Why can't B-movie action stars work with good writers?

[toddly6666]

Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, but especially Dolph Lundgren for example.

Is there a reason that these guys don't find talented writers for their smaller-made, indie, straight-to-video action movies?

Is it actually like how jocks and intelligent folks dont mingle together?

Dolph Lundgren, while not the greatest actor himself, has presence and has been at hard at work since the early 90s. We see how Stallone creates or involves himself with well-written films. Arnold is starting to do so now. So why cant these other B-movie actors find good writers?

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, but especially Dolph Lundgren for example.

Is there a reason that these guys don't find talented writers for their smaller-made, indie, straight-to-video action movies?

Is it actually like how jocks and intelligent folks dont mingle together?

Dolph Lundgren, while not the greatest actor himself, has presence and has been at hard at work since the early 90s. We see how Stallone creates or involves himself with well-written films. Arnold is starting to do so now. So why cant these other B-movie actors find good writers?

Stallone has been in some awful movies over the past 40+ years. Same for Arnold.

But I would guess that with the guys you mentioned, at least part of it has to do with budget. I doubt a straight-to-video movie starring Dolph has the budget for someone like a Chris McQuarrie for instance. And he's not going to want his name on it anyhow, so it's going to be a pseudonym -- but he'd probably still charge the same amount.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Stallone has been in some awful movies over the past 40+ years. Same for Arnold.

But I would guess that with the guys you mentioned, at least part of it has to do with budget. I doubt a straight-to-video movie starring Dolph has the budget for someone like a Chris McQuarrie for instance. And he's not going to want his name on it anyhow, so it's going to be a pseudonym -- but he'd probably still charge the same amount.

The point is that there are plenty of excellent amateur indie writers that are involved in small-budget films. Why don't these B-movie action stars seek them out? It's almost as if these B-movie stars want to stay within some exclusive inner circle or just write/direct these movies themselves?

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Most of the time actors have no say in who they get to work with other than the director or other actors who have already signed on to a project. The actors usually don't come into play well after the writer has completed the script.

The exceptions to this are actors who are also producers or directors themselves. Otherwise, it's just not something that happens UNLESS you are an actor that everyone knows will bring in serious box office bank (Tom Cruise). In that case, the actor can seek to work with good writers because they know that they can both benefit greatly from each other.

If Dolph Lundgren approached Christopher Nolans writing team, do you think that they would be willing to work with him? Unlikely given that Dolph is a mediocre actor who hasn't been able to prove himself as a huge box office draw.

In Dolphs case, he has to audition for the chance to work with great directors who have great writers on their team. If he gets the great directors to believe in him and start casting him, he MAY get the chance to work with great writers on future projects. But, the chances of an actor and writer working together are extremely slim in the Hollywood machine. Mostly because, although their respective work isn't mutually exclusive of one another, their involvement on a project is definitely mutually exclusive due to the various stages at which each job takes place.

Then you also have to ask if Dolph wants to work THAT hard. Perhaps he is at a point in his career where he knows that he can still make films and make a living without having to work too hard for it. Perhaps he still has a lot of B-movie work coming to him? He may not need to seek out opportunities. It's easy to get caught up in a comfort zone like that.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

The point is that there are plenty of excellent amateur indie writers that are involved in small-budget films. Why don't these B-movie action stars seek them out? It's almost as if these B-movie stars want to stay within some exclusive inner circle or just write/direct these movies themselves?

Well, I think it's sort of Venn diagram kind of thing. The Baumbachs and Gerwigs of the world aren't likely to be writing movies like that.

But if the people you mention want some quality writing, they should see if they can nab some of the writers from "Jessica Jones."

[toddly6666]

Yeah, Dolph has been rolling out the B-movie action movies every year - maybe he is comfortable in those roles. But once again, I dont really know about the world of writers, but I would assume there are amateur, indie writers for every genre. I'm not talking about Dolph getting involved with Baumachs or Nolans. There are tons of these short-film writers that have done amazing action or horror movies 5 to 30 minutes long with good writing.

I can understand that hiring an amateur inexperienced director is too risky for the B-movie stars but I always thought that there exists tons of amazing screenplays piling up untouched for any budget and for any genre.

Even Dolph has directed about 6 of his own low-reviewed action movies. Maybe he's just hiring his friends to do the screenplays?

[octagon]

Do you know what happens when B-movie action stars start thinking they need better scripts?

Steven Seagal starts demanding more monologues, that's what happens.

Didn't that teach us anything?