Sunday, March 30, 2008
Shortest Report Ever
Between 6:00pm Friday night and 9:00pm tonight (Sunday) I worked a bit over 32 hours assisting on a short indie film. Must. Sleep. Now.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Being of sound mind...
Hey there. I just finished a four-night intensive class on sound design. Though it (the class) wasn't designed specifically for sound in film, I got a good grasp of the basics, which was very helpful considering I knew very little about it before the class. Of all the people I've been talking to in the industry, everyone has been telling me the same thing regarding sound: bad sound will kill your movie. Bad sound gives you away as an amateur. Do not cut corners when it comes to the sound!!!
Same goes for LIGHTING, another thankless job. Rarely does an average movie-goer watch a film, and notice GOOD lighting as it happens. If it is good lighting, it is natural and expected and it doesn't register, until maybe afterwards when you take more time to think about it. But BAD lighting can stick out like a sore thumb immediately, and is extremely distracting. "Why does there seem to be a spotlight emanating from the base of that potted plant straight up his nose? Mmm, not exactly flattering..."
These are a few of the thousands of things I am trying to absorb, as my friend Phil would say, "like a human sponge." Starting tonight, Phil and I and a few other alumni of our indie filmmaking class are joining our instructor, Michelle Farrell, to work on the set of a 15-minute indie. 30+ hours of free film school, basically. I know it will be a lot of work, long hours, and mostly less-than-glamourous go-fer work for me (Phil's a "grip," which means he gets to carry heavy things), but I am pretty psyched. I am a hands-on learner, and a much better student in action than sitting at a desk taking notes. Stay tuned to find out how it goes.
Oh, and I just realized I didn't follow up on the bank account thing. Setting up a business checking account for the LLC was easy. They do require your charter, notarized Articles of Organization, and Employer Identification Number in hand. As I expected that, I was good to go, and it didn't take any longer than setting up a regular checking account. The checks themselves are more expensive, and I think it cost about $60 for the first set of 125 checks. There is a monthly maintenance fee of $13 if the account doesn't maintain a daily balance of $3000. But it is important to keep your business money seperate from your personal finances, in case anyone should try to sue you down the line.
I can't wait to get started on the set tonight! Check in with me next week to find out how it turned out!
Same goes for LIGHTING, another thankless job. Rarely does an average movie-goer watch a film, and notice GOOD lighting as it happens. If it is good lighting, it is natural and expected and it doesn't register, until maybe afterwards when you take more time to think about it. But BAD lighting can stick out like a sore thumb immediately, and is extremely distracting. "Why does there seem to be a spotlight emanating from the base of that potted plant straight up his nose? Mmm, not exactly flattering..."
These are a few of the thousands of things I am trying to absorb, as my friend Phil would say, "like a human sponge." Starting tonight, Phil and I and a few other alumni of our indie filmmaking class are joining our instructor, Michelle Farrell, to work on the set of a 15-minute indie. 30+ hours of free film school, basically. I know it will be a lot of work, long hours, and mostly less-than-glamourous go-fer work for me (Phil's a "grip," which means he gets to carry heavy things), but I am pretty psyched. I am a hands-on learner, and a much better student in action than sitting at a desk taking notes. Stay tuned to find out how it goes.
Oh, and I just realized I didn't follow up on the bank account thing. Setting up a business checking account for the LLC was easy. They do require your charter, notarized Articles of Organization, and Employer Identification Number in hand. As I expected that, I was good to go, and it didn't take any longer than setting up a regular checking account. The checks themselves are more expensive, and I think it cost about $60 for the first set of 125 checks. There is a monthly maintenance fee of $13 if the account doesn't maintain a daily balance of $3000. But it is important to keep your business money seperate from your personal finances, in case anyone should try to sue you down the line.
I can't wait to get started on the set tonight! Check in with me next week to find out how it turned out!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Breaking Down
Don't worry, that's a good thing! Starting to really get to the meat of the matter. I am still in the VERY early stages of it, as the script is not, "locked," yet. "Locked," is when you finally say, that's it, the script has been through a million rewrites, through so many tweaks, trims, and tucks it would put Joan Rivers to shame, and that is about as good as it is going to get. That is when you have the "shooting script," and you can start breaking down the script, scene by scene, so that you can map out to the last detail what you are going to be doing, when, where, and with whom, once the cameras are rolling. That is "pre-production", along with a gaJILLION other details. For example, where exactly you are going to get those cameras. Or, more likely, camerA.
I am trying not to get ahead of myself, but this is how my brain works, how I problem-solve. It is not that different from what I have done in the hotel or restaurant business, or in the art circuit, organizing group exhibits. It is organization that requires extremely holistic thinking, and I find that if I let it stew in the back of my head, things start falling into place in my sub-conscious, and then when I am ready to set them to paper it flows a lot easier.
A one-day shoot takes weeks (and depending on the shoot, possibly months) of planning. Think of it this way: If you have ever been any part of a wedding, you know how involved it can be. In theory, it is an event that lasts, what, 6 hours including the ceremony, driving from the ceremony to the reception, then the reception. Right? HAH!
The Bride and Groom are your stars. The wedding party are your supporting cast. The guests are your extras. The mothers of the Bride and Groom are often your Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears. They can be really valuable if they focus on the task at hand, but often they can be your problem children.
There are so many things that have to be planned, just like on a movie set. There is an agenda to be followed, lines to be spoken, and so many things that can go wrong. Costumes! Make-up! Music! Locations! Even photography and lighting. And don't forget the all-important catering. Tensions rise as blood sugar drops. And many a nervous Bride has hit the floor after forgetting to eat that morning.
Also, like on a low-budget movie, whoever is organizing the whole to-do (= producer) has probably roped a lot of people into doing a lot of things for free that in reality, they don't have the time or desire to do. So you have to also worry about (a) making sure those people don't drop the ball, and (b) making sure they know how much they are appreciated.
Going from ceremony site to reception site = changing locations. Another CRUCIAL thing to think about when breaking down the script. In scene two, Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's house, in scene twelve, Grandma is dead and the wake is at her place. Guess what - you're shooting those scenes back to back, in the same day, to save time, money, and aggravation. But you still have to deal with costume changes, redressing the set, and getting everyone in the cast to go from cheerful to mopey.
So many people besides the Bride & Groom to think of...the Officiant, the florist, the caterers, the photographer, the make-up artist, the hairdresser, the limo driver, the band... you get the idea. Even who you are going to ask to drag all the presents from the reception to the house, who's going to do something with the flowers, who saved a piece of wedding cake to freeze, did someone tip the priest? It doesn't just end when the open bar closes.
You get the idea. Now think of planning a DIFFERENT wedding every day for 10 to 15 days straight. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
It does. But when you break it all down, into little, manageable pieces, it becomes...manageable. It is nothing more, and nothing less, than an enormous, difficult, challenging, mind-boggling, intimidating, and manageable jigsaw puzzle. And I, for one, am entirely and unequivocally PSYCHED.
I am trying not to get ahead of myself, but this is how my brain works, how I problem-solve. It is not that different from what I have done in the hotel or restaurant business, or in the art circuit, organizing group exhibits. It is organization that requires extremely holistic thinking, and I find that if I let it stew in the back of my head, things start falling into place in my sub-conscious, and then when I am ready to set them to paper it flows a lot easier.
A one-day shoot takes weeks (and depending on the shoot, possibly months) of planning. Think of it this way: If you have ever been any part of a wedding, you know how involved it can be. In theory, it is an event that lasts, what, 6 hours including the ceremony, driving from the ceremony to the reception, then the reception. Right? HAH!
The Bride and Groom are your stars. The wedding party are your supporting cast. The guests are your extras. The mothers of the Bride and Groom are often your Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears. They can be really valuable if they focus on the task at hand, but often they can be your problem children.
There are so many things that have to be planned, just like on a movie set. There is an agenda to be followed, lines to be spoken, and so many things that can go wrong. Costumes! Make-up! Music! Locations! Even photography and lighting. And don't forget the all-important catering. Tensions rise as blood sugar drops. And many a nervous Bride has hit the floor after forgetting to eat that morning.
Also, like on a low-budget movie, whoever is organizing the whole to-do (= producer) has probably roped a lot of people into doing a lot of things for free that in reality, they don't have the time or desire to do. So you have to also worry about (a) making sure those people don't drop the ball, and (b) making sure they know how much they are appreciated.
Going from ceremony site to reception site = changing locations. Another CRUCIAL thing to think about when breaking down the script. In scene two, Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's house, in scene twelve, Grandma is dead and the wake is at her place. Guess what - you're shooting those scenes back to back, in the same day, to save time, money, and aggravation. But you still have to deal with costume changes, redressing the set, and getting everyone in the cast to go from cheerful to mopey.
So many people besides the Bride & Groom to think of...the Officiant, the florist, the caterers, the photographer, the make-up artist, the hairdresser, the limo driver, the band... you get the idea. Even who you are going to ask to drag all the presents from the reception to the house, who's going to do something with the flowers, who saved a piece of wedding cake to freeze, did someone tip the priest? It doesn't just end when the open bar closes.
You get the idea. Now think of planning a DIFFERENT wedding every day for 10 to 15 days straight. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
It does. But when you break it all down, into little, manageable pieces, it becomes...manageable. It is nothing more, and nothing less, than an enormous, difficult, challenging, mind-boggling, intimidating, and manageable jigsaw puzzle. And I, for one, am entirely and unequivocally PSYCHED.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Notes on Being a Grown-Up
Woo-Hoo!!!! I OFFICIALLY have an LLC and an EIN! I am no longer acronym-deficient. Please join me in welcoming Steel Corset Productions, LLC, to the Wonderful World of Filmmaking.
The whole process was pretty painless. First I went online to Maryland SDAT (State Dept of Assessments and Taxation and printed out the form "Articles of Organization". When I noticed that the office was 6 blocks from my house, I figured I'd just do it in person. I braced myself for long waits and cranky state government employees, but it went pretty smoothly. I was in and out of TWO Maryland State Tax offices having spent only 45 minutes and $192.00 ($70.00 of that was just to expedite it), and I had my LLC Charter Division in hand. When I got home, a seven minute phone call to the IRS secured my new Employer Identification Number. Which is concurrently Very Cool and Very Scary.
Now I have to get my bank to work with me to put the LLC name on my checking account, so I can really be in business. I'll let you know how that goes.
And in other news, my greatest fears (of the moment) were realized when the afore-mentioned Plan A, as my British friend Matthew would say, "went tits-up". Seemingly there was some major miscommunications at hand, and one party or the other was not necessarily at fault. As I've said before, the whole process is like dating, or being in love - the same words and phrases don't necessarily mean the same thing to all people, so you have to really nail these things down. See, up until now, everyone who has said to me, "I can do this for you," or, "I can help you with that," has meant that to mean, "for FREE," or cheap, or in exchange for something I can do/will do/have already done for them. The person related to Plan A, though, meant that only that he is CAPABLE of doing those things - but for a price. To him, a very discounted price, to me, not so much.
One point that this person tried to drive home is, "You get what you pay for." I've been in the business world for over two decades, and of course I agree with him, to a point. I have been on the unfortunate end of working for a company with great aspirations and shallow pockets more than once. I know for a fact that "cheapest" often equals "worst". But I also know for a fact that "most expensive" rarely equals "best."
I know that there are film crew people out there who make $350, sometimes even more, for a day's work. They paid film school tuition and are probably still paying off their loans. They have their own gear that they might still be making payments on themselves. They work hard, are experienced, and deserve to get paid well. Which I'll be happy to do. When Hollywood knows my name and I have a real budget that can support those kind of salaries.
But, I don't. Plain and simple. So, what are my choices? Beg people who usually make $350 a day to work for less than 15% of what they consider themselves worth? I don't foresee that making for a healthy, fun, or most importantly, productive work environment. I don't want to be on set with a bunch of people who spend the day calculating how much they SHOULD be making, or rolling their eyes at me when I ask them to pick up the pace. That's poison.
So what are my other options? Will qualified people really work for $50 a day, or less? I know for a fact that they will. I have plenty of people offering to do exactly that for me, and that is before I even start asking around. Of course, they won't have as much experience as the pros, and more mistakes will be made. That eats up time. I have time. But I wouldn't have the career in the hotel industry that I have if (1) I didn't work my ass off BEFORE I started getting paid what I am worth, and (2) if someone hadn't taken a chance on me, taken me under their wing and showed me the ropes.
Short of brain surgery or rocket science, or rocket surgery or brain science for that matter, my attitude is this: I'd rather have someone who is thrilled as HELL to be there. No one is going to die if you call an extension cord an extension cord (film lingo, a "stinger").
So I have a lot of thinking to do. At first I was crushed, I must admit. But it is better to know this now than to have four or five more meetings where we are talking about different things. I'm okay with it now, and it is really not that big of a deal. Everything always turns out the way it should for me, it seems, and this is no different. Beside the elevator in the Maryland State Offices today, there was a sign that said, "It is not the person who goes the fastest that gets things done, it is the person that keeps going."
The whole process was pretty painless. First I went online to Maryland SDAT (State Dept of Assessments and Taxation and printed out the form "Articles of Organization". When I noticed that the office was 6 blocks from my house, I figured I'd just do it in person. I braced myself for long waits and cranky state government employees, but it went pretty smoothly. I was in and out of TWO Maryland State Tax offices having spent only 45 minutes and $192.00 ($70.00 of that was just to expedite it), and I had my LLC Charter Division in hand. When I got home, a seven minute phone call to the IRS secured my new Employer Identification Number. Which is concurrently Very Cool and Very Scary.
Now I have to get my bank to work with me to put the LLC name on my checking account, so I can really be in business. I'll let you know how that goes.
And in other news, my greatest fears (of the moment) were realized when the afore-mentioned Plan A, as my British friend Matthew would say, "went tits-up". Seemingly there was some major miscommunications at hand, and one party or the other was not necessarily at fault. As I've said before, the whole process is like dating, or being in love - the same words and phrases don't necessarily mean the same thing to all people, so you have to really nail these things down. See, up until now, everyone who has said to me, "I can do this for you," or, "I can help you with that," has meant that to mean, "for FREE," or cheap, or in exchange for something I can do/will do/have already done for them. The person related to Plan A, though, meant that only that he is CAPABLE of doing those things - but for a price. To him, a very discounted price, to me, not so much.
One point that this person tried to drive home is, "You get what you pay for." I've been in the business world for over two decades, and of course I agree with him, to a point. I have been on the unfortunate end of working for a company with great aspirations and shallow pockets more than once. I know for a fact that "cheapest" often equals "worst". But I also know for a fact that "most expensive" rarely equals "best."
I know that there are film crew people out there who make $350, sometimes even more, for a day's work. They paid film school tuition and are probably still paying off their loans. They have their own gear that they might still be making payments on themselves. They work hard, are experienced, and deserve to get paid well. Which I'll be happy to do. When Hollywood knows my name and I have a real budget that can support those kind of salaries.
But, I don't. Plain and simple. So, what are my choices? Beg people who usually make $350 a day to work for less than 15% of what they consider themselves worth? I don't foresee that making for a healthy, fun, or most importantly, productive work environment. I don't want to be on set with a bunch of people who spend the day calculating how much they SHOULD be making, or rolling their eyes at me when I ask them to pick up the pace. That's poison.
So what are my other options? Will qualified people really work for $50 a day, or less? I know for a fact that they will. I have plenty of people offering to do exactly that for me, and that is before I even start asking around. Of course, they won't have as much experience as the pros, and more mistakes will be made. That eats up time. I have time. But I wouldn't have the career in the hotel industry that I have if (1) I didn't work my ass off BEFORE I started getting paid what I am worth, and (2) if someone hadn't taken a chance on me, taken me under their wing and showed me the ropes.
Short of brain surgery or rocket science, or rocket surgery or brain science for that matter, my attitude is this: I'd rather have someone who is thrilled as HELL to be there. No one is going to die if you call an extension cord an extension cord (film lingo, a "stinger").
So I have a lot of thinking to do. At first I was crushed, I must admit. But it is better to know this now than to have four or five more meetings where we are talking about different things. I'm okay with it now, and it is really not that big of a deal. Everything always turns out the way it should for me, it seems, and this is no different. Beside the elevator in the Maryland State Offices today, there was a sign that said, "It is not the person who goes the fastest that gets things done, it is the person that keeps going."
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Only in Baltimore
Hey there. The last couple weeks have been busy, trying to manifest good ideas and potential collaborations into rock-solid plans and partnerships. As with everything in the film industry, it is a lot of hurry-up-and-wait, and it is difficult on some days not to get paranoid that it is all going to evaporate in front of my eyes like a desert mirage.
But I continue to meet and mingle with more local filmmakers, and if Plan A doesn't gel, people are stepping forward to me with Plan B, and I have a Plan C and even a Plan D, and if ALL else fails, I have enough financial support from a few friends and enough emotional support from countless friends to get the whole damn thing done by myself (Plan E).
But hopefully it will not come to that. Making a film is and should be a collaborative effort. It truly is art imitating life. You could get through it alone. But where's the fun in that?
Last night I went to the home of Eric Thornett, who is a local fimmaker and the founder of Pirahna Pictures (www.pirahna-pictures.com). He is about to embark on his fourth and most ambitious feature-length film, a period horror flick. A few weeks ago they had a casting call and Eric wanted to show me some of the audition tapes, as there were some good actors that he couldn't use for whatever reason, but thought might work for me for Charm City.
Eric is a great guy and one of those people that give me the hope and confidence that Charm City will be a success. Eric gets people to do amazing things - and their compensation is, "just for the fun of it". And people line up around the block to work with him! He is a shining example of how far personality goes in this business. If I have to resort to Plan E, I have my fingers crossed that I can charm people into doing half as much for me as people do for him.
What else has been going on...the past few Saturdays I have been taking a filmmaking seminar taught by another local filmmaker, Michelle Farrell, of Absolutely Independent Productions. It is a long day, from 10:00am until 6:00pm, with an hour for lunch and a break here and there. Under normal circumstances my attention span would die a painful death by lunchtime. But Michelle never stops moving (and never stops talking) and she is so funny that she keeps the class completely engaged from beginning to end.
Michelle had a premiere of her own this past Monday at the D.C. Independent Film Festival, for her documentary, "Unraveling Michelle." You see, Michelle used to be Joe. Check it out at www.unravelingmichelle.com, and if you have the chance to see the film for yourself sometime, I highly recommend it.
In our Saturday class at the Creative Alliance, the 15 students range in age from a junior in high school to a retired senior citizen, male, female, black, white, straight, gay, married, single. On our first day, Michelle showed us a trailer for her doc, so there was no mystery. I wondered if anyone would have a problem with her, but the next week not only did everyone show up despite the torrential downpours that day, but as a group we were a lot closer to being punctual than we were the first day.
The entire situation is among the daily reminders of why I love this town so much. It is never boring, and there are colorful characters around every turn. "Charm City," is my own Valentine to Baltimore, and I can't wait to deliver it.
But I continue to meet and mingle with more local filmmakers, and if Plan A doesn't gel, people are stepping forward to me with Plan B, and I have a Plan C and even a Plan D, and if ALL else fails, I have enough financial support from a few friends and enough emotional support from countless friends to get the whole damn thing done by myself (Plan E).
But hopefully it will not come to that. Making a film is and should be a collaborative effort. It truly is art imitating life. You could get through it alone. But where's the fun in that?
Last night I went to the home of Eric Thornett, who is a local fimmaker and the founder of Pirahna Pictures (www.pirahna-pictures.com). He is about to embark on his fourth and most ambitious feature-length film, a period horror flick. A few weeks ago they had a casting call and Eric wanted to show me some of the audition tapes, as there were some good actors that he couldn't use for whatever reason, but thought might work for me for Charm City.
Eric is a great guy and one of those people that give me the hope and confidence that Charm City will be a success. Eric gets people to do amazing things - and their compensation is, "just for the fun of it". And people line up around the block to work with him! He is a shining example of how far personality goes in this business. If I have to resort to Plan E, I have my fingers crossed that I can charm people into doing half as much for me as people do for him.
What else has been going on...the past few Saturdays I have been taking a filmmaking seminar taught by another local filmmaker, Michelle Farrell, of Absolutely Independent Productions. It is a long day, from 10:00am until 6:00pm, with an hour for lunch and a break here and there. Under normal circumstances my attention span would die a painful death by lunchtime. But Michelle never stops moving (and never stops talking) and she is so funny that she keeps the class completely engaged from beginning to end.
Michelle had a premiere of her own this past Monday at the D.C. Independent Film Festival, for her documentary, "Unraveling Michelle." You see, Michelle used to be Joe. Check it out at www.unravelingmichelle.com, and if you have the chance to see the film for yourself sometime, I highly recommend it.
In our Saturday class at the Creative Alliance, the 15 students range in age from a junior in high school to a retired senior citizen, male, female, black, white, straight, gay, married, single. On our first day, Michelle showed us a trailer for her doc, so there was no mystery. I wondered if anyone would have a problem with her, but the next week not only did everyone show up despite the torrential downpours that day, but as a group we were a lot closer to being punctual than we were the first day.
The entire situation is among the daily reminders of why I love this town so much. It is never boring, and there are colorful characters around every turn. "Charm City," is my own Valentine to Baltimore, and I can't wait to deliver it.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Rah! Rah! Rah!
I apologize for being a bad blogger this month. The last couple weeks have been sort of tough. Blogging from internet cafes in Paris wouldn't have been much fun, as (a)it would have been quite expensive, and (b) on French keyboards, you have to SHIFT every time you want to use a period! What is that about? It's not like they use periods less often than we do. Makes no sense at all.
I did get some good writing done in France, but I haven't been able to focus much since getting back to the States. I was in a bit of a funk but I am finally pulling out of it. You see, just before I left town I had good news on top of good news. One friend offered to invest $1K in my film, and another friend offered $10K and another friend offered about $25K! Include racking up my credit cards, I'm up to about $50K, half of the $100K I was aiming for! I thought I was on a roll and could not be stopped, and money follows money and the second $50K would be even easier to wrangle up. But that has not been the case. And I think I may have all the cash I am going to get for the film.
Which is a LOT. I have to keep telling myself that. Most independent filmmakers don't start off with a fraction of what I have pulled together. But I always aim high, so sometimes I beat myself up a little.
At the moment, the toughest part isn't even the money, it is being my own cheerleader. While getting away for a couple weeks was good in some ways and great in others, it also gave me perhaps a little TOO much perspective. I'm making a MOVIE. That is HUGE. Just watch the entire list of credits at the end of any given film and try to wrap your mind around how someone pulled that off. It is really overwhelming, and I have been thinking about that too much.
What I need to be thinking about, is that, huge or not, people do this every day. And I am really far ahead of the game when it comes down to it. I have a solid script. It still needs work, but it just keeps getting better, and I am closing in on that elusive "shooting script," the final version that happens when I stop rewriting and decide that that is as good as it gets. I have a good budget, even if it is half of what I was aiming for. And I have wriggled my way into the business and social circles of some very talented local filmmakers who have proved to be a wealth of experience, advice, connections, and support. And on top of that, they are very cool, funny people that I would want to hang out with even if they weren't filmmakers!
I was out to dinner with a very creative group of friends last night, and that is one of a few recent happenings that has refreshed and energized me. Somehow the conversation turned to the subject of tattoos. Only one of the four of us has a tattoo, and I am the only one of the four of us who doesn't plan on getting one. Years ago when I got divorced, I decided I wanted one, just to give my family something to talk about other than my divorce. I also decided I wanted to date a biker, for the same reason. Neither thing happened. My office-mate at the time, Josette, talked me out of the tattoo. "Jeanie," she said, "Think about it. No matter where you put that tattoo on your body, 40 years from now, it's gonna sag." Eww. Needles and blood make me pass out anyway. So, the tattoo was out. And my Harley-man never appeared. Probably all for the best.
Director/Consultant Sean has a tattoo that I really like, though. Just below his elbow on the inside of his left arm is a single word: MAINTAIN. It is a good reminder, and invaluable advice.
Time to get back to work.
I did get some good writing done in France, but I haven't been able to focus much since getting back to the States. I was in a bit of a funk but I am finally pulling out of it. You see, just before I left town I had good news on top of good news. One friend offered to invest $1K in my film, and another friend offered $10K and another friend offered about $25K! Include racking up my credit cards, I'm up to about $50K, half of the $100K I was aiming for! I thought I was on a roll and could not be stopped, and money follows money and the second $50K would be even easier to wrangle up. But that has not been the case. And I think I may have all the cash I am going to get for the film.
Which is a LOT. I have to keep telling myself that. Most independent filmmakers don't start off with a fraction of what I have pulled together. But I always aim high, so sometimes I beat myself up a little.
At the moment, the toughest part isn't even the money, it is being my own cheerleader. While getting away for a couple weeks was good in some ways and great in others, it also gave me perhaps a little TOO much perspective. I'm making a MOVIE. That is HUGE. Just watch the entire list of credits at the end of any given film and try to wrap your mind around how someone pulled that off. It is really overwhelming, and I have been thinking about that too much.
What I need to be thinking about, is that, huge or not, people do this every day. And I am really far ahead of the game when it comes down to it. I have a solid script. It still needs work, but it just keeps getting better, and I am closing in on that elusive "shooting script," the final version that happens when I stop rewriting and decide that that is as good as it gets. I have a good budget, even if it is half of what I was aiming for. And I have wriggled my way into the business and social circles of some very talented local filmmakers who have proved to be a wealth of experience, advice, connections, and support. And on top of that, they are very cool, funny people that I would want to hang out with even if they weren't filmmakers!
I was out to dinner with a very creative group of friends last night, and that is one of a few recent happenings that has refreshed and energized me. Somehow the conversation turned to the subject of tattoos. Only one of the four of us has a tattoo, and I am the only one of the four of us who doesn't plan on getting one. Years ago when I got divorced, I decided I wanted one, just to give my family something to talk about other than my divorce. I also decided I wanted to date a biker, for the same reason. Neither thing happened. My office-mate at the time, Josette, talked me out of the tattoo. "Jeanie," she said, "Think about it. No matter where you put that tattoo on your body, 40 years from now, it's gonna sag." Eww. Needles and blood make me pass out anyway. So, the tattoo was out. And my Harley-man never appeared. Probably all for the best.
Director/Consultant Sean has a tattoo that I really like, though. Just below his elbow on the inside of his left arm is a single word: MAINTAIN. It is a good reminder, and invaluable advice.
Time to get back to work.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Bonjour Mes Amis
Just a quickie, as I am in an internet cafe in Paris and time is money. Today I will be worthless, as last night I was at the Best Bar in the World, La Pomme d'Eve, watching the Super Bowl with some French friends until nearly 5:00a.m. However, I have been getting loads of work done on the script while I've been traveling by train to Toulouse, Lyon, and Dijon. I don't know what it is about France but my mind just opens wide as soon as the Eurostar exits the Chunnel on this side. When I woke up in Dijon yesterday morning, as soon as I opened my eyes I was struck by a bolt of lightning and suddenly figured out exactly how to flesh out a minor character that I thought was impossible to lend any depth to without getting very complicated. But right now I have to go to the grocery store, as my flat is completely devoid of wine.Au revoir!
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