1. American Pie Was Originally Called Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made for Under 10 Million Dollars, That Your Reader Will Love But the Executive Will Hate
American Pie is my generations first cultural watershed moment. It was the film that was perfectly timed to be released around the age we reached puberty. Of course, it was hard to get hold of a copy, and you had to wait in line to get hold of the VHS and take it home and make sure Mum and Dad didnt see. But once you did, it was worth the wait. Quite simply, it would have been the first movie about losing your virginity most people my age would ever see and served as a stark reminder that despite all the various ways to punch your V-Card, you will always have friends around you egging you on to do ridiculous things. It was great. Stiflers Mom, Warm Hot Apple Pie and One Time At Band Camp all quickly became cultural phrases and it became a huge franchise that has, I kid you not, 8 movies to its name. It is a genuine phenomenon. And it almost might not have been had Adam Herz, the screenwriter, not been as clever as he was. By shilling a script called Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made for Under 10 Million Dollars, That Your Reader Will Love But the Executive Will Hate, he immediately established exactly what genre of movie would be made, who would like it and most importantly the budget. Because as we know, its all about the moolah. His gamble paid off and he hasnt looked back since. Not because hes paralysed or anything, that was just a metaphor. Of course he knew the film would never be released as such, and American Pie was a clever piece of innuendo, but his original title got himself noticed and rich. Which is why my script Totally Awesome Robot Action Comedy, Starring That Guy From That Thing And Model Who Has Never Acted Before, And Has Tonnes Of Explosions And Stuff And Witty Dialogue should be in a cinema near you soon.