Bill Hare

After advertising in the 60's at Leo Burnett, I hand-made an art house feature, FINNEY, that received a load of publicity and Siskel & Ebert liked. Next, despite good reviews from John Simon and Jerry Tallmer and a "remarkable company" (below), my first play, GOD SAYS THERE IS NO PETER OTT, was done in by Clive Barnes of the New York Times. Then I had a hot screenplay, ROBBER BARON BLISS, and began a 12-year frontal assault on Hollywood (trying for control), was beaten back, and in 1984 turned to making industrials that were much better than they had to be (which isn’t saying much). Fed up with the corporate gate keepers but with access to executive suites, I quit production in 1994 to specialize in speechwriting for Fortune 50 CEOs and senior execs – easy work that left time for serious noodling. Burning the bridges to those VIPs, I wrote a dynamite proposal, got a nice advance, and spent three years on a narrative non-fiction expose, CELEBRATION OF FOOLS (AMACOM), about the rise and near-collapse of JCPenney. Out in June of 2004, the book received excellent (available) reviews.

Presently, I am finishing a love story novel meant to be a best seller, and have three novels planned: (1) a woman looks back from a huge business success to a turbulent life and a single moment that haunts her to this day; (2) action/​adventure/​empire/​great characters/​tempestuous love story/​humor/​railroads & financial skullduggery in 1875; (3) a literary murder mystery set in 1950 Ann Arbor involving a fixed high school football game.

WARHORSE, my WWII epic tragedy is the best thing I will ever write. Sir Patrick Stewart was "riveted" and agreed to do it, putting us in business. A month later he backed out (I must stress: in a gentlemanly fashion). So we're looking for another Name to prove that a great downer can be uplifting and commercial.

I have also prpeared a 48-page Proposal for a nonfiction memoir, REMARKABLE COMPANY, about the many who became rich and famous (including Rue McClanahan) after my 1972 Off Broadway flop (OTT, above).

Finally, top notch screenplays (where I started in the 1970's) -- two of the novels above having been developed from scripts that were optioned a lot (fate returning them to my trunk). The one stand-alone script, about a young black doctor in 1965 South Carolina, could make Sean Combs the movie star he covets -- and is producible for a very low budget. Sample production DVD available.