The first version of Alice and the Monster was created by Andrew R. Deutsch and written by Andrew & me in 2009. Originally, it was a romantic Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, set “backstage” of a romantic comedy. It held only glimpses of the romance, instead following Alice as she navigated the world’s reaction to her recent cancer diagnosis.
We shot a demo pilot in late 2009. It didn’t work. We completely re-wrote and re-cast a major character, changed director and DP and shot a new version in early 2010. It was still not what we’d hoped. The tone was…off. Our actors, both times, were fantastic. Production was strong. It just didn’t work.
We realized the problem wasn’t as small as tweaking a character, or shuffling around our production staff. The problem was on the page, and we needed to address it on the page – it couldn’t be fixed on-set. We set the script aside to cool off for a year and then tore it apart. We added Rick Robinson, who wrote Night of the Zombie King with us, to the writing team. Frederick Snyder, who directed parts of GOLD and NOTZK, came on-board as a story consultant. We embraced the romantic comedy structure and ditched the “backstage” construction. We tempered the sitcom feel with more darkness and realism. Almost instantly, we knew we were on the right track.
We owe tremendous thanks to the cast and crew of those original pilot shoots, especially to the actors who did amazing work in roles that were removed or radically changed in this final product. They gave generously of their time and talent so that we could find our way. In the process, we uncovered a wonderful story and compelling characters that would not have been discovered without them. Development is rough, and failure and mistakes are part of it. Without their help, we could not have come to this place.
Now, let’s make something beautiful.
-David Nett, Jan. 25, 2012