WAITING…THE CONTROVERSY
Writing by patrick on Sunday, 8 of April , 2007 at 6:25 pm
Okay, so I’ve been asked about this a million times…so here it is, in all its glory…
In 1996, as a recent grad from the Univ. of South Florida in Tampa, I was working as a waiter in the infamous, mafia-owned Tampa eatery, CDBs. During that year, I wrote a script entitled ‘WAITING’ based on my exploits and years of working in the service industry. In 1997, I moved back to my hometown of Philly, PA, retooled the script (setting it in South Philly), then spent the next year and half raising money and casting.
While in Philly, I befriended two fantastic filmmakers (who later became close friends), Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler. Stefan and Lance were getting ready to release a creepy little horror film they made in the woods entitled THE LAST BROADCAST. It was to be the first digitally released film in history, beamed off a satellite and into five theaters across the country. As part of the release team, I was stationed at the Enzian Theater in Orlando, FL. A year later, an amazingly similar film, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, was released and the controversy began…but who came first? The facts all pointed to THE LAST BROADCAST.
Apparently, the Orlando-based directors of the BLAIR WITCH, Edwardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick, attended one of the Orlando screenings of THE LAST BROADCAST in 1998. The following year, the BLAIR WITCH came out, and the rest is history. The only reason I bring this story up is because of the strange connection that stems from this controversy…keep with me.
So, in the spring of 1999, armed with a $25,000 budget, my ‘WAITING’ was shot over 24 days in the City of Brothery Love. The following year (2000), I screened WAITING the IFP in New York City. While thumbing through a copy of Variety shortly before my screening, I discovered that Artisan, distributor of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, had optioned a script entitled WAITING, written by Orlando-based filmmaker Rob McKittrick. Rob was good friends with Edwardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick and the two hooked him up with Artisan, (since Artisan REALLY liked the BLAIR WITCH wonderboys) who then bought the script for $350,000. It was all over the trades and I found it quite a coincidence. Similar titles, similar storylines, the fact that we were both living in Florida while writing our scripts (mine in 1996, his in 1997), and the fact that we both had friends who made a horror film in the woods. The only difference being that Stefan, Lance and I had made our films first.
While at the IFP, I received a list of industry people who had attended my screening. Not so ironically, the head of Artisan, Amir Malin, had attended my screening. The following year, (my) WAITING had a theatrical and DVD/Home Video release through TLA Releasing/First Run Features. The film didn’t make a fortune, but it won numberous awards and got my name on the map. As the years past, I heard nothing about Artisan and their WAITING. Had they shelved it after attending my IFP screening? Had they decided the films were too similar? Were they afraid of another BLAIR WITCH controversy? Who knows?
So, it was the summer of 2005 and I had relocated to Los Angeles, developing several projects. I received a call from a friend who said they had just watched a trailer for WAITING on tv. What? Were they high? I then received another call. And another. Within a week I was inundated with calls…people wanting to know if this was my WAITING? Did I write it? Did they steal it? I even received calls from distributors, inquiring about the re-releasing of my WAITING. Lions Gate (formely known as Artisan) was releasing Rob McKittrick’s $3,000,000 version of WAITING, which was now entitled ‘WAITING…’, the dots making all the difference.
Later that year, I attended an advanced screening in Hollywood of Lions Gate’s WAITING with director Rob McKittrick in attendance. Truth be told, I enjoyed the film. Were there a lot of similarities? Yes. Were there differences? Yes. Did I have a lawsuit on my hands? Possibly. Did I want to spend the next two years of my life trying to win one? No. Although I had the urge to ask Rob a few questions after the screening, I optioned not to. What would I have asked? ‘Did you rip me off?’ Fuck it. Life is too short. I did my version and he did his version. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?
I enjoyed his film. I enjoyed my film. Would I have loved to have 3 million to do mine? Absolutely. But, I’ll have that for the next one. So, take all this for what it is. You’ve got the facts, so make your own decision. Below are a few articles on the dilemma:
WAITING in the UK> If there was any question that the original WAITING and Lions Gate’s WAITING were just a bit similar, check out this UK site selling the film which seems to have morphed the two films into one.
> This bitter critic seems to think Rob McKittrick’s Waiting is a cold leftover from the original.
> Various opinions about the similarities of the two.
And yet another example…
Category: Tales from Kill City
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is a funny guy. He's won awards. He makes ha-ha-hilarious films. Wicked hot commercials. And writes very strange things. He's taught film to kiddies. They called him 'Mr. Patrick.' They made lots of films. They also made a documentary. Watch out. He's the hottest director in Kill City.