Donald's Journal

November 19, 2006

IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL SOMEONE LOSES A WALLET

I was having a perfectly good weekend. Made notes on a friend's script,
sent some thank you cards, went to the Big Apple Film Festival to see a
screening of friend's great documentary (www.closingtime-doc.com), and even
scoped the new Bond...

CASINO ROYALE was a royal delight! Bond back to basics. Raw and
aggressive. Excellent action. Breathtaking locations. A little long on
the length, but well worth the price of admission, which dare I say was
$11!! Pierce who?

Left there and met up with my two best friends for some dinner at El Malecon
where I stuffed my face with roasted chicken, black beans, and rice. Great
food! Everything seemed right with the world...

Until I lost my wallet, or had it stolen -- a useless distinction when
you're at a restaurant after it's officially closed, leave your wallet, come
back half an hour later (after the floors have been cleaned) and the wallet
gone. Either way the result is the same: NO FUNDS.

Spent most of the day Sunday speaking with credit card companies, car rental
companies, and looking up DMV crap. But what can one really do on a
Sunday??

Glad I wasn't in heavy writing mode this weekend. Would have been
completely distracted. Still am...

-DC

Sunday, November 12, 2006

FEAR JUST ISN'T WORTH IT

This week's blog is dedicated to Christine Pechera, a college friend of mine
who has been giving the fight of her life against cancer. She was
desperately in need of a bone marrow transplant this summer and after many
prayers an unknown donor from the other side of the world consented. Now,
she's just received notification that her body seems to be taking the marrow
and that there's currently no sign or indication of the disease!

Just read a blog of hers where she details the truly overwhelming moment of
coming home to her apartment for the first time and walking through the
threshold back into life...

Kind of puts anything else I'd thing to type here into perspective, doesn't
it?

Best wishes to her and her family and my prayers for her continued health.

-DC

PS. Have to re-mention a quote which was recently referred to her on the
topic of "providence". I feel it may help us all.

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless
ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits
oneself, then Providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues
from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen
incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have
dreamt would have come his way. "
-William Hutchison Murray

Sunday, November 5th, 2006

FOLLOW-UPS

About two months ago I sent a script to a manager's office. I checked in
with them this week only to realize that they never received it.

Maybe I should have given them a call earlier. Can't stand the idea of
wasted time.

In the meantime, progress on my first pre-rewrite continues...here and
there.

-DC

Sunday, October 29th, 2006

SCREENWRITING EXPO

I should have commented about this last week.

The Screenwriting Expo was an interesting experience. Seemingly 1000s of
people hungry for information about the craft and business and writing. At
the conclusion of four days, I was drained, depressed, discouraged,
enlightened, and inspired all at the same time. Hearing Andrew Stanton of
Pixar speak was definitely the highlight.

Now if I could only discover a trick for replacing 30 pages with one short
scene.

-DC

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Taking a little time down now from my writing extravaganza. Have to focus
on paying the rent now, amongst other things...

Read the piece all the way through the other day. Interestingly, it wasn't
as bad as I thought for a first pass.

On the flip side, I couldn't initially see where or what to cut. Don't
think that's good...

-DC

Sunday, October 15, 2006

OORAH

This is a celebration blog. I finished the 1st draft of the new project
Tuesday at 182 pages. What a beast!

It took 15 days, but I did it. Wasn't sure if I could. Kimberly was right.

After a trip to Staples for a few extra reams of paper, I printed that baby
out and just looked at it. I owe it at least that much before I start
tearing it apart.

-DC

Sunday, October 8, 2006

SLUGGING AWAY

Now don't get me wrong. It's not that I'm not absolutely THRILLED (or at
least very happy) to be at page 150 of the new project. If you had told me
that two weeks ago, I would have said the same thing I said last week: Crack
kills!

But in truth I'm not too excited about a 200 page script, which is where
it's looking like my meanderings will probably end up. Working back from
that when I start rewriting will most surely be hell. Won't it?

Do the masters overwrite like this???

Will I have to cut every scene in half?!

Uh, maybe I'll know better when I'm done.

-DC

Sunday, October 1st, 2006

FIRST WE TRY. THEN WE TRUST.

If you had told me last week that I'd be on page 65 of my new project
today...I would have told you to put the pipe down. Crack kills!

That's basically what I said to Kimberly in our phone conference last
Monday. To break me from an agonizingly slow writing pace I had fallen
into, she suggested that I was ready to employ something which she calls
"power pages." As the name suggests, it's a speed-writing technique where
you power through your script, allowing it to not be "perfect" on your first
draft.

Well, after I windged (Wait, did I really just type "windged"?!)... After I
complained for a good while, I agreed to try it. Always up for a good
challenge...

But low and behold, it works! I'm powering through about 10 pages a day and
it's not taking me all day to do it. At this rate, I hope to have the first
draft finished in a couple of weeks.

Amazing!

-DC

Sunday, September 24th, 2006

FRIENDS. ROMANS. COUNTRYMEN.

It's been a busy week at the DC NY abode. My London friend departed early
in the week. My best friend from LA arrived the next day to spend some time
before jumping the pond for France. Then, the day after he left, I met up
with another college friend who was in town.

New York! I swear. It's the world's goto jump off place.

Spent the rest of my time regrouping on all other fronts. Industry calls,
writing, work to dos...

This regroup might take awhile though.

-DC

Sunday, September 18, 2006

STOPPING TO SMELL THE ROSES

My friend is still in town. We've been having a wonderful time enjoying
what New York has to offer. Of course, that means I'm spending way too much
money...but I'm definitely catching up on my care days.

-DC

Sunday, September 10, 2006

MYSTIC PIZZA

I haven't seen the movie MYSTIC PIZZA, but I can say I've been there. This
weekend my special friend and I spent a fabulous weekend in Mystic, CT. We
stayed at a wonderful place called the Whalers Inn. Enjoyed the Taste of
Mystic festival. Went to Mystic Seaport and had an all around amazing time.

No writing to speak of however. And the jack hammer outside my door isn't
helping.

-DC

Sunday, September 3, 2006

SPECIAL VISITOR

After beginning the week busy with a couple projects, all priorities shifted
to accommodate the arrival of a special friend. She flew in on Thursday and
will be staying with me for almost three weeks. Lots planned. May have to
spend some time enjoying life.

-DC

Sunday, August 27, 2006

GETTING BACK ON THE HORSE

It's taking longer than I'd like to get the next script progressing the way
I want. I don't know whether I'm re-writing too much as I write. Actually,
I guess I'm always re-writing as a write to some extent. Just wondering if
I'm getting too crazy with it. Perfectionist qualities taking over. I'm
finding hard to just write something and come back and revisit.

Been busy shooting footage of my uncle's conference this week. Finally
putting the new camera to the test. And meeting some great bands and
singer/songwriters that I may be able to work with in the future.

-DC

Sunday, August 20th, 2006

THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE WEEKS WHERE...

you look back and wonder: What the hell did I do?

Let's see. I met up/spoke with a couple friends who gave me insight on
agents and managers. Very helpful. Submissions total up to 15 now.

Not much forward progress on 2nd script this week.

Finished wrapping up Etrade job, which seemed to keep lingering.

Oh, the big thing week was that I finally did the do! I purchased one of
the higher end minidv/hd cameras--the Panasonic HVX200--and my head is still
spinning. Don't think I've ever spend that much money before in one go.
Scary. Still feel a bit lightheaded.

-DC

Sunday, August 13, 2006

BUSY

Busy week, but what's new? Friends who know me have heard be say more than
once...that being busy has never been the problem. It's being compensated
for being busy. That's the problem:)

Spent half the week in ATL working on an industrial for Etrade. We got back
just before all the most recent airline terror-plot drama started happening.
Thank God too. Was in no mood for the extra profiling and delays.

In other news, I officially started the next script. We'll see how the
ongoing battle for productive creative time goes. Took longer than I wanted
to get passed FADE IN, but now at least that ball is rolling too.

-DC

Sunday, August 6th, 2006

IT'S THE WAITING...

That's the worst. Now that I've officially started sending NAC out into the
world, I of course can't wait for people to read it and respond. But when
will they read it? That's the question...assuming that they read it at all.

By the end of my 2nd week of submissions, my script has been requested by 13
companies. I realize however that it now becomes a matter of reaching the
right person at the right time. Easier said than done I'm sure, but I do
believe that the writing is there. The story is there...

Aside: I was speaking with another writer friend about this weird state of
anxious anticipation. I said it was like standing on the corner with your
pants down, watching the cars go by...and waiting to see if anyone stops.
She sort of agreed.

-DC

Sunday, July 30th, 2006

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

I'm not sure if anyone reads these blog things. If they do I'm sure they've
noticed how the subject matter...umm, digresses. My stream of bloggishness
(or lack thereof) depends on a subtle algorithm of mood, the amount and kind
of creative activity (or lack thereof) that occurred over the week and, of
course, on what I deem mentionable at the time.

This week's blog however, compared with some of recent history, was HUGE on
many levels. So, get ready. This one is supersized!

One of the things that first drew me to apply for Kimberly's Brass Brad
Mentorship Award was that, unlike most other writing competitions out there,
it was a combination of creative critique and business instruction. This
week saw the first culmination of both.

After months of rewriting, tweaking, and sub-tweaking, Kimberly told me
Monday that my screenplay was finally ready to go out. I think my first
response was, "You mean...now?" In a way, I couldn't believe it.

It was the moment of truth. Finally, all of the phone calls that I'd been
making...the contacts I'd been cultivating with production companies were
going to be put to the test. Could a writer without representation get in
the door with a spec project? Would anyone give it a read?

I made more tweaks (couldn't help it) and alerted interested parties that
the screenplay was ready. Even got a compliment from the story editor of a
company who told me I should be proud of myself for approaching them the
right way. I was thrilled. It's good to know that there IS a way for the
unrepresented at all.

By the end of the day on Friday, the script was out into the world. All
that's left going into this week is to see what happens. I have no clue
when or if anything will, but I cannot deny the excitement.

Guess that's the only truth I have for now.

-DC

Sunday, July 23, 2006

NETFLIX

I like Netflix. Don't get me wrong...

But for some three months now I've held back returning my DVD copy of Garden
State because I wanted to watch the special features. Seems silly now that
I think about the $30 plus dollars in monthly charges I've spent while the
DVD smiles at me from the top of my television. By now of course I could
have bought the darn thing.

-DC

Sunday, July 16, 2006

CONFESSIONS OF A PERSON IN PURSUIT

On Thursday of this week I went to see Madonna's Confessions Tour in
Philadelphia. 4th row seats no doubt! Could of sworn she looked right at
me on "Substitute for Love". It was an excellent, amazingly well-produced,
visual, rhythmic experience that rivals as by best concert ever and sets the
theme of this week's entry.

I confess:

...that the year is half way over and I'm behind in my goals.

...that I've been using my apartment as a pit stop and it looks like it.

...that I wasn't able to watch any films this week (although my 'SC friend
Tony Chui has a short film screening tonight in Long Island called THE DUEL
that I'm going to see in a couple hours. Does that count?).

...that I'm developing a strange new fascination with cupcakes.

...that the more industry calls I make, the more I'm starting to enjoy them.
Still trying to figure out the knack of the follow-up call though.

...that I worked too much the last time I was in Texas to be able to spend
some real quality time with my immediate family. Need to plan a second
visit to remedy that.

...that there's always too much to do...too little time.

-DC

Sunday, July 9th, 2006

I NEED A TWIN

Wait. Scratch that.

I need quadruplets. That's the only way I'll ever be able to accomplish
everything I'd like to do on a daily basis.

What would four Donald's spend their time doing do you ask? Well, that's
easy:

DC #1 would spend his time working on the paid work -- the work which
currently pays the bills and keeps him living in his New York apartment.

DC #2 would spend his time getting the work that pays the bills to keep him
living in his New York apartment.

DC #3 (my favorite) would be responsible for all creative work. He writes,
directs, edits, or whatever....situation and inspiration depending.

DC #4 would spend his time getting that creative work seen by the people who
need to see it. His sword is the phone. His shield is the internet.

I guess they'd all have to take turns eating and sleeping...because that's
only fair.

-DC

Sunday, July 2, 2006

BEEN AROUND THE WORLD AND I, I, I...

Last week at this time I was in Owatonna, MN, and Minneapolis. Worked, saw
the 1st Avenue club right out of the movie PURPLE RAIN, hung with friends.
Good times.

After about a 20-hour pit stop back in New York, I'm now in Texas
celebrating the 4th with the fam.

Been busy wrapping the job, so writing has suffered. Orchestrated my first
same-day service shipment on Friday after being up all night getting a
package ready. Now I'm an unexpected $300 lighter.

Got feedback from Kimberly on the next creative project. Good start, but a
ways to go. Is it worth attempting any industry calls this week? A Tuesday
holiday makes for a strange work week.

Passing thought of the moment: Don't let family feed you too much.

-DC

Sunday, June 25th, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS!!

Flew in today to shoot a commercial for Cabela's Sporting Goods in Owatonna,
MN. Big store. First time in Minnesota. Tired. Hoping to see Prince's
Paisley Park tomorrow after the shoot.

Prep work for this job kept me busy all week, but a good busy. Gotta cut
this blog entry short in favor of some zzzs. Early call.

-DC

Sunday, June 19th, 2006

WHO'S YOUR DADDY NOW?

Although I had my doubts early on, this week turned out to be better than I
thought for creative work. I managed to get some writing in every day and
did quadruple time over the weekend.

The end result? I completed a first pass at a scene-by-scene breakdown of
the next project!! (Now, now...not getting too excited though. It was just
a first pass.)

Have to figure out a better way to maintain and integrate the writing around
other work duties. Getting closer, but not there yet. I guess that's every
writer's struggle, right?

And then there's the X factor. And when that hits it always knocks you for
a loop.

Side comment: It's funny how the more you write the more you begin to
appreciate writing done well. Just saw M. Night Shyamalan's Signs over the
weekend. Really want to study it later, but he does a great job of paying
off character development and plot points. He makes it look so easy.
Across genre as well.

Happy Father's Day!

-DC

Sunday, June 11, 2006

VIDEOS SHMIDEOS

I've always known that there's a reason why I never like working production
on music videos. The concepts are always inversely proportional to the
amount of money they have to produce it, which spells long hours of stress
and drama for the keepers of the cash...like myself.

I production managed a Teddy Geiger shoot because I needed the money. And
from the time I woke up on Monday morning to head to the stage to the time I
went to bed Thursday night, I had slept a total of 7 hours. Not good.
Everything else suffers and by the time your body recovers, the physical
toll alone is hardly worth the remuneration.

THIS WEEK'S SCORE:

Projects that keep me from working on my own creative because I'm trouble
shooting someone else's....1

My own creative work.......0

-DC

Sunday, June 4th, 2006

CHRISTMAS IN JUNE

It's taken longer than I expected, but I completed my revisions of the Night
After Christmas this week. It's tighter, better written, and the creative
adjustments take the story to a higher, more fulfilling place. Kimberly's
notes were great.

I'm excited to start getting it out into the market place to see how it's
received. I think the industry needs a little holiday spirit. :)

Not as far as I'd like yet on the 2nd project, though. May have to revise a
more realistic completion date. Life keeps getting in the way.

The year is half done.

Man!

-DC

Sunday, May 28, 2006

MAINTAINING

A great friend of mine arrived last Sunday night from Texas to spend a few
days in the Apple. I had fun running around with him in the city for a
couple days, then broke away to prepare for my trip to London.

Staggering fact of the week: the US dollar is 2 to 1 against the British
Pound right now. That means a 7 pound burger and fries "meal deal" from
McDs costs FOURTEEN DOLLARS IN U.S. GEORGE WASHINGTONS. Deep!

Bought a phone card and was able to still get some of my industry phone
calls in. I'm pretty happy about that. Just had to navigate the time
difference...amongst other things.

Progressing on my rewrite of Night After...just not as quickly.

The battle continues.

-DC

Sunday, May 21, 2006

EBB & FLOW

Felt like I got back into the game a bit this week. Was able to carve in
some consistent writing time with bonus hours on the weekend. U-rah. Funny
how life happens, as they say, while you're making plans, though. Hoping to
finish the rewrite of Night After Christmas soon.

I did manage to catch the film Inside Man before it was run out of theaters
by the upcoming Da Vinci Code and X-men. A friend mentioned that it didn't
seem like a Spike Lee film. Hmmm. That opened an interesting conversation
about just what a Spike Lee film really is. Are you expecting a certain
style, characters, or racially instigated content? If so, then that's
exactly what you got...just in a more tightly-woven, less-time-to-emphasize,
keep-the-action-moving format. I enjoyed it.

-DC

Monday, May 15, 2006

SURVIVOR

I was bopping along doing my get-myself-back-on-track thing when I got a
call to function in an associate producer/directorial capacity on a series
of pre and post-show webisodes for the Survivor Panama Finale on Sunday.
Who could pass that up?

So, after a Mother's Day shout to mi madre, I spent all of Sunday somewhere
between the Ed Sullivan Theater and Opia at Hotel 57 (the site of the after
party). The end result:

http://www.cbs.com/gmc/?source =cbs_ola

Unfortunately, Wednesday was a wash for other creativity.

Best to the Survivor winners, GMC, and Hello World Communications.

Just woke up!

-DC

May 7th, 2006

NOT ENOUGH HOURS...

Not enough hours in a day especially when you're jetlagged. I got back in
town this past week and it took a bit longer than I wanted to get
re-adjusted. But then again, West to East is always choppy.

Have a lot to do on all fronts at the moment. Almost don't know where to
start. Began settling back into some writing time, phone calls, and finally
watched Garden State. Wonderful world. Was very impressed.

Computer seems to be holding up, but let's not talk about that.

Onwards and upwards,

-DC

Sunday, April 30th, 2006

GOT WHEELS, PART DEUX

It's nightfall and I'm still out West. Spent the week catching up with
friends, taking meetings, and driving with a quick jaunt to Vegas in
between. Industry phone calls have suffered though. Kind of hard to make
them being so mobile.

Creatively, I was excited to review Kimberly's notes on my script. Haven't
gotten far, but already can't wait to commence with the rewriting.

Today's High: Had Roscoe's for brunch. Chicken and waffles!
Today's Low: Paid $3.29 a galloon for gas!@?$#

-DC

Sunday, April 23rd, 2006

GOT WHEELS

After definitely not the smoothest of travel experiences, I arrived in Los
Angeles at noon on Thursday. But Dollar Rent-a-car did me right. They
upgraded me to a Dodge Charger and in no time I was navigating the streets,
meeting a friend for some CPK (love that), and off to Riverside for the
night.

The next morning was the first day of Kimberly's two-day seminar aptly
titled "Meeting Your Screenplay's Needs". I was excited to meet her for the
first time (of course:), but honestly I didn't know what to expect of the
seminar.

All I can say is that it's been awhile since I've written so fast.
Fortunate for us, Kimberly has a great knowledge of story, character, and
genre convention which she doesn't mind sharing. I think everyone was
impressed by how practical and insightful her observations were and thankful
just to be there.

As I drove back, I couldn't wait to apply what I'd learned. I think it was
the creative boost I've been needing.

-DC

Sunday, April 16, 2006

MOJO NO GO

I hate to begin this week's blog like this, but just when I thought the worst was over...

I was typing some notes up on a friend's Grey's Anatomy spec when my laptop starting making this GRINDING noise. I swear I almost fell out!!

I took it back to Tekserve AGAIN and they said it was the hard drive AGAIN...not a week after I had gotten the new hard drive up and running. Deja-freakin'-vu! I lost all of my data and programs AGAIN.

Spent the week recovering. Lost out on writing time.

Disgruntled and annoyed,

-DC

Sunday, April 9th, 2006

PUTTING HUMPTY DUMPTY BACK TOGETHER AGAIN

My laptop returned to me this week. <INSERT BIG SIGH OF RELIEF HERE> And so began the process of rebuilding.

Note of pause: It is amazing how utterly dependent we are on technology these days. It wasn't that long ago when having a pager or an answering machine were novelties for the trendy. Today, if you called someone and they didn't have some kind of voice mail, you'd go ballistic. When did that happen?

Finally was able to resume a bit of research this week, but I feel as if I'm three weeks behind on everything...AND I don't have all my programs yet. Really wanted to have a better handle on the story I'll be writing after NIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS, but I'm finding the story structure slow to figure out. Still feel I need to get a better grounding in the world.

On the plus side, I booked my ticket this week for Kimberly's workshop in a couple weeks. At this point in my creative process, I think it will be a big help. Always ready to enjoy my LA time as well. Can't wait.

-DC

Sunday, April 2, 2006

POWERBOOK IN RETROGRADE

The good news (if there is any) is that I had about 90% of my data backed up. The bad news is I've lost all of the programs that allow me to access that data, and I'm typing this on a rental! Was told that I would have my laptop back on Wednesday, but that day has come and gone.

Needless to say this "incident" has severely affected any forward momentum I had going on creatively. When your computer is your lifeline for both work and personal the inconvenience factor is exponential. Spent the entire week just trying to get back to square zero. Add that to the festival, fund, and fellowship due dates I had going on this week for my documentary projects, and I have not been a happy camper.

How many different ways can you spell the word SUCKS?

-DC

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

1:00 AM - Computer screen went gray.
9:00 AM - Tried to troubleshoot with Apple phone support and discovered node errors?!@#
11:00 AM - Picked up Disk Warrior from the Apple store.
1:00 PM - Turned the computer on at home and it worked! Quickly backed up more data...
2:00 PM - Ran Disk Warrior. NG. More gray screen.
3:00 PM - Went to Tekserve and was told that my hard drive was failing.
4:00 PM - Hoped for a miracle.
5:00 PM - Went back to Apple for a 2nd opinion.
6:30 PM - Confirmed the worst. My hard drive was gone. All programs and data were lost.
6:31 PM - Screwed.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

This was a strange week. The lead track from MJ's classic solo album must have been my theme tune (followed by Prince's INSATIABLE as a close 2nd). I seemed to strike through my TO DO list with unusual samurai precision.

I watched three films back to back on the plane home from London. (I know, I know...what else are you supposed to do, right?)

Made the majority of my industry calls in one day and then some. And I even got into a mini zone with the writing schedule. Still trying to crack Dramatica though, but having fun with it.

I wonder what this week's soundtrack will be.

-DC

Sunday, March 5, 2006

From London With Love

The week began (as most do) with a Monday, but interesting enough...by that night I had convinced myself of the need for a last minute trip to London, especially when I discovered that the minimum free-ticket mileage requirement on Virgin Atlantic was going to increase as of 3/1/06!

So, by Thursday morn I was UK bound. Made a point to get phone calls out of the way during the days before hand and did. Got a good amount of writing done in the air too. Being confined in economy at 35,000 ft seems only conducive for sleeping or working...for me at least.

In prep for the Oscars, I managed to watch Good Night Good Luck, Capote, and Syriana...just under the wire. Hope my favorites win!

-DC

Why do I think it was Benjamin Franklin or someone who coined the phrase: "Don't put off 'til tomorrow what you could do today"...or "Don't put off today what you'd rather do tomorrow?"...or is it "Don't put off tomorrow what you couldn't manage to get done by the end of the day??!"

Well, whatever the real saying is...leave it to a founding father to make broad sweeping generalizations without filling in the fine print. Could have used it this week. Started off alright, but kept saying that I'll write later. The problem was that I seemed to say that almost daily. Then, add in your typical variety of unexpectants (computer problems, other projects, late night delays, and work) and pretty soon it was at the weekend. How did that happen? Creativity suffered.

I think Pablo Picasso made an apt revision to Ben Franky's thought. He said, "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."

I can get with that. And take it one further:

Write while the writing is good.

-DC

All is Well That Just Ends...

Not that I want to get too much in the habit of using this as my personal gripe forum, but today sucked and I'm glad it's over.

It was a day that became my off day by default. Although I tried, I couldn't seem to wrap my head around anything productive. Sure...physically I felt better than last week, but by 2PM the only "ing" I had achieved was eating.

I had prior plans to go to a friend's birthday dinner this evening, so I knew last week that tonight would be a wash. To compensate I decided to head uptown to Lincoln Center to catch a screening of a Bill Brown documentary right before, but when I got into the subway, I realized that I had left my weekly metro card in my apartment. So, in the name of not missing the beginning of the film I had to pay an extra $4 (die hard NYers know how annoying this is) in transportation costs. But then, when I got to the theatre, the box office guy delights in telling me that my screening actually happened the day before! How could I have gotten the date wrong as well?!? (This doesn't beat the time I went to Newark Airport on the wrong day, but I was still pissed.) I mean, what the hell?

So I packed it up. Went home. And treated myself to some Chipotle.

-DC

Not So Happy Feelings

This wasn't a good week for much. From Tuesday on I felt like I needed some of that stuffy-head-fever-so-you-can-rest medicine you hear about. I sat down at least for times to write and realized that a slightly throbbing head and pseudo-nausea do not creativity make.

So...I opted instead for watching more films. Got in at least five by week's end: Forty Shades of Blue, Happy Endings, Transamerica, Jellysmoke, and The War Within...along with some feel good TV.

Spent most of my day-off day trying to feel better, but did make it over to the Apple Store for one of their seminars. Gotta love that place...with it's smooth, metallic finishes and soft, even lighting... If God was gonna have a store on Earth that would be it (minus the lines, of course)!

-DC

Sunday, February 5, 2006

7 Days Later

I can tell right now that a week passes by quickly. Wasn’t I just typing one of these?

My creative schedule is still a thing of flux. I took time during the Superbowl to finish off my writing goal for the week. (I’m sure the best commercials will repeat.) Even got the chance to play a bit with Dramatica Pro. Fascinating program.

In review, I was a little better with the industry calls this week. It’s strange. They are completely hit and miss. Your reception depends on who answers the phone, how they feel, when you call, and who is or isn’t available. At least Furst and Morgan Creek didn’t shove me into an automated system like Icon did. Kind of liked corralling phone calls to one day too. May try to keep that going for next week.

Still working out the kinks.

Sunday, January 29th, 2006

A Year in Preview

It's Sunday night and this is my first ever blog posting. Hello internet!

It looks like I'll be creating one of these once a week to document my
progress as the first mentoree. Not sure I'm into the public display of
accountability though...but I guess it's all a part of the challenge, so
bring it on!

After an inspiring conversation Monday with Kimberly, I spent the rest of
the week trying to get a handle on my schedule for the year (my very own
version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride).

A week passes quickly. Didn't quite get all the writing time in and felt
the urge to procrastinate on my first industry calls. I knew there was a
reason I had saved those Variety clippings. Saw the Irish soul film "The
Commitments" (hey, it was in my Netflix cue) and succumbed to all the
"Brokeback Mountain" hype.

Genesis. Here marks the beginning of what is sure to be a great year for my
writing career.