Austin Film Festival

So, I applied for the Austin film festival as both a screenwriter and a teleplay writer. I think the pilot turned out really good. I may have wanted another week, but I was just tweaking tweaks.

This starts a new period in my life. I was once a screenwriter who produced my own content. However, now I would like to move into a writer who is noticed for the writing, not the directing.

We'll see how it goes.

Working on a proper film

Okay, so I've worked on tons of films, from no budget to millions. However, I've been off the production wagon for a while, both because of my old job as an executive producer and my disability.

However, this past week I was able to work as a production assistant for an IMAX documentary "We the People". Now, I've been director, DP, producer, and Writer on different projects, but I needed the money to help me move, and I liked the premise. Not to mention, I've never even seen 70mm film, let alone a 70mm film camera, so it was exciting to be able to work with the format.

I made sure to take extensive notes on how their production was set up, ask everyone what their history with the project was, and take stock of how the ADs ran a set. And I have to say, it was refreshing to be with people who know what they are doing. There was no yelling, or belittling, or confusion. Everything ran properly, like a well-oiled machine.

And, it comes down to this...plan properly. The thing that separated them from the new production companies with less money...yes, the food was better, and yes the equipment was better, and yes the people were more experienced... was the preparation, and the fact they knew exactly what they wanted and how to get it. In addition, they had plenty of crew to work in the positions they needed. They brought their own generators to set and had their own trailers. But, the major thing is, they were prepared and they treated their people with respect.

So, take a lesson from it, if you're in production, treat everyone with respect and figure out what the heck you are doing, don't yell, it's not becoming, and keep your nose clean.

LA/Budget

With the moving to LA, things are getting hectic. I have been writing, rewriting, and worrying like crazy. The thing about LA is, you have no more excuses. The past three years I've said that it's because I'm not in La, but now if I'm in LA there are no more excuses.

Also, we have finally received a budget for JBF and looking it over, we are not happy. We are logging all of the errors and problems in order to discuss with them at our next meeting. We hope that it will be productive and happen before I move to LA, but there is nothing that guarantees it.

The thing about dealing with independent producers, lawyers, or financiers is that nothing is quick. There are deadlines that are constantly blown, forcing x to happen when y should happen. We have probably blown 10-20 financial opportunities waiting for this budget, and when we received it we were very underwhelmed. Maybe of the sections were not complete, there were several sections that were ALLOWS instead of actual weekly numbers, and the detail in the sections was not adequate. To top it off, it was a budget I could have put together in 2 days, not 6 months. To top of the top off, there was no line item for a writer. I wrote the script, did 3 revisions and a polish, and there was NO line item for it. One of the many joys of independent production.

See, this is one of the reasons I am happy about LA. There is a professionalism about the town, I would hope. There are TV studios, Movie Studios, production companies, producers, and people who understand business.

Update and restarting the blog

I haven't done very much for the past few months. But here is an update.

-Jan 21--Fired from my job.

-Feb. 12--got m********d.

-Fed 21st-Meeting with B** ***k in P********h. Told to expect budget and such in March.

-March 29th- Got married for real. With the ring and everything.

-April 14th--Back from the honeymoon.

-April 15th--Still haven't gotten Budget.

-April 18th--Decide to write 8 specs, including three originals.

-May 1st--Still no budget. Got interest in Red Bicycle from 2 dc producers.

-May 10th--Karen got a job, and we're officially moving to LA on June 14th.

-May14--Released from Medical Care.

-May 17--final 8 specs right on time. Eat it everyone else.

-May 27th--Got budget, finally, which needs to be fixed heavily.

Now that I'm feeling better. I'm going to be blogging again, but not everyday, that's just stupid, but whenever I can.

free flow of ideas

After the football games, and the self-medication, and the whole thing, I would like to take a moment and reflect on my accident. Basically...I hurt...alot. I can't lift my head up without help. I can't take my brace off except for a couple of seconds. I slept with it on last night and it sucked a lot. The way my computer is set up, I need to look down to write, which is an incredible challenge.

I did however, finish act 1 of Red Bicycle. I think it's pretty good, but I have very little idea what to do with act 2. I always find act 2 is the hardest to do. I always have a good sense of how I want to begin and how I want to end. It's all that in between garbage that's a problem. But, it'll get through it.

I don't really have much more to say. I hope my boss doesn't fire me for this, though.

car accident

so here's how it went down. I was driving to pick up web to get some food and watch the wizards game. I actually left work a little early and was hesitant to go, but i decided to suck it up. Karen wanted me to go to baltimore with her, instead of going to happy hour.

So, there were already things working against me. But, I decided to go, and possibly meet up with karen later in b-more.

I got home about 4:30pm, after leaving work, going back to work, and working for another hour. My boss made me feel like a jerk for wanting to leave, and i was iffy if I had gotten in at 7:30 or 8:00am, so I went back in. It was really odd, actually. Web texted me at 5:05 to ask if I would scoop him. That was about when karen got home. Me and karen hung out for about 10 minutes, and then I was off.

I went out of my house and began driving. Web texted me to ask if I was on my way
, which I was. I turned onto 198, and drove a few miles. 198 is an awful road. At one point it goes down to 2 lanes with no shoulder. You pass a gas station and a 7-11 on your left. Right about there, you can't see what is coming from the perpendicular roads. However, when an emergency vehicle comes, you can see the flashing lights. And that's what happened. A fire truck came up on the intersection, and people were passing it. Well, I stopped like you're supposed to. 1,2,3,4,5 seconds went by. Then BAM! A truck hits me in the back. My entire trunk is like an accordian. It's pretty awesome.

And that's how it happened. I went to the urgent care, I got a neck brace, and my fingers are killing me. I feel awful.

now I have to get my car fixed, and all sorts of other things.

Coming up...awful feeling awesomeness.

yesterday

i did it again. I would like to say its because I got in a car accident, which I did, but that had nothing to do with it. I'm just a lazy bum. Just like this script. I keep putting it off. I know I do. I know if i sat down for a day or two I could bang out the entire script, but instead I watch scrubs for the 100th time, or play spider solitaire. So, that's that. I can only make up for it and try better. And by the way, I'm counting this as one, even though it's a huge cop-out.

Coming up...accident awesomeness.