So, a teacher at my school wrote the screenplay for "Road to Perdition"......

I kid you not. His name is {Dr.} David Self, and he is one of the teachers at my high school in Chesapeake, VA.

He also wrote "Thirteen Days," "The Bourne Identity," and "The Haunting."

I'm kind of in a state of disbelief myself.....

 

Did he write the graphic nove or the screenplay?

JDP

 

He's a screenwriter.

And, because he is very rich, he owns a small island in the Bahamas. Seriously.

....now I don't know if people are going to take me seriously. Oh well.

 

What class does he teach?

 

It's some humanitarian class (I don't take the class myself). He has a project called operation smile that helps kids with cleft lips and other deformations get surgery and/or medical attention.

 

He adapted it.. it's based on a graphic novel by Max Collins. But it's cool that Self teaches at your school.. I've been a fan of his since Thirteen Days.. didn't care much for the Bourne Identity though (which was another adaption.. from a novel by Robert Ludlum). The Haunting, however, is in a class by itslef.. for being so awful.. such a waste of talent.

 

I've actually only seen one of Self's films (Thirteen Days - which I enjoyed very much). But from what I've heard, "Road to Perdition" may very well win the Oscar for Best Film and/or Best Actor (Tom Hanks...duh.).

I think I'll try to start a conversation with him the next time I see him.

 

and my college foreign policy professor wrote all the SW movies under the pen name of George Lucas

 

Really? Wow that's amazing.

I am being 100% serious, so please don't post things like that in my thread.

If you don't believe me, look up information on the movie, then take a trip to Chesapeake VA, go to Indian River High School, and look for Dr. David Self.

EDIT: 900th post!

....too bad it had to be spent defending my own thread.

 

If you talk to Self.. ask him if he's going to write an original production or if he prefers adaptions (even The Haunting is a remake)... just out of curiosity.

 

get some cool souvenirs from him!!!

 

I think I'll join one of his classes/clubs just to say that I was in a class taught by the guy who wrote the screenplays for "Road to Perdition," "The Bourne Identity" and "Thirteen Days."

 

The dude's not lying:

http://eclipse.cps.k12.va.us/public/Schools/IRH/irhweb/Academics/Departments/history.htm

There's David Self.

BTW, I'm close to you Fat_Fett: I live in Virginia Beach.

 

That's cool, Kenobi!

And thanks for the backup!

I think I'll get some cool souvenirs from him, and THEN I'll go to his island in the Bahamas!

 

That's awesome! I love screenwriters, producers, composers, editors.. all those people you don't really think of, you know? They are so important to a movie! I would totally talk to him, but then again I'm a movie freak Road to Perdition was great!!!

I've coresponded with John Ottman, who edited/composed for The Usual Suspects. He is a nice guy, and really talented. I'm telling you, it's the guys like this that count!

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Wow! - today is just awesome for me - first, I find out this about one of the teachers at my school.

THEN, I find out that my IQ is 131, putting me 1 point above the required score to be in the top 2% of people in the world - I can join MENSA! WHOOOHOOOO!

But, I must sleep - can someone please not let my thread die? It's so cool!

 

Keeping this thread alive. This is cool!

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

that is incredibly cool, Fat_Fett!

 

How did you find out your IQ? Take a test or something? I sure would like to know mine.

 

The IQ thing isn't that impressive. I could certainly get into Mensa....

Scary thought!

I'm kidding, that's cool

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

There are IQ/psychology tests you can take to learn your IQ.

I took one such test, and my scores were so varied that my composite IQ isn't a good reflection of either my strengths or weaknesses.

 

A former student at a nearby high school created the Beverly Hillbillies. That's scary.

 

How did you find out?

 

about the BH creator? It's actually well known here. Chrisman HS was our rival school and they were awfully proud of little Paul Henning.

 

A high school teacher wrote those? That's pretty impressive. Sounds like he's just teaching as a hobby.

My collegiate writing professor wrote the original screenplay for the original Rollerball. He was so proud of that too. Any time someone questioned his criticisms, he would say something like "Everyone with a screenplay used in a major motion picture raise their hand."

I once raised my hand and he got mad and challenged me to a game of chicken.