a little up, a little down

So I love my grandparents. And not because of the generosity i'm about to speak of. I just love the old folks. Never really led me awry. Sure there's been difference of opinion at time, but overall, we're close. Well 2 days ago, my grandfather, out of the blue decided he was going to pass on to me a huge amount of money. All his life he had been saving the quarters and dimes out of his pockets in this giant glass vase. And now he's given it to me. It has two bulbous portions to it, one smaller, the other forming the larger base of the vase (hey that rhymes!) I only emptied out the top, smaller vase which is about 1/3 of it all. After counting how much that is, it seems as though that camera that I was going after is incredibly closer to being in reach. And yet, another part of me is aprehensive to just jump forward and get this camera. Why? Well, Alden is slightly behind paying me my paycheck from last week and my college loan payment is due this week. That's not considering the time it takes to clear once it's deposited. I have a worry that my job may be in jeapordy. Not so much being fired/let go, but that the company may not be doing to well in these trouble economic times. So should something happen and I can't pay my bills per month, this giant vase of change that I'm rolling for the bank may be something helpful to float me should i have to try and find another job. I don't plan on shooting digits anytime soon, but I would like to get the camera and really get aquainted with it. I think my plan of action, at the moment, will be to conserve the money I've gotten from my grandpa until I can afford to pay for the camera myself and then use that money. I don't know, it's all tricky. Anyone have any suggestions?.....if there is indeed anyone out there who reads this.

PS: It's raining outside. Hard. I love it. I love rain.

- Andrew

What? Funny like a clown funny?

I've set the date.

No, I'm not proposing to my woman or getting married, or having a kid, or killing myself.

Come to think of it, you can "set the date" for a lot of things. Well, I'm trying to put myself in a professional mentality after a dream I had last night where Me, Eric and the cast/crew of "Digits" held our premiere screening of the film and held a Q&A after it. One of my not-so-weird dreams for once. I woke up this morning and I remembered that rewarding feeling I once had when Indom's stand alone scene screened for an audience of like 500 people and I got that grand ovation. It was one of the best moments of my life. It may sound glory goaled to aim for that "moment." Seasoned writers would scold me for not "writing just to write." I enjoy writing. But I also enjoy seeing my writing enjoyed. I don't know if that immediately disqualifies me from being an "Indie writer" who writes for himself, but this script does speak to me and I think it is great. Or, will be. I'm around 22 pages into it and just can't get enough of writing it. I want to be on set (just as bad as having a premiere) and working with actors as well as being one myself. I just miss all aspects of the film making process. So I've set the date. October 15, 2010. That will be the day I need to have Digits completed by. That gives me a little over a year to finish the script, shoot and edit. To a normie, (you non-film maker peeps) that's a rediculously long time. In actuality though, it's not. It's fair amount considering where I am and where I want to be, but I think it's obtainable. I need to save money for a camera, an adapter and sound equipment. I'm less concerned about lighting equipment at the moment, but I'm sure I'll find a way to make that work. The audio and quality of the shots are very important to getting some legitimacy brought to the project. It helps that I want to shoot in a mockumentry (Arrested Development meets The Office) style because that allows us to have some problems and still cover them up and make it work. At this level, in this economy, with these resources, I'm willing to fight on forward and take those hits because I don't feel it'll hurt the substance of the film or the effects of it.

All I need is an HVX200, a RedRock micro adapter, a vista glide and a nice sound set up. We're looking at roughly $7000. Which may seem like a lot, but we'll see what I can do. The red rock and vista can be left out, but I'm still aiming for them.

October 15, 2010. Digits.

Doing it like the pros. Setting the date. Working towards the date.

Now I just need to find someone to hold me accountable for that date. Some people would hate that pressure. Me? I need it.

- Andrew

Tis a new year.....

And well, things started out rough, but I got a call from ESPN asking me to come back. Which is good, because I need a job. This time around, I'll be budgeting myself better. Saving to pay bills if I get laid off, saving for production equipment, and for production of Digits. And maybe even submitting to some festivals as well. We'll see. All I know is, that for all of my "New Years Resolutions" I've surprisingly kept all of them so far. Which, 25 days into the new year is a new record. I haven't had a drop of Coca Cola and have been working hard on my writing. I've been asked to do some acting jobs which I'll prolly persue. I miss acting. So yeah....that's it for now I guess.

Digits coming soon! (like anyone reads this lol)

Slacker!

So I haven't updated since mid-October, and for good reason. I ended up taking that over time work because our economy is piss poor at the moment and my job is most likely coming to an end. I can't lie, I'm semi-excited at the idea of collecting un-employment. While I don't want to be a lazy slacker, I love the idea of being able to pay my bills and have time to work on my screenplays. I've permanently shelved Indom as the current draft of it is sufficient for what it is at the moment. It's decent, but not as epic as I want it to be.
Digits is coming along rather nicely. It's still very rough at the moment and I dare not show it to anyone without doing some revisions, but I find myself doing it in a "Superbad meets Arrested Development/The Office" style. Which I think the more realistic you can convince someone that the material it is, the funnier it can be and the more things you can get away with. That is, after all, what it's all about, "suspension of disbelief" - right? Well that's my rational and I'm sticking to it. In addition to Digits, I find myself brainstorming "The Villain". I think I really shouldn't write this one just yet and just keep my head stirring on what and how to handle it. It's really new ground, for me at least, to try and see things from a Villain's POV. But then again, this Villain wants to be a hero and all that. We'll see, right now I'm just playing around with concepts and ideas on how to make it truly epic. The Road Goes Both Ways is always promising in my mind, but the daunting idea of researching drug sales, police procedures, court cases, the law in general, and the actions of activist groups are quite daunting. That script, while I think could be my most socially concious and reachable yet, can wait. I love it, but I can wait on it. It's not that I'm not passionate about it, it's just not the most driving force in my mind right now. Trust me, after all the racism that was conjured up by Obama winning the election, plenty of ideas and concepts crept into my little skull. I think this is a script that I can't create from my mind, but rather, need to experience more from life and understand it before I can truly capture it on paper.

So for now, the focus is on Digits. And getting a job so I can start buying equipment. I'm really not interested in playing this "let me get your coffee so you can berate me" bullshit. I know whenever I "make it" (whatever that means) as a professional screen writer, I won't change who I am. I know I'm one of the most rational, level headed and non-aggressive towards people, person around. I plan to stay that way.