Beyond the project we currently developing, The Inner Sonic Key, which is slated for release next spring, we are very excited about the project which is right behind that, Patterns of Creation. A very different project for us, but nonetheless one that fits with the themes of our film projects.
First, a little history about this project. I wrote the first draft in the late 80’s over an eleven day period. I locked myself in my bedroom/office for that whole period, and had my wife bring me food and anything else I might need. She left them at the other side of a closed door. I had a bed, a bathroom, a computer and a printer, and an idea I just couldn’t let go of. So I made a conscious effort to cut myself off from the world, because I could see the whole idea, concept, theme, and story all laid out before me. And I just went for it, in a crazy, intense, packed in, eleven day period. I didn’t see my wife and young kids for that whole period. Actually I saw no one but my characters, and they came alive in that whole birthing imagination process. In a way, I was a person possessed with an idea and story I just couldn’t let go of, or maybe it couldn’t let go of me. The muse owned me. And I came out of that cave a changed person, because of the process I had put myself through as well as what the story was actually about. It was a sci-fi adventure, but it was much more. It told an involved spiritual story of a universe in chaos, on the verge of destruction from an inter-dimensional galactic apocalypse. And that barely describes it.
I had no idea if anyone would ever make a film out of this screenplay, but periodically I went ahead over the next few years and wrote several more drafts. Finally when I thought I could take it no farther, I decided to have it covered and critiqued, to see what kind of shape it actually was in. Partially because there was another concern that had arisen. I had a few friends read it, and I got some of the oddest responses I had ever gotten from any of my scripts. Just about everyone who read it had very visceral reactions, usually bordering on a kind of sickness or madness. As if the thing had possessed them and they couldn’t let it go. They had dreams and nightmares about it. One of them called in sick for a week, and then refused to give the script back to me. He said it was his and didn’t want anyone else to have it. Very odd indeed. I was wondering what I had created here. This was just before 1995.
So I searched around for a reputable reader to give me some serious coverage on it. It took me awhile to find the person I felt was right for the project. She had her own company, but had previously been a script reader for one of the biggest and most famous filmmakers of that time. She must have been awful busy because it did take some time for her to get back to me. And her reaction completely surprised me. She had one of her assistants call me to tell me she wanted to meet with me immediately. Of course I did.
She absolutely loved it and thought it was a unique story ahead of its time. At first I thought she was putting me on, and was just trying to get something else out of me. But no, as it progressed she seemed very genuine about it. She wanted to shop it around for me and attach herself as a producer. I was fine with that, if there was any chance it could get produced. She said it was a big budget project, so she’d have to get it to top producers who could command that level of financing. In fact, she was willing to present it to her previous employer, one of the biggest. As far as the script itself, she offered some pointers but they were relatively minor. She said she didn’t want to tinker with it too much.
She said it might take a while to get this going and through any pipeline, so I should be patient. But of course I wasn’t. I was still fairly new to this process, and had lots of questions about it all. I called in every couple weeks or so, until they eventually told me they would call me if there was any news.
And then one day I was reading through the film trades (Hollywood Reporter, I think) and I got a total shock. She had been killed in a car wreck. There was a short story about it, with few details. I called her company immediately. They were in real shock over there. I started to ask about my project, but figured that would be pretty crass so I let it go. I thought it would be appropriate to go to her funeral, but found out it was just for family and close friends. Of course I did send flowers, and had mixed feelings. I didn’t know her well, and was certainly sorry for what had happened, but it seemed I had tied my future to hers. And that was now nowhere. I wasn’t sure how to proceed and just forgot about it for the moment.
A couple weeks later I called back to find out what I could. Her personal assistant knew very little. She did give me some production company phone numbers to call, to see what I could dig up. I did that, but got nowhere. I had no idea who had seen it, or what they thought about it, or what anyone wanted or didn’t want to do with it. I stuck it on a shelf, and forgot about it for almost 20 years, until …
When I formed my production company a few years ago, I always had this project in the back of my mind. Wondering if there was any way we could make it. And it looks like there might be. Of course, Patterns of Creation was originally conceived as a live action feature. But it seems it has morphed into an animated feature. In fact, we think it might be the first animated, sci-fi spiritual, adventure feature to be made. For sure, it will be different … like nothing you have ever seen anywhere else. Guaranteed.
JAD
Author: Jerry Alden Deal
Writer – Director – Producer of Way To Go Media, LLC.
Over the past thirty years Jerry has been hired numerous times to develop and write screenplays for other production companies. During that same period several of his spec scripts were also optioned. ‘Dreams Awake’ was Jerry’s feature directorial debut. He has several other projects in various stages of development. One of which, the feature documentary ‘The Inner Sonic Key’ is currently in post-production.