Four new episodes

Today I jotted down the ideas for four new episodes of the series I mentioned here. I'll finish them tomorrow. But first thing in the morning I'm going to pick up a check I've been owed for months. I can cover rent this month. Yay.

Witness

I had never seen Peter Weir's Witness, allegedly one of Harrison Ford's better performances, and apparently a highly influential screenplay. I have a few minor issues with the third act, but I can see why it's so important. I may have to study this a few more times.

Dum Dee Dum Dee Dum

I scrapped most of my action script. It's been in the works for some time, and after a couple of full drafts --and several minor rewrites-- I have seriously reconsidered the concept behind the idea. I received tons of input (some good, some bad, some unhelpful), but ultimately it comes down to reshaping the story into a "less episodic" version of what it is, which is fine.

It was greatly inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark (hence the "episodic" comment), but apparently, the world just ain't in the market for that. So the McGuffin remains, but the story itself has morphed quite a bit. In fact, a few characters have not survived the transition. As Mr. Osbourne would say, goodbye to romance.

Today I worked some more on the documentary I have been editing. I received about three new hours of footage over the holidays, but a good chunk of it is B-roll. And since I need to turn in a first cut on December 14th time is running out on making a decent film out of whatever I do have. Not much writing might take place in the next couple of weeks because of this, but I'm sticking to my plan.

Time is always running out.

In other writing news, the WGA and the AMPTP met immediately after the holidays to reboot negotiations. Yay. We can only hope.

Metal Health

Kevin DuBrow, the lead singer of Quiet Riot, has passed away. He was found dead in his home in Las Vegas yesterday by some friends. He was 52.

Quiet Riot was (is) a staple of my childhood, the very first band that got me into that whole devilish rock-n-rock scene. And oddly enough, one of the screenplays I'm working on is a very loose adaptation of my suffering as a metal fan. Quiet Riot will always be the first band I knew to use an electric guitar to make me smile.

My condolences.

Turkey!

Happy Turkey Day, whoever may be reading this. And if you're vegetarian, Happy Tofurkey Day.

Back to writing stuff soon.

Woodie

I have a great new idea for a buddy comedy. As if I didn't have plenty already on my plate. But I dig this one. And I found just the book I need to start doing some research.

All I can say at the moment is it may or may not be titled "Woodie".

Where I am

Because I am not a member of the WGA, and because I have no deals with any producers, I have the benefit of being able to continue work on my spec scripts. The flipside is that I remain an undiscovered writer, an untapped talent, a diamond in the rough. And all that.

So I am making money by editing, translating, shooting... but as a writer I aim to write every day, even if it's not much. Once I can pay my bills through writing it'll be a full-time thing.

I just finished a new episode of a project I have co-created with my friend Michael. I may have another one done tonight. We send each other what we have written for notes and ideas. We are each others' support group.

I also am working on a new draft of an action script. It has gone through many changes and is slowly becoming an entirely different story than what it was intended. I'm fine with that. But it still sucks to revisit things I felt I had overcome. This is a new challenge. So be it.

I'm also in the revisiting-and-note-taking stage of  a romantic comedy I began several years ago. I've realized it was a lame, talky script with a good premise, with its heart in the right place. But the contrivances were so undramatic it was like dragging the story through the dregs in order to generate a preconceived outcome. I've taken the liberty of allowing the chips to fall where they may. I'm also letting the characters loose-- like mad dogs. Trust me, it makes sense.

More tomorrow.

Blog: Here be thy mission statement!

My old blog was a tool; I would vent, shoot the shit, wax philosophic... reasonably similar to other trillion blogs in existence (except, I think, for the dryer wit and superior spelling skills). It suffered the demise of many a website: I neglected it to death (albeit, forced by my previous hosts, who desired money. The nerve.)

This blog is not a tool, but an objective. Or better yet, a window. Yeah, I like that: a window through which to view the inside of my work.

I'll post daily about my work progress here, starting with today, and if I fail to post, it's either because I have a damn good reason, or I didn't write. And it better be the former.

In my next entry I'll provide a rundown of where I am with my current project. Friday is a good day to start things, isn't it?

Brand new day

I used to have a blog over at the very nifty Blog-city. But they decided to charge. What part of "unemployed and impoverished writer" do these cats not get?

Thankfully I realized that Blogger seems to be even more intuitive to use. So recent events and newsworthy happenings shall be written up here whenever possible.

So be it.

Writers on Strike!

Yeah, we all know the writers are picketing. I'd be tempted to say it's been covered to merciless death, but the issue is important (for those of us who come up with the words, mind you). I've read numerous complaints about "whiny millionaire writers", but it's nice to know there's plenty of support for the cause. Only a handful of writers have fat contracts with the studios and networks; the rest live off residuals, at best. If you need to learn more (and to keep me from being repetitive), check out this great site.

I'm not a member of the WGA (yet). But I will be. I will be.