There’s no doubt that writer Nic Pizzolatto is very good at his job. His first season of “True Detective” is regarded as one of the high marks of the recent “Golden Age of TV.” The second season…well, that all depends on your tastes. And by all accounts, his novel “Galveston” is a great hard-boiled crime thriller, which he would later adapt into the upcoming feature film, hitting theaters and VOD this weekend. However, when you look at the credits for the film, one thing is clear — Pizzolatto isn’t listed as a writer. And thanks to a new report, we know why.
Producer Tyler Davidson sent a statement to EW detailing why Pizzolatto isn’t the credited writer on “Galveston,” and why the pseudonym of Jim Hammett was used instead:
“When Mélanie [Laurent] came on board to direct ‘Galveston,’ she had a strong vision for the film she wanted to make, and the producing team fully supported that vision, which included her significant contributions to the screenplay. Mélanie may have deserved a shared screenplay credit. However, because Mélanie was not formally engaged as a writer on the film, and because of the [Writers Guild of America] rule that stipulates automatic guild arbitration when shared credit between a production executive (director) and writer is sought, we elected not to pursue that credit configuration.”
He continued, “My personal opinion is that Nic did not feel the final script reflected his work as the sole credited writer, and his representatives advised us to credit him with his pseudonym.”
This isn’t the first time that Pizzolatto has had issues with people changing up his work. Back in April, HBO announced that “Green Room” and “Hold the Dark” director Jeremy Saulnier left the production of season 3 of “True Detective” due to “scheduling conflicts” after completing only two of the eight episodes. It was later revealed that on-set friction between Saulnier and Pizzolatto was to blame for the director leaving.
And when you hear the “Galveston” director discuss her approach to the film, you can see how Laurent’s vision might have clashed with Pizzolatto, who she admits she never met. “My way of working involves feeling my instincts. You shoot a scene, go back home, and feel like, ‘OK, I need to change things tomorrow! We need to add another scene because now it’s not working anymore [or the actors] did something strong and so we need to follow it.’ Every day I was like, ‘Shit, they’re doing so many strong things in powerful scenes,’ so I added moments of life into the script,” explained Laurent.
She continues by explaining why she took such risks with the film, and why she wanted to put her own personal stamp on “Galveston,” “The big pressure for me was: This is the first shot I had in America [as a director] making an American movie about an American story while being a film director from France. [I was afraid of] not making something good enough and to be able to make another movie there. The idea was to do something very different. Production-wise and acting-wise, we didn’t want to make anything that looked like a Nic movie.”
READ MORE: ‘True Detective Season 3’ Teaser Trailer: HBO’s Show Returns In January 2019
As we point out in our review of “Galveston,” it’s the emotional moments, clearly added by Laurent, that lift the film from it’s crime-thriller genre conventions. “…Laurent is a confident director who elevates the pulpy plot of Pizzolato’s novel into a unique reflection of characters on the margins of society,” states the review.
Regardless of who Jim Hammett actually is, “Galveston” is a film that’s definitely worth checking out.