It’s just one of those things…

Still in the habit of watching movies and writing. I’ve all but stopped reading professionally produced screenplays — I get how to format the words on the page and how to do action lines now, more or less. What I’m trying to do now is develop a process that allows me to make the story as tight as possible when it gets into screenplay format. I used to write first drafts of the screenplay without planning the beats out first, so threads would show up on page 10 that I eventually realized had no place in the narrative on page 75. I’m trying to plan this latest story ahead of time by writing a treatment (and a second treatment after that), so that when I do get into writing a draft, I can focus more on the organic interactions between characters, and do less hard thinking between the lines since I’ll be coasting on the strength of the story that’s been ironed out ahead of time.

The virtual film festivals were really cool, even with Covid; it was nice to feel included into a community of filmmakers and film lovers that had gathered together to appreciate independent cinema. Very grateful for the opportunity to participate in Indie Memphis and Tallgrass.

The thing I’m learning as an aspiring professional: whatever effort I’m putting in on a particular day is great, but once the day’s over, the same effort is required again the next day, and the day after that. To do this consistently is a hallmark of professionalism, which turns this endeavor and investment from a nice idea or a recreational hobby into a commitment and a lifestyle. Sometimes it’s not always the most fun thing to have to wake up and iron out the kinks on another project, especially after making such progress with another the previous day. For me, good writing is really, really hard. I haven’t quit yet because when I do write I feel I’m constantly on the precipice of something, one chisel away from understanding how the pieces of a particular narrative fit together — and I can take that understanding to help me on future projects.

Man, I should probably get writing now.

It Has Been a While

That title is an understatement, for sure! The intent really was to write in here at least once a week, but man, I had a bad month after getting rejection slips from all of those festivals. My first experience with the festival circuit was pretty brutal, and if it wasn’t for the film’s first acceptance into Indie Memphis, my funk could still be going on today (sorry for that poorly-worded sentence).

Anyway, I’m very excited to report that PreGame will be playing at Indie Memphis and Tallgrass 2020, along with many other great films (I’m especially excited to see White Eye, Waffle, and In Sudden Darkness). Actually, I believe October 11th last year was the film’s very first day of production. Pretty nuts. I feel like so much has changed over the past year, and not enough. I’ve finished two screenplays since then, and am currently working on two more. I’ve written two other shorts. According to my Letterboxd, I’ve seen around 100 additional movies.

But it’s like, I don’t have much of a portfolio to speak of, in terms of screenplays or films. My whole goal, which really ignites my being most of the time, is to just make another film, to get another screenplay finished. And I’ve been trying to work a little towards my goal every day, but it’s very hard — writing especially. I’m really a perfectionist when it comes to my words, and I should be cranking these screenplays out so I can get better. At this stage, no one’s going to care what I produce — the whole point is really having something to show and getting out all of my mistakes.

Anyway, since day jobs have been hard to find, I’m about to go return an interview call to a pizza place so I can still make money that I can save for more short films.

Thanks for reading.

Rough Stuff

Some updates for the inquiring fans:

My short that I shot last year is not doing well. Thirteen straight festival rejections, and two additional ones from online platforms, including Short of the Week. From writing the script to post, I put over a year of time and over $30,000 into the short, and for it to get nowhere (so far) is just — well, it’s pretty demoralizing. The good news is that rejections that would knock me out for weeks and discourage me from doing any work are now nothing more than sustained, shoulder-shrugging bummers. To be perfectly clear about this, I open my email, feel bummed about a rejection for a few hours, but the rejection no longer gets me to where I wonder what’s the point of putting in the work. I still managed to write today after my volunteering and before my writer’s group (and after getting around two hours of sleep last night).

Onward.

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday I:

• Watched Light From Light (Paul Harrill)

• Worked on Swing Away (Draft 2)

• Read 25 pages of an amateur screenplay — it’s very good.

Today I haven’t done much, except for watch John Gudasz’s Place twice. I think it’s become my favorite Sundance short film.

Johnny Five is Alive

It’s a website proper! Finding the right platform only took me five years. I think this one’s a keeper.