Matt and Ben Play 'Fairy Godfather'

Boston Herald. Tuesday, March 06, 2001.
By Stephen Schaefer

A former Chicago health insurance salesman is getting his big break in Hollywood, thanks to Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

The Cambridge buddies' first Project Greenlight contest, a competition on the Internet for an unknown screenwriter to not just sell a screenplay but make it as a film, ended late last week when Pete Jones was declared the winner for his screenplay Stolen Summer.

"Ultimately, it was very difficult for us to make a decision,'' said Affleck. "It came down to, Pete's script is the most emotionally affecting. One thing that can't be taught is the ability to convey emotion and write a story that resonates with people. Pete's unequivocally did that. It's a heartfelt story about real people and not derivative, not 'Hollywood' in any way.''

Jones said his winning story is about "an 8-year-old Irish Catholic boy and a 7-year-old Jewish boy dying of cancer, and how they try to figure a way for the Jewish boy to get to heaven. Along the way they embrace the differences in their lives and religions.''

For his reward, Jones gets to direct his script for Miramax Pictures, which put up $1 million to produce it. As he makes Stolen Summer, Jones will followed by a documentary crew.

There reportedly were 7,300 screenplays in the competition.

"This started 18 months ago as an idea from Miramax TV and we liked the idea,'' Damon said. "Miramax Films agreed to make the movie and HBO is doing a 13-episode series on what happens to Pete and the making of the movie. It's a reality and 'Inside Hollywood' show.

``The show begins airing in January (2002),'' he continued, "and the movie debuts in April to coincide with the last episode. We're exec-producing the movie and will appear in the series.''

Damon and Affleck, of course, were unknowns and outsiders in Hollywood until their Good Will Hunting was produced and earned them Oscars for original screenplay. Greenlight, which will continue with another contest, is their way of proving a point.

"We took exception to the idea that the only good writers were working in Hollywood already,'' said Damon. "Also this came from people always asking us, 'How do I do it?' ''

Jones, 31, credits his wife, a teacher, for convincing him to leave Chicago for Los Angeles, where he has struggled for three years to get scripts sold.

"I hope in my career I'm as generous as they are,'' he said of Damon and Affleck. "It's just great to work with people who would even think of a project like this and remember a lot of people like me out there looking for a chance. It's amazing when you dream and the reality exceeds your dream.''