Blogger sucks

Or at least the "WYSIWYG" interface does. What you see is most decidedly not what you get. It doesn't seem to matter what I select for font sizes because regardless of what I select, no post seems to render in the blog as depicted in the "Preview".


The Rocker

I've seen "The Rocker" twice in pre-screenings. The two most important things of note are that Gertrude looks great on camera, and the little background scene that my son Travis and I did made it into the final cut. :-)

The film itself is a bit predictable and formulaic, but I think it works pretty well. It's like School of Rock in that you have to look past some of unlikely and improbable circumstances presented in it and take it for what it is; a fun, feel good flick with a lot of great lines, good gags, and a well crafted and portrayed character at its core.

FOX decided not to hire Gertrude out for further promotions. I think in part because they're not allocating all that much in terms of marketing dollars for the film. The marketing is pretty grassroots, with the bulk of it being put into prescreenings in select cities, and a few contests online. Not sure what their strategy is, but I think that the film has potential to surpass any expectations they may have set for it and I don't think the marketing effort is conveying that sort of faith in it. The early reviews have been a bit mixed, and harsh, as critics often can be, but I really don't think that the targeted demographic for this flick pays much attention to the critics. Personally, I feel that everyone did a wonderful job, the film is fun and I would recommend seeing it.


Blue about Bluecat

I didn't make the quarterfinals in Bluecat, but I can't say that I'm surprised. Not because I don't think my writing was good enough. It's more because I don't think any of my scripts had what they were looking for. The impression that I get is that they're looking for something that's perhaps a little edgy, and uniquely personal. I think that all but one of my submitted concepts was truly derivative from a story perspective. What they lacked was a genuine infusion of some sort of personal struggle or perspective. It's arguable whether or not I was able to achieve that in any of my scripts, but I think my next efforts will draw directly from and be based directly on, personal experiences and explore themes that I have struggled with in my own life. They may not be the most action packed or thrilling, but they will deal with real, relatable struggles and have characters based directly on people from my life story.

There's still Nicholls, but I can't say I'm terribly optimistic about the outcome there either.

It's been two years since I completed a feature length script. It's time to take everything I've learned and apply it to an effort that really explores something closer to me and less contrived.

Press Day Pictures

Pictures from the press day event for The Rocker can be viewed at my flickr account.

From the looks of it, and the reports that Mike gave, it was a great time.

I didn't end up meeting with that studio interested in LOD last week, although I did trade emails with one of the guys I'll be talking to regarding the film. I can't say much at the moment, but there's every indication that I could get some big news next week.

Check from FOX

Today I received my first (but hopefully not my last) check from a major movie studio. It was payment for the work that we did on Monday for having Gertrude at the press day out west for "The Rocker".

Even though it wasn't for writing or directing, it was a neat moment to see a check from "Twentieth Century FOX Film Corporation" with my name on it. The check for the use of the coach during production last summer actually came from the production company, "Rocan" not FOX.

I'm going to frame a copy of it and hang it over the desk that I do most of my writing at.

Rocker Press Day

The press day that Gertrude attended for "The Rocker" went really well and the report from my partner on this venture, Mike Rotta, was that the cast was happy to be reunited with her. It sounded like they weren't expecting her to be there. It sounded like a fun time and I wish I could have been there.

Most of the major entertainment news reporting networks and shows had booths set up and conducted interviews. MTV apparently did their interviews with Rainn Wilson on Gertrude in the front lounge.

Mike took a ton of pictures and one of the photographers there for the event promised he'd send Mike a bunch of shots. I'll post them on the blog as soon as I get them.

My meeting with the production company has been moved to Friday @ 3:00.

"The Rocker" Update

The trailer for "The Rocker" is finally up on apple trailers, you can check it out here.

My bus, "Gertrude" in the film, is on her way out west for a publicity photo shoot on Monday. I wish I could have gone, but it was sort of short notice. She's in great shape - though she looks beat to hell in her "movie makeup" so it would have been a fun road trip. My friend Mike Rotta is driving her the 1,700 miles from Brownsville Texas to the undisclosed location in CA where the shoot will be. We'll probably store her out west for a while until FOX decides if they'll need her for anything else.

There are a total of thee shots in the trailer where you can see at least pieces of Gertrude:

- The shot where Fish gets whacked by the tree branch from sticking his head out the escape hatch.
- The shot where he's drunk at night standing on top of her.
- The shot looking back at the rear lounge where Josh Gad and the other kid high five (and miss)

A little piece of trivia is that there was a bunch of production staff sitting in the back of the coach while the DP Tony Richmond and a process car photographed the establishing shots of her driving around Cleveland.

Nicholl Confirmations

The other day I finally got the letters confirming my first two ever entries into the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship, regarded by many as the only screenwriting contest in the industry that really matters. I don't think I have a prayer of even making the quarter finals. The letter indicated there were 5,200 entries this year; not a record, but a respectable number nonetheless. Regardless of what happens, t's fun just knowing that I'm in, any good news will be a bonus. They tell you not to expect to hear anything until the first week in August.

A few weeks ago, I met with a company in the Boston area that produces small independent feature films, and just landed a deal to produce a bunch of "movie of the week" films for major cable network. They're also looking for some new, small budget indie features they can produce on their own, so I gave them a copy of LOD for the hell of it, which they apparently liked - I have meeting to discuss it with them next week. It was interesting because when I asked the president of the production company if he liked LOD, his response was, "I enjoyed it, but... You seemed like such a nice young man." I'm not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I suppose I'll find out next week.

Opening doors?

The more I think about it, the more I think that I should have done something like this long ago, but then again, I suppose things always happen in exactly the right order and I shouldn't question it.

I'm talking about approaching local production companies for support. I did this once, a couple of years ago, with only modest success. Partially I think because the company that I was dealing with, while solid in its own right, was not at the right stage for the type of stuff that I was doing.

I had a very encouraging meeting today with a local (Boston based) production company which, for the moment shall remain nameless. Suffice to say, they do a lot of cool stuff for networks like Discovery, National Geographic and PBS. The guy that I met with, I have to say, has been very persistent, patient and accommodating with regard to getting me in there and dealing with timing and schedule issues. He also had a lot of great things to say about my work, which was a huge boost for my confidence.

While most of my projects were a pass, there were some things like The Silver Eagle Story and this new project I've been thinking about for a while which seemed like they may be a fit for this company.

I've been very fortunate to have a respectable group of people working in the industry who've been really good and gracious to me. They've expressed confidence in my work when I was unsure of myself. They've provided unflagging support and guidance and reassured me that it would only be a matter of time before things fell into place for me. I've always appreciated that, and it's always meant a great deal to me.

Today however, was different.

While today's meeting didn't result in a big sale, or a pledge to turn any of my concepts into shows, I felt as though I'd stepped through a door that I've for the longest time been standing on the threshold of peering through a large enough crack for people to notice me, but not really pay me much attention. Today was for some reason different. Time will prove whether or not it will result in anything, but I felt a sincerity and sense of acceptance and validation in my skills as an artist that I hadn't really felt before. I'm not sure what it was that made this meeting so different, but I felt it, and it felt really good.

I admit that I'm still a very long way from claiming success in this endeavor. I'm not even remotely close in terms of relying on it as a means of financial support, but today, I feel as though I've stepped over the threshold of that very first, and very big and very important door.