Derek Haas

I got home and used the still early internet to find the playbill for Timothy West's King Lear performance at the Old Vic.

I sent a helpful link via email to Kevin Spacey's creative executive.

I never heard from them again.

I attempted to pitch the idea for the adaptation of the book, but, as you can imagine, it didn't go well.

Now, I had only been to the Old Vic once in my life and it was to see Timothy West perform King Lear, so I knew I was right.

He just stared at me like "are you gonna say anything else that stupid?"

I told him I saw Timothy West perform King Lear at the Old Vic in 2003.

We had just met. He looked at me, flatly, and said, "No."

I said, "No?"

He said that play wasn't there and he would know if it had been performed at the Old Vic as he was aware of all Old Vic productions.

Circa 2005, I had a meeting with Kevin Spacey to discuss adapting a book to which his company owned the rights. He had recently taken over as artistic director of the Old Vic theater and I had been there to see a play in 2003. As you do in meetings like this, it started with some small talk...

I'm fine with those. I just want to read an article from the Athletic or wherever but I don't want a subscription and I don't want to give my name and number and address. Just let me click on the button that says, "read this for $2 and pay with apple pay" and I'd have no problem doing that.

In the old days, newsstands would have magazines and articles and you might see an article tease on the cover and you'd buy that magazine for $4 and take it with you. You didn't have to buy a subscription or give your name and number to the publisher.

Make paying to read one article easy again!

Viral AI video of Brad Pitt fighting Tom Cruise shakes Hollywood Earlier this week, an AI-generated video of Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt went viral, sparking outrage among creatives and the studios alike.

Counterpoint: no.

Saw Send Help with Kristi yesterday and we laughed and gasped the whole way through. Such a fun movie my friends Shannon & Swift wrote from scratch!

Love it.

The word "generational" went from meaning "once in a generation" to "above average" in less than a year.

5. I would work with Jensen again a hundred times. Truly one of the great experiences of my career.

4. No... and one of my friends got called in to help transfer the sets to "permanent storage." 😥

3. I kind of want to write a novella or a graphic novel like Stacy suggests in another tweet. Then when I start considering it, it just seems daunting. I think I need some time.

2. I had the situation in mind and then spoke with my good friend who is a heart surgeon in Dallas. He consulted with some colleagues and they came back to me with glioblastoma. I did some research from there and found out about the emerging treatments.

1. Life has been great. Doing a ton of reading... listening to a lot of music... hanging with the family... trying to help a couple of younger writers get some shows up and running. Doing a bit of writing. How are you?

I'll answer 5 questions today if anyone has anything they'd like to know. Just don't ask anything that would require me to do math.

I’m gonna make a movie that’s only available on the radio.

Does his last name start with a P?

And you said back to me, "I know."

I think it was when you introduced me to Fantastic Negrito and I was like, "This guy knows what's what."

By design.

That was you JoGo.

Malcolm's the one who told me Chicago Fire should be set in a firehouse.

I hope you have a better year ahead of you than Volchek.

Hall, Oates, and I are glad you didn't!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! Stay safe and leave some cookies out for Santa.

I hope by a surgeon!

But I don’t have it, and it isn’t me.