I'm Back

Not that I was missed... :-)

I'm finally circling back to the film project that prompted me to start this blog in the first place.

All I'll say for now is that it's been an interesting few years and it feels good to be finding the focus in my film projects again. I'm in the process of a major Light of Day re-write that I think will not only address a number of problems in the last draft I'd completed, but will make the film more fun and engaging overall.

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.