RISING FROM THE ASHES

So last week, in my brief post, I completely failed to mention that while I was in Phoenix, I found out that I got a gig writing a movie for the Disney Channel!  This was not exactly out of the blue but it was exciting and it was… totally surreal.  I got the call from my writing partner on the project, Cindy McCreery, while I was sitting in a deli waiting for a shuttle van to take me to a mall so I could scrounge up an outfit for the Phoenix Film Festival’s Opening Night Gala. (Do male filmmakers feel the need to dress up for this kind of thing?  Do any filmmakers? Alas, I did and so I confess that I spent day 1 of the Phoenix Film Festival shopping).

Anyway, this is how things happen - you push and push and push and PUSH for years to make a dozen projects move an inch and then suddenly, something just zooms to the finish line while you’re having tuna salad in a deli in Phoenix.  You gush quietly in a corner that you get to write something you like and get paid and get benefits and you gush that somehow by the skin of your teeth you’re keeping the dream alive and you wonder if you shared your good news with the guy behind the counter if maybe he would give you a congratulatory hug… And then you call your husband.  And your last producer.  And your mom. 

Am I alone in thinking that there's
something sexy about projectors?

That DC news carried me through the length of the festival, through the nerves introducing THE LAKE EFFECT to packed houses, through the technical difficulties that led to late starts, re-starts, late nights in the projection booth, and one-time awful DVD projection… through the panels that made me self-conscious and the panels that had me in stitches… It also carried me through the horrible bronchitis I contracted while running amok in Phoenix!  Somehow, all the excitement comes with a price but did I let my bronchial infection stop me from enjoying free drinks and good company of other filmmakers?  Heck no.

pre-sick, SOLD OUT! 

Alright so maybe I should admit that by the time the awards ceremony came around on my last night at the fest, I had to drag myself out of a sleep stupor in the hotel room to make my way to the filmmaker’s lounge.  And maybe I sounded (and looked) something like Bea Arthur.  Luckily, my lack of respect for illness paid off.   The Lake Effect took home TWO awards from the Phoenix Film Festival!  The first one they announced was Best Ensemble Acting and I was (to put it mildly) giddy.  I am so incredibly proud of the cast of TLE and want so badly for their amazing work to be seen and recognized… I thanked the festival and skipped off the stage to text Ross and Tara and Kay all the good news.  I was still texting them in fact, when I heard another presenter up on stage quoting something I half remembered saying on a panel earlier that week… I can’t remember now even what it was… something about “We had this location and I thought, ‘Damnit, now I’m going to have to write a script…’” all I know is that when I heard it, I thought, “I might be winning an award right now… and can I can get this text out before I have to get up there…?”  The answer was no. 

 Still texting... 

Winning the Best Screenplay award was shocking.  And thrilling.  And appreciated.  Though I have to admit, accepting an award for my actors was so much easier…  I know they deserve it.  But my relationship with writing and with everything I’ve ever written is… complicated.  Believe it or not, writing is pretty thankless (which is why I officially dedicate my Best Screenplay award to every writer who has ever written a screenplay that has not been bought or lauded or produced… it’s hard out there for a pimp).  So being up there on stage, being recognized for screenwriting was… about as surreal as finding out that I just landed a sweet gig writing for Disney Channel while waiting for a shuttle bus and eating tuna salad at a strip mall deli in Phoenix.  I still don’t think it’s quite hit me.  But I’m waiting for it to do just that.  And when it does, I will let you know how it feels. 

#WINNING

In closing, BOO to technical difficulties and bronchitis.  YAY jobs, awards, and the Phoenix Film Festival! 

BLOG #8 “Hurry Up and Wait”

Okay, so this is the portion of our program where we wait.   Just like in production where we hustle through rehearsal and then wait for the lighting crew to get the set pretty, or in post where we hustle through the edit to wait for the clip to render (I hate that spinning beachball soooo much)…

We have hustled to get the movie done and into the hands of some sales agents… and now we wait to hear back and see if we can marry up with the right company to sell this film. 

So what’s a filmmaker to do in these oh-so empty moments, when the film is out of your hands?   I spend time with my family and friends, I catch up on the news, I fill out my absentee voter form (VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!) and I watch movies and tv shows that I’ve neglected…  and then I come into my messy office and I look up at my white board – which is covered with a slate of projects.  If those projects are ever going to get as far as The Lake Effect has, I’ve got to get a move on.

Here’s the breakdown:

THE CYNICS:

I’m excited to say that Jennifer Westin and I have had so much fun working on TLE together that we’re teaming up on a second project, (which, really, I should be writing instead of blogging about). It’s still in treatment form but it’s shaping up to be a fun and funny ensemble comedy about love and friendship.  It’s loosely based on my childhood friends, actually – a group of complete assholes, whom I love dearly.

STRONG ISLAND:

This one’s a TV pilot that I’m penning with my very dear friend and amazing comedy writer Cindy McCreery.   Seriously, that girl funny.  Can’t tell you much about that one yet except that it’s set on the south shore of Long Island where I grew up and it’s cast of characters include some colorful Italian Americans that may be inspired by my family.   (Are we seeing a pattern here of me raping my real life for content?  Beware ye close to me, lest you get immortalized…)

PRUDE:

Prude is actually a script of Cindy’s that she’s considering letting me direct.  It’s a very funny take on high school sexuality – sort of like a female American Pie.  Genius.

LOVE IS REAL, THE MOVIE…:

This one’s simmering on the back burners.  It’s about a documentarian documenting her dysfunctional love life.   I have toyed with the idea of doing this as a cumulative webisode series, playing the documentarian and shooting half the movie on my webcam.   Maybe the back burner is the wrong place for this one…

TITS:

Ah, Tits.  This is an oldie but a goodie.  It’s a dramedy about a typical teenage girl struggling to grow up in a near-perfect suburban world when she realizes that only one of her boobs is growing.  This film has had actors and financing come and go – it only needs like a half a million dollars and a name actor to be the best thing ever.  

And last but not least… UNTITLED TV SPEC

I’m working on a Modern Family (I know, I know, “Everyone’s doing it.”)  But I straight up love that show.   I’m convinced that the creators snuck into our house and took notes on my husband while crafting the character of Phil.   Anyway, finding a home on a TV staff would be very cool.  There’s so much amazing creative work going on in TV right now, it’s a great place to work on character driven stuff, and you know that what you’re writing will actually be seen!  What more can you ask for? Plus, baby needs a new pair of shoes and I hear TV jobs come with these things called paychecks. 

  

So what’s the trick to maintaining sanity while waiting to hear back from that agent/ executive/ sales company…? Keep on keeping on. Attack that to do list with your whole heart. Dive into that new project head first. Also, it doesn’t hurt to listen to McHammer radio on Pandora.  Nothing inspires me to “move it move it” like early nineties hip hop.