Okay. So we were rejected from two festivals this week. The one isn’t relevant as everyone knows and I was only doing it for fun (but it’s the last time that fucking clown gets a red cent from me), the other one cut a little closer to the bone because it’s local and you think they would at least give a hometown gal a shot. It kind of upset me so I did further research on this little festival and checked out the work of the man who made the selections. After all, this guy must have really high standards, right? I wish I could link his reel here but I don’t want to be sued for telling it like it is, but OMG! What the fuck! I laughed my ass off. The worst acting & directing choices, stilted dialogue, every cliche’ in the book. After I treated myself to a good evil laugh, I calmed down and started thinking about what a waste of time these small time circle jerk film festivals are anyway. After all, I happen to know that TV people are beginning to look at our series (it’s confidential and I can’t name names just yet). Whether anything comes from that or not, it is extremely encouraging that people on that level saw it and think it has value. It’s tough to make the jump from amateur to professional, but that is where I find myself now. Look, most of these small time film festivals are just a way for some mutual admiration society to showcase themselves while collecting money from hopefuls like me so they can put on a good show to pat themselves on the back and eat a good dinner afterwards. Hey, it’s a good business plan and it crossed my mind to pull off something like that myself, that is until I recognized that I have a soul and I’m not interested in fucking up my karma anymore than I already have by taking advantage of people with dreams. If anything, I want to encourage the dreamers to dream, especially the really talented ones (always the most humble people in my opinion–love you guys). I know I’ve been through hell and back on this project but I’m feeling really good right now because I know that with this last episode, we really accomplished something. All of us, the entire team. We worked our asses off, especially Chris, and a few good people really came through for us and helped. So despite being pissed off at the posers (and being pissed off at myself for giving them $–let me ask you something? Why does it cost me $35 for you to not even watch my film and send me an official rejection form letter-huh asshole?) I know I am truly blessed right now at this moment. If or when my series does get picked up by a network they will be the first to know about it.
To all the amateur filmmakers out there, here is my unsolicited advice (I need to take it myself): unless it’s one of the big festivals, avoid these circle jerk small time film festivals (unless you’re part of the circle jerk and you know your film will be accepted). Why should your hard earned cash support their shitty projects? It’s a waste of money. And even if you do get in (we have) it’s a waste. They want you to do all the promotion for the screening. All they really do is provide the space and maybe list you (misspelled) on their website. You’d be much smarter to do what we’ve started doing: host your own screening. Get a few of your friends together and make an event out of it. That is what we did recently and it was a great night.
You can do it as a fundraiser or a showcase. It can be expensive to “four-wall” at a theater, but there are ways around it. I highly recommend a book I just finished reading: Thinking Outside the Box Office by Jon Reiss. It has many great ideas on rethinking your marketing strategies in the digital age. We’re also beginning to experiment with the idea of having other people host GR screenings. This is new territory, but I will let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, while I’m waiting to Hollywood to call regarding the fate of Gemini Rising, I’m beginning to work on a new project. Recently a few of us got together for a Writers’ Weekend Retreat. Despite the high jinks we actually got a lot accomplished. This is something else I highly recommend. We rented a cabin in a woods (the location alone is enough to inspire a horror film) and spent the weekend hashing around a few ideas . It’s important to get away from computers and televisions and just use your imagination the old fashioned way. Let’s face it, most filmmakers are introverts and spend a lot of time alone, so it’s good to get out and mix it up once in awhile. It was a blast and we’re looking forward to the next one. If you are interested in participating in the next one, please let me know (fuguefilm@gmail.com). Here is an excerpt from the weekend (you may also listen to a few of us discussing writing for a web series here on This Is Some Scene Blog Talk Radio:
)
My new project is a horror feature film. I just came up with an idea I really like and I’m already beginning to toss the idea around with a few of my friends. I’ve always been a big fan of horror and I’ve always wanted to make a horror film. After coming up with, and rejecting, many, many ideas that were wrong for one reason or another, I finally found something that I really like and I’m excited to start working on. I love the early love affair of a new project. It’s what keeps me going. I don’t take rejection very well
, but I don’t hold onto shit either (too much). I am an eternal optimist when it comes to believing I can pull off the impossible. So far it’s working. Onward and upward.








(check out Richard’s scarf–it’s all here people).




















I had a wild year when I was eight years old. It was 1969 and things were happening in the big world and happening in my little world. My brother with whom I was really close had been put into a private school and started seeing a psychiatrist. I rebelled and I don’t think anyone really noticed until I was in serious trouble at school. I would ride my pony, Vagabond, before school and my Levis would be covered in horse shit and this did NOT please my teacher very much. Her name was Miss Schwartz and she was a rail thin bull dyke with a gray crew cut and she hated me. I was a bad kid and I was at great risk for being labeled an “04″ probably. In her obscenely narrow mind, I only existed as this trouble maker who would prefer to play with the
It’s not an easy road though. I’m still struggling and sometimes it gets pretty hard. So much of it comes down to how much you are willing to fight.
I was always amused when one of my students would shout to someone who was rude or who in particular ignored them, “Why you gotta be ignorant!” When I would try to correct their use of the term by explaining that ignorant meant “unknowing” as opposed to rude or obnoxious, they would usually respond with, “yeah, that’s what I meant – ignorant!” Maybe this is partly how language evolves (after all, etymology is a fascinating study) because lately I’ve found myself confronted with people in supposedly professional situations acting so obnoxious that the ONLY word that adequately describes them is “ignorant”. After all, if they were knowledgeable they would know that acting the way they do makes them a major asshole. So perhaps they are ignorant of that fact. Or, conversely, they don’t give a shit, meaning they not only act like an major asshole, they are a major asshole, of which I can now be less ignorant of the fact and treat them accordingly. Now I’m aware that I would be hypersensitive (I am already but it would be taken to an extreme) if I expected your average asshole on the street to act like a gentleman or a lady. I am not that ignorant. No, I am speaking of supposedly “professional” people who lack common courtesy. Speaking of which, “common” is an interesting word you don’t hear too much any more. I suppose it’s a bit politically incorrect to call someone “common” meaning of the common people, but I am finding that most of these ignorant assholes are people with degrees and so forth so you might expect them to act with a bit more class. Wrong! Class has nothing to do with income level or higher education. You’ll find “classy” people in the poorest sections of the deep south and common ignorant assholes at the Russian Tea Room (I know I’ve met a few), probably more in the latter in fact. 