DIABLO DOES WB

Yo, who's harshing Diablo's buzz?

A number of people responded snidely or with contempt to the previous blog I wrote about Diablo Cody getting a deal with WB and her film JUNO that is scheduled to begin production this fall. They felt it was contemptible that a stripper recently emerged from the sex industry would be given a two or three picture deal for scripts written or yet to be written. I even received anonymous comment she wasn't getting paid to be vague, as she suggested in her City Pages interview, she was being paid to be a whore or get laid.

Hey, hey we're talking about a married woman here! Show some respect...

One thing I think Diablo Cody does have is a sense of the power of her allure. That's pretty valuable in the entertainment industry and, bluntly speaking, almost any industry. Do you think Steve Jobs is unaware of the powers of his persuasion? Diablo also has a sense that creating intrigue, even controversy, around her work or herself is valuable in selling said script or manuscript.

In many ways, people observing the Diablo Cody / WB deal have the most problem with this aspect of the rise she gives producers, agents, and production companies. Diablo understands a hook and how to mine it. But she's also, obviously, a writer who took an untraditional route to researching and writing a book "Candy Land" and screenplays inlcuding JUNO. The cynics see men experiencing sexual arousal rather than a well written script worthy of being put to screen.

But where people are wrong is to presume Diablo Cody is dumb, manipulative and has no ability to write a screenplay. I would suggest she has enough ability and probably sparkles with certain aspects of the magic of storytelling. And given that the master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa said that he still had much to learn at the age 68, I suspect Diablo in her twenties has much to learn about screenwriting and filmmaking also. But DON'T hold it against her! And JUNO could be a great script for all we know about it.

All those hardened screenwriters out there who I have known for the past 20 years have much to learn from this young brash pony of a chick. And I hope they learn it because they deserve a little spotlight and time to strut their stuff as Diablo learned from the skin trade.

The lesson: there is so much more to a picture deal than ARCO fasteners and MGM-style formatted pages.