
How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick - pier0
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/03/ff_reddit/
======
m_myers
I've run across Prufrock451 before on the Paradox gaming boards, where he was
known years ago as one of the most creative AAR (After Action Report) writers.

Two of his most popular works, both dating from 2002:

\- WAAR of the Worlds, in which aliens invade (and are then repulsed by
another player who alternated game sessions with Prufrock451).
[http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?44563-WAA...](http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?44563-WAAR-
of-the-Worlds)

\- The Great Game Redux - Sibir, whose plot bears a striking resemblance to
Rome Sweet Rome. A Englishman in 1909 is transported to Siberia in 1419 and
attempts to transform the tribes into a modern country.
[http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?35699-The...](http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?35699-The-
Great-Game-Redux-Sibir)

Both were written against a backdrop of a (heavily modified) game of Europa
Universalis 2 (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_Universalis_II>).

~~~
pier0
A further proof, if still necessary, that overnight success is just a myth.

------
javert
_With four or five ideas, Madhouse said hmm._

Come on Wired, you can't use "hmm" as a noun - it at least needs quotes!!

 _Twenty-five were immediate noes._

I think that's also highly questionable. But I'm not certain.

 _Of course, like any site that thrives on pseudonymity, Reddit attracts its
share of the sick and the deluded. There’s a subreddit, MensRights, “for
people who believe that men are currently being disadvantaged by society,” and
for years the site admins tolerated subreddits devoted to pictures of underage
girls._

What? How is MensRights "sick and deluded"? There really are laws (e.g. child
custody law in certain US states) that are highly skewed against men.

~~~
rmc
Because to some people "mens rights" sounds like "white's rights", and the
idea that men are now suddenly experiencing massive discrimination is about as
believable as the idea that heterosexuals are now being systemiatically
persecutre for the sexual orientation.

Also, for every 1 law (or societal norm) that are highly skewed against men,
there are 10 that are highly skewed against women. (for "child custody law", I
give you "access to contraceptives", "evidence during rape trials", "chance of
suffering domestic violence", "chance of getting elected as a politician",
"chance of getting appointed to a board", "chance of founding a start up",
"frequency of being viewed as not a hacker/programmer", "risk of rape",
"chance of being the victim of sexual aggression in the workplace", "chance of
being the victim of unwanted verbal sexual attention on the street")

On average, men are still in a much more privileged position than women.

~~~
javert
I don't even read that subreddit, but I feel compelled to continue defending
it from outright attacks.

 _suddenly experiencing massive discrimination_

Nobody's claiming that. But, really, certain areas of the law (child custody,
child support payment) are so unfair that they can easily _ruin_ a man's life.

 _"child custody law", I give you "access to contraceptives"_

Bullshit, women can buy Plan B and other contraceptives over the counter.

 _"evidence during rape trials"_

Bullshit, you can't convict a man of rape just because a woman says so. That
is too prone to abuse.

The rest of your examples are not applicable, because they don't concern legal
rights, but simply societal norms.

 _On average, men are still in a much more privileged position than women._

Again, that's beside the point, and nobody's arguing that.

------
jacques_chester
The brief version is: luck.

The right idea was in front of the eyes of the right person at the right time.

The idea is a staple of light sci-fi, but apparently has not crossed the desk
of the right agents in the right mood.

So: luck.

Which is wildly underestimated as a cause of success.

~~~
endtwist
Luck can be increased with frequency. The more often you put yourself out
there, the greater the chance the right people/time/moods will align.

~~~
jacques_chester
Absolutely; luck is in part a function of exposure. But only to an extent. Los
Angeles is notoriously stuffed to the gills with attractive waiters trying to
manufacture luck.

I look on things like talent as _necessary_ but not _sufficient_ causes of
success.

For my fuller view: <http://chester.id.au/2012/03/02/does-leadership-matter/>

------
dj_axl
The original post:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/k067x/could_i_des...](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/k067x/could_i_destroy_the_entire_roman_empire_during/)

~~~
hollerith
The original post submitted to HN, where it accumulated 33 points and 1
comment:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2960820>

------
christiangenco

        By the end of his lunch hour, he had gotten as far as Day 6, but he didn’t want to post all the entries at once; what if no one read them? So he posted Day 2, then returned to his work, taking screenshots of software buttons and labeling them.
        ...
        Erwin dribbled out his story over the course of the afternoon, switching back and forth between Reddit and work.
    

What a lovely way of adapting the story so he wasn't on reddit all day instead
of working.

~~~
conradfr
Well he was working, just not for the company paying him at that moment :)

------
josephcooney
Does anyone else find it annoying/disconcerting the amount of time spent in
the article describing what reddit is? If reddit truly is "one of the largest
communities on the Internet" and wired is a technology magazine then is that
necessary? Where do they stop? "Erwin was using a computer, kind of likea
type-writer with a T.V. attached to it, probably not dis-similar to the thing
you're using now to read this article"

~~~
martey
Maybe it has to do with the fact that Reddit and Wired Magazine have the same
parent company, Condé Nast? Space in the article spent promoting Reddit might
cause interested readers to visit.

~~~
AndrewHampton
A little pedantic, but Reddit isn't technically a division of Condé Nast
anymore. It's now owed by Advance Publications, which also owns Condé Nast, so
they're sister companies. More details here:

<http://blog.reddit.com/2011/09/independence.html>

------
alpad
"Kolbrenner says the movie is “going to be completely different—I don’t know
if I should say that or not."

I really hope they don't fuck it up when they make the changes. Prufrock, if
you're reading this, don't let them ruin it. Please, please, please watch out
for your story. Don't let them make it completely different.

~~~
coryl
I think you know (and we all know) that that's impossible by now.

------
sigmaxipi
FYI, if you want to read a comic about modern soldiers going back in time to
fight in Rome: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Romana_(comics)>

------
pmorici
This reminds me of the Michael Criton book "Timeline" which was also made into
a movie in 2003.

~~~
underwater
And "Time's Eye" by Stephen Baxter which features a battle between the Genghis
Khan and a combined force of late-18th century British soldiers and 21st
century UN peacekeepers.

------
bipolarla
Interesting article. The power of an idea catching on is possible through the
internet. It is amazing how many shows and artists were found on YouTube. It
says in the article the site's founders originally created phony accounts and
posted stuff in the beginning. I wonder how many big companies did that and if
any of you know the rules of it. I am happy my community is getting real
people to join since it feels more authentic. You can see
<http://www.willlisten.com>

------
instakill
For those of you have haven't read the first few chapters, go and do it. It's
brilliant.

------
yaix
> “OK, I’m writing a movie for the masses,” he says. “OK, masses, what do you
> like?”

Oh, it'll be one of /those/ movies :(

------
rsanchez1
I just see a Hollywood that ran out of ideas a long time ago and is desperate
for a fresh story. The big movie pushes I've seen this year are John Carter,
based on a character that first appeared a hundred years ago, and the Hunger
Games, based on a book series that first appeared less than four years ago.
Then I see a new Three Stooges film coming out that, among other crazy things,
features an appearance of several Jersey Shore cast members. Many other big
budget films this year are sequels: Wrath of the Titans, The Avengers, Men In
Black 3, etc.

And here, Prufrock451 is a lucky one. Hollywood is starving for ideas, but
even when innovative writers come up with a good idea, Hollywood prefers to go
with established money-makers and often red-lights obscure ideas. I think
they're so willing to go with Prufrock451's story because it got so popular on
reddit. There's lower risk. They see that this story can attract a lot of
eyeballs, and are hoping that those eyeballs will translate to box office
success.

Hollywood likes to blame its decline on pirating, but in reality there are
very few new ideas coming out of Hollywood anymore, and they expect to make
money repackaging old ideas, putting them in 3D and charging a premium.
Hopefully stories like Prufrock451's become more common and we get to see more
original ideas make it to the big screen. I certainly don't want to see more
movies with the old stooges and the new Jersey stooges.

~~~
rvkennedy
Relying on literary adaptations is a symptom of Hollywood's decline from the
golden age of The Maltese Falcon (1941 remake of a 1931 adaptation of a 1930
novel), Gone with the Wind (from the bestseller by Margaret Mitchell) and The
Adventures of Robin Hood (way more than a hundred years old in 1938)?

The reason most Hollywood material is adapted material, is that a movie is a
hell of an expensive place to try out new ideas. A book costs little to write,
and takes one person to write it. And there are lots of them, succeeding, or
failing, on the strength of their ideas, writing and storytelling. Cinema has
never been the place to run a lot of flags up the pole and see which one the
public salutes.

~~~
shareme
guess where trying out new ideas is somewhat low in costs as far as movies go?
2d Mobile Games :)

