My office overlooks the street in front of my condo. I enjoy watching people pass while I work - mostly. When the words are tough to come by, nothing amuses me, period. I growl at everything. Tweeting birds hear it from me for being too damned loud; garbage collectors (why do we need seven on every block) must think I’m certifiable since I’m standing in front of my glass doors screeching at them or the gardeners with those insanely irritating leaf blowers.

I’ve been going to ComicCon since the early 90's when a film company I was working with sent me down to talk to the creators of a comic book that they wanted to produce into a movie (yes, we were making movies from comic books even back then.)

It was simpler by many degrees in the 90's - not the overcrowded zoo it’s turned out to be in 2010. In some ways it’s awesome to behold these days but it’s become so crowded and impacted that going at times seems like an exercise in futility.  They just need more space (or less greed from packing in every vendor in the Universe.)

A couple of weeks ago I attended a talk on archetypes in film led by Jim Curtan, an ex-Hollywood talent agent whose portfolio of clients included John Travolta, Geena Davis, and Willem Dafoe among other big names. One of the questions that Jim brought up for the sake of discussion was: What is it about some movies that attracts or touches so many people?

 Don’t be turned off by the title of this article.  Please lend me your imagination and attention for just a moment of your time.  Say I was to go to any Starbucks for a coffee in Irvine.  If there were only 20 people there, how many of them would likely work in the entertainment industry and would be able to help me advance my career?  Maybe one if I’m lucky but more chances than likely the number would be zero.  Now imagine if I went to any Starbucks in Los Angeles for a coffee.  Out of the 20 people there, more likely than not at least 10 of them would be working in the entertainment industry and would be able to help me advance my career. 

Stephen King in my opinion is the greatest American writer in the history of literature.   While most great American writers only have one great masterpiece like To Kill a Mockingbird or The Scarlet Letter to secure their legacy, King has many he will be remembered for like Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and Hearts in Atlantis.  Few writers are able to create a literary series that lives on like J.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, but King too has captured that success in his The Dark Tower series.  I could go on forever talking about King’s accomplishments and the truly scary thing is I haven’t even mentioned the milestones that he has written in his main genre, which is horror fiction. 

It's the Summer - a time once-upon-a-time when all you got was reruns.  Now a lot of shows like "Rescue Me" and "Sons of Anarchy" premier to keep you more than amused and engaged while the big hitters are on hiatus.  "Louie" is  here to do just that...

Odd.  

That's really the only thing you can say about "Louie" that adequately covers this series.  A semi-autobiographical look at comedian Louis C.K.'s New York life, it follows the at-odds-with-the-world Louie as he does comedy, raises his daughter and dates.  He's recently divorced.

More years ago than I care to admit as a 10-yr-old I discovered science fiction in the form of a young adult series of novels. Tom Swift Jr. became a gateway for me to other, more involved and adult forms of scifi that led to a lifelong passion and actually inspired me at some point to become a screenwriter and write scifi. In fact, I always thought Tom Swift would make a great young adult TV series that I would love to write.  Several attempts have been made for both TV and film but nothing has gotten far yet.  So maybe there's hope.

Victor Appleton is listed as the author of the books but it was actually Edward Stratemeyer, a writer from New Jersey who created them in 1910. The individual books were ghostwritten by many authors, including Stratemeyer, but Appleton is always the author listed.

Today, 100 years later, there is still a legacy of new, updated adventures although they have never really achieved the prominence and popularity of the series I read, Tom Swift, Jr.

It’s not fair to review these shows together - they’re so different and “Rescue Me” has five seasons of inventive and startling drama to its credit. However, the shows themselves point to a divergence of attitude in what’s being produced these days versus what was once-upon-a-time the current market in television.

“Rookie Blue” is like “Twilight.” As “Twilight” is vampire-light with pretty people acting like there’s serious issues at stake, “Rookie Blue” is cop-light with pretty people acting like there’s issues at stake. No doubt, being a rookie is frightening, exhilarating, satisfying and frustrating work. This show isn’t going to make you really experience or understand that. Instead it’s “Gray’s Anatomy” for the police world - which is the trend, of course, these days in network television.  Don’t dive too deep into those dark waters because there be monsters there.

As reported by OCSWA member Rudy Garcia from our recent MeetUp event at the fabulous Ritz Restaurant (website)

Great food, drinks and networking in the Ritz's gorgeous garden room...

Here’s an update on my journey as I chase “this TV thing,” and how I think my first career, engineering, can help me with “this TV thing.”

I’ve started thinking about what’s happened to me over the past two and a half years, and it's been amazing.  Almost how I imagined it...almost.  Two and half years ago, I decided to go for this “TV thing,” but I’d be smart about it.  I’d be slow and steady with it.  I did my research, saved up some cash, and went for it...somewhat cautiously.  There isn’t a lot of regret, but that will be for a different post.

Here are some clips from OCSWA's first ever MeetUp.  It was held at The Ritz Restaurant in Newport Beach.

To see Mark Sevi, president and founder of OCSWA, talk about the orangization click here.

To see James Hirsen, featured guest and entertainment attorney, talk about the importance of knowing the business and legal side click here.

Enjoy!  And I hope to see you all at our next MeetUp.

JUNE NEWSLETTER

Wednesday, June 23rd

Ritz Restaurant 
880 Newport Center Dr
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 720-1800

Come to the Ritz Restaurant in Newport Beach to meet professional and amateur filmmakers in a casual setting. Purpose - networking and sharing resources. 

Special guest: entertainment attorney James Hirsen (hirsenonhollywood.com/)

BYOD (BUY YOUR OWN DRINKS.) 

To our younger members, there is no problem with you coming to the Ritz but (of course) you must be 21 or older to drink.

 meetup link

As you might have guessed from the title of this post, I’m Italian. Family is a natural with me. Lots and lots of family. I can remember get togethers in Ohio where I was raised that involved dozens of men, women and children that I only recognized by faces in photos. When I was introduced to them it was always cousin, uncle, aunt or paisano which basically meant “friend of the family.” No matter the appellation, they were all “family” and I knew I was expected to be courteous, supportive and involved in their lives.

Let’s put it in perspective immediately; it’s a game. It compares not at all with the people who deal with the daily horrors happening in the Middle East or the natural disasters that wipe out thousands in an eye-blink. Or the quiet strength of those with a life-threatening illness or financial ruin.

I know that. I understand that it’s just a basketball game.  

This past series between The Lakers (my team) and The (hated) Celtics had life lessons, though, in abundance. So many lessons in persistence, valor, and a will to succeed even when you feel like giving up.

Too easy. It's too easy to say: "The Good Guys...isn't," uh, good. So I won't. But it isn't - not really. Maybe if you only had a choice between "Murder She Wrote" reruns or this you'd be excused for sitting through this odd (not in a good way) and uneven one hour comedy.

The premise - is there one? Two mismatched cops who do small-time property crime investigations (that always lead to real big cases) are partners.

This is a series of articles designed for getting to know the people of OCSWA.

Raymond Obstfeld is one of our board members whose impact is felt at every level of this organization.  He's been a source of inspiration, guidance and help to me for many, many years and I consider him a great friend both personally and professionally. He works harder than any ten human beings I know.  Just one reason why he's so successful.

A Q&A follows this article on his work.

I lured you in.  I did.  I put up a title that I didn't think you could resist.  A bit controversial and based on something familiar so you'd be even more compelled to read (a takeoff on the guru book Your Screenplay Sucks!) I shamelessly manipulated you into reading this but I did it for a good reason.  More on that later.  See, I did it again.  I created a mystery so that you'll stick around to find out what it is I have to reveal later.  Either that or you're already bored with me and you're moving on.  But you won't.  Oops - another shameless manipulative writing technique.  I can't help myself it seems.

Now you owe me thirty bucks.

I was complaining to a friend of mine at my martial arts dojo one time about this business. After listening to my whining for a few minutes he looked at me and said "No one forced you to become a screenwriter." A bit harsh perhaps but he was right. My life, my choices.

My mistake was trying to express my frustration to someone who doesn't understand and work in this business. Had I complained about taking countless breakfalls or sore wrists or two separated shoulders and many dislocated joints from years of doing martial arts, I'm sure I would have gotten a more sympathetic response and then, of course, his list of injuries.
 

I desperately need your help fixing a Sony Digital 8 tape.  Something jammed, and the tape didn't continue on it's normal path, so I got an error code on the camera.  I was able to eject the tape, and re-roll the extra tape back into the cassette.  Now, it won't play.  I get a Sony Error Code of C:31:23, and I tried the different things on the online forums.  Nothing worked.

I have reason to believe that the problem is with the tape itself, and not my camera since other tapes work fine.  Now, I just need help fixing the tape.  I believe that something on the tape itself has to be reset or re-spooled.  I just don't know how to do it.

For those of you who were there, and those of you who weren't here are some highlights from the J. Michael Straczynski event held last Satuday, May 22. 

Please let me know what you think of the video.  Some initial comments include that it's a little too long, which I kind of agree with.  I'm debating cutting it down to a minute, but any other feedback is welcome.  See it here.

Not surprisingly, George A. Romero spends a lot of time dreaming up new ways to kill zombies.

On Thursday, May 27th, the UCI Film and Video Center will present:

"Screenwriter's Choice" series, in association with the UCI Screenwriting Festival:

THELMA AND LOUISE, directed by Ridley Scott
(U.S., 1991, 120 min., 35mm print)
with award-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri, introduced by Marie Cartier

Reception: 6:30 p.m. at the entrance to Humanities Instructional Building 100
Screening: 7 p.m. HIB 100

Admission: non-FMS Students: $3, Seniors $5, General $6

I had the pleasure to chat with Peter and Micheal Spierif during a phone interview to promote the DVD/Blu-ray release of Daybreakers. Peter recalled how he and his twin brother sparked the film’s initial concept. “I think Michael might have come up with just a very brief one-liner of, ‘What if the world was dominated by vampires?’ and then I added, ‘What if they weren’t [in a] postapocalyptical kind of world?’ and we kind of bounced back and forth with ‘What if?’”