It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
Well, David, there are those of us who work for a living…
And then there are all the others who have these swell things called video recorders…
6:30 eastern is 3:30 am pacific, so that would make it easier for me…
Just watched G4 before cheking your site.
Good job. I was wondering if he was going to bring up Roth’s comments about you when he was on the show. So, you handled it well.
Dammit! I was supposed to be doing that segment but they had satellite problems. Hope you had fun.
They actually asked me before they asked you Dave but I was washing my hair and complaining about having to sit again with the hoi polloi at a critics screening. Hope you had fun.
Turned out that the former projectionist couldn’t be on… there was a major event in the area he lives in and all the satellite time was sucked up by networks… but Scott Bowles, amazingly to me, took the other position.
Scott Bowles rules.
Well, it’s Midnight here right now.
Maybe post a clip for those of us who can’t afford cable?
Comment: Maybe post a clip for those of us who can’t afford cable? >>>
Wouldn’t that be ironic!
Here is The Tastemaker on CNBC:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=383165903&play=1
Liked the interview, Dave.
And if nothing else, now you can brag to your friends that you’ve appeared on a show where the hosts went out of their way to explain what milf stands for.
Hey, that episode also explained GILFs…
I can’t believe you asked her if she laughed hard.
“Wouldn’t that be ironic!”
Only if you’re Alanis Morissette…