After this year’s SXSW, I decided to refrain from posting. After all, as I said, I didn’t want to give away too many spoilers on this project. Also, I wanted to focus on finishing schooling, which I did in May. I actually thought about deleting this completely, but I decided to make this post instead.
If I still belonged to Shooting People, I might ask this question on one of their lists, but since I’m not, I’m posting it here.
I am looking for a music supervisor. Specifically someone who has experience working on low budget productions, and experience with negotiating with Indie Bands (and more than just bands pulled off of MySpace). If you know someone who fits my qualifications (or if you do), please contact me at erin at erinscherer.com.
Also, I’m looking for accommodations for 2013 SXSW. Preferably something that’s within three miles of the Austin Convention Center. These are accommodations for two people (women). The cheaper the better.
Last week, I started e-mailing PDF copies of the script out to certain people. To illustrate how I feel right now, I’m posting a clip from the 1998 movie Half Baked. What Thurgood (Dave Chappelle) says at 1:11 nails it.
Next month, my friend and I will be coming to Austin for this year’s SXSW Film Festival. At this point, I pretty much have everything in place: our flights have been arranged, and we have our passes. I’m so close to it I can taste it! Only one major thing we still need…
…Housing. We will be arriving on Friday, March 9th, and leaving on Wednesday evening, March 14th. We are currently searching for accommodations, and would prefer a location that’s within three miles of Austin Convention Center (makes it convenient for cheaper cab rides), and near a bus stop. Please understand that we are on a tight budget, and are looking for accommodations that $150 per night or less.
If you have accommodations for us, please contact me at erin at erinscherer.com using the subject line “SXSW QCC Blog Housing”. Thank you.
Earlier this week, I called a friend of mine to wish her a Happy Birthday. I caught up with her, and she recommended a bunch of movies I’ve already seen. As I was on the phone with her, she asked me how this project was coming.
I informed her that the script was in rewrites, and that I would be working on contacting people soon. Then she launched into this rant about how I should apply for grants because it’s going to cost me at least a million dollars to make this movie. For the record, I’m not necessarily against applying for a grant. My only gripe grants has to do with the duration of time it takes to receive it, and most of the time, you have to partner up with a non-profit in order to receive one. She got the million dollar budget quote from kid whose film she appeared in. According to her, his MBA from Keuka College designates him as an authority on these matters.
Flashback to last May. This friend of mine, as well as another close friend of mine, went out for Wing Night at Lloyd’s, a popular bar in Penn Yan. We ran into “Keuka MBA” (as I’ll call him) and his brother, who apparently has graduated from Wells College’s film program (I’ll call the brother “Wells Film Degree”), and she introduced me to them. She told them I was making a movie about the call center that we worked at, to which Keuka MBA commented,
Well, I had a very nice Christmas. On Festivus, I read the Wikipedia entry for the Yule Log to my family following viewings of Die Hard 2, A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All. On Christmas Day, I went to my cousin’s house, where we had a carb-filled feast and I played with my younger cousins. I got to meet my four month old baby cousin Madelyn for the first time. What an easygoing baby.
For gifts, I got DVDs of Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan and Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, both favorites of mine. Now I’m happy to own copies of them on DVD. I also received Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) (hilarious, highly recommended) and Nile Rodgers’ Le Freak (which as of this posting I have yet to read). I received a $50 Gift Certificate to Regal Theaters from my brother, and a food processor from my sister. I also got money from my mother to purchase additional presents, to which I bought Gabrielle Bernstein’s Spirit Junkie.
I originally purchased a hard copy of Spirit Junkie for an older friend of mine who has been reading A Course In Miracles, on which Gabrielle’s teachings are based. But I flipped through it and began reading passages from the book, and I was compelled to download a Kindle copy for myself. I just finished reading it. It’s basically the story of Gabby’s journey from tortured adolescent to thirtysomething Spiritual Life Coach. She utilizes her autobiography as a vehicle to expound on the Course, complete with guided meditations. I also downloaded a few of her guided meditations off of ITunes, which are useful.
I officially finished with my coursework for this semester this afternoon, so now I am now done for this semester. Now I can focus more on re-writing and working to get the production off the ground. I’m working on trying to find a way to go to SXSW in March.
Other than that, not too much going on. Meanwhile, some Charlie Brown Christmas. Happy Holidays, everyone!
My last post got me really fired up about software and hardware, and what types of software and hardware I want to use with this movie.
I would very much like to edit this movie on Final Cut Pro. In the past, I’ve used Adobe Premiere Pro, which is what I trained on back in college. In order to get Final Cut Pro, though, I will need to get a Mac.
Last fall, when the initial burst of energy to write the script for this movie came about (and I still had a job), I subscribed to both Script and Creative Screenwriting. The March/April 2011 issue came along in the mail. This particular issue had some articles that offered advice for new writer/directors, and I was interested in seeing how their advice lined up with the stuff that I’ve learned the past few years.
One article that really caught my eye was “Writing and Directing Your First Feature: From Your Story to ‘Film By'”, penned by USC Grad Student Robert Piluso. The article is focused on the hardware and software associated with filmmaking and its uses. Of course, there’s a discussion of Final Draft (Script is owned by Final Draft), Gorilla, Movie Magic Scheduling, and Final Cut Pro. I don’t think I would’ve had as much of a problem, had Piluso kept to his main focus–software and hardware–rather than veering off into festival submission and exhibition, which is article unto itself. Piluso could’ve heeded his own advice and used his two interviewees as a jumping off point for his own research rather than designating them as authorities.
That’s not to say that Piluso doesn’t get a few things right. He manages to avoid making his article into a collection of press releases and soundbites, as Script‘s articles tend to be. He does recognize that with a smaller budget, your film will need to be more personal in nature in order to work. Having a tight script doesn’t hurt. Finally, he stays away from making hackneyed references to El Mariachi and Clerks, two broadly known microbudget classics that have no bearing on today’s indie film landscape.
As someone with a few bad specs in my past, I know that spec writers are used to taking dogmatic advice from people who have worked mainly on the periphery of screenwriting (The late Blake Snyder and J. Michael Straczynski are exceptions to this rule), and are used to tailoring scripts for a market that’s becoming increasingly narrower in taste. In turn, these gurus have very rigid ideas as to what makes a good story. The festival circuit, with its more diverse aesthetic, is more interested in personal vision than a product aimed at a demographic. As I recall overhearing filmmaker Benny Safdie saying outside of a screening at this year’s BAM Cinemafest, “These films aren’t for everybody, but they’re for anybody.”
I’ve uploaded a PDF of Piluso’s original article for you to read and judge for yourself. The article is copyright its respective owners.
Classes are going okay. I had (and to an extent, still do) my doubts about the program. It’s online based, but with the exception of one course, there’s hardly any interaction with other students. Maybe my decision was hasty, but I think I’ve made the right decision. Now if I can get some money in the bank.
Next week is Morrisville’s fall vacation. I’m planning on taking a project-related to trip to a small city north of Syracuse. I’ve also been thinking about starting another blog, but I’m not sure for what. I’d like to have some kind of online presence besides this (I don’t want to spoil too much about this movie right now), but I don’t what I’m going to blog about.
Now for some fabulous music from Julianna Barwick:
I have a new interview with Kris Swanberg posted at The Film Panel Notetaker in regards to the current battle to save her business, Nice Cream. Click on the picture above, and it will take you to the interview.
Questions? Comments? Concerns??? 