Scriptshadow for Tracking Board which is normally $79/yr. They have OWAs and a library of the latest scripts going around, watermarked. Or for $247/yr you can go nuts with Power Grid. Seems mostly for professionals who can write off the expense.

OWA grids are sometimes notoriously outdated. They're like want ads for writers, but listings can run for months after the position is filled. But it doesn't hurt to register interest if they need rewrites of page-one rewrites (do overs) down the road. Of course to apply you'd have to be a dues-paying member of the Writer's Guild, and for Indy, have a track record. But as with Lawrence Kasdan in the 70s or the director of Jurassic World, sometimes it doesn't take much to get their attention. Maybe too late for anyone here to write Indy 5, but good news for the franchise at least, writing may have begun months ago...
 
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Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
No need, I signed up for Done Deal as planned. Nothing about Indy in their March sales archive, but these are projects that are further along. Maybe they have OWAs (and clandestine script trading) in the pro forums, will look. The regular forums used to have vigorous script trading activity, until one user, Patricia McIlvaine, was singled out.

Interesting stuff there nonetheless. In March alone, they've logged details about a Zorro reboot, Explorers remake, Wolverine 2, Prometheus 2, and a hundred others I've never heard of and may never hear of again. When they list the price it's always something cryptic like "mid- against high-six-figures." Indy aside, spec sales are what the dream is all about!
 

curmudgeon

Well-known member
Just taking a second to appreciate and ponder the implications of them looking for screenwriters.

Seems like the only possibilities are that either George found his MacGuffin, or they're letting someone else figure it out.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
The sites I've listed may have been around longer, but they're mere imitators of the official invite-only tracking boards where insiders spend hundreds or thousands a year to kibitz. They're all operated by Baseline. Here's a great article from ten years ago explaining how they work.
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Moedred said:
No need, I signed up for Done Deal as planned. Nothing about Indy in their March sales archive, but these are projects that are further along. Maybe they have OWAs (and clandestine script trading) in the pro forums, will look. The regular forums used to have vigorous script trading activity, until one user, Patricia McIlvaine, was singled out.

Interesting stuff there nonetheless. In March alone, they've logged details about a Zorro reboot, Explorers remake, Wolverine 2, Prometheus 2, and a hundred others I've never heard of and may never hear of again. When they list the price it's always something cryptic like "mid- against high-six-figures." Indy aside, spec sales are what the dream is all about!

I remember that whole fiasco with LIMAMA (her screen name over at DD)
That particular law suit, though it was dropped, was quite effective at deterring script trading... hasn't been the same since.
 

curmudgeon

Well-known member
I promise I'll only pester you about it just this once, Moedred...

It's been almost a month. Has anything cropped up there in recent weeks?

(As the person who brought up the topic, I feel like I have a vested interest in seeing if it bears any fruit.)
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
No mention of Indy in the Done Deal script sales. And there don't seem to be any pro forums, just the regular ones. I can't tell from where I'm sitting whether anything is or isn't happening, or how quickly. It wouldn't surprise me, though, if they sought to avoid such nerve-racking bulletins from development hell generated by Indy 4. Things have changed, and they'll likely build a digital and physical fortress around a project like this.

I've uploaded a couple of OWA grids from 5 years ago so you'll know what I'm looking at. Looks like AWA and Gersh just slapped their names on the header of some printable database accessible to both. I'm not sure agencies even print these anymore, but if there's enough curiosity there could be newer ones floating around.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/967b9qtmcm2qtpc
http://www.mediafire.com/view/yl65rs9l3x1g14p
 
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