Producer's Lab -- begins September 26th!

I just got the email this morning announcing the line-up for the 2008 Producer's Lab to which I was accepted (along with 9 other producers) with a script written by my dear friend and colleague M. I'm thrilled to be able to participate in FIND's Talent Development program. Our lab will be taught by Anne Clements who produced the feature film Quinceañera, which went on to win numerous awards including the Sundance Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize, Humanitas Prize and the John Cassavetes Award for Best Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. The film was released by Sony Pictures Classics.

I'm eager to meet the other participants and spend the next 7 weeks immersed in thinking about, watching and discussing independent film as well as readying our script for production in 2009.

It kicks off with the Filmmaker Forum at the DGA next weekend and they're even hosting a reception for us on Sunday night. A few of my colleagues are attending the Forum so I'll get to see some familiar faces as well as meeting my fellow Lab mates and making loads of new contacts. A networking heaven!

The APPle of my Eye -- Iphone 2.0

I finally upgraded my Iphone with the "new and improved" OS a few weeks ago. This is ALWAYS a little tricksy, upgrading anything on my Mac because it is so chock-full of pics, Itunes, all my show files, etc.

And well, I have to say, I'm very well pleased about the search function for my contacts. I still don't understand how I can search (or if I can) on a particular word. This is why I'm intrigued by Bento, Filemaker's newest database offering because I do NEED a database that is more functional than just a contact list and I can't seem to keep up with it in Excel anymore. And while I take umbrage at being labeled a "control freak" -- I prefer FlyLady's term "Born Organized" instead -- I am totally the demographic for Bento.

Once this show is over, I can get back to my purging of files and do a major electronics cleanse. At which point, I might actually have room on my machine for yet another program!

How has Iphone specifically helped me in production? Let me list a few of the ways:
Texting -- I was able to give my boss a secret heads up in a meeting about a shit storm he was going to walk into once he left said meeting.
Photos -- I proved that damage to a Japanese Tea House was preexisting and not caused by our stunt people (as Ninja) jumping on and off the railings with a photograph taken by the camera, saving my show $3600 in repairs.
Locations -- I've been helped out numerous times by the mapping and traffic reporting functions.

It's a great tool that more and more of us in the Hollywood trenches seem to have. Take note app developers...you have customers in Tinseltown!

Hoping my lucky streak continues. I've been working consistently since late January and I'm a finalist in the FIND Producer's Lab with a project I've been developing with M.

The Iphone - one month on

I've had it about a month now and I thought it would be worthwhile to articulate my experiences with it.

I was with AT&T to begin with so there was no real change in my service. I've found the coverage to be quite good - the only drop outs noted were in the DC subway (where evidently Verizon has an exclusive contract) and in the Sepulveda Blvd tunnel between LAX and El Segundo.

I migrated from a Treo 650 and when I exported my data as a Vcard the majority of it came over. I had segmented my contact data in the Palm Desktop software and those tags came over in the notes field on the Iphone so I will have to do a conversion eventually. I probably won't however because I just don't have the time and the patience to hack my way thru it. The main problem with the way I used the Treo vs the way I would like to use the Iphone is that I am unable to search in the Iphone.

I have thousands of contacts in my database. I can't always remember people's names but I usually remember their job function. For example, I can remember the gaffer I really liked working with - but what was his name? In my Treo I could type in "gaffer" and get a list of all the gaffers in my phone. In the Iphone, I have to try to remember the guys name and search by touching the letter of the alphabet. Was it Corey? Casey? Kacey? And suddenly I'm getting a headache (and wasting time) scrolling evig und 3 Tage looking for it. I can remember I have some great florists, but I don't always remember Mark's Garden. If I could search on Florists, they would be in the list of choices.

Yes, I use the Favourites button but I can see if I have more than 10 or 15 people in it I'm back to scrolling. Please. Apple. For the LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, add a search function on the next upgrade. No more scrolling.

Cut and paste functions would be great as well.

Sometimes the touch screen is too sensitive and I'm moved out of scrolling back to the alphabet list. It's annoying. And I've discovered that if you are wearing gloves, you can't answer the phone, because gloves (well worn, red, leather) seem to deaden the sensitivity.

I really like the way it syncs thru Itunes but I'm not sure why there's a button for the Ipod and another for Itunes. The screen is not too small to watch media on. I've been enjoying League of Gentlemen on my Iphone/Pod/device/thingy. The speakers are just loud enough for me to play music and podcasts on the kitchen counter while I chop vegetables for dinner. (Girls Gone Geek is a new fave.)

Finally, I really appreciate the multiple weather cities and time zones and the timer function. I can tell someone, I'll call you back in 20 minutes, and I really do.

Now maybe I've just not yet figured out all the neat functions of the Iphone and it really DOES search. If that's the case, please tell me and I will sing your praises from the mountaintops.

It's a great device, but not perfect. But more than ever I use it, rely on it and would never trade it back for a Blackberry or a Treo.

Flaming Death Nostalgia

Whenever I go back to my hometown, I try to stop at a familiar place from my past. This time I made it back to Mario's Pizza on Wilson Boulevard in Clarendon. I have many memories of this particular pizzeria, most of which involve burning the roof of my mouth on the cheese. This is such a common situation with Mario's customers (at least in my circle of friends) that we called the pizza "Flaming Death" and by extension Mario's also became known as Flaming Death. The Highlander Motel and the 7-11 are both still nearby, though the Highlander is now looking more like it should be placed on the National Register of Historic Places just because it's funky architecture is worth preserving. I realised I had never visited Mario's during the lunch time hours and an entirely different crew works the day shift. In my 25+ years of patronage I had never had "lunch" there. It's always been the snack to start your night or an end of your night hangover preventative. How many times over the years have I stared at that tile floor in various states of inebriation?



I got my usual, 2 slices and was feeling the need for vegetation so I chose green peppers on one of them.



and it flamed me as it always does. Plus ca change, plus ca la meme chose!



This is not the only pizzeria that I have nostalgia for. Stromboli Pizza in Greenwich Village on University Place between 12th and 13th streets is a close second. However, since I am not a huge fan of New York City (though I'm waiting for someone to convert me by showing me around and changing my mind), I don't get there too often.

I am now returned to Hell-Ay and just sifting thru all the strike news and a few other things that have come to my attention. More topics are pending.

Fair Trade Media

With the talks between the WGA and the AMPTP evidently at a stand-still (and I wonder how much of this is just people not wanting to "deal" during the holidays??) United Hollywood has posted the WGA's response to the AMPTP in halting the negotiations.

My thoughts have turned to how I continue to pursue my career in a way that works for me not only as a producer but as a content creator as well. How do I blend these two sometimes competing segments of my business? How do I "play fair" and value the creative contributions of my colleagues while also generating a revenue stream for myself? What should we do? What should we charge for our services when our creative output is now able to live on in seemingly endless iterations, in perpetuity throughout all media known and unknown, in the universe? (And you may laugh at that statement but it's paraphrasing a clearance form that 20th Century Fox has used for years in it's film and television productions) What is fair to pay for the fruits of someone's creativity? How does the concept of collaborative media with many "authors" become monetized? How do we make enough money to live our lives off of an "open source" paradigm?

I'm inviting another blogger, the Urban Ichthyosapien to join me in this discussion and also open it up to anyone else who wants to put their 2 cents in. (In Euro or Canadian only please, they're worth more than US now, since even drug dealers have abandoned the greenback dollar.)

There's no immediately forseeable end to the strike. But let this be a unique opportunity to think about the future of the business of creativity. I'm eager to engage in that discussion.

Momma

I've been thinking a lot in the past 72 hours.
Monday night my mother had a heart attack.
She survived it, but remains in intensive care.
I went tonight after work (yes I am working again, more on that in a future post) to see her and I climbed in the bed with her and lie there, just talking to her.
I told her about my day, about my plans, about my friends. I told her many things that had been hard for me to say to her before and she was very clear-headed and she listened to me. She looks better than she has in weeks.
But in case anyone is reading this, it's why I haven't posted in a few days.

It's exhausting to deal with all this and really depressing to see how the elderly are discounted in this country. After leaving Momma back in intensive care, I was waiting for the elevator and I struck up a conversation with a man in a white lab coat who had silver insignia bars on his lapels. I asked him about them and he told me he was an army nurse. I suggested that he was probably glad to be in the US and not in Iraq or Afghanistan. No he replied, he'd prefer to be back there, with his guys. I wasn't surprised, this is a common sentiment amoung the military to want to get back to their unit. The bonds are very strong. He then elaborated, telling me that he felt he was doing more good overseas, tending to the wounded there. He was helping his "guys". I nodded, I could relate to that. Then he said, "Because you know, here, it's mostly old people in hospital. And they've already lived their lives and had their chance." The elevator arrived and I got on. I thought to myself, he has no idea what he just said, but I had to admit his comment really hit me hard. This is how America views the elderly; as useless objects that take up space. Schrecklich.

Gratefulness

Here's what I'm grateful for:
-dear friends
-family
-getting to know some great colleagues
-the opportunity to travel
-having the chance to work on some great projects
-being able to meet new people and see old friends again
-that I am here, now, in a fascinating time to be in the business

A vast ocean of opportunity lies before us.