Pancakes & Parables
Last night I worked at a Hotel. I was filling in helping out my buddy so he could have a night off. I was the A/V tech on duty so that I could just baby sit a DVD player during a wedding. Excitement Central, that’s where I was last night, at least I was able to get some thoughts down.
During a break, I had my handy dandy laptop. I was tweaking the book I’m writing, Tales from the Front Line of Indie Filmmaking. I started a little organization of my files, and I found 3 articles I forgot about, namely the Making of The Manhattan Project that I was asked to write for a website I can’t recall, and the Making of New World parts 1 and 2 that I wrote for The DogPile filmmaking site. This added 20 pages to the book. When I got home, I added a few pics to jazz these stories up. I didn’t know if I should put these at the head of the book or the tail. I chose the tail so that people can read the articles & other Tales, and then see how I really started.
I tweaked the book until 3:00AM and played with it. I found this new site, LuLu.com, that self publishes the book for $5 cheaper per book than Cafepress.com does. I’m getting a few copies made so that I can send them off to publishers already in book form. In the meantime, I’ll sell a few copies here and there on the site. I get a discount if I buy 36 or more, so I’ll order 30 for my own needs and sales.
Still not much happens with the next feature script. I can’t focus on it. I’m at least starting to figure out what’s wrong. I'm obviously pushing my shoot for a bit. I have some funding to help book a name actor or two. At some point in October, I'd like to get all my principals in a room & figure out when & how we're going to make the movie.
The script is coming along, but much slower than I'd like. I've made some progress, but obviously not as much as I'd hoped. I get some occasional inspirations and I write them down, but still no massive script writing sessions. Now I'm in money making mode (like the gig last night). I'm dedicated, but I want my next project to excel and be better than anything I've done, but I think the added self imposed pressure is killing me creatively.
Things are still moving with Horrors of War, but at least it’s not me doing the work. The film has its own momentum now. I keep either finding film festivals or some of them contact me to let us know that it was accepted. We’re up to 11 film fests and rising slowly. I can officially say that we’re with Maverick Entertainment for the DVD release, but it won’t be on DVD in the U.S. until sometime in 2007. Phil did find a DVD cover from one of the sites that scanned the Netherlands DVD art. I made a Poster Gallery on the site, also Phil’s idea.
We’ve got an invite to the Thriller!Chiller! Film Festival in Michigan and that one sounds like a LOT of fun. John Whitney and I are definitely going. I don’t want to see the movie again, but I don’t mind talking about it afterwards.
Showing the Directors’ Cut of Horrors of War is an interesting sales tool. There are some out there that question the logic of screening a version of the film that will NOT be on DVD. This is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. That means people who see it on the festival tour will have a reason to rent or watch the movie again because it’s different. If they didn’t like the movie, they have a reason to give it another chance. It makes the screenings “special” and the DVD release something to still look forward to for any fans out there too. It’s not rocket science, kids.
I have agreed to speak at the next IndieClub Columbus meeting September 24th, 2006 1pm to 4pm at Dublin branch of the Columbus Metro Library 75 N. High Street Dublin, OH 43017. I really don’t like to attend these local meetings, for IndieClub or Columbus Movie Club. There’s not much there for me. It’s for people like I used to be, where I used to be. I don’t find I’d get much out of the meetings myself. After all I had been through with the Columbus Film Consortium, I find that the social aspects and the behavior of local filmmakers (and filmmaker wannabes), to be anti-productive for making movies. It brings out the worst in me too. I’m not that unaware of my own bad habits and terrible inhibitions when it comes to local moviemaking clashes. The metaphor I’m using is this: An alcoholic does not go to bars once or twice a month with his old drinking buddies.
I was asked to speak about “Reel” and how to make them, why you make them, and show a few. It was no small motivation that since Brandy is working so much with two full time jobs that I’m showing her Reel because she can’t be there. I miss my Brandy-Weasel and I miss Spoooooooooooons. The least I can do is try to help get her some acting work when things slow down for her. I’ve also got 2 of Greg Sabo’s Director of Photography Reels I edited to show.
I’ve also got my two updated Reels to show. The Commercial Reel hadn’t been touched in almost 3 years. I never made a “Director’s Reel”, but I needed to because I’m getting ready to solicit a real agent. We’re zooming in on the time for me to try my hand at the bigger league. After putting an initial cut of my Director’s Reel online, I got some feedback from several places and I shortened it, whilst adding almost double the material. Dan Kiely even kicked in with the suggestion to shorten a clip he was in. I did. The less Dan Kiely on my Reel, the better I’ll do, that much is certain.
I’ve been tossing around the idea of offering the service of editing Reels for actors for over a year, but I have this fear of a poor reaction from people or several amateur wannabes offering the same service for free or cheaper, even though they won’t have the same level of professionalism. I think I’ll start anyway. I’m not trying to win a popularity contest. I need to make money these days and I’m worth every penny. I’ve been underselling myself for far too long.
The cats are in upheaval. With Brandy’s less frequent time spent here at Rossdonia, they are becoming rebellious. They have taken to coughing up the hairballs everywhere and more often. I believe Coussette is behind these new terrorist attacks. We will strike down the evil doers and smoke them out of their caves.
I’ve got a few paid edit sessions this coming week, doing an interview for someone’s documentary, a new editing class session, and 2 more video production jobs this coming week. This is a good thing. I’m going to make some money and alleviate some of my tribulations so that I can focus on the writing of a feature length screenplay that I will shoot sometime in 2007…
Peace Out Sonnyboo-Homees,
Peter John Ross
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DRINK IT UP! www.Sonnyboo.com
