Wow. I'm being filmed...

Backstory: Early last year, I was contacted by a director from Triggerstreet and asked to write a short for him. I did. I sent it to him, he liked it, had a few notes, we went back and forth a little, I made a few changes and then gave him a one year license to produce ONE film. (It expires on April 1 of this year.) Things progressed, emails were flowing back and forth, he was really happy with the script, I was welcome on set, he was busy working away, he was getting the DP he wanted, he was auditioning actors.... then, the bottom fell out, silence on his end. When I wrote him a friendly "how's it going" email, he replied with he was having difficulty find actors, etc...

Frankly, I figured that the ball had been dropped. Totally. So, I forgot about it.

Imagine my surprise when I got an email today, with links to stills and rough footage.

Check it out here: stills

and here: footage

Life throws me a change-up...

So, I went on a date tonight. Rare occurrence these days since I'm very picky about who I'll date. As I get older, I have a clearer idea of what I find attractive and what I won't tolerate. When I was in my twenties... if you had a pretty face and could flirt your way into a date, you were on. Not so much these days, especially not with the ex coming back now and again. Anyways, I had a dinner date tonight with a woman that I've been casually acquainted with for a couple of years. We were both with other women when we meet so, while I thought she was beautiful and interesting, nothing ever came of it. My ex and I broke up a little over 2 years ago. She and her ex broke up earlier last year but have continued to do the lesbian lambada... breaking up and getting back together again... repeat. Damn, that dance seems to go on and on even when the music has clearly stopped.

I was a bit surprised when she asked for my number a couple months ago, and then not too surprised when she didn't call. I ran into her at the bar this past weekend and she said she would call. I didn't hold my breath. BUT. Lo and behold, call she did, the very next day. So, we chatted, decided on dinner plans and picked tonight as the big night. So far... so good. We're both single and seemingly willing to "mingle". Yipee!

So, today, I call and ask her for directions to where she lives... she begins to explain where her condo is and I get a little distracted by the dog barking at only God-knows-what so I just jot down directions and tell her I'll pick her up at 8:00. As I head in that direction earlier tonight, looking for the name of her condo complex, I realize that it's a former apartment complex. MY former apartment complex. Rehabbed to the gills and sold for far more than they are really worth, a couple of years ago. As I drive further into the complex, I realize that she lives across the breezeway from MY old apartment. She lives in #6, I used to live in #5... of the same building! All this would not normally be anything but "Huh, cool coincidence." except for the fact that #5 is the place I most associate with the ex.

Dinner was good, I'm not entirely sure the same could be said about my company. Ah well, I least I went down swingin'.

Blogging lite...

Posts will be lite to non-exisitent for the next couple of weeks as I am packing up house and preparing for the BIG move to LA. I won't be in LA until late March/early April but the condo's been sold and I gotta scram. I'll be staying with my Aunt and Uncle for the next couple of months while I tie up loose ends (remodeling jobs I've already commited too mostly) and begin the usual round of good bye dinners in which the subtext is always LA?!? Hot damn, now we have a place to stay!"

The envelope, please...

And the winner of the first annual "Guess who's Gay" contest is... *drum roll* Chris Soth. He got it right, albeit just as a last minute wildly thrown Hail Mary rolled into a joke thing. Yes, boys and girls, ALL GAY. The two on the right were a couple at the time, the brunette to my left? My date. We've all moved on to other women (or more accurately, in my case, back too and then broke up with [again] the same person, but I digress).

So, why'd I take us through this little game? It's all about perception, baby. See, I wanted to see how many of you, when presented with pretty women, who didn't fit the stereotype of "dykes" and "lesbos" would consider that perhaps the "trick" wasn't that they were "all straight" but "all gay". Not one of you got it. Ask yourself why. No need to tell me. Or put it in the comments (unless you wanna).

Now, I'm not saying that ANY of you are homophobic, I don't believe my readers are. BUT. Just as there's an unconscious level of racism in most people, there's an unconscious level of buying into gay stereotypes in there too. My aim is not to point fingers or call any one names, rather, it is to help you as writers (some of whom will include gay characters in your work) to stretch beyond those stereotypes when you are writing those characters. To that end, some other facts about the women in the picture....

(All true when the picture was taken, some details may have changed since.)

2 worked as executives for Fortune 100 companies
1 owned her own business
1 was a graphic designer
1 is a twin
1 was adopted
1 was studying for her MBA
2 were home owners
3 had pets
1 had 2 sisters and no brothers
1 had a gay brother
1 spins records for fun and sometimes money
2 had gone paintballing the weekend before
1 ran 3 miles a day
1 didn't exercise at all
2 went the gym on a fairly regular basis
All were going to a $$$ per ticket charitable event
By the end of the night, all our feet were killing us!

Comments?

Think we're ready for the Golden Globes?

I have friends, some gay, some straight. These are some of my friends and I, can YOU guess which is gay/straight or bi? I'm not giving you any hints. I will tell you that I'm in the middle, dark hair, up in a French Twist.

Show me yours, I'll show you mine...

Scott, (Mr. Gator in the copter) has added onto FunJoel's meme questions with one of his own:

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LINE OF DIALOGUE YOU HAVE EVER WRITTEN?

I don't think I have a favorite line EVER but if I did, this would be pretty close...

KELLI
C'mon! Go with me, I don't bite.

LISA
I bet you say that to all the girls.

KELLI
Nah, sometimes... I say I do.

Meme, me, me, me, me,...

Seems I've been tagged, by FunJoel's' count... 5 times, for the scribosphere "meme". (Anyone else think it sounds a bit like a singer warming their voice?) So, ever cordial, I am answering the call of the scribosphere...


ONE (1) earliest film-related memory:
I saw Little Big Man in the theater with my brother one afternoon. I don't know WHY my parents thought it was appropriate for little kids. One explanation might bet that they didn't really know what it was about and thought it would be an educational experience about Indians. It was an education as well as an experience, but not about Indians! There's so much sex and sexual innuendo in that flick!

TWO (2) favorite lines from movies:
"I hate women who apologize for wanting sex" Corky in "Bound"

"I'm not apologizing for wanting sex. I'm apologizing for what I didn't do. Violet's response...

THREE (3) jobs you'd do if you could not work in the "biz":
Novelist
Real Estate investor
World Traveler

FOUR (4) jobs you actually have held outside the industry:
I own a remodeling company.
I spent 4 years in the Army.
I sold copy services for a couple companies, including Xerox.
I've bought, remodeled, and sold houses.

THREE (3) book authors I like:
Patricia Highsmith
Margaret Atwood
Patricia Cornwell

TWO (2) movies you'd like to remake or properties you'd like to adapt:

Any of the Scarpetta series from Patricia Cornwell (adaptation)

Fast times at Ridgemont High (it would be interesting to see if it was different updated, or if some themes remain the same.)

ONE (1) screenwriter you think is underrated:
Compared to directors and actors, we're ALL underrated.

THREE (3) people I'm tagging to answer this meme
Chris (Big Woo), Konrad West and Writebrother

Whacha think, huh? Huh?

So, I've decided that a Rom/Com is gonna be the next thing I tackle....

Hide!

But, before I tackle the entire thing, I'd like to ask y'all a favor... would you read a short I wrote, as an exercise, for a project on Triggerstreet? It's supposed to be funny, and I know it's difficult to BE funny so I'd appreciate it if y'all read it and then give me your thoughts about it. Let me know if it make you smile, guffaw or grin. If it doesn't do any of those things, let me know that too. It's only 9 pages...

You can find it here: Love, Mom

A brush with fame...

Last night, here in Atlanta, there was a "premiere" of The L word, for its third season. It was held at a club not far from my condo so I hiked over there; (I do not drink and drive!) just in time to stand in line for about 15 minutes as the winter wind blew and made ice cubes outta my earlobes.

Why'd I have to wait?

The club was packed to capacity. They'd have been violating fire codes to let more people in. The max for that club? 750. The event was scheduled for 7:00 pm, the doors opened at 6:00 and by 7:15, they were full up. Completely full up. They weren't letting anyone in unless someone left.

I ONLY had to wait for 15 minutes because friends of mine were the next in line to get into the place and I "cut". Yeah, I cut. No, I don't feel bad about it. Sue me. WE only got in because a group of girls had to leave when their designated dupe (err.. driver) couldn't get into the place. Tough luck girls, them's the breaks!

So, Pam Grier was scheduled to appear, and appear she did.

I didn't meet her.

I meet someone MORE important. The creator and showrunner, Ilene Chaiken.

I was standing there watching the show and glanced over my right shoulder to find Ms. Chaiken standing there, all by her little lonesome. No bodyguard, no bouncer, no Pam Grier, just her and her drink. (She's a small thing, couldn't be more than 5'1 in her stocking feet and if she's 110, soaking wet, then I'm not a lesbian.) So, I took one step, leaned in and said...

"Thanks for creating the show. I've enjoyed it. I've read your script for Barbarella and I like your writing style."

She murmured a polite thank you.

ME: "How do you like Atlanta?"
HER: "Great city. Great turnout."
ME: "You have no idea. Not only is it packed in here, there's a line from the front door, around the corner of the building and almost all the way to the end of the street."
HER: (Big grin) "Really?"
ME: (Grinning back) "Yep."

I introduced myself, we shook hands and then, we stood there in companionable silence watching the show as the crowd swirled around us. Most of the women... completely oblivious to the fact that none of them would be there without the efforts of the tiny woman to my right.

The only other thing I said to her, after watching Alice do something pathetic...

Me: "Poor Alice."
HER: "Yeah, poor Alice."

She stood there a little while longer, holding her cocktail and watching the show, until she turned and disappeared into the darkness of the club.

It wasn't until this morning that I realized that I had completely bungled my "I like your writing style" compliment to her... she didn't write "Barbarella", she wrote "Barbed Wire"! She's too young to have written Barbarella! I hope that in the din of the club, she heard "Barbed Wire". If not, my chances of ever writing for her just went down the crapper.

I have a friend who insists that I should have told her that I was a screenwriter and asked her some questions about how to break in, etc... I'm not sure that would have been the right thing to do. See, it was her night and I think it would have been rude of me to demand that she cater to my questions.

What do you guys think?

Retroactive wishes....

I wish all of you: Health, wealth and most importantly, happiness, in the coming New Year.