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Friday, 22 May 2009

Sudden Death!

So, sorry for the double post, but I wanted to start to talk about the project a bit. So, Sudden Death! There are two types of film thesis projects in production at USC (you can also write a feature screenplay or work on two thesis projects in other positions like Cinematographer), but as far as directing goes, there are two options.

OPTION 1: 581 - This is what a lot of people tend to do. Basically, USC lets you use all their equipment and stages. They also provide the insurance and you get to use the USC-SAG actor agreement so SAG actors can work in your films. That's all good.

The negative parts: 1
. The film can be only 15 minutes long
2. They can basically shut your project down if they don't like where it's headed... meaning they can have control of the content. They don't generally, but of course that's always a fear.
3. You have to use an all USC crew in the major positions (Cinematographer, Editor, etc...) and
4. They own the film when it's done.
5. It's a 3 semester project... you have to take 4 extra units at school (8000 dollars more)

OPTION 2: 582 - Not as many people seem to do this but:
1. Can be up to 30 minutes
2. You have to get all your own equipment, insurance, SAG agreement, stages
3. You can use whatever crew you want
4. You own the project outright in the end
5. It's a 2 semester project - save 8000 bucks in units

So, we're doing option 2 - a 582. For one thing, the script is 32 pages at the moment... it will come down to 25, but there's no way I can tell this story as a musical in 15 minutes without it sucking. Also, I really wanted Melanie to produce this, and I really wanted a friend of ours, Dave Selle, to be the cinematographer. He's amazing, and a ton of fun to work with. Also, I didn't want the creative overlording... there can be a very mainstream, committee like attitude to making movies... and in my opinion, many of them don't get comedy... In any case, this is my one shot, and I wanted to kill it my way. If the film sucks, it's on me. We should be able to cover the SAG agreement ourselves, and we'll actually be saving money a bit by not having to take the extra 4 units.

Anyway, that's kind of a first look into the project, I'll post more as we go along. I'm working on the script all weekend, so hopefully there will be a new draft soon.
Internship Day 1 and laptop

Hey there my 9 loyal readers! So, day 1 of my internship at Big Kid Pictures has come and gone and it was a good first day. I think it's going to be a really cool place to work. It really is basically just 4 people in the office... So, I met David Dobkin (the director of Wedding Crashers, it's his production company), and he's really cool. Seems to have a really good sense of humor. Yeah, everybody there seems to be really chill, so it should be cool. They went over their entire slate of films that they're working on first thing... they have a lot of really interesting projects going on. Either that or he just pitches them really well. But, they seem to be working on a lot of cool stuff.

Anyway, basically my day consisted of me doing a whole lot of research for a script they're working on (oh, by the way, I signed a very strict confidentiality agreement, so I can't go into detail on anything... sorry), which I enjoy research, so that was cool. Then I read a script and did coverage on it (for those that don't know, coverage is a summary of the story and your thoughts on it), and that was basically the day. Pretty fun so far. Much more creative stuff then when I was at Fox and was just doing menial office work all day.

So, the laptop. Yeah, so I have to have a laptop for this internship, and we really need one for the film. We also needed an editing suite to edit the thesis on in the spring (I can't use the facilities at USC for that because of the type of project I'm doing, a blog on that is forthcoming in a few minutes).Anyway, as it turned out, we have a friend who works at Apple that was willing to get us a 25 percent discount. Came out of the blue, but awesome. This was also happening on my first day of work... and I couldn't connect to their wireless internet b/c who knows why. And, our Dell has to be plugged in at all times, the battery doesn't work. And the hard drive falls out when you tilt it wrong. So, we needed a new computer desperately. Anyway, it was our friends last day at Apple, and we had one opportunity to get our discount. We were planning on getting a laptop and building an editing suite, but as it turns out, the new Macbooks are super powerful, and relatively cheap. So, we got the laptop, and it should work out well as a laptop for budgeting and screenwriting and all that, as well as function as our editing system come spring. So, awesome.

Anyway, a good day all around. And a new Macbook next week!

Tuesday, 19 May 2009

Internship

So, I got an internship for the summer and fall. I interviewed on Monday morning at 10, and they called me 30 minutes later to offer it to me. I had a couple of other interviews scheduled this week, but this was the one I really wanted, so I took it. It's at Big Kid Pictures on Sunset in West Hollywood. Basically, it's director David Dobkin's production company. He's the reason I wanted to work there... I wanted to be in close proximity with a director who does a lot of comedy (and is good at it). If the name doesn't ring a bell for you, he's the director of Shanghai Knights (Owen Wilson, Jackie Chan), Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) and probably most famously for Wedding Crashers (Vaughn, Wilson).

There are only 4 people in the office including the director and a creative executive, so it's a really great opportunity to work in close proximity with those people. Supposedly there will be a lot of creative type work as well (not just filing and making runs) like script coverage, so I'm excited about that. Anyway, it starts tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully it will be a great experience and who knows what might come of it.

In other news, I'm reworking Sudden Death! a bit... I'm actually pretty happy with it, but it needs a few tweaks and needs to be cut down by like 5 pages. So, that's all that's going on right now. And that's about it. The end.

Friday, 15 May 2009

Welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, this is my new blog. I always said I would never blog, but what can I say, I'm a sell out. This will be the official "writer/director's" blog for my upcoming thesis film, Sudden Death! (the best part about that title is that I always seem very excited when I type it because of the exclamation point). Also, feel free to visit my wife's blog (the "producer's blog") at suddendeath2009.xanga.com.

Anyway, these posts won't be nearly as eloquent as my wife's... this will mainly be updates on the creative and production process... probably won't be a lot of personal posts.

Yeah, so Sudden Death! Right now we're trying to get the fundraising going (if you have any questions about how you can donate, shoot us an email at sudden.death2009@gmail.com).

Basically, where we are right now creatively, is I'm trying to rework the script a little bit to get it in the best possible shape before we start sending it around. I've just finished up work on another film called "Abducted," that I'm pretty happy with, and I finally have time to get back to work on the thesis. Anyway, it looks like we're going to be able to get the script in front of a few "big name" actors that we have connections with in the next month or two, so I'm working on getting it in tip top shape before then. More info on that as it develops.

As for the creative process, I'm sure no one is really interested in the details, but if you are, let me know and I'll go into details.

Yep, so more info as it comes. The web site will be up soon as well. Everything's coming along, there's just a ton of work to do.

And that's it on my first blog ever. Hope it was as memorable for you to read as it was for me to write...