Daily Affirmation with...

"It's hard to rely on your good intentions. When my heads full of things that I can't mention." Yes, I enjoy a little Toad the Wet Sprocket here & there, and it coincides with today's thought. Resurrecting this blog has proved more difficult than I expected. A new season of life doesn't necessarily mean a new me. I've found it hard to make time to process my thoughts and write.

In September I competed in a 48-hour film competition, sponsored by the Producers Guild of America. It reinvigorated my passion for filmmaking. And it allowed me to have life-changing discussions with the cinematographer and editor. We each want to make movies yet fell into other things. In our desire to encourage the others to seek after more, we ended up guiding each other to an incredible, scary idea. Starting our own production company!

And that is what we have done. Our first goal has been to develop our mission statement. What are we about? What is our purpose? Why are we doing this? Why can't we get it done? I assumed it would be challenging but it's really quite hard. I come from a long line of opinionated talkers. We don't distill. We jaw. Add on all my soapboxes, throw in two other guys, and you have a task the size and dexterity of Jabba the Hutt. Although it's been a slow process we are making head way. So keep your eyes out for it. Probably on our website.

Besides our vision, our production company is doing what any production company does. Produce. My friend and restauranteur, Tanya Holland, has agreed to let us do a promotional video for her place, The Brown Sugar Kitchen (ala pro bono). A I'll-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine deal. She's gets a video for future investors and we build our portfolio, and someone who will spread the word of our work. She and her husband, Phil, OK'd the concept so me and Jerry, the DP, scouted the location today. Made some assessments of the lighting and possible shot locations, popped into DTC Grip & Electric to get some ideas on how to rig the lights, and now my job begins. Logistics. Planning. Scheduling. Researching. Budgeting. We shoot later this month and should have a final product by early December. I'll keep you posted. More importantly, I'll tell you when we get a paid gig.

"Money, it's a gas. Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash."

                       - Money Pink Floyd

Note: if you're in the Bay Area and you're a filmmaker, DTC should be your stop for all lighting gear. Great people. Great prices.

New Look = New Direction

I haven't written anything here in a long time. Almost ten months. Writing was initially put on hold as my wife and I bought our first home. But then California's economy struck my employer. Only a few survived. I was not one.

Coincidentally, a few weeks prior to all this I had been wrestling with God. I wanted an answer and wouldn't let go until I got one! Are my dreams and His plans one and the same? Would I produce full-length feature films and hour-long TV dramas? Or, continue to perform administrative duties at an educational institution, doing the occasional short film here and there? I took a week off from media and listened. And listened. And listened. It was kind of like Naaman in 2 Kings. He had to dip seven times into the Jordan to be healed of his leprosy. He kept dipping and dipping, and nothing. I wonder if he felt like giving up on #5 or 6 because I did. But I couldn't give up that easily. This is my love and passion. At the end of the week I had what I had sought, a direction. A purpose. A promise! "Pursue your dreams and I'll take care of your family".

So no longer am I a Frustrated Filmmaker trying to put food on the table and make films but a Journeyman Filmmaker, taking my past experiences and leaping into the future.

Xanadu

I admit, I have watched the Olivia Newton-John movie (In high school I read the Coleridge poem referenced by the title but I didn't get it. Maybe I'll revisit it). A classic in its own right. You can't beat song and dance numbers that include roller skating and music by ELO, unless you just don't like musicals. Today I'm struck by the premise - an artist stuck creatively. Been there, done that. There were days I would go to write, buy a cup of coffee, sit down and realize I had nothing. So I sat. And sat. Then usually left earlier than I planned with feelings of disappointment. If I wanted to be a screenwriter shouldn't I be writing everyday? How do other writers deal with creative voids? I was stuck.

Then I received a book from my mom, "Making a Good Writer Great" by Linda Seger. I picked up a lot of ideas as I read through it. Well, one of them came in handy last week. I sat down at my local Peet's at my usual time of 6:30a and began to wonder what I'd write. So I utilized a writing exercise Seger suggested. Pick three random nouns (you know, a person, place or thing) and create a story that incorporates them. So I looked around and found one of each. I said my little prayer, "Come on, Lord, give me something! Anything. I'll take a "Lost" rip-off."

And it came! And to my surprise I liked the story. In fact, I really liked it. So I'm working on it now as the next short I do. Maybe later this year. We'll see how funding and logistics play out.

Have no fear, loyal supporters, the development of this short will not interfere with the completion of the others. My office is almost work ready. Editing, here I come!

Great is Thy Faithfulness and New Every Morning

It's been a while since I posted here. With the holidays and family coming in from Illinois I didn't have any time to sit and write. But life is back to Normal, or at least my sister is (I'm originally from Normal, IL).

As I sit down to write Aerosmith's "Amazing" is playing. And the chorus is very fitting to what I have been thinking about:

It's Amazing
With the blink of an eye you finally see the light
It's Amazing
When the moment arrives that you know you'll be alright

Yeah, yeah, I know some may consider the "Get A Grip" album to be a sell-out but I have a fond place in my heart for it. It came out while I was in high school. Plus it's relevant to my current thought, hope. You see during my winter break (my job gave me a week+ off) my family and I cleaned out the house and the garage. And I mean cleaned. We pitched and donated, sorted and organized, Swiffer-ed and polished. It was very energizing. I think and work better in clean, clutter-free environments. So my office, aka the garage, has once more been reclaimed. I raised my own Iwo Jima flag.

So 2011 and filmmaking are already starting off on the right foot. A little tidying up here and there and I'm ready to work. My game plan is to complete a small project I started a few months back with a musician friend of mine, Elaine, then move onto a larger project I started in 2009, "Wanted". The challenge will be to stay focused on them until they're done. This is my inspiration:

Yo Joe!

Writing...again.

As a birthday present this year my wife bought me a new writing pen and a gift card to Peet's, where I write. Her support is a little overwhelming. She's pushing me to succeed. What! (I'm stealing this phrase from the show "Psych").

Today I'm working out the concepts for a web series. The big challenge: how to draw an audience and hold their attention. I'll be back here tomorrow banging it out. For now I must meet my brother for breakfast.

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Amendment

My wife finally read the post about moving and she thought I didn't properly convey the situation so I will do so now.

I have always wanted to live in the Bay Area. It's about time for the film industry to be revitalized here and I want to be here and a part of it when it does. The prospect of leaving here to move to LA does not seem appealing but if it got me closer to my dream then I would bite the bullet.

My wife's desire to stay in the Bay Area is so awesome. We are now aggressively searching for a home to buy...with a place I can use as my office. 2011 could be a turning point year.

We'll see.

What's the Story, Morning Glory?

The wife and I had a rarity this past weekend, a date. With three kids, one of which is a newborn, adult time usually amounts to washing dishes, making lunches, brushing our teeth and crawling into bed. So this date was well deserved, and enjoyed. We did the "dinner-and-a-movie" bit. We ended up watching "Morning Glory" with Rachel McAdams, Patrick Wilson, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton. It's a romantic-comedy with some funny moments. What it lacked was real relationships.

Initially I thought the romantic relationship between Becky (McAdams) and Adam (Wilson) was going to be endearing and realistic. Instead, moments after proclaiming they would take things slow, they hop into bed.

Here are two characters who clearly want to be known. Becky is afraid a man will leave her when he realizes how focused she is on her work, even a little neurotic. Adam is pigeon holed by his looks and upbringing. They're hoping someone will look beyond the exterior and see them for who they are inside. So the screenwriter and the director respond with having them sleep together. Don't get me wrong, I understand their reasons. Sex is good and for those moments you feel close to someone. It doesn't create a foundation for any lasting relationship.

I'd like to see couples deal with differences, learn to have healthy disagreements or, and more importantly, how to forgive and be forgiven. These are the elements of a relationship I want to see. A good example is "The American President" with Michael Douglas and Annette Benning. Yes, they do sleep together but I think the screenwriter and director did a great job showing their relationship grow.

I know it's hard to write such stories, to conceive of good characters and well developed arcs. It takes time, and time means lost wages. But aren't we risking a lot in the name of profits?