Check-In: Week 5

September has started out with some wonderful networking. I attended my first WIFV-MD event, and met some interesting folks. There were a few actors and actresses at the event, and a handful of filmmakers. One of the speakers, Ira Miller, is someone whose brain I'd like to pick some day -- He has worked in all levels of motion picture distribution and exhibition (from a film buyer for a local theater chain to Vice President of Marketing at MGM). He now owns a couple of theaters in Baltimore, and seems genuinely friendly to independent filmmakers. I'm hoping to send him an email this week.

Meanwhile, I've already seen two films for the month ("Inglourious Basterds", which I wrote about at , and "Sullivan's Travels", one of the AFI Top 100 films that I hadn't seen yet.)

I've been working on pulling together promotions for the arts event I'm organizing (where "Blood and Stone: A Legend of the Golem" will have its Baltimore Premiere), and I think I've got all of my major bases covered. I have to pass along some facebook blasts that my JTW compadres have already put out, but other than that, it's a matter of re-stringing loose ends, at this point.

I'm still not sure what October's production will be, but photographer and screenwriter Israel Orange has agreed to write a short for me to consider. I'm expecting to see it by tomorrow night. My longtime collaborator and friend Joshua Bellin is also brainstorming ideas. I'm hoping to have a workable screenplay by next week.

So, I should put it out there: if any of you have ideas for a five-minute-or-less short, please send them my way.

I haven't found on-set work for myself yet (neither paid nor slave-labor), but I did have a few positive meetings earlier in the week. By the end of the month, I might have actually achieved one or both of these employment goals. We'll see, though...

And I still need to come up with a feature concept to write a treatment for. I'm thinking that I should re-read one of my film books that spends a few chapters on what makes a marketable feature treatment. I think that re-reading those chapters (even if I don't read the whole book) will help get the creative juices flowing a little.

Although it's not specifically one of my goals, I've been working with a friend of mine (Israel Orange, mentioned above), on his screenplay. I've been working with him on it for over a year, and he just sent me a revised first draft to review. Although I started out as more of a 'writing coach', I've become more of a writing partner, taking the very promising draft he wrote, and actively polishing it, re-writing some dialogue, re-framing some action, and generally tightening the pace of the narrative. It's a great story, an exciting script, and a wonderful project to be a part of. Between last month's Golem screenplay, and the work I've been doing all year with Israel, I think I might find this screenwriting process more enjoyable than I expected. I'll be taking a screenwriting course through Hopkins' continuing education program starting in October. I'm curious to see how I take to it in that structured, classroom format...

And that's all the update for now! The week ahead should be interesting, with film screenings, more re-writing, new film ideas brewing, and the possibility that I'll hear back about some film-related work.

And so, until next time!

-Arnon