Victim Mentality

There's a lot of whining going on in the entertainment industry these past couple of weeks.  Former Hells Angel vs. 'Sons of Anarchy' creator Kurt Sutter.  Nicollette Sheridan vs. ABC and 'Desperate Housewives' creator Marc Cherry.  But the weirdest happens to be a little story about a niece in Vegas suing her Hollywood producer Aunt and Uncle for making a movie more or less based on her crappy life.

 

According to THR, Esq. Alix Daily is suing Peter and Leslie Tolan of Capacity Pictures and producers of the direct to DVD "Finding Amanda", for"

events [that] really happened, and that the character of Amanda looks, dressed, and behaved like Daily

 

Alix claims she suffered mental anguish and anxiety (loosely paraphrased) from the distress she encountered upon learning of the release of the movie.  You can read about it in specific detail here if you're into legal stuff.

Let's shelve that for a second so I can impress you with my story telling skills and wrap these suckers up all nice and pretty at the end.

Quick transition to:

Kurt Sutter, superhero to all writers and ASS KICKER of the year.  Seriously, I love this guy.  If he ever walks down the aisle for the 4th time I'm so taking the plunge.  The backstory, for those who don't know, is that a guy who used to be on the Sopranos (or something like that) came up with an idea for a show, pitched it to FX and 3 or 4 years later Sutter's "Sons of Anarchy" was greenlit.  NOW:

Anyone who has ever created a show or pitched a show knows how nerve wracking it is the first time you have to sign over that release waiver that says (more or less) that if they ever come up with the same show in the future, you can't sue them.

Obviously buddy from 2004 did not read his little waiver. 

What I love about how Kurt responded was that he basically gave a big "FUCK YOU" to the guy and said that even if he had pitched the exact same show (which he didn't), the network is going to buy the more developed concept.  The one where there's a mythology.  A world.  Character Arcs.  To loosely quote every working writer in the northern hemisphere:  It is not the idea, it's THE EXECUTION of the idea.  And in the case of "SOA", according to Kurt, he has the better idea.  I have to quote this guy because he's just so raw and kick ass:

It's that time of year again. Where a disgruntled ex-biker decides that Sons of Anarchy was in fact his idea. This one, from the half-talent of Chuck Zito, former NYC HA and Oz actor. He slapped FX with a 5 million dollar breach suit, claiming that the idea he came up with over 12 years ago and pitched 6 years ago was "similar" to SOA. I know at this point I shouldn't even waste the keyboard moves, but I feel like I have to comment because Zato has reached out to that ultimate news source, TMZ, so now his bullshit has gone viral.

[stuff that's unimportant to me so I cut it out for entertainment purposes]

HAVING THE FUCKING IDEA IS NOT THE SHOW. THERE HAVE BEEN DOZENS OF OUTLAW MOTORCYCLE TV DRAMAS PITCHED IN THE LAST TEN YEARS. NONE OF THEM HAS MADE IT TO SERIES, EXCEPT SOA. BECAUSE THEY SUCKED. The same way there were dozens of mob family pitches before the Sopranos and crime scene pitches before CSI.

[more stuff I don't give a shit about]

[And finally...]

once, in 2004, I was in the lobby of AMC and complained to someone's assistant that there was a guy in the parking lot acting like a "mad man". Fuck... AMC and Matt Weiner stole my idea. Clearly I came up with the concept for Mad Men.

 

 

Kurt I love you!  For so many reasons, but mostly because you defended your work.  I was watching a round table discussion online that had some Showrunners in it and Seth McFarlane said something along the lines that he is always approached by people who say "I have a friend who has an idea and they're looking for a good writer", and he just shakes his head. 

Because: [newsflash] the idea isn't complete/worth anything/really yours until you develop it. 

So, do I feel sorry for the guy from Oz who felt shafted by Sutter and Fx?

Ish. 

I mean, he's obviously not a writer for so many reasons:

a) he could have taken his idea to other broadcasters

b) after it was rejected he could have revised it and re-pitched it (to other broadcasters)

c) he could have done all that he could to get it made, until he eventually had to aquiesce and move on to the next project.

The only reason I feel sorry for not-really-a-writer-guy from Oz,  is because he's probably unaware of this.

And because Kurt Sutter will kick his ass.

KURT I LOVE YOU!!!

Now, in a tight race for ridiculous (code word for crazy) is Nicollette Sheridan.  Least favourite and most problematic of the cast (I'm assuming).  We all know a Nicollette, don't we?  Someone who thinks they're the centre of the Universe and feels personally offended every time something doesn't go exactly their way?

Come on!

Now, if there is any meritt to her claim I will retract what I've said and apologize.  But I doubt it.  Highly doubt it.  People show you who they really are over time.  Case in point, after the pilot aired and the numbers did well, Nicollette was the first on ET whining about how she doesn't have a car like the cast of Friends did when they were number one.

OK.  Seriously.  This biotch is a Producers worst nightmare.  And if it wasn't for the fact that Marc Cherry had just crawled out of his mother's basement where he festered for two years prior to casting; I highly doubt he would have had such a hard on for a washed up Soap actress from the 80s.

Attention all Talent! (Yes, I mean you!) Here's a little tidbit for you.  It's free.  Use it:  It doesn't matter how talented you are.  We don't want to work with you if you're difficult.  Just remember.  We are COMPLETELY CAPABLE of recognizing talent, and nurturing it to replace you.  Don't forget this.  We don't.

See also: Lindsay Lohan.

Cool?

So, Marc Cherry having seen better days aside, it's now time to assess the three crazies.  And I have to say that I think Alix Daily (God, I love her name) takes the cake.  Quite sadly, because I actually think she might certifiably be crazy.

Why?

One second:  KURT I LOVE YOU!!!

Here's the thing:

Alix Daily is probably the craziest of the three, because she (quite possibly according to the court of me) actually had a legitimate claim.  One without reasonable doubt (at least from what I could tell, but I'm not a lawyer).

So, did she sue for 5 million like buddy from Oz?  Or 20 million like Nicollette?  No.  She didn't sue in the millions.  In fact, when I read the document I had to look twice just to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong.

She only sued for 10K.  Yep.  That's it.  The one with the most claim asking for the least amount of money.  Poor Alix.  Maybe once this is all said and done, her Uncle will take her out for lunch or something.

And now for the trailer to the movie that nobody saw! (woo hoo!!)