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10-3-1 Weekend Breakdown
Daily planners in Hollywood are like Bibles. Drinks, premieres, meetings, meals - nothing happens in Hollywood without crafty scheduling, and the ability to fill every empty moment in a day with an earth-shattering, life-altering event. A great deal of success in Hollywood is due to the ability to multi-task, and seamlessly be in two places at once.
Project Greenlight's "10-3-1 Weekend" was no exception. Teems of people descended on Century City and Hollywood late last February in a hectic culmination of this once "little" screenwriting contest. While hopeful finalists flew in from around the country to be interviewed, the Project Greenlight jury scrambled to agree upon three names to be announced in a Hollywood theatre later that night in front of hundreds.
Of course, before anyone would walk the "green" carpet that night, there would be a rehearsal earlier in the day, a cocktail party and dinner the night before, and scores of interviews sprinkled throughout, leaving little time for anyone to sleep.
The following day, one winner had to be chosen, and that same jury spent another eight hours deliberating after an evening that went late into the night. The frenzied week would end with an unknown Chicagoan joining Ben Affleck on "The Tonight Show," much to the shock of many of Pete Jones' old friends who could not fathom how their health insurance salesman buddy had suddenly "gone Hollywood," and was now rubbing elbows with that guy from "Good Will Hunting."
All in all, the week was rife with surprises. Herewith, a glance at the last few days of Project Greenlight, The Contest:
Sunday, February 25th
6:45 AM - Finalists Ken Eckle and Bruce Wersen are disappointed that it is too early in the morning to show off their limousine pick-up as they leave their homes for the Burlington Airport.
9:55 AM - Finalists Matt Burch, Brendan Murphy, Christopher Schlerf and their guests arrive at LAX. Despite the heads-up they received, all three guys are taken aback by the camera crews following them around the airport.
11:10 AM - Finalist Katie Fetting arrives from Chicago. Ken Ekle and Bruce Wersen arrive from Burlington, Washington. A van shuttles them, their guests, and finalist Evan Katz' mother Ellen, to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Century City.
11: 43 AM - Identifying the conversationalist in the group, Ken and Bruce let Katie do the talking on the ride from the airport.
12:00 PM - Finalist Rick Grubbs and his girlfriend are picked up by limousine in Fullerton, CA and driven out to Century City.
1:21 PM - Producers Chris Moore and Pat Peach arrive at the Park Hyatt Hotel to talk to the Top Ten Finalists individually. Moore and Peach asked each would-be filmmaker about their particular script to see how adamant or flexible they were about certain aspects of their story.
2:40 PM - Starving, Bruce Wersen orders himself some room service from his hotel room. Though he would later admit that is was one of the best cheeseburgers he had ever had, seeing the $27 tab for a burger and a glass of milk was an L.A. eye opener.
4:25 PM - HBO camera crews politely ask finalist Rob Pearlstein to "act natural" as they set up cameras and lights in his hotel room. Rob does his best acting job as he pretends no one else is in his room while he watches VH1 from his hotel bed.
8:00 PM - All finalists and their guests congregate in the lobby of the Park Hyatt hotel for cocktails and dinner for a chance to get to know each other and size up their competition. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation of the day ahead.
Monday, February 26th
11:00 AM - Miramax executives Meryl Poster, Jon Gordon, Eli Holzman, and Billy Cambell, as well as LivePlanet producers Chris Moore, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck convene in a suite in the Park Hyatt. The Project Greenlight "jury" eats lunch, and then begins deciding which three finalists will be announced that night at the Galaxy Theatre in Hollywood.
12:45 PM - The jury continues to deliberate. Matt Damon pleads his case to have all ten scripts purchased by Miramax. Production Co-President Meryl Poster graciously declines.
1:30 PM - A charter bus drives the contestants from the Park Hyatt to rehearsal at the Galaxy Theater in Hollywood.
2:00 PM - After over two hours of heated discussion, the jury arrives at the three names that will be announced later that evening.
5:45 PM - Three stretch limousines drive the contestants and their guests from the Park Hyatt to the "Top Ten" event at the Galaxy Theater.
6:40 PM - Photographers and reporters buck for position behind the velvet ropes as the Top Ten finalists take their walk down the green carpet in front of the Galaxy Theatre.
7:25 PM - Lights down. With 700 people seated, the Top Ten finalists in the front row, Chris Moore introduces himself and Sam Adams Brewer and Founder, Jim Koch. One by one, the Top Ten finalists introduce themselves and their shot scene from their script.
8:45 PM - Matt Damon and Ben Affleck walk to the front of the theatre to announce the Final Three Contestants.
9:00 PM - Perhaps a touch skittish about actually announcing the three winners, Matt and Ben continue to entertain the crowd. Ben does his best Harvey Weinstein impersonation. Harvey, 6,000 miles away in Rome, Italy, is not in attendance to share in the laughter at his expense.
9:12 PM - Matt and Ben finally announce Brendan Murhpy, Evan Katz and Barron Ebenstein, and Pete Jones as the Final Three.
9:18 PM - The seven runners-up meet with Damon, Affleck, and Moore. Matt Burch is shocked when he is pulled aside by Chris Moore, who tells Burch and his father that Miramax will purchase his heist script, "The Upgrade," and Moore plans to produce it.
9:25 PM - While debating whether to address Matt Damon, nearly ten years their junior, as "Matt" or "Mr. Damon," runners-up Bruce Wersen and Ken Eckle are shocked when the celebrity approaches them with a broad grin, and says, "Bruce! Ken! I loved [your script] 'Been There!'" Moments later, a half-disappointed, half-kidding Katie Fetting tells Ben Affleck, "I am not going to see Pearl Harbor!"
9:30 PM - Attendees begin to pour into The Knitting Factory to party and meet the finalists. As the bar fills up and revelers chat online, drink, and schmooze, hundreds are left outside to wait in the rain, even those holding their invitations in their hand.
Tuesday, February 27th
10:00 AM - Their stays extended, Brendan Murphy, Evan Katz, Barron Ebenstein, and Pete Jones meet with attorneys to have the fine print in their contracts explained to them. A long day of waiting begins.
12:30 PM - The Project Greenlight jury returns to the same suite in the Park Hyatt to begin deliberations on the Top Three. No one will leave until a winner has been chosen.
2:00 PM - Brendan Murphy enters the jury suite and sits across from the seven-member panel. For one hour, the jury grills Murphy about his script, "Speakeasy," and his vision as the director.
3:00 PM - Evan Katz and Barron Ebenstein enter the jury room to answer questions about "Freeing Mr. Jiggs." The writing team would later admit that they received better criticism "in the last five minutes in that room, than [they did] in the last six months."
4:00 PM - Pete Jones meets with the panel to discuss his screenplay, "Stolen Summer." The panel members are impressed with Jones' conviction about his script.
5:35 PM - Despite Meryl Poster's earlier statement where she said, "I'm the boss, and I say 'Jiggs,'" the jury reaches a consensus that "Freeing Mr. Jiggs" has too many question marks, including its potentially larger budget. Nearly four hours into deliberation, "Freeing Mr. Jiggs" is removed from contention.
11:00 PM - After eight hours of deliberation, Brendan Murphy and Pete Jones are individually called into the jury room for more questioning. Tired and perhaps irritable, Pete tells the jury, "if this contest is about anything but choosing the best script, then f*** you."
12:05 AM - Ten hours after first arriving to the hotel suite to deliberate, Chris Moore hands Pete a Sam Adams and the jury notifies Pete Jones that he is the winner.
Wednesday, February 28th
10:00 AM - Chris Moore arrives at the Park Hyatt to break the news to runners-up Evan Katz and Barron Ebenstein and Brendan Murphy.
4:00 PM - A mini-van picks up Pete and Jenny Jones and Chris Moore at the Park Hyatt to be taken to a "special event."
4:30 PM - The same mini-van picks up Ben Affleck at his house. Ben tells Pete that he would like Pete to join him on stage with Jay Leno at "The Tonight Show."
6:10 PM - Like a seasoned pro, Pete wires a microphone to his shirt and joins Ben and Jay on stage. Pete's family watches from the backstage green room.
12:10 AM - San Antonio, Texas. An old friend of Pete Jones nearly loses his lunch when he sees his old buddy laughing it up with Ben and Jay on national television. Pete would later say that he received dozens of calls from friends and family all over the country who saw him on TV.
Monday, March 5th
9:00 AM - The honeymoon over, Pete reports for his first day of work to begin pre-production on his film, "Stolen Summer."
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