Pause That Refreshes

Okay, gentle reader, I'm about to tell you the most important thing I will ever write in this blog:
I'm grateful for all interest in my writing (and co-writing as the case may be).

Have I grown to be a little frightened over the phrase "we have notes"?
Absolutely.
But what came before "we have notes" is "we have interest" and that one "interest" is more powerful than a billion requests for changes, because it means someone wants to take what was written and actually film it.

Oddly enough, when J & I first sat down with the very first Dorks producer (the Alpha producer if you will), we all shared a round of "How many ____ does it take to change a lightbulb?"
The "writer" answer -- "The lightbulb? But that's my favorite part."

That is revision.

Some people call it "killing your babies/darlings" and it's absolutely true. But good producers (and directors) force writers to kill the babies that they've entrenched around to make the movie better.

I may not always let my dim light shine, but I'm so incredibly psyched in the hopeful forward movement on Dorks and I believe that the producers would agree that J & I have turned around some quick, note-addressing drafts, re-drafts and polishes... regardless of the number of darlings killed.

Dorks will be a big step in my eventual realization of being a real, fully-fledged screenwriter. Much further down the line, I will have to take time at the podium to thank each of these producers and our director (and hopefully scads of others) for their encouragement, for their interest and for their notes.

Dorks still at 92% and holding.

New Draft Submitted...

...first (and only response) from one of the producers was that he was "92% pleased" with it.

That's an A.
If we got 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, I'd be ecstatic.
Would I like 100%? Yes, yes I would.
Does this mean there will be additional notes heading towards us...?

I'm 92% certain.

New Notes

Four pages of new notes received last night.
Thankfully, an element they'd eliminated despite our protests has made its way back in with a "sorry we lead you astray on this" mini-pology.

So there's a silver lining to every "we have notes"...

6 Weeks

Told today it shoots in 6 weeks.
Start the countdown.

=)

so THAT happened...

I played an open mic at DWA today.
I had an in, as I work there.

I played three original songs (TOOM, Accidental Love, Superhero Song). It'd been about eight years since I played my last open mic. As was my tradition all those years ago, I wore a hockey jersey. Today's was Gilbert Perrault -- a gift from Jessica and my sisters Aimee and Kristin.

My guitar was dusty. My fingers and strings were rusty. I eventually dropped the pick into the body of the guitar towards the end of the third song. But I enjoyed every nervous minute.

Thankfully, I brought backup in the form of Jenna Bryson -- a friend and powerfully talented singer/songwriter. I was her opening act. I primed the crowd with my awkward innocence/subtle sexuality and she wowed them with her pipes and power. I chimed in with the banter between her songs which was I think easy and free-flowing since I didn't have to play my guitar to do it.

Dorks part 231

New revision submitted this week that has a bit of fun with the time-space continuum.

Thankfully, John had prepped this so it was only a matter of minor tweaking to make presentable.

Went out mid-Monday.

No word back yet.

Why I'm not a poet...

I used to love writing poetry.

My first attempt to get into the UR's poetry class was fully rebuffed. (Of course, so was my attempt to get into the Creative Writing Fiction, but that's because I was only a Freshman).

As it turns out, I backdoored in. While the usual professor rejected me, the one who filled in for a semester loved my work and welcomed me in. (Wait, creative writing is subjective?)

Because I'd taken the first course, I was allowed into the advanced class with the usual professor. There was only about six of us. I was the ONLY member of the class to not place in the Dean's Prizes for poetry. (I got honorable mention for Creative Writing Fiction that year.)

I went to support the class and the professor asked me to join them for their group picture "just because." I declined.

When I told one of my filmmaking professors I was thinking about getting an MFA in Poetry, he asked "what's the going price on poems these days anyway?" In effect, wholly discouraging me from taking that route.

It's okay.

I'm a better screenwriter than I am a poet.

I'll let you know when I get to the going price on scripts...