Writer’s Calisthenics

These are some tools to help exercise the writer’s brain and to help hone craft.  You can do any or all of these in no particular order.

1.  ACTIVELY READ (I know super obvious) - Read as much of the type of writing you want to do (Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Screenplays, etc).  If you want to do it all, read everything.  The trick here is to Actively read, don’t just let the suspension of disbelief take over.  Think about what each sentence, section of dialog paragraph, and slug line is good for in the grand whole.  Where is the story going and how does it take you there.

2.  FOLLOW ALONG  - Watch a movie with the screenplay in your lap.  Pause when you need to. The point is to see how a scene is describe on the page and how it actually turned out.  

3.  OUTLINE - Watch a film over and over to create a 70 beat outline from the finished product.  You can find out more about 70 beats here. This is a great exercise to learn how to structure a story. 

4.  SETUP & PAYOFF - While watching a movie make a list of all the setups and payoffs in the story.  They just introduced a teddy bear and you know it’s going to be important - That’s a set up.  What actually happens with the teddy bear is the payoff.  These can be big and small but always push action forward.  One of the best movies for this exercise is The Apartment with Jack Lemon and Shirley McClain.  Setup’s and Payoffs in screenplays are an elegant way to tie the scenes together into a cohesive whole.   This will show you how they work.  

5.  USE A TYPE WRITER for free form journaling.  I have a theory that word processors make people lazy.  (I’ll spell / grammar check it later.)  Learning to writing with a typewriter is like learning to ride a bike without training wheels.  It is physically harder to press the keys, make a mistake and you have to retype a whole page, formatting isn’t automatic, and if your unsure about how to spell a world or how to write a certain sentence stop and look up the rule.  I’m not saying do everything on a typewriter - but use it like a treadmill or weight machine.  

6.  GO BACK TO GRAMMAR SCHOOL - I’m not a grammar nazi, in fact I’m sure some of you are rolling your eyes at this blog’s egregious grammatical mistakes.  The point here is - grammar for writers is like paint to a painter.  You can’t teach creativity, but you can teach grammar.  It is a tool of the craft that must be mastered if you want to be taken seriously as a writer.  A great story and perfect spelling and grammar are not mutually exclusive.  There are some great books - Strunk and White, Woe is I, Eat Shoots and Leaves, etc.

 
7.  TRANSCRIBE - There was a director (I think it was William Wyler, not sure)  who would re-type the screenplay before going into production.  By doing this he would discover things in the screenplay that he would have otherwise grazed over.  Find a screenplay or a chapter in a favorite book and re-type it.  This one is kind of like putting your fingers in an idol’s brain.  It’s also a great ego buster.  Everyone can get used to writing stuff this good.  

Battleship is a Turning Point

According to deadline the new movie Battleship which has been getting massive amounts of negative buzz here in the states opened in a bunch of territories around the world almost a month ahead of the U.S. release.  And it is kicking ass apparently -- Read more at: http://www.deadline.com/2012/04/battleship-goes-to-war-overseas-1-almost-every-country-where-it-opened/#more-255810

Now it's not surprising that American blockbusters do well overseas.  Our movies are flashy, fun, and our special effects look better because we spend more on them.  For much of the last ten years the majority of a films proceeds has come from foreign box offices.   But  by releasing a movie a month ahead of the american release they make the film susceptible to piracy that will poach "meh, yeah, I'll check it out" crowd.  That combined with the "John Carter in gunmetal grey" buzz about the film will likely mean a flop for the Bismarck, I mean Battleship.

Now the buzz is bad because, come on - it looks like a transformers clone based on a board game with a generic 'must save the planet' plot and action figures for characters.   The lack of depth will make people who complain about the dumbing down of movies, point to this one and say, "See!!! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!" until they are blue in the face.

Now films are expensive and Producers need to make their money back.  They like things that are safe - especially when they are spending more than the Gross State Product (GSP) of Louisiana ON ONE FILM.
Contrary to the popular believe that, "movies are stupider now because we americans are stupid," much of the simplification of plot has come from Producer pressure to make the film simpler so that they are easier to translate and / or don't require an audience to do a lot of reading to follow what's going on in a foreign market.

Now that the studios are releasing Battleship in the US last, this  strikes me as the first time a hollywood studio has basically said, we don't give a shit about the american box office.  Battleship's primary audience is not the US.  This strikes me as ironic and backwards.  Will this trend continue with hollywood making movies exclusively for foreign release? Will Hollywood start making movies in Mandarin or some other language?  As consumers of media do we americans no longer matter as much?   I might be wrong, I drive a car from a japanese auto maker that was manufactured in the US so maybe it does work.

I just think that some savvy Producer who knows deep down an audience just wants to be wowed by a story will see this as an opportunity to make something US market specific.  Some of the best movies ever made were because of some tricky budgeting.  In the Heat of the Night was one such movie.  It was green lit when the producers got the budget down low enough that they could afford to not play the film in the south.  Why they couldn't play the movie in the south is for another topic all together, but it is important to remember that there is more to making films than just stringing together a few explosions and collecting money.  Is it too much to ask for a little emotion and a more engaging / thought worthy level of conflict that is tailored to just the U.S.?   Something I can connect to that demands my attention and forces me to stop checking twitter in the movie theater.    

Netflix continues to shit the bed

To Mr. Reed Hastings:

I can understand your position.  Netflix looses money on every disc mail out to its subscribers,  the cost of acquiring media for the streaming service is expensive, and there are growing doubts over solvency of the United States Postal Service. 

But a streaming only Netflix service as it now stands is full of B level content, that is unstable.  A movie you may want to watch at some point may not be available when you finally have a chance to watch it.  One of the excuses for the price increase was to allow Netflix to pay more for its content and hopefully lengthen the contracts, but with many other services competing for exclusivity of content Netflix will never have everything you may want to watch.  The dvd/blu-ray que was the answer.  The depth of the library insured that if it wasn’t streaming it was only a couple of days away.  And if you put it in your dvd queue, it would automatically appear on the streaming queue if it happened to become available.  That has been a huge bonus for a cinephile such as myself.  

Dividing the service now means I have to have separate queues on two websites.  For a Netflix subscriber from 2001 that is extremely annoying.   You have basically doubled the bullshit I have to sort through in order to strategically plan my movie enjoyment.  This move seems more like added bureaucracy than convenience.  

If we look at the future of Netflix just as a streaming service a subscriber loses access to a host of films that are amazing but will never have enough viewers to justify streaming.  This also opens the door for Amazon, Block Buster, Hulu, and a host of others compete directly with your streaming service without having to worry about the depths of the mail library.

If you look just at Quickster.com as a business.  Which is merging the services of Gamefly.com and the original Netflix model. Offering disc based media by mail.  The flaw with games is that already we are seeing the growth of download ability of affordably priced games across all three major consuls.  With the video game industry trying it’s damnedest to destroy the rental market, the growth and price structure of downloadable video games will only continue to increase getting cheaper and more available.   

As far as the movie side goes, how can it not become a niche market for Cinephiles and Technophobes that will more than likely shrink as time goes on.  

For me and many other loyal Netflix subscribers the value was in the cheap and fast access to pretty much any film or TV show.  The instant access was deep enough to find something interesting on a whim and the library was there if a film wasn’t available streaming.  And now that this hard pivot of the company has alienated so many us, only time will tell which company I will go with for my streaming content.   

Compulsions

List of screenwriters I’ve met or head speak in the last year -

Tom Rickman         John August          Debra Granik
Mike Urban         Paul Tamasy          Andrew Kevin Walker
Steve Mazuer         Eric Johnson          Rick Jaffa
Dan Vining         Keith Dorrington  Amanda Silver
Karen Jansen         Lisa Cholodenko  Ben Ripley
Mike Ellis         Stuart Blumberg  David Seidler
Gill Dennis         John Sayles           Ashley Miller
Frank Pierson         Nicole Holofcener   Zack Stentz
Melissa Rosenberg Steve Kloves          J. Michael Straczynski
Katie Wech          Peter Craig          Mark Protosevich
Heather Hach          Paul Feig          Jon Lucas
Wesley Strick          David O. Russel  Scott Moore
Larry Karaszewski  Mark Fergus          Allen Estrin
Aaron Sorkin          Roberto Orci


I am marveling at the caliber of writers on this list.  I feel very lucky to have been in a position to listen to them speak and ask them questions.  Golden Age Hollywood writers to those just starting out all having sold multiple scrips.  Some having influenced the direction of a specific genre.  All bringing their own voice to movies.  They all write compulsively and most are incredibly insecure.

The question that they all get asked without fail is - how do you break in?  And the answer generally is I don’t have a clue.   They all worked hard, got their writing in front of someone who took a chance on them.   That’s about it.

I think the key component is the working hard, writing compulsively, and being willing to send out your stuff.  Being willing and actively seeking someone to rip your writing apart.  To get you to think in different ways.

The biggest challenge for me is the writing everyday part.  I procrastinate like you wouldn’t believe.  The reasons behind this procrastination is something that all writers deal with including the ones on the list.  They have just developed a compulsion to write.  I kind of equate the compulsion to alcoholism.

Imagine:  You wake up in the morning still drunk from the night before.  You get in the shower and crack open a beer.  As your day progresses you start to analyze what you are doing to yourself.    You think maybe I shouldn’t drink anymore.  But as night time rolls back around you just can’t stop yourself.   You don’t bother to count the number of drinks you’ve had because you know you’ll just forget before the night is over.

For a writer it seems to be more like this:  You wake up at 7am with an imprint of the keyboard on your face still exhausted and a little hungover from a long night of writing.   You think, “Jesus I only got 3 hours of sleep,” as you crack open that beer in the shower and start to feel guilty about having not written anything yet today. Just out of the shower you write for a couple of hours - not bothering to take the time to put on clothes.  At lunch you start to analyze what you’ve been writing.  You decide that you hate it. It all needs to be thrown away.  Fuck! I really suck at this.  The next few hours are spent surfing the internet.  But within a couple of hours you are back at that keyboard typing away, only getting up to get another drink. You don’t even bother looking at a clock because you know that time is going to fly.  It doesn’t matter anyway because you’re going to write until you pass out.

If you, like me, are having trouble developing that compulsion I suggest three things - all of which are incredibly hard to do.

 1. Drink less Alcohol
 2. Use the don’t break the chain calendar found here for free - http://www.writersstore.com/dont-break-the-chain-calendar
 3. Use the program Freedom a well spent ten dollars - http://macfreedom.com/

It seems to be working for me so far.

Still Images from my Cycle Two Film

For Cycle two I wrote a dark fantasy ghost story, that the korean director fucked up beyond belief.   Between key scenes not being shot, and the incompetence of someone who doesn't speak english, The Skull Cup ended up like most of the cycle films - horrible.   

But at least it looks pretty.  

Props to the Editor and Cinematographer who made the film at least coherent.  

My latest Comic Book Obsession - Morning Glories

I know I haven't been updating my blog as much as I should, but I thought I would quickly throw this up. 

This is still a relatively new indie book focusing on a group of super smart teenagers, all with the same birthday, who are invited to attend the Morning Glory Academy.   

Great Characters, smart writing with a sprinkling of playful WTF.

Here's a scene from the first issue.

An AFI grad. I don't want to admit why I love this short.

THAT's LIFE from Martin Wichmann Andersen on Vimeo.

Would you pay 50,000 dollars to make the mistakes that would ruin a normal career?

I once heard an explanation for why english has become the language of business throughout the world.  It had something to do with the amount of adjectives.  Adjectives....supposedly those of us that speak english have more ways to describe everything that any one who speaks a different language.  And yet, english fails most of us more than we’d like to admit.  

I was having dinner with my producer (who is Japanese) and my director (who is British) .  I am pretty sure that I intimidate my director, but he is such an egotistical bastard that he doesn’t back down. 

It is very hard to try to write something creative.  To then give it to a number of people and have it judged.  And then to have the judgements be so opposite that really the best solution is to ignore the comments.  But, sometimes the words fail me and the ideas I am trying to convey don’t materialize in the intended way.  But, if you happen to be giving anything to a british person it’s hard to not take it like some bizarre form of  chastisement. 

“It needs to feel more (hands waving indicating something bigger)....yeah.  You know what I mean?”

“That parts good... That’s good... (circling with a pen) What about this line?  It that real?”

“It’s a good first draft.  I can’t wait to the next one.”  Or more recently “It’s a good fourth draft, but it’s not the movie I want to direct, yet.”   

“You just need to work at it.”  

What the fuck do you think I have been doing?  

In any case... we were having dinner tonight. And I finally had enough.  I told the both of them that it’s done. This is the draft you are shooting.  My director last friday told me that he’s not going to do any preparation at all.  No story boards, no shot lists, nothing.  This is a guy who will obsesses about a single word in a paper and won’t turn it in until he gets it just right.  Meanwhile the paper gets no credit because it was late.  He starts to obsess about things that don’t matter.  

I think I scared them for about ten seconds. 

The whole group likes the fourth draft, including the director.  They just aren’t sure if it is film-able in the time alloted.  I asked the director to do some prep so that we know what needs to be cut for the shooting days.  And here is where communication is key.  He thought that I was stepping on his toes.  Of course I told him that I felt that he was “winging it.”  And being the obsessive person that he is, he didn’t like that very much.  

No film is ever perfected, the film-makers just ran out of time or money.   

But just in the blackest moment, I decided to talk to them about the outlines.  In reality at  this point, our Japanese producer couldn’t keep up with the rapid-fire english so I was really just talking to the director.  

I talked about how we hand three outlines that really did nothing for the story. I had 2 pages of writing that didn’t help me at all in the formation of the script.  And he wanted a third draft of the outline. It got to the point that the mentor had to say you can’t move forward with out a first draft of the script. The director wouldn’t have been happy with the 25th draft of the outline.  

This is where we were with the script.  The whole point of a film script is to have it filmed.  I write a blue print, or building blocks for something visual.  It’s time for the director to move forward in making the fucking movie.  And he finally agreed.

My mistake was to start to take it personally.  It I had made the allusion to the outlines in the first place I could have saved myself a huge headache.  And I probably wouldn’t have pissed anybody off.  To me this was one of those AH Ha moments that most of you have already learned.  Don’t take for granted that the director knows the usefulness of storyboards and shot-lists to a screenwriter with a contract through shooting. 

We are all trying to make the best movie that we can.  Isn’t it wise to test out a script in preproduction, with the screenwriter, before the actors have any ideas?  This is a medium that has evolved from the production line method to become more collaborative.  There is a gray line that a screenwriter can cross if you want to use him like an ally.  

"Someone will make it big in the first year."

I found out last night that one of the directors has dropped out of the program.  Not because it was too intense or they were having second thoughts.  It was because she was offered a feature deal.  She will be directing a feature sometime this year.  OF course she is super talented  and has worked hard to get where she was even to this point.  This is the short film she showed at the long night. 

Idiots with Zoe Saldana & Kate Bosworth from Zoe Saldana

For the screenwriting department there is always one person that will sell something and make it big in the first year.  At least, that is what one of the screenwriting heads said.  It is just a reminder that I need to push hard.  I am required to One Feature this year.  I know that I have to write two.  I also want to get an impression of my first two scripts.  Have them overhauled. If I can come out of here with 6 good finished scripts and a 1 hour drama pilot.  That would be awesome.  

Welcome to the Machine

Over the last few weeks we have had social gatherings to try and get to know one another.  For the most part I have been friendly but I don’t know how many people I would really say I feel comfortable with.  This has always been a struggle for me but I am pushing harder and I know progress is going to be slow.   Part of the issue is that I don’t really like to brag about myself or talk about myself at all and that might be seen as a barrier to friendship.

 Part of the process of making a better writer.

It was really funny how the personalities break down within each discipline.  The screenwriters all tend to be a bit shy – but like to drink too much, the production designers all look like they should be covered in paint all the time, the editors are the kindest, gentlest mole people you will ever meet, the directors are pretty much all narcissists, the cinematographers collect by themselves and tend to talk in a tech language no one can understand and the producers are out-going, friendly, and trying to figure out how best to use you. 

How does that joke go --- A narcissist, an alcoholic, and a Producer walk into a bar…. The Screenwriter says:  “I want to make this movie. “ The Director says, “I like your idea but we’re going to do mine okay?”  The Producer nods happily and says, “that sounds great, I know you can write it.”  And thus a team is born.

So anyway, I write the script and I think it is pretty good.  I invited the team over and they read the first seven pages.  There were laughs at all the jokes.  A look of worry disappears from the director’s face and we go down to the beach and have a great time.

I turned in the first draft and all hell breaks loose.  My team decided to not read it until just before the meeting with our mentor.  Which turns into the vague list of complaints.   The first session of this was about an hour and 15 minutes.  The next with the mentor was another 30 minutes.  So I was sitting there being critiqued poorly for about 1 hour: 45 minutes.  I left feeling self-conscious and down right shitty about my grammar, my script formatting, and general story-telling ability.  Needless to say I needed a beer.   And thus I fell into my own discipline’s cliché. 

Imagine taking two years to climb this hill.

Of course all of this is happening before classes officially start.  The opening ceremonies included a brief run down of who graduated from the school, a nice speech from the director of the board of trustees and a history lesson about beginnings of The AFI.  What was missing was the mortal combat theme song and someone yelling, “Let the games begin!”   In the afternoon of the opening day, alumnus Edward Zwick, (Oscar winner) screened his new film, Love and Other Drugs.  Turns out his whole production team (screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, and editor) all went to AFI within a few years of each other.   It made me feel better that when he turned to the audience and told them he cried himself to sleep for the first two months.  That anxiety is part of the business and you need to learn to control it.   It was exactly what I needed to hear.  

Screening and Pitching

So much has happened in the last two weeks I can’t even begin to focus.  The orientation was a blur of expected things: Papers being filled out, pictures taken, etc.  There are over 120 of us and it was very easy to pick out the personality differences between the different disciplines.   It was a great day of talking about movies, and introducing yourself, and hoping to go you remember everyone’s name.  (I didn’t. )  There are some people even now that I have been introduced to three times and I still don’t remember their name, but it is getting better.   What I do remember is the work.  On Friday August 20^th the entire class was sent to a screening room at about 12:30PM and we stayed there until 11pm watching each other’s reels. It was a really long day.  By the end of the night I was amazed at the quality of the work and also very intimidated.   I’m glad I didn’t show anything.  Abe Lincoln said something like - It’s better to remain quiet and be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.  Yeah I was feeling a little bit of that on that Friday.

The following Monday was pitch day.  Being extremely nervous I was up until 1:30 in the morning refining and focusing my pitches.   The producers, directors, and screenwriters were divided into group and we each pitched two ideas.  I was surprised by how few people knew how to pitch or even attempted to.  In any case, I got up there and pitched my ideas, which were followed by a number of good questions and a round of clapping.  A few people came up to me afterwards and told me how much they liked my ideas.  Because of the way the teams form neither of my ideas were chosen, but I did end up on a really good team and I am two drafts into the cycle one project the director wanted to do. 

The Application, the Interview, and Walking through the Door.

I confess.  I did my application last minute.   I was up for three days writing my essay and getting together all the shit I needed.   Granted, I was applying for another school and producing a play at the same time.   I’m not sure if that is the greatest excuse. 

My mindset at the time was one of desperation.  I had just finished a screenplay that did extremely well in competition.   I had quit my job about the same time the recession started and was completely and whole-heartedly depressed.  My career was a loose affiliation of somewhat connected media jobs that to this day are not very impressive in resume format. 

During this time I was unemployed and going through what I can best describe as a crisis of self worth.  I was at my most pathetic point typing away my first full-length screenplay.  I can’t tell you how many short films, training films, corporate films and other bullshit films I have written in my life.  Many of which I am still embarrassed of. 

SIDE TANGENT – It is amazing that all of the film work that I wrote and directed in my bachelor film program never measured up to the first film I did in high school.  What I mean by that is this:  when I was 16 years old I finished a video approximate run time: 15 minutes.   This video was a spoof on my favorite show, The X-Files and heavily influenced by favorite director at the time David Lynch, entitled “The Y-Files.”   The Y-Files was more entertaining than any other film I did from 2000-2004 and to this day it seems pretty entertaining to the audiences still wanting to watch it.  I personally get too embarrassed to be in the room while it is playing.  To make a long story shorter, I was broke, unemployed, living with my parents in northern California and working on a screenplay. I had never written a feature length screenplay before.  The time had come. I was in a crisis of worth, like I said.  I was contemplating business school, but I love to tell stories.  I love the adrenaline rush of production.  I love the camaraderie of cast and crew.  I even got a devilish enjoyment of the drama that inevitably happens.  So there I was making a deal with myself.  I would write a feature and see what happens.  I struggled through not having any clue what I was doing, but I managed 109 pages.  I sent it in to a competition just to check how good it was.   If I had not received anything from the contest I probably would have given up and applied to a Business Masters Program. A few months later I found out the judges decided my first (and untrained) screenplay was better that 4000-plus other screenplays that had entered.  I was beside myself.  It was a reaffirmation of my love and I took it as a sign that I was supposed to be doing this. 

So back to applying to AFI… I finished my application to AFI, which is relatively simple compared to other schools.  (I don’t want to dignify the other school I applied to with a mention, so I won’t.  I’ll just say it also was in LA and it wasn’t UCLA or USC.  I was focusing on schools that used film production as an emphasis.)  I wrote my essay gave the first 30 pages to the script that did well in contest, and waited to see. In the mean time I was still writing as well as producing and directing for the northern California stage.  (I know how pretentious that sounds, just understand the theater was in a warehouse, which could have killed the audience. Not exactly to code.)

Months later I got a call to schedule an interview appointment.  LESSON NUMBER ONE:  To get an interview, your work has to show potential. There are limited spots and it is really competitive.  Here is how you gauge your work:  Have you tried putting your work in competition? Did it place?  Have you been professionally hired by a theater or film company?  If you answer no to any of these still apply but if you don’t get an interview keep trying  - age is not a huge factor.  Remember huge failures can be assets as long as you learn from them.  It’s never a bad idea to try to FAIL HARDER. 

THE INTERVIEW

I received the phone call right after a theater production meeting.  A good friend and mentor saw me receive the phone call.  I was so excited.  I was jumping up and down. He asked me what was going on.   I told him, I have an interview at AFI.  I could see the depression in his face.  He still told me good job and good luck.  Quickly I scheduled the interview as soon as I could. 

Being close enough to drive , with no money for a hotel (or anything else). I drove down the day of my interview, which I had scheduled in the afternoon.  I got up early, driving down, a pit in my stomach the entire way.  I parked at Griffith park for about a half an hour going over questions I thought they were going to ask. 

Arriving on campus I was feeling very intimidated and yet everyone was extremely nice.  In the industry, and even in film school, it seems as if everyone has an ego the size of the planet.  But, in my first impression of the Warner Brothers Building, that was not the case.

             

I arrive at the schedule time. (Tip: I don’t care how creative you are, it is always a good idea to arrive on time for something important.) I sit in the admissions office for a little while talking with the “Angel” behind the desk.  I could tell she knew I was nervous.  They took my picture and sent me up to a classroom.  As I was going up to the interview room, they told me who I was going interview with - I will leave them anonymous, but just know that my jaw dropped and my knees got weak after hearing a brief synopsis of their resume.

            

I walk in say hello and they proceed to ask me questions.  And as fate loves, none of the questions were what I prepared for.  The first question was: who is your favorite screenwriter?   I blanked.  I knew I had to say something, but I couldn’t think of anyone.  Finally I blurted out the most obscure screenwriter in my entire brain.  I said, ”Kogo Noda.” Who was the preferred screenwriter of Japanese director Ozu. “That is the most unique name to come up in any interview I’ve done.” I smiled and the interview continued for forty-five minutes.  I could tell you my exact questions but I’m not sure how much they would help.  But I will tell you this – They are looking for a talented filmmaker, who has a passion to become a better filmmaker.  They are looking for someone who isn’t afraid to work well with others.  Collaboration is the basis of the curriculum – theorists need not apply.  You don’t necessarily need to know a lot about filmmaker or have a golden resume, but all that helps.  The main point is this: they are looking for people that still believe they can transform and lead the film industry, who have lost the naivety of the avid film fan who wants to make movies.  AND you can’t be afraid of work.  If you just thought, “ I guess that’s not me.”  Let me tell you this – The moment you convince yourself to do it anyway, is the moment you are what I described above.   

            

If you are standing on top of a rock with a 30-foot drop into water, and it seems do-able, and you want the glory that comes with completing that jump.  Take a deep breath, a running leap, and scream all the way down.  The ripples and repercussions are well worth the fear.

The American Film Institute Conservatory

It's been a while is my last post to this blog. Of course I could start most blog entries with that sentence.  In the past few months I directed a play, finished a first draft of a screenplay and I'm getting paid to write another. I KNOW, it's awesome.

 I also got one of the 136 golden tickets that the AFI Conservatory hands out on a yearly basis.  I am one of 27 Screenwriting Fellows.  I am hoping to keep this blog up to date and share my experience going through the program on a fairly regular basis.   I would love some feed back and questions.  I will answer all that I can in the comments as I go along.

The class is very diverse and also extremely accomplished in the art of filmmaking already.  I know that reading the bios of my fellow AFI "Fellows" was not only humbling but tended to make my jaw hang open like some retard invited to the Nobel Prize Reception Dinner.  That list of people can be found in pdf format here

I will devote the next post to the application and interview process - giving my thoughts and feelings about what I did write and how I almost fucked it up.  After that I will start talking about registration and keep everybody up to date on Cycle One, the 6-week "boot camp" before classes even begin.

Fractured Sanity Promo 1

Attention Wanna Be Filmmakers

I was going through my old files and found this letter I wrote for an ex-girlfriend / aspiring actress. She was pissed after a crap audition for a student film at UCLA. I had a good laugh.

Attention Want to Be Film Maker:

If you ever want to be taken seriously, I would suggest you follow the advice laid out below.

1. Take into consideration when asking people to show up at an audition that not all of them will know how to get to the specified location without explicit directions.
2. Make sure that you or an assistant is available by phone to give directions to those unable find to a building without a street address.
3. This is Los Angeles – take into consideration where potential actors should park once in the general vicinity of the specified location.
4. Make sure that you are on time, organized, and otherwise prepared to watch those auditioning.


By doing these simple things, it shows that you take your projects seriously. This instills a sense of ease in your actors and makes them want to work for you. Based on your performance tonight I seriously question your ability to tie your own shoes.

Unfortunately this kind of planning is common among students. So before the next person unwittingly drives around for thirty minutes with the problems listed above because of your dimwitted incompetence, I would ask you heed my suggestions.

My Top 5 Dysfunctional Romance Movies

For my first blog I wanted to write about something that might actually be a help for both men and women. And because of the impending approach of Valentines day I decided on to try and write out a list of the top dysfunctional romance movies. This is a list of movies that, while they usually fit into more into the romance genera than anything else, they show a side to romance little seen except in real life. Or, the inside of a psychiatrists office.

Thanks to the magic of movies women can enjoy these next films for the romance and the show of love overcoming even some of the strangest obstacles while men can enjoy them because they aren't covered in sugar coated, sappy crap.


And now for the list (in no actual order):


*Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

A great movie shot in an innovative way that explores a relationship from it's destruction to its beginning and it's possible restart. A great film showing how much relationships affect us.
And asks a deeper question; are some people just meant to be together?


* Twin Falls Idaho (1999)

A story about two conjoined twins, one of who falls in love with a girl that unexpectedly enters their lives. A trip into the deeper side of human connection. Brilliantly written and acted. Sometimes it can be a little heavy but guys that know this movie will impress their girlfriends or to-be-girlfriends with their taste in independent films.


*The Eel or (Unagi) (1997)

An amazing Japanese film about a man who, eight years after killing his wife, gets out of jail and opens a barber shop, his only friend the eel he took care of in prison. Until the day he meets Keiko, a woman that reminds him a little of his wife. Yes, it has subtitles. Just suck it up and read for a little while. I promise it'll be worth it.


*High Fidelity (2000)

What is it with men and this movie? I do agree that this film is one of the best romantic comedy's ever made with men in mind, but I've seen men react to this movie like I've seen some girls react to Dirty Dancing. It's crazy. It's a great exploration of one mans past relationships that end up giving him understanding to his most recent one.


*Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005)

Okay, while this isn't technically a romance I have to say that one mans love for his childhood sweetheart does push most of the action. And with Val Kilmer is playing a private investigator named Gay Perry. This is also one of the funniest, wittiest movies I've watched in a long, long time. Don't forget to watch the blooper real, you'll be quoting those one liners for weeks. (Which incidentally is a great way to start having those cute little inside jokes with your significant other that makes you smile but pisses off everyone else because they're not in on the joke.)




The Lovely Ms. Bathory

3 under-appreciated horror films

Once again it is Halloween time, and what is Halloween without a horror film or two? So here are three suggestions that are worth watching even with the easily frightened of film watcher. These are films that are genuinely frightening without the devices that most horror films today use.

The Haunting 1963
A group of people are envited to a house to test if the house is haunted. There is no such thing as ghosts in an age of science and reason, right? No Blood, No Gore, and yet one of the Scariest Movies Ever made. Julie Haris stars and Robert Wise directs the essential haunted house film.

Eyes without a Face 1960
"A French chiller that set a benchmark in horror film making, with its unflinching depiction of horrific acts of surgery." A smart story, with just enough gore to send a chill down your spine. While by todays standards this film might be considered tame, the imagery will haunt you for days. (OK, I know, I should be shot for that line. Still a good film.)

Bucket of Blood 1959
This is a darkly funny tale of a beatnik waiter turned sculpter. Who takes art a little too seriously. If your a fan of the bar Mina in San Francisco, than this is not the film for you. Twisted and funny.

Idlewild

Sitting in the theater I realized that this film is the first true hip-hop/ black culture musical. It is fun, unique, nothing like I would have expected, and well worth the price of a ticket. See it before it dissapears.

Potter 4

Harry Potter does it again. This one is just as good as the last one. Even though the prizoner of azkaban has bettter direction, goblet of fire makes it up with a great story. This one more that any of the others makes me want to read the books. The down side to this film is that there seems to be so much to deal with that it feels as if you are just hitting the highlights of the story. It really feels abridged. But it is fun and exciting and overall worth checking out, because it will make you smile.

Walk the line

This was an absolutely amazing and fun film. Both performances by Reese Witherspoon and Jauquine Pheonix were the kind of performances that you think to yourself man, they really can act. The music is great. I take back every bad thing I every said about Johnny Cash's music. The one complaint I guess I have is that there is almost too much music in the film and that does not leave as much time as I would have liked for story development. But that really is a minor complaint since they did such a goood job of covvering 40 years of his life. This is something worth going to see.