Writing a roller-coaster movie for FOX

Bobby - instead of writing your character as someone who designs coasters why not make him someone who rides coasters when his life gets rough, as an escape from his daily life?

If you want the lead to be artistic, I really think you should go the woodie route. The other thing you could do is a drama about someone trying to save a classic that is going to be destroyed. It can be losely based on the Rocket being saved and coming back as the Phoenix if you want; or you can make one up.

Ok then Moosh my apologies I am having a very confusing day, Why is the film called Destiny? (that more directed to BobbyD)

Good Idea, make the character a Coasterbuzz member, or better yet make the character a Coasterbuzz member gone bad, who got kicked from the site for spamming, and he wants to get revenge on the World by blowing up Top Thrill Dragster, thus throwing Enthusiasts into mass hysteria and letting Six Flags reclaim the Tallest Coaster title. In other words, the end of the world. ;) *** Edited 4/26/2004 11:00:35 PM UTC by Kyle Fobe***

LOL...no worries, Kyle ;)

RavenTTD,

I'm unfamiliar with the story about the Rocket being saved. Could you fill me in?

Kyle: Destiny is just the working title right now. At it's core, our story is about a driven artist held back by his fear of the future.

Here is a link to some info on Rocket/Phoenix:

http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/history/design/history_oth_design.shtml

I am sure someone else here knows more about it than I do.

If the story is about and artist held back by fear of the future, and you want something groundbreaking.. you might want to look into this rumor that has popped up a few times, the wooden corkscrew. Here is a topic from coasterbuzz that started our discussing the wooden corkscrew:

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=37416

Heres what ya need to do. Grab a few of us CB'ers (me included) and go on an all-expenses-paid worldwide rollercoaster tour, collecting our opinions about all the rides we come across in our journeys. how does that sound?

Or...maybe not.

The one suggestion I have is not to try to overexaggerate a ride. Don't make something up that seems like it would be in a child's movie ie Cat in the Hat. Go for something realistic.

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BobbyD said:

We’ve already interviewed some great designers in the business, but I wanted to open a dialogue with anyone who’s interested in helping us learn more about the “experience design business”, as Craig Hannah of Thinkwell Design called it.

So my first question for anyone who’s interested: this movie will come out in 2006. What do you think will be the hot new ride that year? Will it be combining dark rides and iron rides, like the new Mummy ride at Universal, or will it be a big jump in iron ride technology, like X at Magic Mountain?

Thanks to anyone who wants to jump in.

BOBBY D

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BobbyD,

You may have more info than us at this point about what to expect in 2006. After all, you have talked with some of the "great" designers. Surely, they have an idea of some of the projects they are seeing that far out.

Also, have you looked into Disney's new Animal Kingdom coaster that is scheduled to debut in 2006?

Den, the porn *actress* (who's looking for a new life out of the industry in the movie btw) wasn't in high school and the story is about so much more than that with a lot of substance and a lot of heart. It's not as shallow and simple as you might think. I fell in love with the story and characters and can't wait for the DVD.

+Danny

So uh...need any extras for the movie? ;)

Hey, it's Luke Greenfield. Thanks for the response. It's been great. We're going to have lots of questions as we develop this movie. Bobby D. is hitting the first big questions.

Our next question: Is there anyone out there who is trying to design roller-coasters for a living? We hear it's a very difficult feat to actually become one of the visionaries who create the huge budget rides, or even any ride, that is.

We would like to hear the plights of a visionary in the making. For example, years after film school, I wanted to lynch myself because I was so frustrated and struggling to make movies and I just couldn't break in.

Do any of you know people that are similar to this scenario?

What are these people doing for a living while trying to break in and get their concepts made into real coasters?

Thanks for the help.

Luke

Since this movie is being called "Destiny", I don't suppose 20th Century Fox/New Regency might be interested in helping save the destiny of Starliner at Miracle Strip Amusement Park, would they? This is supposedly the last season for this classic coaster in Panama City Beach, Florida, and I was thinking the story could possibly involve your main character passionately getting involved to help save this coaster from the wrecking ball. It's a long shot I know, but it might just work to help save this coaster altogether.

Here is more info on Starliner: http://rcdb.com/quicksearch.htm?quicksearch=starliner

Good luck, and I can't wait to hear more about this movie.

Luke and Bobby,

If you want a dramedy about the highs and lows of the roller coaster industry, might I suggest basing it around the life of an employee of an amusement park. It would be nothing to actually base it off of Cedar Point.. You've got all the drama and comedy you could stand. Take it from me.

I am an aspiring roller coaster designer, but I am only a freshman in college so any chance I would have breaking into the industry are a few years down the road. In either case, I'm a realist, so I'm not one of those people with a blind ambition of one day making it. That, in itself, is kind of a roller coaster of emotions...gaining knowledge for a career in which I have almost no chance of being employed.

It is a difficult career to get into because the demand for new designers is so small since the industry is so small. A deterant to those who want to start their own design firm, aside from capital expenses, is the that of reputation. A company can have some great ideas and designs for amusement rides, but unless anyone decides to give them a chance they won't earn any street credit. Of those companies that do build rides, it only takes one incident to reduce their rides' appeal to nothing.

An example is S&S's VertiGo at Cedar Point. One of the towers fell down during the off-season. Without the loss of life in the incident, Cedar Fair removed the ride and others like it throughout their parks, while Six Flags shut them down. I think it vastly hurt their reputation because I don't believe there has been an Absolutely Insane ride or a Thrust Air 2000 ride installed since then.

Last year, and now this year again I am working at Cedar Point in the summer to make money for college and to be close to what I love. I'm working on Magnum this year, and I think it will be the best job I have had yet. Until I get an internship with some kind of engineering company (most likely next year) I will probably spend my summers working there.

In my opinion, if you want to use a job in which the character makes a living it should be a coaster ride op or perhaps ride maintenance within an amusement park.

Hope this helps...

The ride-op thing has been done to death--perhaps not as a rideop per se, but as an entry-level worker in some other field...from Caddyshack to Clerks to fill in the blank. On the plus side, it might be easier to pitch, but otherwise there's not a lot of new ground to break.

As far as the latest, greatest, wildest trend in coasters by release date--that's a real toughie. Six Flags went for a couple wild prototype models in 2000 and bankrupted the companies that couldn't deliver (Arrow Dynamics and Vekoma). If you wanted to check the bleeding edge, you might want to check with the manufacturers themselves or try a European coaster for which there's no US equivalent. You're only looking for a plot device here; no one's gonna be yelling at the screen but the most anal-retentive of coaster dorks.

In my opinion, a large wooden coaster would be a great idea for the following reasons:
- Regardless of release time, the story isn't 'dated'
- Most massive wooden coasters really are problem children
- There's more potential trial/error plot points in the construction phase, if that's what the future holds for the lead character

What if the lead was a dreamer about to lose his carpenter's apprenticeship? Imagine panning from ground level up to the top of a wooden coaster, the sun glancing and playing through the forest of supports--maybe a little CG as the camera spins and passes through the beams--followed by a fade to a window frame in a roughed-in suburban split-level that our hero just can't get square.

Just a thought.

-'Playa

Well, I think if you are dealing with someone who has had a near death experience it would poss. be someone who pushs the limit of the designs of a coaster. Like an X or Top Thrill Dragster. The only thing that might make it easier if some of the filming was done around the building of a specific new coaster. That and obviously other budgetary restrictions might determine what kind of coaster this person would be working on at the time of the story. Just watch the scene in Space Cowboys with Donald Sutherland on what a coaster designer does not do.

Well, if this is true, I CAN'T WAIT!

Anyway, for big rides in 2006, I really can't say, but I'm gussing anything would be the next big thing! I mean, making something bigger, making something more complex, something more immersive, something just sooooooo cool is what will be hot in 2006.

As for ideas, I think you need to pick up the book "The Imagineering Way". It has tons of inspirational stories realting to breaking it in the amusement park business. One of my favorite stories is of a person who designed a great little shop for this nook in a new park. They studied guest flow, and put tons of effort into this little shop. Then it got pulled. Then they were assigned to another shop, which, just as that person got it down, was cancelled again.

Hope that helps guys. I like how you guys are comming right to us for info, we love the business and I can't wait for this movie! *** Edited 4/28/2004 12:54:38 AM UTC by The Mole***

Ya really couldn't have a "coaster movie" without at least a cameo from....you guessed it, *the gator*. Wish I coulda hung at SFoG for that William H Macy movie they were shooting..."The Wool Cap", I think.

Regardless, I've wanted to do a Hitchcock-style walk-through ever since I can remember. My student assistant for a couple years was a film major, and once he gets me in front of the camera, film won't be the only thing "rolling"...;)

LOL, Bill! I hit the floor so hard my joints hurt!