It’s fun sometimes to kick back as a writer and do some pie-in-the-sky hypothesizing about something you’d absolutely love to work on.  This is, of course, frowned down upon by some, but to them I give a hearty raspberry and move on.  It doesn’t hurt to dream, and some of my best writing comes out of shooting for that elusive moon.

So what are my dream writing gigs?  Some of you may already know, but I’ll lay them all out here anyway.  I’ll also explain why each one is pie-in-the-sky.  It’s all good though.

A James Bond Film

Ever since they’ve rebooted the series with Casino Royale, and not the trippy Counter-Culture one from way back, I’ve wanted to see where they’re taking it now as compared to all of the others.  The villains are more real rather than over-the-top, the action is more visceral, and the stories are grittier.

Why it won’t happen: Being a Yank means most likely I would automatically be out of the running for that job.  I hear it’s fun though.  You don’t write the script in a vacuum but rather work with people who have been established in the franchise for a long time to come up with ideas and story elements.  That would be a nice change of pace from flying solo behind the keyboard.

A Predator Film

And no, not one with the Alien in it, although I do have a special place in my heart for the little chestbursters. Problem is, each franchise has a separate place in my heart for each one.

I mean a pure continuation of the canon storyline from Predator 2.  As an exercise, I wrote out two quick loglines for possible stories in my notebook.  Even if it never happens, I got to stretch the ol’ dura mater from the inside on it.

Why it won’t happen: Somehow I doubt that 20th Century Fox is going to be banging on my door or calling me anytime soon to hear those pitches.

An Episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Just one.  I’ve been a fan and critic of the entire franchise since seeing the first movie as a little kid.  After watching this last season on Hulu, it’s grown on me a lot.  The storyline is no longer straight black-and-white/man vs. machine anymore.

Why it won’t happen: I’m pretty sure they have a stable of series writers already in place with the entire next season plotted out and episodes already penned.  Plus, the likelihood of an outside writer getting a treatment in would be slim to nil.  If anybody knows differently let me know.

Why it really won’t happen: Fox doing what it always does to great sci-fi shows in the past has apparently pulled the plug on the show.

A Joss Whedon Project

I’ll admit to not really liking Dollhouse.  That’s okay. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,  Firefly, Serenity, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer make up for it.  Angel, well, let’s just say that it kinda dragged on longer than I thought it should have.  It’s my own opinion, and I’ll stick to it.

Joss Whedon isn’t afraid to express an opinion and stick to it either.  Which is refreshing in this industry where many are afraid to be honest lest it cost them their career.

Why it won’t happen: Joss Whedon’s probably out of my league.  He’s too cool for school.  He’s…okay, I’m out of metaphors.  And while I do dig his work, I can’t do a song and dance number.  They’re fun to watch though, especially when he does it.

Live Action Jin-Roh

Anime and I have a tenuous relationship.  There’s very little of it that I truly like.  Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade was one of those feature-length anime that did intrigue me to the point that I thought it would make an excellent live action movie.

Why it won’t happen: there’s that whole thing about not having a few million dollars lying around to get the rights to it for starters.  And then there’s the next bit about it most likely needing a studio-sized budget.  Not exactly an indie-friendly story.

Live to Dream, Dream to Live (and write too!)

And yes, while it would be one of those great things for us as writers to get calls from people because of a blog post, in the real world it just ain’t gonna happen.  This is the realistic side of me talking now.  As writers we have to get out there and pound the pavement because this field is already full of competition.

But it doesn’t hurt to dream.