Max Landis, the former Hollywood screenwriter behind such critically acclaimed hits as Bright and Victor Frankenstein, has spent the past year in hiding.
In June of 2019, The Daily Beast published an incredibly well-sourced and heavily corroborated article wherein eight women accused Max Landis of both emotional and sexual abuse, ranging from workplace sexual harassment to rape. For many in the industry, word of Max’s abusive, predatory pattern of behavior had been an open secret for years, with the caveat that, as the son of legendary producer John Landis, he was untouchable.
But the expose opened the floodgates. While never tried in court, Max was immediately dropped by his manager and unofficially blacklisted in the industry.
For a while, everyone seemed to forget about Max Landis, giving him just enough leeway to regroup and decide it was time to re-emerge with a whole new brand. No longer would Max Landis be Max Landis, the disgraced screenwriter credibly accused of sexual abuse by eight women, or Max Landis, the guy who allegedly pretended to be his own fictional ex-girlfriend on a wresting forum for six years. Now, Max Landis would be Max Landis, creative coach and consultant for screenwriters.
Operating under the Instagram handle @glassplanetconsulting, but still using his real name for some reason, Max Landis promised “A holistic creative coaching and consulting resource for screenwriters living and working in Los Angeles. Coming March 8th.” Fitting, considering March 8th is International Women’s Day.
As it turns out, nobody wants Max Landis back.
Max Landis subsequently set his new Instagram account to private and changed his much-awaited-for-release date to March 10th, presumably after deciding he wasn’t very popular with women.
While it’s hard to say what advice Max Landis thinks he’s qualified to give budding screenwriters aside from, “Be the son of one of the richest men in Hollywood and then pretend that your successes were earned even though all but one movie you ever made were abject failures,” here’s some free advice for Max Landis that make his life a little bit easier: When eight different women credibly accuse you of sexual abuse, you don’t get to rebrand. Stop trying. It’s never going to happen.
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