"And so it goes....!"

So I’m not sure how many of you remember me talking about a screenplay I wrote that a friend of mine was going to direct, but I thought I’d let you know that little project is over.

Without going into too much detail, I got an email from Rosa that suggested it just wasn’t going to happen.

Needless to say, I’m disappointed. Even though I knew from the start that it probably wouldn’t happen, I actually got it into my head that this might turn into an actual film. And that made writing it a lot of fun. But with everything Rosa’s dealing with right now, it wasn’t too high of a priority on her list so…..that’s that. .

Ah well, that’s the way it goes I guess. I tucked the latest (last?) draft of the script into one of the bottom drawers of my desk on the off-chance that I’ll ever need it again. I doubt I will, but I don’t really want to throw it away. I have a feeling that, at the very least, I’ll want to read it again the next time I open that drawer.

Anyway - onwards & upwards.

A lot on my mind - Writing

So another thing that’s been troubling me / on my mind lately is this short film that I’m trying to make with Rosa.

She's (understandably) been taking a long time to read my first draft because she’s been busy trying to get into Colleges / Grad schools. But she finally got back to me saying she read it, liked it, and advised what the next step should be if we really wanted to do this.

That next step – finding money to produce this.

I suppose this is what prevents a lot of films from being made (both good & awful) but I’m hoping that we can find a way to overcome this. We’ve been brainstorming over emails this past week and have come up with several ideas; here’s what we’ve come up with (listed in order of likeliness):

- Yard sale
- Car wash
- Host a “fundraiser” party: (like a regular party – but people pay us money)
- Find someone “rich” willing to ‘invest’ in this movie.

I told her I’d be willing to “chip in a few bills” for this as my only goal for this film is to see it made, but I’m sure other people (Rosa included) would like to see some money out of all their time and effort. But as of right now, “Yard sale” seems to be our most likely choice.

Movie-making doesn’t seem so glamorous now, does it?


**UPDATE**
- I took the notes I got from everyone I sent my first draft to and am almost finished writing my second one. (Spent all Sunday writing - now I gotta re-edit it and see if it still flows / makes sense)

- Also spoke to Nico and apparently there's a website that helps with grants for artists? Not getting my hopes up, but if that's true and we can get some funding through it, that'd be awesome!

Chasing that Cheese

Kurt Vonnegut once said that “writing is not a way to make a living; it is (instead) a very human way of dealing with life.”

That phrase always stuck with me since my biggest (and by far least attainable) dream in life is to be a professional writer – the kind who gets paid to write in the style he so chooses.

In my case, it’d be playwriting. (or blogging?)

And now that you’re done laughing, I’d like point out that I came close to achieving this dream when I first moved out here to Los Angeles. I somehow found a theatre company willing to read my work.

However, this is where the “came close,” comes in; I never actually got paid for doing this. Quite the opposite, actually – I ended up having to pay them (as did everyone else in the company for the theatre space)

I learned a lot while writing there, but eventually my day job(s) got the best of me and I had to quit due to lack of time. I don’t think I wrote very much since then, even after I had time again. I think it had a lot to do with how social I was being: birthdays kept coming up, people kept asking to hang out; I kept traveling to all sorts of places…..! I just didn’t want to make the time to sit down & write because something better always came along.

I think that’s part of the sacrifice that writers make for their art – and something I really need to start doing if I ever want to even pursue this. Not that I actually think I’ll ever become a professional writer – but I feel I need to “get this out of my system” while I can or else it’s always going to bug me.

So here’s where I bring up my New Year’s Resolution of mine by vowing to spend my Sundays writing. (maybe Saturdays & Wednesday nights, too) Right now, I have two, possibly three ideas that I’m working on – one of which includes that screenplay I talked about last year. I worked on that one for maybe three months before deciding I hated where it was going and tossed it. (that’s another one of my flaws – I take too long to realize something is shit)

Anyway, if any of you wants to read anything I’ve written so far & give feedback, please don’t hesitate to let me know and please don’t hold back on the criticism. The only requirement I have on critiques is to elaborate on why you like /dislike something. (just saying “I hate this” doesn’t help me make it better)

Man, I’ve really gone Hollywood. I’ve become one of those “Read my screenplay!” people. *groan*