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Thanks for the Plug TomCruise.com

August 29, 2010 by Scott W. Smith

A few months ago Diablo Cody gave Screenwriting from Iowa a shout out on her Twitter account and I thought that was pretty cool.

Today I just learned that the blog on TomCruise.com just gave a nice plug to my blog Screenwriting from Iowa. It took me about 15 minutes to be convinced that TomCruise.com/blog really was “The Official Blog” from “The Official Site” of the real Tom Cruise.  Then it took another 15 minutes to let it all sink in.

I’m not saying that Tom Cruise writes his own blog (it states there is a team), but since it is his blog, I’d like to at least think that means Cruise is a part of the team and I’m somehow in his radar. And that’s pretty amazing, considering I’m typing these posts 1816.03 miles from Hollywood. It’s up there with getting my an Emmy for the Screenwriting from Iowa blog. I definitely think it will change the dynamics a bit.

The post on Cruise’s blog (August 26, 2010) called Guide for Aspiring Screenwriters Part 1: Story Matters Most When Writing a Screenplay! is a well thought out post that talks about Syd Field, Robert McKee, Blake Snyder, Script & Creative Screenwriting magazines, the Austin Film Festival, Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, NYU, UCLA, USC, and John August’s blog. Pretty much a who’s who in screenwriting. And in there is a mention for this blog;

For a more off-beat look at writing, the Screenwriting from Iowa blog provides screenwriters with a slightly removed take from the Hollywood norm. Scott Smith blogs about how people outside of Los Angeles can have their stories told and sold for production in TinselTown. It’s inspiring for those of us around the world who aspire to Hollywood magic without having to live in Hollywood itself.

Thanks for the plug TomCruise.com.

I’m not saying I have a lunch date planned with Tom Cruise, but this could turn into the biggest thing to happen to this blog. Time will tell.

Now if I were to have lunch with Tom Cruise I would tell him about the conversation I had a couple of years ago on a video shoot with  the great college & Olympic wrestler and coach Dan Gable. Cruise, who was a wrestler in high school, has mentioned that Gable was a hero of his. Writer John Irving was/is developing a script on Gable’s life, and I told Gable that Cruise would be perfect to help them develop the project. Gable said, that it’s impossible to get through Cruise’s people.

Gable is as Iowan as Iowa gets. (He was raised just a few miles from where I’m typing this post.) And as a collegiate and Olympic champ as well as head coach of 10 National Championship teams (at the University of Iowa) he has been called the greatest player and coach in the history of sports. If Screenwriting from Iowa can help make steps in bringing Gables story to the big screen via Cruise that would make two and a half years of blogging very worthwhile.

Cruise and I graduated from high school the same year and I’d like to think we’d have a lot in common and that he’d enjoy my coming of age script. I’d joke with him that in 1983 when All the Right Moves came out (which he starred in) I was in film school at the time, studying acting, and only two years removed from 11 years of playing organized football and wondered why I wasn’t in the film.

I’d also tell him that my all-time favorite low-budget digital film is Pieces of April, starring his wife Katie Holmes. And that movie just happened to be written and directed by Iowan—turned New Yorker,  Peter Hedges.

But for now let me just thank Tom Cruise and his team for the plug. (And I think I could fit in a lunch meeting sometime in September.)

P.S. Just for the record, the other blog mentioned by TomCruise.com is by screenwriter John August who just happened to do his undergraduate work at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. And one of the producers of my favorite Tom Cruise film, Rain Man, is Mark Johnson who earned an MA in Film at the University of Iowa. Johnson won a Best Picture Oscar for his work on Rain Man. I think Tom Cruise and his team understand that talent often comes from seemingly unlikely places.

Scott W. Smith


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Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged Tom Cruise | 9 Comments

9 Responses

  1. on August 29, 2010 at 4:11 am Screenwriting From Iowa » Thanks for the Plug TomCruise.com

    […] A few months ago Diablo Cody gave Screenwriting from Iowa a shout out on her Twitter account and I thought that was pretty cool. Today I just learned that the blog TomCruise.com just gave a nice plug to my blog Screenwriting from Iowa. It took me about 15 minutes to be convinced that TomCruise.com/blog really was […] Original Source… […]


  2. on August 29, 2010 at 7:51 am joe

    Scott, I’ve enjoyed your blog, wondered with this new found publicity would love to see you come with a product.?

    Maybe straightforward book on scripts, editing, etc. or I’m sure you know your readers well enough that they have requested something.

    Did I miss it, or have you shown bits and pieces or full movie on your 48 hours for movie thing.?

    Again, enjoy your writing and blog.

    Joe


  3. on August 29, 2010 at 11:12 am Scott W. Smith

    Thanks—I actually did several post on one of the short films I did this year for the 48 Hour Project. Here is the post where I actually showed the finished product.

    https://screenwritingfromiowa.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/no-day-at-the-spa/

    Or you can Google; “No Day at the Spa” and the film on You Tube currently comes up first.


  4. on August 29, 2010 at 3:08 pm Jim

    Congrats! I’m currently reading Tom Grimes memoir about his time spent in Iowa (excellent btw), and thought of your blog. Sweet mention!


  5. on August 29, 2010 at 5:52 pm Pete

    Very cool, Scott! Good luck with that lunch invitation. All the Best, Buddy!


  6. on August 29, 2010 at 7:21 pm Scott W. Smith

    Thanks Pete.

    @Jim–Tom Grimes literally wrote the book on the Iowa Writers Workshop, okay he edited the book…””The Workshop: Seven Decades from the Iowa Writers Workshop.”

    His book “Mentor” is on my to read list. I will do a blog down the road on Grimes. In the meantime those interested can read his website: http://www.tomgrimes.org/


  7. on August 30, 2010 at 7:12 pm rcjr

    Congrats Scott. I bet this news had you jumping about your couch, giddy as a school girl. Seriously, I pray this bodes well for your labors. God bless.


  8. on August 31, 2010 at 12:40 am John

    Honestly, I’m a new junkie and my folder of ‘news’ bookmarks gets visited first every time I’m on the internet. And your blog is in that small, special folder…


  9. on January 22, 2011 at 11:36 am Diablo Cody+3=823 « Screenwriting from Iowa

    […] year the shout out by Diablo Cody on Twitter as well as the TomCruise.com were bonuses and will keep me going another year. And I hope some things I write encourage you. In […]



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      “And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty. ”—John Grogan (Marley & Me) Lots of tears were shed last week as we had to say goodbye to our dog. Ginger came into […]
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