Recent General News

May 2024 will see the publication of A Cage Went in Search of a Bird: Ten Kafkaesque Stories "to commemorate 100 years since Kafka's death," and one of those stories is written by our pal Charlie!

I wonder if the Kafkaesque story will be Kaufmanesque?!

Via The Bookseller:

“What happens when one of the most idiosyncratic and visionary imaginations of the 20th century meets some of the greatest literary minds writing in English today?” the publisher teased. “From a future society who ask their AI servants to construct a giant tower to reach God; to a flat hunt that descends into a comically absurd bureaucratic nightmare; to a population experiencing a wave of unbearable, contagious panic attacks, these 10 specially commissioned stories are by turns mind-bending, funny, unsettling and haunting.” (Source)

Other authors included: Ali Smith, Joshua Cohen, Elif Batuman, Naomi Alderman, Tommy Orange, Helen Oyeyemi, Keith Ridgway, Yiyun Li, Leone Ross.

Can't wait!

Thanks to the ever reliable u/pavingmomentum.

This'll be quick, because I'm on mobile. Zoom workshop with Charlie K and Boots Riley this Monday! Info here!

Here's the video of that interview posted by Variety earlier in the week. Charlie talks about the WGA strike; A.I. and how it parallels his unproduced script Frank or Francis; Jackals, Ending Things and why Charlie is a character in Antkind. Video below, articles here and here.

That's a Charlie quote, from an interview he's done with Variety while in Sarajevo.

“It’s disgusting, because they don’t do anything[...] No, they do damage is what they do. They do damage to the art form. And by doing that, they do damage to humanity. And if everything is about the bottom line for them and saving money, then there’s nothing left to the art form.”

[...] Throughout the week, he’s been spotted on the streets of the Bosnian capital wearing a gray T-shirt reading “Writers Guild on Strike.” During an interview with Variety, Kaufman peeled off one layer to reveal a second WGA-branded T-shirt beneath it. (Source)

Click through and you'll find his thoughts on Disney's CEO Bob Iger, other studio bosses, A.I. and the latest round of WGA negotiations.

After delivering a masterclass in Sarajevo, Charlie stopped by the Agelast podcast for a chat. What resulted was a 30 minute conversation about time, death, regret and all the breakfasts you've ever had. It's a worthwhile 30 minutes! I only wish the interviewer had more time with Charlie. Most of the conversation revolved around Synecdoche, New York and I'm Thinking of Ending Things.

via r/kaufman

While the WGA strike continues, Deadline reports that Charlie's Masterclass in Sarajevo saw him firing more shots at the Hollywood system. The Bosnian Cultural Center's main hall was "packed out" to hear him speak, as part of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Sporting a grey WGA-branded “strike” t-shirt, writer-director Charlie Kaufman[...] offered a strong condemnation of the current Hollywood studio system and urged filmmakers to find new ways to create work.

“At this point, the only thing that makes money is garbage. It’s just fascinating. It makes a fortune, and that’s the bottom line,” Kaufman said. “It’s very seductive to the studios but also to the people who engage and become the makers of that garbage, especially if they’re lauded for the garbage because they don’t have to look inward or think long about what they’re doing.”

Kaufman[...] continued to tell the audience full of local and international industry professionals to“make movies outside of the studio system as much as possible and think of ways to do that.”

“I have this pipedream of creating an organization of artists to figure out how to finance and support filmmakers who make things that have value."

He told the audience...

[...] that the wider discussion around the WGA’s “AI issue” is that “writers have been trained to eat and make the garbage too,” meaning writers indulge in and create work that he described as lacking creative ambition and humanity.

“As long as they are in that arena making that shit, then you might as well have AI do it,” Kaufman said.

[...]

“Once you give that up and allow the studios to use AI to write their screenplay, there’s no going back,” he said. “Then there’s no hope because AI can’t create a moment of humanity. As long as people are doing it and there’s that struggle, then there’s always a chance that something will come out of it that will be worth something to human beings.” (Source)

There's more, and you should definitely click through for the rest. Also check out the comments under the article; there are some valid points on both sides of this fence.

via r/kaufman

Charlie's off to the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival (August 11-18), where he'll be given the honorary Heart of Sarajevo award in recognition of his work. There will also be an open air screening of Adaptation. Charlie last attended the festival in 2008, presenting Synecdoche, New York.

Jovan Marjanović, the festival’s director, said: “We are thrilled that, after 15 years, we are welcoming back to the [festival] one of the most significant, world-renowned screenwriters and directors, and honor him for his work and dedication to the art of filmmaking. Charlie Kaufman is an extraordinary filmmaker whose films, though filled with biting humor, compel us to contemplate existential depths of the human experience.” (Source)

Thanks to u/pavingmomentum!

Been a while since we had an interview with Charlie! In Ireland for the Bloomsday Film Festival, he chatted with Ray Darcy on RTE Radio 1. They talked about Ending Things, Jackals, the WGA strike and the emergence of AI in filmmaking--as you can probably guess, CK is not a fan.

I don't think I can embed the program, so you'll hafta click the link. Goes for 20 minutes.

The WGA went on strike this week, and in the lead-up to it Charlie gave a rallying speech about the importance of writers in the film industry (the importance of real art in general, really), and so it seems like a good time to mention Steamboat Willie Returns. It's a screenplay by Redditor u/PCchongor:

Inspired by Charlie Kaufman's WGA speech last month, I wrote a bonkers script in solidarity about a writer who teams up with Cinderella, Kaufman, and public domain Mickey to stop a studio head from using A.I. to eliminate the need for human imagination.

I don't often mention screenplays by other writers, for many obvious reasons, but this one got a Blacklist Recommend. What's that, you say?

The Black List is a platform for writers to showcase their features, pilots, and plays for industry professionals and get high-quality evaluations from vetted readers. (Source)

I've been asked not to upload the script, but if this sounds like something you might dig, you can check out u/PCchongor's post here, and/or email him here.

Eva HD and Charlie are becoming quite the pair. You'll remember HD's "Bonedog" featured in I'm Thinking of Ending Things, and later Charlie directed a short film adaptation of HD's poem Jackals & Fireflies. Now Eva has a new book coming out, The Natural Hustle (which includes 'Fireflies'), and Charlie will be in attendance for the book's launch--he's one of a few guests who'll perform some readings.

This is on Sunday, April 2nd at 5pm, Kingston Hall in New York.

Two fun facts: The Natural Hustle is dedicated "For Charlie, who helped," and Antkind included Eva HD in the Acknowledgments.

Thanks to u/pavingmomentum and u/agaetisbyrjun22!

In other news, I'm still working on re-designing BCK behind the scenes. Bit of a delay, because half of my house got flooded a month ago, joy! Also I take forever to do anything even on a good day.

Here it is! Video of Charlie's fantastic speech upon receiving the WGA's Laurel Award.

Charlie received the WGA Laurel Award on Sunday--it's a lifetime achievement award--and his acceptance speech was exactly the kind of eloquent, thoughtful speech we've come to expect from him. He used his time on stage as a kind of rallying cry to other artists, and as a denouncement of Hollywood suits.

Via Deadline:

“We are trained to believe that what we do is secondary to what they do,” said Kaufman, taking a dig at studio executives. [...]

“We are trained to do the bidding of people who are motivated not by curiosity but who are protecting their jobs,” he added, to what was the first round of major applause tonight during the awards show in the Fairmont Century Plaza ballroom.

“Our work is to not contribute to their fortunes or our own, it is not to please them or critics or audiences,” he said, “Our work is to reflect the world, saying what is true in the face of so much lying.”

“The rest is window dressing at best,” he continued.

“Adrienne Rich wrote ‘I do know that art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of the power which holds it hostage,’ ” Kaufman said to another round of cheers.

“The world is a mess, the world is beautiful, the world is impossibly complicated and we have the opportunity to explore that.”

“If we give that up for the carrot, then we might as well be the executives,” the Being John Malkovich scribe added. “We have become their minions. I have dropped the ball, wasted years seeking the approval of people with money.”

“Don’t get trapped in their world of box office numbers! We don’t work for them!” Kaufman exclaimed to a third round of applause.

“We don’t work for the world of box office numbers, we work for the world.”

[...]

“They tricked us into thinking we can’t do it without them,” he said. “But the truth is they cannot do anything of value without us.”

And the ballroom went wild. (Source)

Jessie Buckley presented the award.

The Laurel speeches of previous winners are on WGA's YouTube channel, and Good Lord, hopefully it won't be long before they upload this one. I need to see it.

WGA West is set to honour Charlie with the Laurel Award on March 5. Nice! Via Deadline:

Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman will be this year’s recipient of the WGA West’s Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement. The lifetime achievement award, which goes to members who have “advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of the screenwriter,” will be presented March 5 during the 75th annual Writers Guild Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. (Source)

Neat little 2-minute video, in which Jackals & Fireflies' cinematographer Chayse Irvin takes us behind the scenes of the upcoming short film. It works well as a Samsung S22 Ultra advertisement, but there's some good footage here for CK fans.

Samsung uploaded a new version of the Jackals trailer today--that is Samsung, as opposed to Samsung Peru, who upload the first trailer. Still only 30 seconds, but this one has a small amount of new footage. Keen-eyed Redditors note that Eva H.D. is credited as the film's writer, and she also seems to be playing the film's protagonist. Charlie is on board as director only.

You'll remember it was H.D.'s poem in I'm Thinking of Ending Things, and she also attended the same David Berman reading as Charlie at the beginning of this month.

Via r/kaufman.