CHANGE OF MIND

“A tough, authentic script,” said Newsweek’s David Ansen of Neil Jimenez’s work on the controversial Island Pictures release “River’s Edge.” But wasn’t this the same David Ansen who, as a jury member at the 1983 Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards, announced that “none of the scripts was up to Goldwyn standards.” And wasn’t Jimenez’s script--then called simply “The River”-- one of the nine student finalists submitted to the blue-ribbon panel?

Ansen, just a wee embarrassed, told us from his NYC office that he and fellow jurors (producer Lawrence Turman and director Franklin Schaffner) “wanted to make a statement about the poor overall quality of the submitted scripts. At the time, I felt the best script was Jimenez’s, but the others clearly didn’t share that opinion. The three of us could not reach a consensus and it was decided at a lunch we had with Sam Goldwyn Jr. not to give any official awards (that year).”

He added that as one of five judges at this year’s Park City (Utah) Film Festival, where the completed film of “Edge” was in competition, he was again outvoted when he suggested it be given the event’s top prize (which was shared by “Waiting for the Moon” and “The Trouble With Dick”).

In 19 days of release, “Edge” has taken in $570,010, playing at only 32 theaters.