Deal. And I will not buy your movies when they are dumped into the bargain bins at Walmart.

Apparently you are too high in your ivory tower to realize you are in the business of commerce. Act disrespectful to one person and they will tell 50 others. Remember that apparently I have given you more than you would give anybody.

well said sputnick!!!!! COMEDY!!! HA HA HA I LOVE A GOOD CHUCKLE!!

What rascal this Josh Olson must be. Won't spend precious hours out of the remaining years of his life to read the script of a stranger who "befriended" him just to get him to read a script. Selfish, uncharitable bastard. Probably won't do anything to help aspiring "writers" get into the "biz." Probably won't interrupt his dinner to chat with cinerati who interrupt his evening out with their inane behavior. Probably won't even give out his cellphone number to "fans." Probably sneers at the homeless and laughs at crippled kids. And probably sighs with relief at the prospect of not reading the writing of a person who uses redundancies like "the business of commerce."

Wow, what a self-absorbed little pea-wit. Never heard of 'im.

If I was a producer who'd just contracted Mr Olson to adapt a book, i'd be worried he's spending too much time ranting than actually writing.

You don't rant in public, it's the kiss of death for a career. Don't you know that Olson?

Josh Olson at IMDb

Kinda strong words for such a little man. He may not read my script, but on the other hand, his opinion wouldn't matter to me either.

Does he realize a history of violence was a TERRIBLE film?

I wouldn't WANT him to read a screenplay I had written.

I think ur funny. want 2 try 2 work 2 gethr on a script. i think it wud be relly good. about a guy whos lost his dog n he goes around town 2 find it. lol cuz its his best firned u no. dogs a mans best friend, like a buddy comedy, but u no with a dog. lol im laff right now. so u think u want 2 rite it. i like this lets !

Josh,

I am not a fan. I didn't know who you were or anything about your work. But I happened to run across your piece and it resonated. As a computer professional, I get the same type of shit. Strangers ask me what type of computer they should buy. Friends ask me to "take a look at their computer." Usually after screwing up the system so badly that it is virtually unrecoverable; even after hours of exhausting the limits of my expertise to overcome the user's stupidity.

So I feel your pain ... and know, that even if we never meet, there is at least one fellow asshole in the world who should have said no instead of being pressured by the hopeful faces of those who think you walk on water.

Thanks for the entertainment. Unfortunately, I am not moved to send you a fan letter, read your other work or even see your movie.

So this will be my only expression of appreciation to a fellow sufferer.

Hah if I ever see this guy I'm going to grab a stack of papers and wave them at him screaming "HEY JOSH CAN YOU READ MY SCRIPT, PLEASE?"

^^ DIGG FAG SUCK MORE DIGG ^^

It would seem too many people don't realize that if Olson did read people's scripts and wrote something that had anything even remotely similar to the script he had read, he would be liable to lawsuits.

who is he? i have no clue... never heard of him before i saw this on digg... who the fuck gives a shit about this guy? he has one movie under his belt? and he's acting like he's fuckin' someone?

get a clue, you're no one.

I work in IT as well, and can agree with OneCitizenSpeaking.

Anyhow, to all the people flaming Josh - calling him a no name...why do you even care? Is it because you can't get someone to read your scripts?

The situation he found himself in sounds very taxing, especially when he has legit work that needs to get done.

But he'll jump at the chance to watch you pee = http://filthyrichmond.com

Wow, that guy seems a bit full of himself to me dude!

RT
www.anon-tools.vze.com

Who is really more self absorbed here... Josh or some of those posting comments here acting all insulted?

I'm sure if I were asked to read a script 10,000 times, I'd explode like Josh is doing here.

Let the man vent!

I feel sorry for anyone who ends up close enough to Olson to have to listen to the inevitable pseudo intellectual spew of self indulgent crap that must constantly spray from his mouth.

I write. I'm not a writer, but I write.

OneCitizenSpeaking is bang on the money.

So is Josh.

When I first started writing I'd bug my professional friends to read my stories. These are people who written best selling books. They were polite, encouraging. And as I got better I asked them less and less. Not because my writing didn't need input, but I realized how busy they were and how painful it is to read BAD writing. Because now my friends were asking me to read their work.

Okay. I read your blathering narcissistic rant. In the time it took you to write it you could have read 3 of my scripts.

Honestly it wasn't what I look for in a narcissistic rant. I'm going to let you in on an important insider's fact about this business; it's almost always a mistake to ask professional critics like me to read your rants. That's why we rely on agents. It's almost sad to see cases like yours because even though you seem to have the "right stuff" in important areas (a Himalayan ego and Bono's self importance) you made a typical beginners' mistake by blathering. A decent agent would have made you tighten up your monolog into a few dart-like points, then get it into the hands of a critic specializing in narcisso-rantoires.

You should have stuck to the main argument that thinking Josh Olson is a dick proves that the thinker himself is a dick and since dicks are bad judges of other dicks, Josh Olson CAN'T be a dick. That is a message of hope, because everybody who actually is a dick can change into not being a dick just by realizing that Josh is not nor has ever been one.

Keep at it though Josh.

what a douche... you're telling me that the worst movie ever has made this guy feel like he's the shit!?

The lawyer and gallbladder argument doesn't really make sense to me. If Mr. Olson needs his gallbladder removed or someone to represent him in court he will certainly ask (he may very well represent himself in court, but of course he won't anesthetize himself and perform surgery on himself). Just as an aspiring screenwriter will ask someone with "experience" in screenwriting to critique their script.

P.S. I agree with you about writers, I stopped reading your article after one sentence.

LOL so funny!
electronic cigarette

Where the hell is the Monster Script that's all I care about.

Well, Josh, there is a better way to say this than this jokey "fuck you". If I, an avid moviegoer, begin to think you're an asshole, I, an avid moviegoer, will stop seeing your films and stop buying your DVDs. BTW, I bought History of Violence for 3 dollars. That's something you can reflect on next time you feel a joke coming on.

No problem, Josh: I don't want to watch your fucking movies either.

Bravo, Josh!

Well said and I believe his article should be handed out to every writing class. I'm a former editor and struggling writers came out of the wood work to push manuscripts in my hand. This I would do on my own time, not at the office. These were personal favors and unless I gave them a glowing review, they'd become terse, defensive and sullen. The only time people were open to my critism were published writers.

While I took the favor seriously, the same consideration was rarely given to me. I could excuse horribly written sentences, but I was shocked how few people had the decency to run the document through spell check. I'd be given pages of a rambling mess and then a defence that I "just didn't get it" when I'd try to pull out of them what the story was about.

Yes, Josh Olson came off hard and stern in his article, but I respect that he takes requests for feedback seriously enough to put a lot of thought into it. He could have easily sent a short email telling the guy his work was fine and be done with it. Professional writers don't want passive-aggressive feedback, they want the truth and Josh gave it.

I'm a bigger fan of Josh after reading his article.

Absolutely. First of all, I wouldn't want your fucking opinion on my script - and you sound like a real dick. Since you wrote the worst movie David Cronenberg ever directed, i'd say 'dick' is what your opinion is worth anyways.

On the other hand, I shut folks down pretty quickly in my profession too. People looking for shortcuts should just get their head around the idea that real results require real work. People looking for shortcuts would be fucked if they found one, especially in the movie biz.

However, turning a bit of existential wisdom into a self congratulatory ego flaunting is still the act of a dick head. It's perfectly okay to be that dick head. It's fucking crazy that you want to brag about being that dick head.

Lame article. I work in Hollywood and I posted my rebuttal on my blog here:

http://www.halfcute.com/2009/09/i-will-not-read-your-f-ing-script-why.html

Francine, thanks for taking advantage of this situation to both plug your blog, and prove the essay right.

"this is a town about who you know and what you can get them to do for you."

That's such a sad admission of your own limitations. This is also a town about how good you are at what you do. Sure, some people succeed by exploiting connections and people, but plenty make it on their merit. You can get read by professionals without harassing strangers. You can get discovered without being rude and presumptuous. You can be successful without dicking people over. But some people only know how to function that way. Your blog told me a lot more about you than it did about this essay.

Chances are, if your work was really, really good, there would be people out there championing you without you putting them in awkward social positions.

Very funny stuff. A history of violence was an awesome movie. The flow was so different from just about anything else I've seen. I love how the beginning confuses you by making you think you're watching something from the past and then realize it's present day.

Sweet simple working script buddy !! Thanks !