Wilder’s On Strike

So, on Monday I was supposed to go with a producer to the American Film Market to pitch my feature screenplay to a few production companies, studios, and distributors, seeking funding. I was ready to actually kick off my career at long last — my first real industry meetings.

But turns out there’s a writer’s strike, and I couldn’t cross the picketline to become a scab. I couldn’t negotiate or pitch or discuss or write — or else I’d be blacklisted and banned by the union.

Ah, the birthday curse strikes again.

But, all the same, I met with him on Sunday, before the midnight deadline. I prepared him as best I could, and he went around Monday without me. Word is, if he can push the right parties hard enough to get a domestic distribution promise, there are a few parties that might be interested in putting up the money to produce it. Of course, I can’t turn the option into a sale until this is all over… but none of this means anything out here. Still, it’s nice to be talking about disappointments on the multi-million dollar budget level, instead of the internet competition level.

So, even though it sucks for me, I hope you all support the writers. Don’t believe the media claims that writers are millionaires marching for additional pennies. In particular, TV writers are facing an impossible future if they are robbed of income from internet downloads — we all know that television and the internet are converging. If they aren’t given pay for internet showings, which is what this is about, many writers will be unable to survive. Plus, we also know that the media corporations aren’t struggling to pay their executives. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that the creator of something get at least 2% of 40% of the profits generated by something they created, now is it?

The internet — it’s too new!!

Anyway, if you’re interested in following the strike, this is a really fascinating website with regular updates. It’ll make you feel all in-the-know:

Deadline Hollywood Daily

Enjoy, and be sure to voice your support for the scribes. Comment if you can — many of them will be checking this site when they aren’t out marching. Remember, most of us are broke, and fighting to keep less than a school teacher makes. We’re fighting for a living wage as much as any American, even while 2/5ths of us are unemployed. Don’t forget that.

Between Gears, But Still Moving

I’ve gotten a good bit done over the last week or so.

I finished a revision of Small Talker, the short that I intend to film, my big plan to break in as a writer/director, and I’m pretty happy with it. The old crew seems to approve, and the guys at work also approved, which was a surprise and a relief. I feel very good about it, and as a thank-you, I spent too much time today working on a “Paul Giamatti War Machine” animation.

I also finished another segment of the Just Us League Behind the Scenes, though I’m still waiting on interview footage of Benni and Shaun, and also Shaun’s brother’s video footage. I’m hoping it will fill out the early parts of the day, where I have gaps.

While laying around, I worked out a few kinks in my mental outline for the feature-length version of Small Talker. Here’s the idea: When Elliot goes to Vegas to track down the Spammers, Meredith will tag along in order to see her boyfriend, who she’s having long-distance relationship problems with, but she won’t tell Elliot her reason for coming until they arrive. This will make the coincidence of their mutual Las Vegas goal most inconvenient to Elliot, and thus, acceptible. It will also tap into some experiences of my own, and give the story a nice twist.

Structurally, I’ve been thinking a lot about ten-minute segments…

Since it will be part of a plan to get myself an agent, I hope I’ll have the will and motivation to actually complete this feature, the first I’ve started from scratch in more than a year. My progress on Ladies & Gentlemen has been stalled by a sense of futility, which may be accurate. The same sense stopped Burying Amelia Waverly about six months ago, immediately following the failed revision of Storybook Park, whose failure had Gordy Hoffman telling me to make something marketable, which gave birth to Small Talker.

It seems that my productivity relies on the project fitting into some sort of larger plan. This is not romantic, but probably for the best.

I could have gotten more done this weekend, and more done today in particular, but have felt rather sluggish. I saw Nacho Libre yesterday, which wasn’t bad, but hasn’t left much of a lasting impression on me. I spent the rest of the day on Behind the Scenes editing and uploading. I await feedback. I also bought a new set of speakers for my computer, so that I can finally hear what I’m listening to. Thus, I spent too much of today listening to “News from Lake Wobegon.” Laying around. Feeling stuck between gears.

I should have started work on the Just Us League website, but didn’t want to get caught up in that big of a project. Such things swallow me whole, make a day vanish in a snap, and I needed rest. Thinking room. Being productive means getting sick of sitting at the computer. So, I made several visits to my bed. I had pleasant, dirty dreams. I failed to do my laundry. I ate hamburgers and hot-dogs, smoked cloves and drank beer. I trimmed my bangs and walked the dog. I reflected in my live journal, dreaded going to work, took a benedryl, and went to bed.