Photobooth: The Movie

On CBS Sunday Morning the other day, I saw a feature they did on the old photobooths that have suddenly become hip and cool over the last couple of years. I'm referring to the little boxes that you step inside, pull a curtain and feed in coins to have your picture taken four times. I think I had seen CBS's treatment of the photobooth story before, but I watched it again anyway. Shortly afterward, I set about my normal weekend chore of mowing the grass.

I haven't really talked about it on here before, but mowing the grass has become one of the main places I go when I need to think creatively. I'll get into the details sometime later. But for now, just keep in mind that I get LOTS of great ideas when I'm mowing the lawn. Go figure.

Anyway, I started thinking about photobooths and how they were gaining popularity and then the phrase "Photobooth: The Movie" just popped into my head. Maybe it had something to do with the physiological effects that mowing the lawn in 98 degree heat can have on a 48-year-old brain.

I get ideas for movies or novels all of the time while mowing, and some of them even end up as half-finished novels taking up space on my hard drive. So, I've decided to put this one out there for somebody who has the time and the dedication to see the project through to fruition. If you're reading this, like the idea and have time to write a screenplay or novel, go for it. But just remember it's MY IDEA. So, remember my name when you make your acceptance speech and plan on sending me 5% of your royalty checks for the rest of your life.

The basic concept for the Photobooth movie goes like this: Our hero is sort of a nerdy guy who gets a job servicing photobooths in LA. He services one in a Hollywood mansion during a party and sees a beautiful starlet, whom he's had an obsession with from watching her on the big screen. He witnesses her having an argument with an evil-looking guy at the party, but doesn't hear what it's about. A couple of days later, he's dispatched to service another photobooth, in a run-down department store in a bad area of town. On his way into the store, he spots a woman he thinks might be the startlet being dragged out of the store and to a waiting van. He considers getting involved but it's over before he has a chance to do anything. When he goes inside, he discovers the picture delivery mechanism is jammed. It still has a strip of four photos of the starlet, looking terrified, being held by the evil-looking guy. He suspects the starlet is in some kind of trouble, but can't prove it. He spends the rest of the movie trying to figure it out and rescue her from the evil-looking guy, stopping every now and then to pull out the strip of four photos of his heroine and stare at them dreamily.




I'm thinking Colin Farrell might be good for this one. Especially since he's already starred in a movie called Phone Booth.

It will be great for marketing the DVD at Amazon. They can let you have both Photobooth and

Phone Booth for a reduced price.

I thought about Robin Williams, since he's done One Hour Photo, but I don't know, something didn't seem right.

But, then again, the One Hour Photo & Photobooth combination would also be great for a double-DVD marketing promotion at Amazon.

But, what if they BOTH starred in Photobooth? If Robin played the bad guy they could run a Photobooth & PhoneBooth & One Hour Photo TRIPLE DVD promotion. (If you're already typing away on the screenplay, be sure to include me in the casting meetings. I'm getting some really good ideas here, and I'm not even mowing!)