“A Writing Life” by Rodger Jacobs April 19, 2008
Posted by Rodger Jacobs in On Literature.Tags: 9/11, Hollywood, poetry, porn screenwriting, screenwriting, writers, writing
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High school
newspaper
Half-assed attempts
at
spec screenplays
Research assistant
for
hot-shot movie star
(One of the good ones, actually
Until busted for possession of
coke
At Heathrow Airport
But that didn’t make him a
bad guy)
Hack screenwriter
for
low-budget movies
Movies destined to never be
produced
Living in L.A. too long will do that
to
a
writer
Screenplay
analyst
Scripts destined to
never be
produced
I saw to that
More half-assed attempts
at
spec screenplays
A few came close
to being
produced
Ducking down into
the
porno ghetto
By categories:
Screenplays
Advertising copy
Movie reviews
Porn star interviews
You should try interviewing
a porn star
There
is
nothing
there
Nothing
Three AVN awards for time served
in the
porno ghetto
Scores of
documentaries
written
There is no money to be made
in
documentaries
So
Freelance cultural critic
for
Magazines
(Buck a word,
not bad)
Underground newspapers
(Zero per word,
still not bad
More respectable than
porno)
The World Trade Center
buckles and falls
Dot com boom
goes bust
Freelance magazine gigs
All go south
So
Back to
Good God, no
The porno ghetto
Didn’t stay very long, though
The business had
changed
No one wanted
stories
not anymore
Just 19-year-old
girls
Who look like
twelve-year-old
girls
Cum dripping down
their faces
So
I didn’t linger very long at that
fair
Because
I
had
books
to
write
interesting trip–the porno description sad but very true.
Scot, I was in that business long enough to witness the changes as they took effect, driven by the internet and Pay Per View. With a few exceptions, adult videos and films no longer rely on plot. The industry has regressed back to it’s humble beginnings — “loop carriers” that are nothing but sex.
Rodger — I enjoyed the hell out of this one. Speaks to the life perfectly. My own rendition would be much more NYC-centered, but the progression would work the same.
Thank you, FA …
run out of submissions?
No, Scot, woefully I’m on a deadline on another writing project (you know, the kind that pay and hence cannot be delayed or ignored) and so is my editorial assistant. I’m going to post a new submission tonight but I’m really backlogged and I apologize to everyone. We’ll be back on track shortly. New poem this evening.
ah, good luck with it
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