Subject: Re: Housh/Brown ANONYMOUS outline
From: Daniel Conaway <dconaway@WritersHouse.com>
Date: 12/27/11, 07:24
To: "'barriticus@gmail.com'" <barriticus@gmail.com>, "'greggatghc@gmail.com'" <greggatghc@gmail.com>

Hi, gents--

So Gregg: you've got to make time for Barrett to fill in these gaps. Barrett's point about crunch-time is absolutely right. No joke. You guys now need to be in constant communication with each other. And these conversations I've been arranging with film people? Well, obv it'll be great for all of us when we sell film rights; but I'm going to tell CAA that we need to postpone those until the book's done. Every hour you would have spent on the phone in LA is an hour I need you to call Barrett instead. He needs your focus more than we need an early film sale. This has to be the absolute priority; the film stuff will have to wait.

Also, Barrett: by writing to Julia about what you need from Gregg, you signal to her that this communication I allude to isn't already happening, and we don't want her to know too much about how the sausage gets made, lest it diminish her confidence / enthusiasm. So keep J out of the loop on that stuff going forward, OK? Use me to communicate to her.

For example, she asks when she'll have the first chapter. Let me know how it's going (perhaps we can discuss that amongst the three of us) and I'll answer her--for the time being, that's how this should work, OK?

For now: I want you guys to set firm times for a minimum of three phone calls per week. These aren't optional; even if you're not sure what the topic will be, it doesn't matter. You guys HAVE to be speaking, on a constant and regular basis. And Gregg, I need you to be proactive--ask Barrett what he needs, where he has gaps, and then fill them in for me.

Can you both email me back about this? Thanks.

-Dan



Dan Conaway
Literary Agent
Writers House
 
From: barri2009 [mailto:barriticus@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 09:34 PM
To: Cheiffetz, Julia <juliac@amazon.com>; Gregg Housh <greggatghc@gmail.com>
Cc: Daniel Conaway; Salisbury, Katie <katiesal@amazon.com>
Subject: Re: Housh/Brown ANONYMOUS outline
 
I'll take a look at these comments when I get home. If you're referring to the section on the scientology affair, this was done over the course of a dinner I had with gregg in nyc a few weeks ago, and the text it was based on was written with the intention of appearing later in the book, rather than the first chapter, which is where it's now slated to appear, so it doesn't yet have all the background and spelled-out implications that we'll be putting into the final product. Additionally, I hadn't yet gotten all the details from him that would be needed to truly bring it alive. Regarding that, I'll need gregg to go through his e-mails from that era and pick out any text that might be useful for me to draw upon, and now that we're approaching crunch time, I'll need him to also start jotting down notes in the notebook I suggested he get so that things that occur to him/are remembered throughout the day will also be available. As for getting you a chapter, I've been working on the second one this week, which consists of his own personal story from childhood til his arrest, and the two of us are scheduled to talk again this weekend so that I can get further info from him on his warez days, as currently I only have an overview. Altogether, I'll need more info from gregg on some of these topics if we're to have a chapter and a half on them from birth to release from info. One thing that occurs to me: you might write up a short list of questions that strike you as especially interesting about what you know of his life thus far and send them to both of us so he can start thinking about them. In the meantime I've gotten a lot done on the other chapters but still plan on finishing chapter two first if I'm able to get the necessary details from gregg in the next few days.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
From: "Cheiffetz, Julia" <juliac@amazon.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:37:20 -0800
To: Barrett Brown<barriticus@gmail.com>; Gregg Housh<greggatghc@gmail.com>
Cc: Daniel Conaway<dconaway@WritersHouse.com>; Salisbury, Katie<katiesal@amazon.com>
Subject: FW: Housh/Brown ANONYMOUS outline

Hi Barrett, Hi Gregg,

 

See my comments attached. The book should be colorful narrative that is fun to read. You dive into the weeds too quickly without explaining what is at stake, or how Anonymous is an emerging form of civil disobedience. With each chapter you should ask yourself, why does this matter? What is at stake? Why should the reader care? And what is the central theme of this chapter.

 

When can you get  first chapter to me?

 

Happy to talk next week.

 

Best,

Julia

 

From: Daniel Conaway [mailto:dconaway@WritersHouse.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 1:50 PM
To: Cheiffetz, Julia
Cc: 'Barrett Brown'; greggatghc@gmail.com; Stephen Barr
Subject: Housh/Brown ANONYMOUS outline

 

Julia—

 

Just got off the phone w/ Barrett; here’s his revised outline.  Barrett continues to draw Gregg out in terms of personal stories, so there’ll be a LOT more than what you saw in the proposal.  But he and Gregg don’t feel that there’s quite enough material to toggle back-and-forth (a chapter to Gregg, a chapt to Anonymous, and so on)—or, to put it another way, getting enough MORE out of Gregg to make it work as a (roughly) 50-50 split would take months longer than we’ve got.  Nonetheless, they understand well that there needs to be a lot more Gregg woven throughout. 

 

Re the outline:  Basically Barrett’s changed it “so that the second chapter includes the bulk of Gregg's story from birth to his arrest.  The third chapter begins and continues with his incarceration, release, and introduction to the nascent Anonymous culture.  Subsequent chapters will expand on events mentioned in chapter two while sometimes including new ones, with such things being integrated in at those points where they may be relevant to the Anonymous narrative.”

 

Meanwhile, FYI, there’s a TON of interest in Hollywood—Gregg speaks with producers and directors two-three times a week; several he’s had multiple conversations with; there’s interest for feature, there’s interest at HBO…  Two producers flew Gregg out to LA Sunday night for a face-to-face meeting, and last night they made an option offer for feature.  It’s not yet what we’re looking for, but I feel confident that we’ll have something to brag about in the months ahead.

 

I’m sorry for holding this material as I did—these growing pains have been fraught, as I’m sure you’re sick of hearing, but anyway here’s the outline, and of course we’re ready to talk whenever you are.

 

Best,

Dan

 

 

 

Dan Conaway

Literary Agent

Writers House

(212) 696-3825