By John Wayne Bosley - Writer/Director/Producer of “amnesia”

In 1977 a film came to the big screen called “Star Wars”, (directed by George Lucas and produced by Twentieth Century Fox) which entertained audiences and changed Hollywood filmmaking forever. Ten years before, Twentieth Century Fox produced another big screen success called “The Planet of the Apes” (produced by Arthur P. Jacobs 1967). Both of these movies were great financial successes and also, within the realm of epic-scale movies, they each had something deeper and more important within the story… relevance. Hidden in these stories, the writers and directors posed important questions about society, religion and many other controversial and personal questions.

Today's quandary: Can a filmmaker truly have relevance and personal deep questions promoted in his/her films and still be entertaining? Recently, there have been various large-budget movies, like “The Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Transformers”, which on the surface are very entertaining, but are they asking any deep personal questions of relevance?

There have been apocalyptic problems being proposed by the media, for example: the Middle East, global warming, Israel/Palestinian relations, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Bird Flu, AIDS, the West Nile Virus, Earthquakes, California wild fires, and Nuclear war, but there aren't epic size films that deal with these problems. And, the movies that do deal with these issues don’t seem to be entertaining. It seems as if the great era of relevant, entertaining movies may have faded away.

I found myself asking the following questions:

1. “What does it take to make a widely successful, entertaining movie that also keeps the story extremely relevant to not only the current generation, but also for the generations to come?”, and

2. “Is it even possible for anyone to ever make something that would become even remotely as impacting as 'Star Wars' or 'The Planet of the Apes?'"

The essential component that I have found in all great films is the type of story that was told. The film's storyline has to be about something that both social conservatives and social liberals would be interested in. Also, it has to be able to peak the curiosity of a broad audience composed of different ages.

Secondly, the story can only be told by an individual that has spent many years grappling with that specific issue. There has to be real soul-searching in order to be able to connect with the audience on a deeper level without being "preachy." I believe that in order to make a movie of relevance you must start with the screen writing. Bad movies start with bad scripts. You can usually find a part, somewhere within a film, where the story gave out and the director had to find some way to keep your attention, even though there were story problems.

Another factor is in making sure that the issue being dealt with is something that has not been done already. -Or if it has been done, you need to show the issue from a different perspective. Michael Moore came out with a movie about 9/11 and the Iraq War, attacking the Bush administration for making decisions that hurt America. But, any other documentary filmmaker that makes a film about Iraq runs the risk of being labeled a “copycat.”

The relevant issue that is being brought up must have some sort of long-lasting impact. If, for instance, a documentary filmmaker, like Michael Moore, made a movie about the Al Gore/George W. Bush election problems, that had happened in Florida, would that movie have relevance 20-30 years from now? Or, what about the last Governor race in Michigan between Dick DeVos and Jennifer Granholm? If a documentary filmmaker had made a movie about that Governor race it would have been relevant at that specific time, but once again would it be relevant 10-20 years down the road? (I predict that a documentary filmmaker will definitely come up with a film about the upcoming 2008 Presidential Campaigns.)

I’m not against the new technologies that have made effect houses, like Industrial Light and Magic and The Orphanage, capable to create larger-than-life special effects. But, I have a problem with movies that just showcase effects and lack story content. -Where did the good stories go? The computer animation abilities that filmmakers can now utilize should help to enhance stories instead of covering up the need of a good story. I believe that we will soon have another “Star Wars” or “Planet of the Apes”, it's just a question of “when."