Part One: Early Developments, Pre-Production, Production

August, 1998: A 14-year old Jason Moliterno takes his first stab at screenwriting, despite having no knowledge of the form.  Aliens figure prominently and Mr. T makes a guest appearance in the second act.  Moliterno doesn’t know how to end it, so he adds himself in as a character, writing, “Jason walks into frame.  The other characters eye him angrily.”  The other characters then lambaste him for his meager writing skills and a poorly-conceived plot.  Moliterno responds by killing them all with the gun he established in the first act. 

February, 2004:  Six years and zero girlfriends later, Moliterno decides to take another stab at scriptwriting and pens 49 pages before realizing, once again, that he has no clue where to take the thing.  He also realizes that his script reads like Seinfeld Goes To College: fully equipped with a selfish, neurotic friend, a sarcastic, platonic female friend, and a wacky roommate.  Moliterno scraps most of the script, but decides to keep several patches of dialogue. 

July, 2004:  Stuck working for his father at a hotel, Moliterno locks himself in a boardroom (ostensibly to vacuum) and writes some scenes on company letterhead.  It reads like Woody Allen Goes To College. 

August, 2004:  Moliterno decides that “The Corndog Chronicles” would be an excellent name for a movie.  He draws the movie’s poster, in which there is a white-chalk outline of a man who has died with a corndog in his hand.  Moliterno never comes up with a story.

Spring, 2005: Moliterno makes it his goal to finish a script by the end of the semester.  It doesn’t happen. 

Fall, 2005: Moliterno makes it his goal to finish a script by the end of the semester.  It doesn’t happen. 

Spring, 2006: Moliterno makes it his goal to finish a script by the end of the semester.  It doesn’t happen. 

January, 2007: Moliterno takes a look at his notes for the script he kept wanting to write as an undergraduate. It turns out it’s a piece of crap and he knows nothing about human relationships. He decides to try his hand again, and this time feels proud of what he comes up with.

October, 2007: The 2380 Project holds its annual screenwriting competition. Moliterno puts on fake glasses and mustaches and votes for his own script 45 times. No one notices and Moliterno’s then-untitled script is thus chosen to be The 2380 Project’s next movie.

December, 2007: Casting is done on the snowiest day of the year, in a little room in the basement of Guzzetta Hall that is impossibly hard to find. Notable actors who try out include Morgan Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Otm Shank and Peter Lorrie. Rachel Walter narrowly edges out Cate Blanchett for the role of Emily.

February 29, 2008:  First day of shooting, three scenes planned.  A metal plate that connects the camera to the tripod is missing.  Only two scenes are shot, and in hand-held.  Only one scene is usable.  In short: a complete disaster. Moliterno weeps in his trailer.  

March 26, 2008:  It is discovered that Moliterno doesn’t know what “f-stop” means.  Upon hearing the term, he says, “F-stop Fitzgerald?  I love his work.”

April 1, 2008: After five hectic days of shooting, full of things that have gone wrong, Moliterno finds himself driving to the set on the sixth day, wondering what will go wrong this time. Suddenly, the song “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” comes on the radio, and Moliterno is instantly pumped up. The shoot goes extremely well, as all 15 pages of script are filmed. Moliterno vows to play the Wham hit before every day of shooting.

April 14, 2008:  It is discovered that Moliterno doesn’t know what “aperture” means.  Upon hearing the term, he says, “Judd Aperture?  I love his work.”

May 2, 2008: Moliterno’s neighbor knocks on his door and asks him to please stop playing “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”

Part Two: Post-Production, Release

(Coming Soon!)