Before I tell you about all my new projects, I've got to tell you about a performance of "Jesus Christ Superstar" I saw a few nights back at the Ricardo Montalban Theater. It starred Ted Neely and many other stars from the original movie. It also starred Ben Vareen, and, in a very cool bit of casting, Jack Black as King Herod. I would say he stole the show except the other performances were so extraordinary that everyone stole the show. I ran into Jack Black out front, we spoke for a moment and he was nice enough to pose with me for this picture. (double-click the picture to view a larger version) First, an update regarding "The Outsiders," my TV pilot about an alien from outer space who comes to earth and becomes immediately famous only to lose it all to a second Antonio Banderas of aliens who turns him into yesterday's news. It is all but done. I'm very happy with it, and I will be pitching it to ABC and promoting myself to them as a writer during the last week of August. If they turn it down, I will take it to the other networks including FX.
"Hip-Hop Zombies" has its own website now (hip-hopzombies.com, see the link on the right) and soon there will be a trailer for it up there as well as a promotional poster. It's moving along quite well when it's done I think it will be a movie that several types of people will enjoy. In addition to zombies, it is laugh out loud funny and has strong characters and strong relationships.
Keep an eye out for the movie I wrote, "Color Of The Cross," it's coming out in theaters October 13th. "Color Of The Cross" (see link on the right) is the story of Holy Thursday, the day before Jesus was crucified. He knew he was going to die the next day so it was important to him to say goodbye to his friends and his mother. The real twist in this story is that Jesus, Mary, and several of the disciples will be played by African American actors and the story is written to include the prejudice that was prevalent in those days and rarely talked about. I have also embarked on three new projects I'm anxious to talk about. I'm resurrecting a script I wrote years ago called "In Their Own World," a futuristic story about a team of Space explorers who land on a planet inhabited only by people with Down syndrome. It's a touching, romantic tale, that if all goes right will be part of a trilogy of science fiction short films called "Strange Matter" that will be available on DVD. There will definitely be lots of notice here when that comes out.
I'm in the process of writing my memoirs titled, "Don't Make Me Get Out Of This Chair". Like me, my memoirs will be jam packed with irony, touching moments, and above all biting wit. Some of the chapter titles include; "A Husband and His Money are Soon Parted," "Oops! Or Was It Destiny?" and "God Bless Quadriphiles."
My third new project is an untitled half-hour comedy/drama written by and starring me about my life. I've been fortunate to have an adventurous life and I will be dramatizing, or should I say comedy-tizing various moments of my life with the goal of making people laugh so hard milk squirts out their nose.
