Michael Jacot, RIP
Thanks to my buddy, Rob, for the sad news of Michael Jacot's death. He was another of my film school professors who passed away recently. Jacot I liked with his dry humour and light touch. You can read his CBC obit here.
I'm not gonna go on at length, because Michael wasn't that kinda guy. A couple memories....
He told me in order to hear my own voice and write original characters I had to stop watching TV.
He told me the way to sell a movie is to get a room full of male, middle-aged potential investors, give 'em good booze, then bring in the lead actess.
Cheers, Michael!
I'm not gonna go on at length, because Michael wasn't that kinda guy. A couple memories....
He told me in order to hear my own voice and write original characters I had to stop watching TV.
He told me the way to sell a movie is to get a room full of male, middle-aged potential investors, give 'em good booze, then bring in the lead actess.
Cheers, Michael!
posted by Bill Pocock at 4:52:00 p.m.
6 Comments:
I'm not sure he was my kind of guy either, Mr. Bill, but I definitely respected any Dude who spent a chunk of his life breaking code in the jungles of Burma...read MY obit on the cbc's website (if they post it). But then again, I've got a soft spot for anything resembling a "father figure". Thanks for the post...
I realized I should probably read what you write before I respond...HE wasn't that kind of guy...time for bed...
Bill:
Sorry to see him pass away. I had him as a screenwriting professor for two years.
Derek
I was also under Jacot's tutelage in the 90s. He was a lovely man, and tolerated my hackneyed ideas with gentle grace.
After choking back the horrid W Network chickflik-of-the-week that I submitted as my final script, he suggested that I consider a career writing bawdy novels for undersexed housewives and bi-curious college girls.
I probably should have taken his advice. These days, there's a lot of money to be made from bi-curious college girls. What a visionary.
I remember Jacot telling the class how there was good money (for the effort) to be made in writing Harlequin romance novels. For those who may not know, Harlequin's head office is here in Toronto.
Jacot had penned two Harlequin romances. Harlequin will send any interested writer a guideline on how to write the novels. Why not give it a try?
Jacot, in 1990, predicted the rise of reality-based television that was to come and only now begins to fade.
Bill:
One more thing about the Harlequin trade: He once told me that he penned such novels under a pseudonym although he would not tell me the author's name. Although he did reveal that it was a woman's name.
Derek
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