Polonia Day Redux

The lunatics at the Cult of Polonia, the Polonia Brothers Fan Club, declare today (the filmmaking twins' birthday) a national holiday.  Head prophet Tim Shrum usually bakes a cake in honor of the day, and naturally I have had a special fondness for two of them that  happened to be based on scripts I had written for them.  And people say that my screenplays are hard to swallow!

I think Polonia Day has been dimmed somewhat in recent years by John Polonia's untimely passing. I might suggest renting Monster Movie on DVD and watching the tribute to John as part of the extras, in which I was glad to be asked to have a small part.

Of course I am partial to the movies I worked on-- Among Us and The Da Vinci Curse/Dead Knight/Army of Wolves favorite among them--but the movies that I had nothing to do with that I enjoy include Dweller, The House That Screamed 2, and the original cult classic Feeders.

Check out the party here!

Go Engineers!

A pal from Worcester Polytechnic Institute sent me this nice t-shirt.  WPI has campus-wide role-playing gaming and once hosted a sci-fi convention.  Had I known this school existed when I was looking for colleges, I could have gone there and been among my people and perhaps been Homecoming king, except I think you also have to be smart.  Now I will have to settle on being its president one day.

From My Screenwriting Journal

I was looking for some of my old homemade comics and was surprised to find a screenwriting journal that I kept for a few years before starting this blog.  Here is an entry marked January 21, 2002.

Yesterday I made a more or less impromptu trip to Indy to meet with Ivan Rogers in a brainstorming session on "The Payback Man."  We just chatted for a little while and then got into a real idea session, moving all around, writing in my notebook, adding to the synopsis on Ivan's PC, and on and on, bolstered by Diet Coke and then wine.


After a few hours Ivan asked if I liked BBQ.  So off we went to Ivan's old downtown neighborhood, and a legendary spot called BBQ Heaven.  And was it.  Just past the bulletproof glass were steaming trays of ribs, collared greens, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, sweet-potato pie, and plenty of white bread to sop it up.


Then Ivan took me next door to a shuttered and dark VFW.  We went around back and Ivan hit a little buzzer.  There was an eye at the peephole, then we were in--a little backroom after-hours place, awash in Aretha and James Brown, everybody dressed in Sunday best and dancing, everything you wanted to drink at the bar as long as it is a shot and a beer.

We stayed for a few minutes and then Ivan said, "This place should be in the movie."  And I think it should be.

Remembering Ivan Rogers

I found out last week that an old friend, filmmaker Ivan Rogers, passed away.  He was a private person and wanted to go out without any ceremony, but somebody did update his IMDB profile and I'm sure he would have liked that.

For my part, I knew Ivan for more than twenty years.  I was a young associate producer at WIPB, a PBS station in Muncie, Indiana, when one day Ivan showed up to appear on a minority public affairs program the station produced.  I later learned he was in the area working on pre-production for "Caged Women 2."  I ended up running studio camera on the show and after asked if he would meet me for coffee so that I could pick his brain about filmmaking. 

I had heard of Ivan and knew that throughout the 80s, Ivan had been writing, directing, and starring in his own theatrically-released action movies (and sometimes distributing them) as well as appearing in other people's films.  At the time he was the only person I knew who had even brushed against the hem of Hollywood.

He was very gracious and spent a few hours with me, and surprised me by keeping in touch later.  I began to hatch a plan to write a screenplay for him, and set out in the evenings to write it out longhand.  It was an old-school action movie called "Grindhouse" that I later sent to Ivan, and he was kind enough to loan me MovieMagic Screenwriter so that I could learn properly formatting.

After I sold my first screenplay I bought MovieMagic Screenwriter for myself, and until this summer used the mower I also spent some of this first money on. The freezer I used the remainder on is still running.

Surprisingly, Ivan was always interested in this very first script, and over the last ten years I rewrote it several times for him and others under various titles, including "Red Puzzle," "Heat of the Lash," and "Hands Down."  Ivan asked me to send this script to a friend of his just a month or two ago. He always liked it, but we could never get it done.

However, we did work on several projects together.  When Ivan was in post-production for "Forgive Me Father" he was having trouble getting the editing done.  He had transferred the 35mm to SVHS, then was going to use the open edge numbers on the SVHS edit to cut the film.  I was a pretty good cut bench editor at the time and so I offered to cut one scene for him.  He ended up liking that scene and ultimately I ended up cutting about 40 minutes of action scenes for the film.  I basically never saw any of the characters alive until I went to the premiere at the Hollywood  Bar and Filmworks in Indianapolis.

In lieu of pay, I asked Ivan to help me shop some scripts.  Although this did not result in selling any of my own scripts, Ivan was good to his word and got me set up to work on another project called "Player in the Game."  Although this movie never got made, it did appear in the listings in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, which I believe ultimately led to all of the rest of the work I have done since.

Several years later I worked through about ten drafts of "The Payback Man" with Ivan before he went another direction with it, but we continued to keep in touch.  Even as his health began failing in the last few years he had a lot of plans and ideas.

Ivan acted in other people's bigger movies and was involved in larger scale projects to leverage his own movies that he controlled from top to bottom. Not everybody liked Ivan's movies, but he did what a lot of people just talk about doing. And he gave a young unknown a few hours of his time over coffee many years ago, which has led to a long writing career.

Glitter on the Hallway

Biltmore House, 100 degree day, Asheville North Carolina.  People love to flock to this shack but it kind of got the socialist up in me.  Stuff like you find out that they had one of the first private bowling alleys, and by the way some servant dude had to hang around behind and stand the pins back up every time.  Good Carolina BBQ served in the converted stable, though.

Live from Blue Whiskey

My brother Eric and I making another journey to beloved Palatine Illinois, this time for the first Blue Whiskey Independent Film Fest.  Lots of good films in store.

Filmmakers' Breakfast at the BWIFF

Billy's Pancake House and the Filmmaker's Breakfast, a great tradition reignited in Palatine.  The legendary Meat Lovers Skillet is always offered up as a challenge, and has over the years broken many a strong man and woman.  This year a young couple took it on together and are splitting a double bypass later.

Dinner Bell at the BWIFF

Dinner break at the Blue Whiskey Film Festival at a local microbrewery.  I have said before, you'll never go hungry in Palatine.

Live from BWIFF

Super-talented young filmmaker Matt Meindl and I got to meet up again at the BWIFF.  He always hunches over a little so I don't look so short.

Getting Spunky at the BWIFF

No trip to Palatine is complete without taking the uninitiated to Spunky Dunkers, a legendary 24-hour donut place where you can meet a lot of interesting people in the middle of the night (some pictured here).

Awards at the BWIFF

I saw a lot of top-shelf work at the Blue Whiskey Film Festival, so it was a tough night of judging after a twelve-hour day of screening Saturday.  Best of Fest went to a really crazy neo-noir called The Scenesters but Annabelle and Bear and Driver's Ed Mutiny also grabbed multiple awards.  Above is a guy who drove all the way from Detroit and, not knowing better, wanted me in his picture.

SPACE Men

Finally got done reading a great, and great big, stash of stuff I picked up at the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo a while back.  I went with my trusty sidekick and actual cartoonist Tom Cherry for the second time together, my third overall. 

I would have to say I like the new venue even better, and the show has continued to grow.  I talked to several artists whose work is breaking into the mainstream but continue to return to SPACE as it is where they got started.  It's a good sign.  And there are plenty of young guns still coming up through the ranks.

I'm a longtime fan of John Porcellino's King Cat, and was glad to pick up new stuff from him there.  I have been a fan of Indiana cartoonist Pam Bliss for many years and enjoy talking to her and seeing her work.  Some new stuff I enjoyed--for art or storytelling or both--included Blue Wraith, Silver Comics, Imitari Project, Haunted House Heroes, Ten Gallon Tomb Raiders, Cragmore, and Gulatta.

Far and away the find of the show was Jim Rugg's lunatic Afrodisiac, a pitch-perfect send-up of 70s comics of all stripes.  Tom picked this up for me and is now my new BFF.

Next year I think Tom and I are going to try to have our own table there, where I will attempt to draw another 24 Hour Comic, I think. 

Even sooner you can catch me at the Blue Whiskey Film Festival in beloved Palatine, Illinois, where I will be a festival judge.  I always enjoyed visiting during Microcinema Fest there and shockingly haven't seemed to wear out my welcome yet.

Until later I am at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Ruff and Reddy

I wish I could say this was a fake picture, but I was taking a little nap on the floor on Father's Day and Bonnie sidled up next to me for some snoozing as well.  My wife was responsible for this blackmail photo.  Sweet Dreams and Happy Father's Day!

You Are Number Six

Two labyrinths in New Harmony, Indiana.  Spookiest place I have been in since I visited Salem Massachusetts a few summers ago.  I really can't put my finger on it except to say that the whole place kind of reminds me The Village from the classic show "The Prisoner," although I think the food and coffee is better here.

The Road to Utopia

Twilight at the Roofless Church in New Harmony, Indiana, the former site of a Utopian colony way down in the toe of the state.  My fear of getting hit by lightning entering a church greatly increased here.

The House the Otters Built

Checking out the Evansville Otters at Bosse Field, the third oldest ballpark in America (after Fenway and Wrigley).  Otters lose a heartbreaker but I make my second stop on my quest to break my former record and visit six ballparks this summer.

Live from the Queen City

Taking a break from a weekend trip to Cincinnati to read along with my daughter's college Young Adult Lit class.  Stayed in a cabin, boated, camped, ate ribs, went to Jungle Jim's and Ikea.  Feeding my head.

A Boy and His Dog

Reading "When Zachary Beaver Came To Town" at Whitewater Memorial State Park over Memorial Day.  Wife and daughter swimming down the beach, dog contemplating the mysteries of life.  I am reading "Zachary Beaver" and the rest of the syllabus alongside my daughter who is taking a Young Adult Lit class in college this summer.

The Man in the High Castle

Our annual Thanksgiving Axis and Allies game, a few months late as my brother couldn't make it this year.  My butt-whipping forestalled.  My brother and son teamed up to knock out the Axis on their second try at a D-Day invasion.  Always fun even when I go down in flames.

The Pacific, Hoosier Style

My brother and I tried the "Axis and Allies: Guadalcanal" game for the first time.  My Japanese air force got wiped out early on but held strong for a while; eventually, it ended up pretty much like you see on HBO's "The Pacific."  I don't mind losing when I'm the bad guys, though.

Live from SPACE #1

The dudes from Mean Goat Comics giving my 24 Hour Comic The Liberator some props at the Small Press and Comics Expo in Columbus Ohio.  See their own stuff right here.

Live from SPACE #2

Me and Pat Lewis, whose minicomic Thankless Job I've admired for a long time.  His other stuff is pretty good, too.  More of him here.

Live from SPACE #3

I've followed Indiana cartoonist Pam Bliss for a long time.  She told me when she googles her name, the last picture I took of she and I always comes up first.  Here's a fresh pic for her and me from the Small Press and Comics Expo in Columbus Ohio.

Live from SPACE #4

Me and Tom Scioli, whose The Myth of 8-Opus burned my brain about ten years ago, at the Small Press and Comics Expo in Columbus Ohio. Check him out here.

David Letterman and Me

I was asked by the Department of Telecommunications at Ball State to write an essay about my experience as a Letterman Scholar.  This is what I sent them.

1987 was a great year of my life.  In January I would go on a blind date with a young woman who had read my columns in the Ball State Daily News.  That summer I went on the Far East Exchange with Ball State and stood in Tian'anmen Square, a year before the tanks rolled in.  That October I married the girl I went on the blind date with, and we are still married today.

And one fateful Spring day I won a Letterman Scholarship.

I was an aspiring scriptwriter who was a fan of the radio dramas NPR was running at the time:  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars.  So I sat down and began writing West Coast Campus, a radio drama featuring a college newspaper reporter who was a smarter, funnier, and better-looking version of me.  I wrote it in longhand, then rewrote it while typing it up.  I wrote several episodes and ended up with about 100 pages.  Then I wrote a detailed synopsis of several more.  

But the day before the project was due I was afraid I didn't have enough heft in the submission so I wrote one more episode straight into the typewriter.  About 4:45 p.m. the day it was due I called the TCOM office and let the department secretary, Pat Hensley, know I was on my way.  She was willing to wait until I got there.  Then I jumped on my bicycle and raced to campus, delivering the 135-page project just in time, in true Hollywood style.

Fast forward to the Scholarship announcement.  Back then there were still faculty around who had known Letterman, like the formidable Dr. Darrell Wible.  He was in charge of the scholarship and was hosting. All the entrants had clips from their projects shown.  As I was the only script project, Dr. Wible lifted up my project in one hand and said "and here is a script project, West Coast Campus, by John Dalton," and dropped it on the podium with a flat, deflating slap.  I felt myself shrinking.  The common belief at the time was that video or film projects were going to win the scholarships.  I was the first person to submit only a script.

Back then you actually got a check for the scholarship, distributed each quarter.  Mine was $3,005.  With the first $1,000 check  I bought a 1980 Mercury Monarch.  With the second I paid for my own wedding.  With the third I actually paid for school.  With the leftover $5 I bought a pizza.

I also got a nice letter from David Letterman, with a collapsible cup, a sponge, and a cap.  I gave those things to my new brother-in-law, a big fan of the Letterman show.  But I kept the letter and the offer for tickets to the show.

 I was  given the number to the show's office and just called ahead for tickets.  I doubt they just give out that number today, but it was a different world then.  My new wife and I drove to New York for the first time over Spring Break 1988, with my younger brother and his friend in tow to split expenses.  We stayed in New Jersey and took the PATH train to Manhattan, getting off at the World Trade Center.  We went to the Statue of Liberty, looked for Woody Allen at the Carnegie Deli, took a trip by carriage through Central Park.  We were too afraid to hang around Times Square too long, a much different place then.

Late that afternoon we went to the show.  There was a long line to get into the little studio.  We strolled right to the front and told the guy we wanted the VIP line.  In world-weary New York fashion, the guy said "That IS the VIP line." 

We just scraped in.  We saw Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons.  Terrence Trent D'Arby sang a song.  Larry "Bud" Melman was there.  Chris Elliot popped out of a hatch in the floor.

My time as a Letterman Scholar did not end there.  As a conversation piece, I believe it gave me entry into my first job at WXOW in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  Having later worked at Ball State for sixteen years, I got to know and befriend other Letterman Scholars, an elite group. I have always been proud of the fact that I was the first person to win with a writing project, opening the door for others to feel they could win on merely writing alone.   I have gone into two colleagues' offices and seen similar letters from David Letterman hanging on their office walls.  It is something I still talk about with people today, even though it happened over twenty years ago now.

I sold my first screenplay in 1999.  Since then, I have been hired to write numerous Direct-to-DVD movies, available on Netflix, Amazon, video store shelves, film festival screens, and in dollar bins across America.  But I always say that David Letterman gave me my first paycheck, and the confidence to continue to work on my creative writing.