Another new comic

Cults are okay, I think

So I'm torn. 

This program is great and I'm grateful for being allowed to even study here. I'm getting tons of writing done, some of the best I've ever written. Their job is to help us write something we can sell. This is a business after all. I've purposefully chosen to write a feature that's a little more broad than what I normally do. It's commercial, has a strong hook but features the kind of weirdness that I enjoy. It still feels like something Collin and I would write.

On the other hand, part of me struggles against this, wanting to write weird stuff (like serial killers with sassy talking parasites in their brains) that I know for a fact will only have a cult appeal and not make me as much money. The splintering of American culture and the niche marketing available online tells me this is okay. If I can find "1,000 true fans" then screw the masses. They're the ones who refused to watch "Arrested Development" and therefore cannot be trusted.  

I think all artists struggle with this. I like to complain about the business aspect of filmmaking, but it's no different than the painters of yore who had to paint religious subjects in order to make cash. You follow the market or you die broke in a gutter and are only recognized as a trailblazing genius years after your death. I really don't like either option. But I'm not young and idealistic and fresh out of film school, ready to conquer the world. I'm becoming much more practical (mostly because I'm not sure how much longer I can go without finding a way to make money at this).

The internet is revolutionizing the way we create entertainment to a degree that no one has fully realized yet. Even small indie films are costing $30 million these days. The indie boom of the 90s is long gone and the internet is so full of crap that you really have to wade through to find anything decent. But it's there and it's growing. I think we have a shot at doing something unique and finding a place for it online. The webisodes we're shooting this summer will be the first step of bypassing the studio system altogether.

Something my Producing professor said really stuck with me. He said television is different because it goes through so many layers of involvement. There is no "El Mariachi" of sitcoms, made on a shoestring budget and so impressive that people had to stand up and notice. I think"Anarchy for Breakfast" can be that project. Lots of stuff online has been picked up for actual network broadcast (No One's Watching, Quarterlife) but none of it's worked. If we can find a way to make it work, or better yet, figure out a new paradigm that works, then the money will follow.

Cult appeal is okay, I think. As long as I can live comfortably and continue making projects, I don't need lots of money or even fame. If we make entertainment that we like, the right people will find us. I know that there's at least 1,000 people out there with our weird sense of humor. And we will find them.

So here's to the future. 

The New One

www.myspace.com/skipppingtomorrow

Good to see they're still making features.

Do you ever wonder if they still show ours? We were the first - bloody and defiant in every possible way. New trailer coming soon.

New Comics!

Actually, year old comics that I found while digging around for important papers regarding the title for my car. I never found the important papers but I found three comics I drew awhile back. All previously unpublished! I don't even think Collin has seen 'em.

Here's the first:

I need a suggestion...

Okay, so I'm primarily a writer. I'm good at sitting in front of a computer for hours on end making funny things happen to characters I've created. Technically, I am making up the dialogue as I write, as it pops into my head which is not too different from improv.

I bring this up because I just finished my 8-week improv class at the Coldtowne theater in Austin.

Anyone who knows me is fully aware that I am no actor. I would not even make the community theater cut. I am like a black hole of talent the moment I open my mouth. That being said, practically everyone says to be a good director, you need to take an acting class. See what it's like from the other side. And since I'm waaaay to chicken to take a proper acting class, I took the improv class. Which promised lots of stage time. Both Collin and Brad took the class with me so that made it even easier to take.

And it was fun. The teachers were both extremely talented and supportive, which helped because I was usually hell of nervous when I got on stage. It was a great group of people in the class (all far more talented than I) and I fed off their skillz like the acting parasite I am. Coldtowne teaches long-form improv, so it's more like what you see from the Upright Citizens Brigade than "Who's Line is it Anyway?"

So now it's over. And I learned quite a bit from this class. I was better than I thought I would be (though my expectations were very low). I got a few laughs here and there. Confirmed that Collin is awesome at this stuff. He'll continue taking classes and get even better. And maybe I'll be a better director for it. But again, I'm a too much of the writer cliche. I need to time to write and rewrite a line until it's perfect. I do think this class has helped me trust my gut instincts a little more and for that, I am grateful.

That being said, I can guarantee that I will never appear in front of the camera in my projects ever again. Collin wouldn't let me. I've made him promise.

Bunny Lake is Missing!

Great cult film from 1965. We saw it on TCM and highly recommend. It's about a single mother who moves to England and when her daughter Bunny turns up missing, the cops can't find any evidence that she ever existed. It was recently ripped off by the Jodie Foster film "Flight Plan" and will be officially remade sometime this year. But see the original. It's creepy weird and has an old crazy lady who records the nightmares of young children into a tape recorder. And Noel Coward as probably the most insensitive landlord ever. The logic sort of falls apart in the end, but by 1965 standards, this is quite a modern film. It's mostly handheld and features some great acting (including Laurence Olivier). Check it!

How Lorri Hamm-Wilson saved my blog (and maybe my life)

Okay, so you can thank Lorri that I'm blogging again. And this time for good. If not daily, then close to it. We'd been trading super-long emails to each other all last week and now she's got me all excited about filmmaking again. I'd sort of been bummed out lately, just due to the overwhelming fact of how difficult it is to do anything in this business. I'm normally a pretty positive person, always looking towards a brighter tomorrow and what-not, but 2007 kinda sucked. I've made a Big Fancy Chart (tm) to explain:



As you can see, there was an upswing in 2008, thanks partly to the valiant efforts of Lorri for inspiring me to get back to work and shoot something. So this summer was already going to be full of production (with a short film and Channel101 series on the way) but now the world is going to get a full-on massive 412 Films project. And obviously Collin and Charissa continue to play a big part as well, what with sushi lunches to contemplate our future.

So this is like my re-introduction into the blogging world (for all three of you out there who read this) and a quick hello to say thanks for getting me back on track. 2008 will be Awesome Town.