Sometimes, a little bit of effort can go a long way.
It's a pretty common theme in life, of course, but it's also one of the themes in the 1983 film Valley Girl -- in which a young, foxy Nicolas Cage plays a working-class punk who sets out on an uphill battle to win the affections of a preppy valley girl against a classic New Wave soundtrack.
Coincidentally, when Clay Weiner heard that MGM was planning a musical remake of the film, he knew he would have to follow the same advice and put a little bit of effort into his bid for director. After all, he was mostly known only for his work in commercials up to that point -- and he was competing with several well-known directors with colorful, impressive resumes.
But he took on the challenge, and eventually won the title of director after putting together a self-funded three-minute demo reel of choreographed dance routines set to '80s songs which will appear in the remake.
Now that Weiner (and Paramount) are on board, production of Valley Girl will start very soon. Jenny Lumet, who wrote the screenplay for Rachel Getting Married, is already working on a rewrite for the script. Read the full story here.
