Poof…

Pre-strike worries:

1. Concern that the WGA strike will continue, thus strengthening the actor guild's (SAG) resolve and precipitating them to strike in June. Thus, any movie that has SAG actors that is not wrapped by June faces a walk off.
2. A crappy but realistic concern for not making a movie.
3. A demoralizing kick in the gut.
   
   

Should I only blog when things are good?

Stay on message and all?

I have a friend who does that. No matter what, he's always spinning things into 'really big things are happening'. It's tiring to always hear "the press release" rather than straight-forward truth. It's a show-business thing but man, everyone knows he's 'B.S.ing'.

Well, I'm not up for that today, so screw it. I'll be honest, there are ups and there are downs. Today is a down. The project in its present incarnation just became a casualty of pre-strike worries. That means, rather than push ahead on pre-production, the potential producer decided to wait a couple of months and see. See – as in See ya later.

I've been aware of this very real concern since September, but somehow hoped to avoid it. All the fifteen+ hour days were in hope that we could get rolling in time.

Poof.

So – as I look at the re-write in progress, cursor blinking patiently… what now?

A New Year

Happy belated New Year to you, faithful reader.

Holidays were good, though the travel was really terrible this year. Worst air travel experiences for me in all the miles I've logged, thus far.
Rather than gripe about the annoyances, I'll mention a bright spot that would not have occurred were it not for a cancelled flight in Denver: If you ever find yourself at the Renaissance Hotel in Denver, Colorado – be sure to go to the hotel restaurant and get the Baby Greens salad and the Lamb entree (can't remember the exact name). If you like your meat rare, definitely get it as rare as they can legally make it. I predict the chef of that restaurant is destined for big things. The meal ranked with some of the best I've had anywhere in the world. Really.

Since returning to Los Angeles from Pennsylvania, where I spent the holidays, I've been re-working (I'll call this version 25.01.22.03 rev 3.5) the story. Having pushed the boulder to the top of the mountain yet again, I'm now awaiting some feedback from my most trusted reader, M. If I get the go ahead from her, I will send it off to the 'theoretically potential producer'. If I hear "go" from him, I'll crank away on the actual screenplay. Overall, it's not quite a page one rewrite, but it is significant enough to make the shoulders slump once again. Of course, my deepest fear now is to get a "Nah, I don't think this is gonna work out" response. No matter what, I will push forward hard in the next couple weeks. There are several other entities expressing interest in the project, and I don't want to leave anyone waiting. It really is amazing how effective the pre-viz has been overall. People and companies that I have never gotten response from have been getting back to me quickly – reinforcing the old adage that, in Hollywood, nobody likes to read.

New Year's resolution? Yup, I've got two. I'm keeping them small, which gives them more likelihood of a long life.

Good luck with yours.