Tag: screenwriter

What The F#@k Was I Doing Again?

Chasing The George

LOL Where the f#@k have I been? Did I take an extended LOA (leave of absence)? My reemergence from the depths of hell feel like the opening lyric of Madonna’s single, Like a Virgin: “I made it through the wilderness, somehow I made it through.” Child. Girl. Bitch. Challenges came up that made me process, pivot, and proceed with my life-ing and adulting (although, to be honest, I’ve been life-ing and adulting for a very, very long time…hello!) But this recent spell was different though. This spell literally stopped my career administration in my tracks. I found myself not doing ANYTHING for my career. At one point, I asked myself, “What the f#@k was I doing again?”

Fortunately, I woke up and realized that I needed to reconnect to my career. I needed to administrate my career again. I told myself, “Take one action today, dammit!” LOL. And I did. And it was glorious. The sweet taste of career administration. How I had missed it so! Taking that one action was like drinking a cold, tall glass of water after being in the desert for days. I also read my raison d’être and postulates again. I looked at my goals for 2024 again. I handled the spell I dealt with and things are back on track. Keep reading below 🙂

Kelly and I met recently to continue shaping the second draft of the script for “The Third Act.” We also met with Richard Lawson to get clarity on a story point that stumped us. After meeting with Richard and rewatching the recording, I have clarity about how to proceed with his suggestions. I am excited to take this second draft to the next level with Kelly. Once this second draft is completed, we will coordinate a second table read (which will also be directed in order to further bring these characters to life.) It feels great to be back on track. I also can’t wait to reach out to more feature film directors on my target list to continue that successful line of action. Keep reading below 🙂

To remind everyone again, here are the goals I’m working on for 2024: Book supporting roles in feature films produced and distributed by independent or mid-sized studios and finish the 1st draft of the “Third Act” feature film script with Kelly Tighe. Once that’s done, do a table read, get feedback, and complete additional drafts.

LOL:

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Second Draft! Here We Go!

Chasing The George

Hello, my fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly blog. As you all know, I have two goals that I am focusing on this year. And each week, I am alternating between the two goals to provide updates that are hopefully inspiring and engaging. This week, we are back to my writing goal for 2024: Finish the 1st draft of “The Third Act” feature film script with Kelly Tighe. Once that’s done, do a table read, get feedback, and complete additional drafts.

My writing goal is moving along nicely! On August 28th, October 2nd, and October 9th, the PDP 3.0 Collective met to review the feedback we received on the first draft of The Third Act feature film script. We answered many questions and discarded things that didn’t serve the script. On Wednesday, October 16th, Kelly and I met to begin work on the second draft! It was a wonderful and heartwarming reunion. We were excited to start meeting again and create some more magic. The first step was to figure out where to start LOL. Where do we start with all this feedback? Once we landed on one thing, we expanded upon it. Hooray! We got the ball rolling! From there, we decided to take the next few days to rewatch the Zoom recordings from August 28th, October 2nd, and October 9th to make sure we had absolute clarity of the feedback the Collective went over. Keep reading below 🙂

On October 25th, Kelly and I met again. And this time, we came equipped with ideas because we had more clarity after rewatching the recordings. For example, I presented some ideas on how to make a crucial set-up in the script pay off in the end. I also identified dialogue that we can add to a couple of scenes to strengthen them. Kelly presented five main areas we can focus on to move the second draft forward exponentially. What felt potentially daunting last week now felt more doable and achievable. We are meeting on October 29th to begin implementing the above ideas! Keep reading below 🙂

See you all next week!

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

Double Whammy Acting & Writing Update!

Chasing The George

Hello, my fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly blog. As you all know, I have two goals that I am focusing on this year. And each week, I am alternating between the two goals to provide updates that are hopefully inspiring and engaging. This week, we we are focusing on BOTH of my goals for 2024: Book supporting roles in feature films produced and distributed by independent or mid-sized studios and finish the 1st draft of the “Third Act” feature film script with Kelly Tighe. Once that’s done, do a table read, get feedback, and complete additional drafts.

On the acting front, I’ve begun watching the list of independent feature films I’ve researched that screened at various major film festivals in 2023 and 2024, and I’ve started reaching out to their respective directors to let them know how much their work impacted me and how I would like to work with them in the future. Keep reading below 🙂

On the writing front, the Professional Development Program 3.0 Collective just finished designing a lookbook for “The Third Act” feature film script. This upcoming Wednesday, we will comb through the feedback we received from different artists and industry people to decide what we’re keeping and what we’re discarding. As soon as we complete that, Kelly and I will start working on the second draft of the script while the other members of the Collective will start working on the production aspects of the script. Keep reading below 🙂

And some quick, additional wins: I had a great self-tape audition for an untitled HBO series! Also, in my June 30th blog entry, I wrote, “Remember the Sundance course I took during the summer of 2023, where I created a 11-page feature film treatment as a result? I picked it up again on May 31st to continue carving it out. It has since expanded, and I will do a few more read-throughs…” I finished expanding my feature film treatment on July 23rd! The next step is to start writing the script for it!!!! Keep reading below 🙂

See you all next week!

Photo by Emily Sandifer Photography.

Emmy-Nominated Writer Likes Our Script!

Chasing The George

Hello, my fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly blog. As you all know, I have two goals that I am focusing on this year. And each week, I am alternating between the two goals to provide updates that are hopefully inspiring and engaging. This week, we are back to my writing goal for 2024: Finish the 1st draft of the “Third Act” feature film script with Kelly Tighe. Once that’s done, do a table read, get feedback, and complete additional drafts.

Since our table read on July 14th, we’ve received wonderful feedback from fellow artists and industry professionals. The feedback has been universal and consistent, so it lets us know we are on the right track with what we have. We even had a writer-director-producer come into class this past Wednesday to clarify and expand upon his awesome notes. From all the feedback we’ve received, I believe the one that was the most thrilling and heartwarming was from Jeffrey Alan Schechter. Not only is he a two-time Emmy-nominated writer, but he is also the writer of the story structure book that we use extensively at the Richard Lawson Studios, “My Story Can Beat Up Your Story”. His book helped us shape and write “The Third Act”. His book helped me write two feature film screenplays, and I’ve used his book as a supplement during my Sundance writing course. Keep reading below 🙂

Jeffrey read our outline in 2022 and then came into class to provide us with constructive feedback. So, it was important to continue to involve him in the journey. Jeffrey read our script and had many beautiful things to say about it! In addition, he believes that our script is viable, a good and worthy story with characters so compelling as to attract talented actors. To receive this feedback from the same person whose template we follow is the icing on the cake. Special. Magical. Keep reading below 🙂

Our next step as a collective is to read all the feedback again and decide what to keep and discard. From there, Kelly and I will tackle the second draft of the script. Keep reading below 🙂

See you all next week!

Picture from: https://mystorycanbeatupyourstory.com/

Our Table Read Was A Hit!

Chasing The George

Hello, my fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly blog. As you all know, I have two goals that I am focusing on this year. And each week, I am alternating between the two goals to provide updates that are hopefully inspiring and engaging. This week, we are back to my writing goal for 2024: Finish the 1st draft of the “Third Act” feature film script with Kelly Tighe. Once that’s done, do a table read, get feedback, and complete additional drafts.

On July 14th, 2024, the Professional Development Program 3.0 collective had a table read for the first draft of our feature film script! This journey started almost five years ago and it was based on a true story that Richard Lawson shared with us. From that true story, the collective worked together to research, brainstorm, and map out a story. In mid-2022, the collective appointed Kelly and I to make sense of all the research that was done up till that point and to write the script. On May 9th, 2024, Kelly and I finished the first draft of the script. Keep reading below 🙂

The entire experience was electric from beginning to end. Thank you, Craig Taggart, for lending us your beautiful office space for our art to occur and flourish. We set up the large conference room with tables and chairs. Craig printed out and placed name cards in front of each chair. Thank you Nic Monteilh and Mark Larwood for setting up the cameras and mics. As the actors arrived, there was a sense of excitement and community in the air. Thank you actors for the wonderful performances you gave. It was thrilling to hear these words come out of your mouths. It was also great to hear which moments/scenes worked and which moments/scenes didn’t quite land. Invited guests ranged from Richard Lawson Studios students to outside industry guests, and they either sat in the conference room with us or in another room where they could observe us through a one-way mirror. Thank you all for coming! Keep reading below 🙂

After the table reading ended, we handed out questionnaires for everyone to fill out. Once those were collected, we celebrated afterwards in the lobby area with food and wine. There was a buzz in the air. Actors and guests flowed positive comments and constructive feedback during the reception. After everyone left, Richard and the collective stood behind to debrief and to cement this huge win. This was a huge and successful win for all of us. It felt like we all gave birth, and the feeling was satisfying. This past Wednesday, we read through the questionnaires and discovered common themes, feedback, and suggestions that will be helpful when Kelly and I tackle a second draft. Also, Richard sent a copy of the script to Jeffrey Alan Schechter for feedback. Jeffrey wrote “My Story Can Beat Up Your Story”, and it is his book that we used to structure our outline and script. Fun fact: Jeffrey read our outline in 2022 and then came into class to provide us with wonderful feedback. Keep reading below 🙂

And finally, thank you to such an incredible collective: Richard Lawson, Beth Berlin, Lindsay Hopper, Sayaka Miyatani, Jorge Ortiz (yes, I’m including myself even though I’m writing this blog LOL), and Kelly Tighe. We are all excited for the next chapter of movement and development.

Our Table Read Is Today! (July 14th)

Chasing The George

Hello, my fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly blog. As you all know, I have two goals that I am focusing on this year. And each week, I am alternating between the two goals to provide updates that are hopefully inspiring and engaging. This week, we are back to my writing goal for 2024: Finish the 1st draft of the “Third Act” feature film script with Kelly Tighe. Once that’s done, do a table read, get feedback, and complete additional drafts.

The day has finally arrived! The PDP 3.0 collective will witness an exciting cast of actors perform our feature film script today. We have our location. We have our signed NDAs. The actors received their scripts via email this past Wednesday. We have invited guests to observe. We created questions to ask the actors and guests afterwards. Hardcopy scripts will be available at the table read. We will have food and drink. Richard came up with the exciting idea of filming the table read with three cameras so we could later edit it and send it out as a marketing tool to interested parties. Keep reading below 🙂

I can’t wait to let you all know how it went! See you all next week!

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Casting Actors For Our First Table Read!

Chasing The George

Hello, my fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly blog. As you all know, I have two goals that I am focusing on this year. And each week, I am alternating between the two goals to provide updates that are hopefully inspiring and engaging. This week, we are back to my writing goal for 2024: Finish the 1st draft of the “Third Act” feature film script with Kelly Tighe. Once that’s done, do a table read, get feedback, and complete additional drafts.

Things are moving and cooking with this goal! This past Wednesday, June 12th, 2024, the Professional Development Program 3.0 collective met again via Zoom to start casting actors for our first, official table read of “The Third Act”! We have our date (July 14th!), time, and location. It was so exciting to go through each character and envision a few actor choices for each one. We entered our choices into a spreadsheet and certain members from the group will reach out to those actors to get their interest and availability. The intention for the table read is to hear the script in the hands (and mouths) of these actors, ask them questions, and receive feedback. This process will allow us to determine the next set of rewrites for the second draft of the script. In the meantime, Kelly and I will cut down the script before it is emailed out to the actors. Keep reading below 🙂

See you all next week!

Picture from: https://scriptmag.com/career/table-read-screenplay-hold-acting

Debuting Our Feature Film Script!

Chasing The George

Hello, my fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly blog. As you all know, I have two goals that I am focusing on this year. And each week, I am alternating between the two goals to provide updates that are hopefully inspiring and engaging. This week, we are back to my writing goal for 2024: Finish the 1st draft of the “Third Act” feature film script with Kelly Tighe. Once that’s done, do a table read, get feedback, and complete additional drafts.

This goal is moving along! As you all know, Kelly Tighe and I finished the first draft of the script on May 9th, 2024. This past Wednesday, May 29th, we had our first reading of the script with our Professional Development Program 3.0 group! It was a beautiful, exciting, full-circle moment because the story originated and developed in this class. Then, the journey progressed when the group assigned Kelly and me to write the first draft of the script. She and I could feel and see the excitement in the room. Keep reading below 🙂

It was wonderful to be back on Zoom with the group. The last time we saw each other was mid-2022! Everyone was excited to hear the script and celebrate this monumental moment together. I decided the best way to present the first draft was to have each person read a scene(s) out loud. I kicked it off, then Kelly read the next scene, then Lindsay, then Beth, and then Sayaka. Richard didn’t read but was actively listening and engaged. It was thrilling to hear other people read these words out loud. As we read through the script, Kelly and I made real-time edits to the Final Draft document. She and I also wrote notes to discuss and tackle in the next rewrite. She and I were also making edits in our minds during the reading. We saw which scenes we could trim down and how. Keep reading below 🙂

Another aspect of the reading was seeing how the story and characters landed on the group. Until then, Kelly and I were the only ones reading these scenes out loud for the longest time. People laughed and gasped. People had visceral reactions at certain moments in the script. A couple of people got emotional reading certain scenes. Everyone cheered when the script ended. Richard was so proud of Kelly and I. He praised the script, the story, the characters, the structure, and the tension that we maintained throughout the story. Richard congratulated Kelly and me as a writing duo, stating that this script is a calling card for us as writers. He believes that this is a viable script that can be produced. Everyone is excited to move forward with this script. Keep reading below 🙂

Kelly and I felt such an incredible sense of accomplishment and pride afterwards, a joy and understanding that keeps settling in that we wrote a feature film together. We enjoyed every moment of writing together. A new writing duo is born? Keep reading below 🙂

See you all next week!

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

OUR SCRIPT IS DONE!

Chasing The George

Hello, my fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly blog. As you all know, I have two goals that I am focusing on this year. And each week, I am alternating between the two goals to provide updates that are hopefully inspiring and engaging. This week, we are back to my writing goal for 2024: Finish the 1st draft of the “Third Act” feature film script with Kelly Tighe. Once that’s done, do a table read, get feedback, and complete additional drafts.

On May 9th, 2024, at 12:51pm, Kelly Tighe and I finished the first draft of our feature film script!!!!!!!!!! THE SCRIPT IS COMPLETED! 166 pages! As soon as we finished reading the last scenes we wrote, we asked each other, “Are we done? Did we finish the script?” And once we answered “yes”, we cheered, cried, danced, threw our hands in the air, and looked at each other with pride, joy, and a deep sense of accomplishment. A feature film script! This journey started in September 2019 when Richard pitched a story idea to the PDP 3.0 class. In the middle of 2022, the journey evolved when the group appointed Kelly and me to take over, make sense of everything, find the story to tell, and write a first draft. We devoted the rest of 2022 to making sense of the notes and research, various story ideas, characters, scenes already written by the PDP 3.0 company, etc. We revised the logline to reveal the story we ultimately decided to tell. We revised the central question to support the logline. We revised and cleaned up the entire outline. We removed a few characters and older scenes while keeping and strengthening a few other scenes. In January 2023, we took the bold step to start writing the script. A year and a half later, here we are! Keep reading below 🙂

Kelly texted the group to let them know about the great news. In the meantime, Kelly and I will meet this week to clean up any spelling and grammatical errors, check for any tracking/logic issues, etc. Then, we will meet with the PDP 3.0 group on May 22nd to catch up, celebrate, and plan the next steps, such as registering the script with the WGA, copyrighting the script, and having the group read the script together to generate questions and feedback before we do a table read. Thank you, Richard and PDP 3.0, for entrusting Kelly and me to write this script. We look forward to continuing this journey with you all to the next level of development and, ultimately, the bigger picture of production and distribution. Keep reading below 🙂

I’ll end with this. This past Thursday night, Richard invited acclaimed casting director John Frank Levey to speak to our scene study class. At one point, Richard and John talked about the importance of celebrating our wins (by the way, John loves that we share our wins at the top of the class.) John said, “We have to look for our wins, and we have to celebrate them cause that will give us confidence…” Richard added, “I kind of look at wins like gassing up. Where you put a little gas in your tank because ‘I had this wonderful experience’ or ‘I finished writing this script after five years’…it puts fuel in your tank to keep going.” John then shared a story about a recent talk he had with students from Carnegie Mellon University, and he connected it to our script. He said, “I was trying to encourage them to get the long view (about having a career). Don’t think of it like, ‘I gotta get this done by Wednesday.’ If it took five years to finish your script, you finished it. God bless you!” He and Richard then talked about projects that took a while to get off the ground. The lesson was that it’s about a sustained effort with intention. Keep showing up. The sustained effort now continues into the next chapter of this feature film script journey. Keep reading below 🙂

The End (for now!)

Where Them Wins At?!

Chasing The George

Hello, my fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my blog. As you all know, I have two goals that I am focusing on this year. And each week, I am alternating between the two goals to provide updates that are hopefully inspiring and engaging. First goal: Book supporting roles in feature films produced and distributed by independent or mid-sized studios. Second goal: Finish the 1st draft of the “Third Act” feature film script with Kelly Tighe. Once that’s done, do a table read, get feedback, and complete additional drafts.

However, this week, I’d like to share my first quarter wins! And yes, I’m a little on the late side for first quarter goals since it encompasses January, February, and March. Then again, I started my 2024 blogging this past February, so MY first quarter would be February, March, and April LOL. Either way, I’m recapping and sharing my wins. This is also a good time to assess what worked and what I need to adjust for the next three months. Keep reading below 🙂

A sampling of my first quarter wins as they relate to my two goals: **Emailed my agent my goals for this year. **Identified and wrote down my favorite/impactful films that were nominated during the 2019 to 2024 awards season. **Identified who the casting directors were for my favorite/impactful films that were nominated during the 2019 to 2024 awards season. **Created a Google Spreadsheet of these casting directors and inputted their contact info. **Emailed my agent the list of casting directors and asked if they had a relationship with them. **Reached out to these casting directors. **Self-submitted to feature films via Actors Access. **Looked up the company rosters for A24, Annapurna, Focus Features, Neon, Searchlight Pictures, and Sony Pictures Classics. **Looked up Casting Access classes through the SAG-AFTRA Foundation to see if my target list of casting directors were teaching classes. **Looked up the managers for the supporting actors who played parts I could have played from my favorite films from the last five years. **Extensive relationship map research and outflow. **Researched U.S. indie directors and producers whose feature films got into the 2023 Sundance, SXSW, Cannes, Tribeca, Telluride, and Toronto film festivals. I also researched the 2024 feature film lineup for Sundance and SXSW (I still need to research the 2024 lineup for the remaining four film festivals on my list: Cannes, Tribeca, Telluride, and Toronto.) **Identified the castings I want to play in feature films. **Updated my agent on the administration I accomplished in the 1st quarter. **Weekly writing sessions with Kelly (160 pages and counting with our script!) Keep reading below 🙂

See you all next week!