Welcome to NeoShop

Plans and more plans

2008-07-14T12:57:00.010-04:00

K here.

Tokyo is coming along nicely. We're not there yet, but the plans have definitely been set for us to begin our career there. I've been scoping out people, trying to figure out what the indie film scene is there. The only thing I've conclusively found out is that there is a section in Shinjuku called "Golden Gai", and its where all the musicians, actors, artists and filmmakers hang out.

We're definitely going to be there, although I've heard it can get a bit pricey.

In other news, since we're moving, I think it might be a good idea to start up a new blog to detail our adventures trying to enter the film scene in Tokyo. Neoshop would most definitely still be up-and-running with little tidbits relevant to NEOhio, but I think it might be a good idea to branch out and start up a new blog.

There are a couple of deadlines coming up:

Zoetrope Virtual Studio: Screenplay Competition:

IT ALL STARTS WITH A STORY.

In its first 30 years, American Zoetrope has produced some of the most important films in American cinema. At the core of this success is a steadfast dedication to storytelling. In the words of founding director Francis Coppola, who won his first Oscar for the screenplay of Patton, "The story is the foundation upon which all else is built."

Entry Deadlines & Fees:
Early Deadline: August 1, 2008 ($35)
Deadline: September 2, 2008 ($50)

The winner and finalists will be announced February 3, 2009, at this website.

More info here.

2008 SCREENPLAY EXPO

$20,000 Grand Prize!

$20,000 cash, a trip to Los Angeles to attend the Screenwriting Expo
plus free or refunded Golden Pitch pitch tickets, plus other product and services prizes

Four Genre Category Prizes Totaling $10,000 Cash

Each prize is $2,500 cash plus a trip to Los Angeles to attend the Screenwriting Expo,plus $1,000 in finalist prizes. The four winners will be picked from among these genre categories:
• Action-Adventure • Thriller • Sci-Fi
• Comedy • Family • Animation
• Low Budget Indie • Horror • Fantasy

Find out more, including deadlines, here.

edit: And, we have Tokyo Shop! Find out more here.

UPCOMING DEADLINE

2008-06-25T13:33:00.002-04:00

Remember,

The ABC Fellowship is due July 1, 2008. Go for it!

Tokyo

2008-06-06T14:21:00.003-04:00

M. here,

A film will be made in Tokyo, 2009. Isn't that exciting? How many of you took the plunge and turned in your Nicholl script? I hope there were many!

Good luck!

Pangea Day

2008-05-13T02:06:00.001-04:00

Pangea Day was a hit!

Expect updates soon.

Down to Two

2008-04-07T15:27:00.002-04:00

M.

K. and I are writing furiously. We're narrowed our screenplays down to the one's we think have the most solid, thought out story and dialogue. You can see the titles and our progress on them to your right. K's script is "The Bullpen", and mine is "The Orphan Queen".

We're getting ready for May, with pencils up and fingers crossed.

Writing, and directing and reading...oh my!

2008-04-06T19:52:00.007-04:00

M. updatin',

As flowers bloom, the days get longer and spring showers approach, life-changing deadlines also peek over the horizon. Don't forget that these deadlines are coming up soon!

The Nicholl Fellowship aka "The Big Kahuna": May 1, 2008. Remember, this is the POSTMARKED DEADLINE. Get the application here.

Disney Writing Fellowship: July, 2008. The information is from last year, but it is helpful nonetheless. There is NO APPLICATION fee so there is NO EXCUSE not to enter your work.

Warner Brothers Writers Workshop: July 25, 2008. You can submit as many scripts in comedy or drama as you'd like. The fee is 30 non-refundable bucks. Click here for more information.

So, crack open the final draft software, mark your calendars and get to writing!

Not an April Fools Joke

2008-04-01T08:23:00.003-04:00

K here.

It seems as if M and I have stumbled upon a writing opportunity. Pending pitches, we'll be writing for a web series.

More information on that later.

Happy April! The days are longer, the nights warmer, and only one month to go until May, one of my most favorite months. :)

If you haven't gotten the chance, please check out some of the links in the sidebar.

Urban Mediamakers Film Festival

2008-03-16T19:25:00.001-04:00

M. writing,

This came in my inbox today:

The 7th Annual Urban Mediamakers Film Festival (UMFF) has announced
it's call for entiries. "The Movement in Progress through
Independent Filmmaking" is the theme and UMFF 2008 is seeking
conscious and positive film, television and video projects that
entertain, and those that invoke thought and action on issues that
affect us as people -- social, economic, civil/human rights,
environment, political, religion/spirituali ty, etc.

Submit your project to UMFF 2008 today! All genres accepted --
animations, shorts, documentaries, features, television shows, music
and spoken word videos, as well as screenplays (short and feature
length).

Early Deadline: August 1, 2008
Regular Deadline: September 1, 2008
Late Registration: October 1, 2008

UMFF 2008 takes place October 17-19, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. Visit
www.umff.com for festival details and UMFF 2008 submission form.
Call 404.460.2793.

Sundance Screenwriter's Lab

2008-03-08T22:36:00.001-05:00

2009 Screenwriters Lab applications available online: February 15, 2008
Application deadline for U.S. filmmakers: May 1, 2008
Application deadline for international filmmakers: October 1, 2008

Project Selection

The Feature Film Program selects 20-25 projects each year to receive one or more areas of support. A combination of intensive year-round outreach, recommendations from a national network of program alumni, Creative Advisors, film school faculty, film festival staffs, producers, and other film professionals, and an open submissions process yield a pool of applicants from which the program's Fellows are selected. Historically, open submissions have provided roughly half of the total number of projects considered for the Labs.

Find out more information here

Pangea Day: May 10th, 2008

2008-03-08T18:24:00.001-05:00

M. Here!

So K. and I are helping to organize a Pangea day with another woman in Cleveland, Ohio! We're really excited to be part of this project, and for anyone near Cleveland, we'd love the help!

What Is Pangea Day?

Pangea Day taps the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion while uniting millions of people to build a better future.

In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that - to help people see themselves in others - through the power of film.

On May 10, 2008 - Pangea Day - sites in Cairo, Dharamsala, Kigali, London, New York City, Ramallah, Rio de Janeiro, and Tel Aviv will be videoconferenced live to produce a program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.

The program will be broadcast live to the world through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones.

Of course, movies alone can't change the world. But the people who watch them can. So following May 10, 2008, Pangea Day organizers will facilitate community-building activities around the world by connecting inspired viewers with numerous organizations which are already doing groundbreaking work.

Abel Raises Cain

2008-02-27T11:11:00.001-05:00

M Here.

I personally like this submission to "From Here To Awesome".

Enjoy!

Columbus: Continued

2008-02-25T19:25:00.009-05:00

Hey, it's M. again!

So, as I wrote before, K. and I went down to Columbus to do a shoot for the "Wet Ink Poetry" sessions. We had a great time, and I wish we had pictures of the shot but someone, *nudge, nudge* didn't remind me to bring the digital camera.

Anyway, we did manage to get some great pics of our hotel room and us chillin' out maxin' and relaxin' with a few beers and the TV. So, without further ado, we present:

The WILDEST Night in Capital City!!

Once we're H-wood writers, will this hotel room really look all that different? Will it?

1:30 am in the hotel room, making it work!

Oh yeah, that's how WE roll.

Even our beers have to watch Spike Lee in action!

For some reason, when a clip of "Juno" was playing on television, our beers started kissing. Maybe they were bored or something...

See y'all later!

Short Film: "Pretentious"

2008-02-25T18:59:00.006-05:00

Hey y'all! M. in da house!

So, I decided to edit together Keigh's recent footage of me semi-playing the guitar, just to see what some of the audio and visual effects would look like in Windows Movie Maker (as opposed to Sony Vegas).

The film's called, "Pretentious", because I have a love/hate relationship with that term. :)

I'm not sure how much a Blogger upload distorts the original picture, but it looks pretty okay in Windows Movie Maker...or maybe those are just the words of a complete novice...j/k.

Hope you enjoy all 20 seconds of it!

Peace!

Pretentious

***BTW, how cool was Diablo Cody's Oscar acceptance speech? I totally don't want to rag on how bad I think "Juno" is anymore because she seems like a really gracious lady.

From Here to Awesome? We'll See!

2008-02-24T12:37:00.002-05:00

M. here,

Check this video out:

I don't know if I'm up for something like this...but it seems like a pretty cool idea.

They have more information at their website here.

Columbus Shoot

2008-02-24T11:01:00.008-05:00

M. writing,

Thursday we went down to Columbus to film our pilot episode of the tentatively named "Arts in Ohio". The event was "Wet Ink" erotic poetry reading at the Bar of Modern Arts (BoMA), which is an art gallery, night club and fine dining restaurant all housed in a historic renovated church.

The event was pretty awesome. The artists were funny, sexy and down-to-earth. The drinks were great (even for the price) and the venue itself looked like a set-piece from Sex and the City (which is not what I was expecting, lol).

We generally enjoyed it. A teaser of the event will be up as soon as we finish some editing this Wednesday.

Next year, the Waldorf!

Depth of Field Video

2008-02-19T23:21:00.006-05:00

M here!

We made a short vid testing out depth of field on the Canon XL 1. It's not Spike Lee caliber, but it'll do!

Enjoy!

Grab some red bull, kids

2008-02-18T18:59:00.007-05:00

It's that time again.

The Nicholl, BlueCat, Austin, Final Draft, Disney/ABC, Scriptapalooza, and PAGE (among many others) deadlines are coming up within the next few months.

Nicholl Fellowship Competition:

"Back in 1985, when Gee Nicholl, Julian Blaustein and later the Academy’s Jim Roberts and Bruce Davis had the initial conversations about what would become the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, they knew they wanted to create a program that would aid new screenwriters. What they did not know, what they could only have hoped for, was the tremendous effect the Nicholl program would have on the entire community of fledgling screenwriters."

This is perhaps the biggest competition in the industry, and is certainly one of the most respected, if not the most respected.

Deadline: May 1, 2008
Cost: $35.00 per screenplay

BlueCat Screenplay Competition:

"We are the leading voice for the development and inspiration of the undiscovered screenwriter, and our community welcomes you to challenge yourself by entering your screenplay in the 2008 competition!"

BlueCat is run by Gordy Hoffman (among others) who just so happens to be Phillip Seymour Hoffman's brother. Not sure why that matters, but I thought it was an interesting bit of trivia.

Deadline: March 3, 2008 (at midnight)
Cost: $50.00 per screenplay

Austin Film Festival Screenplay and Teleplay (and film) Competitions:

"The Austin Film Festival is dedicated to championing the work of aspiring and established filmmakers, defined as screenwriters, directors, editors, producers, actors and all artists who use the language of film to tell a story. The AFF furthers the art, craft and business of filmmaking by providing unique cultural events and services, enhancing public awareness and participation and encouraging dynamic and long-lasting community partnerships."

My school takes film kids to the Austin Film Festival every year. *jealous*

Screenplay and Teleplay:

Deadline: May 15, 2008 for screenplay, June 1, 2008 for Teleplay
Cost:$40.00 per screenplay, $30.00 per teleplay

Film

Deadline: June 5, 2008
Cost: $40.00 per film

Final Draft's Big Break

"With cash, rewards, mentorship, and industry exposure, Big Break lives up to its name. Winners and finalists alike have had their screenplays optioned and produced and have secured high-profile representation as well as lucrative writing deals.

We are dedicated to bringing recognition to promising screenwriters around the globe. Good luck to all!"

I swear by Final Draft and I've heard good things about this contest. I also hope that some of JJ Abrams' writing magic rubs off. (He uses Final Draft) I'm just saying.

Deadline: June 1, 2008
Cost: $50.00 per script

Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship

"Begun in 1990 in partnership with the Writers Guild of America, west, this has become one of the industry’s best known and most respected writing fellowships. More than 200 alumni number among Hollywood’s elite, including screenwriters, directors and television showrunners. A limited number of full-time fellowships are available each year for both feature film and television projects."

M and I were "this close" to entering last year but decided to wait until 2008. Throw some love our way. We're gonna need it.

Deadline: July 1, 2008
Cost: Free. Yes, it's free. No, I'm not kidding. It really is free to enter. Now you've got no excuse.

Scriptapalooza

"We now accept scripts by email or regular mail."

That's all you really need to know.

Deadline (screenplay): April 15, 2008
Cost: ($45.00 per script by March 5) $50.00 per script

Deadline (teleplay): April 30, 2008
Cost: $40.00 per teleplay

Page International Screenwriting Awards

"The PAGE Awards were established by an alliance of Hollywood producers, agents, and development executives. Our goal: to discover the most exciting new scripts by up-and-coming writers from across the country and around the world. And due to the success of our winning writers, the PAGE International screenplay competition is rapidly becoming one of the most important sources for new screenwriting talent within the Hollywood community and worldwide."

The 2007 winners of the Page Screeplay Competition were also finalists in the Nicholl Competiton...so I think they know what they're doing.

Deadline: (regular) March 15, 2008, (late) April 15, 2008
Cost: (regular) $49.00, (late) $59.00

So...happy writing! :)

Networking

2008-02-18T01:13:00.005-05:00

K here.

Another Indie Club: Cleveland meeting has gone and passed. We saw some interesting shorts from local directors/producers/writers, and we listened to an informative talk about pyrotechnics.

We met a guy from Ohio University who might be interested in doing some collab work. He owns a Canon XL-1s (an upgrade from the XL-1) so who knows what we might be able to do? Andy, a guy we met in February, also wants to meet on Wednesday, so that we might go over some script ideas with him. He has an 80 page (handwritten) screenplay that needs to be fleshed out.

We registered the treatment with the WGA. Now all we have to do is shoot the 3 minute short and send it off. Hopefully good things come our way with this project.

M and I have started work on our screenplays. We're planning on entering BlueCat in March (or by the final deadline of April) as well as Nicholls in May, Final Draft in June, ABC/Disney, also in June, Zoetrope in August, and perhaps some other contests.

I wholeheartedly believe that this year, as The Zombies say, will be our year.

Screencaps of our FIRST FILM! Yatta!!

2008-02-15T00:58:00.004-05:00

"Angelina Jones" (M., haha) looking pretty unsure of what is going on.

"X" marks the spot...

The Shop Light From Hell!

2008-02-14T11:08:00.003-05:00

We decided that after getting the Canon (!!) we should stop being lazy and set up the shop lights. I'm still deciding whether or not that was a good idea, :).

All of the pieces on the floor...

Um...that's not supposed to be like that.

Finally got one end set, right???

WTF is this extra piece?!

Fritz stopped by to say hello!

This is the first time I've used a screwdriver in years (hyperbole is my friend) :)

Don't the lights look like that robot that says, "Happy Birthday, Paulie?"

SUCCESS!!

Okay, so we thought things were going well, but the light, when fully extended, won't stay erect. It keeps sliding back down, threatening to slice off fingers and jam thumbs. NOW we have to go all the way back to Home Depot to get another one and start the entire process all over again.

See you tomorrow, lol. :)

New Projects

2008-02-14T10:43:00.004-05:00

K here.

We've got a new project for you: It's called "No Exit". Sorry, it's not a zombie comedy or vampire romance. :(

Things needed:

firewire port cables
S cable
external mic
red bull

and we're set.

We did storyboarding last night. Expect those to be scanned and up on the page, soon. Let me warn you, though. Our drawings are scary. A psychiatrist might have us committed if she ever got hold of them.

Under Construction :)

2008-02-13T20:34:00.002-05:00

Daughters of the Dust

2008-02-11T11:42:00.000-05:00

M. Here!

Go see this movie, if you already haven't. I think Keigh and I saw this when we were thirteen or fourteen years old. This, and Eve's Bayou, is what made me want to be a director.

UPDATES!

2008-02-11T10:32:00.001-05:00

Friends and Foes,

For all those who haven't been in a thousand mile radius of us, you might not know the good news: Keigh Abrams and Miyaunna DeChelle have just bought their very first Canon XL1!

And now a word from our sponsor, Hiro Nakamura: YATTTTAAAAAAAAAA!!!

*Ehem*

While this news might not be the grandest of accomplishments, it is a minor milestone for two struggling filmmakers whose budget is smaller than the shoe-string.

All kidding aside, I am massively thrilled that we've finally got a prosumer DV camera that we can use to create and develop our own projects! Words on an internet page cannot express how elated I am about this new development, so I am just going to type a bunch of exclamation points !!!!!!!!! to express my jubilation!

I must add however, that this joy also comes with an enormous sense of responsibility and a tiny hint of fear. This machine brings the cold, hard truth: we must act. We can no longer sit around the house in our procrastination saying, "We'll get to it once we have the right equipment". Now we are faced with the doubts and the insecurities that come with pouring your mind and soul into something that may mean jack shit to others. And while we'd like to say we don't care...to face that kind of criticism might make ye normal folk insane. :)

On another note, we RYF writers recently finished the M. Bell treatment and to our relief, they LOVED it! We're registering it with the WGA and the Library of Congress because we're anal and we're new and we're just excited to be here :). We're filming and editing the teaser for his project sometime next week.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week, we will attempt our first foray into creating our own short film. It's an abstract narrative(sorry, no Zombie love stories or paint ball adventures, guys--this isn't "Youtube") that we're going to start pre-production (see, we get to use grownup words now) on tonight. I will be "acting" (if you can call it that; I'm pretty rusty since my Antigone days) and directing. K. will also be on hand, wowing us with her wonderful work as the great *writographer she is.

As K. mentioned before, we are entering the Hollywood Black Film Festival as writers, and we are also getting our writing samples and references together for CSUN: Northridge, Chapman University, CalArts and UCLA.

Heads up! Nicholls, BlueCat and many other screenplay contests are right around the corner!

Peep the page in the coming days to see the progress we've made!

Mucho amor y abrazos para todos!
{You knew we speak Spanish, right? Right??? *smile*}

*Note: If you don't know what a "writographer" is, look down.

Updates and Information

2008-02-01T21:52:00.001-05:00

K here.

Another updates post!

We didn't pitch Nehst. We didn't feel quite ready. With the online option, we felt we could up our game and submit online, or perhaps catch another filmmaker bootcamp in New York.

We've been steadily working on the reality show project. The treatment is all that remains. We should be meeting with our subject on Sunday to over the contract and other fine details. Fun, fun.

We're planning to enter the Hollywood Black Film Festival (the deadline is in February, yikes!) which is why M and I have been writing our *expletives* off.

This summer, we're planning to just go for it and, hopefully with a Canon XL-1, shoot our first feature. We've been meeting some interesting Cleveland people who might want to join in on the project. Of course, we'll update everything here.

M and I made a horrible little green screen a few days ago. It's truly a representation of what a measly budget will create.

Expect pics soon!

Updates

2008-01-16T12:22:00.002-05:00

K here!

So M and I have decided to do Nehst sponsored Filmmaker's Boot Camp. It will be held in Cleveland from Jan 25 through Jan 27 (the weekend), and at the end of the session (day 3) we'll get the opportunity to pitch our ideas.

Nehst (pronouced "Next") also has an online pitching service available if you can't make it to do an in-person pitch.

In more interesting news, M and I were approached to help a local musician and his family pitch a reality show. We've actually been called on to do a 3-minute teaser of the series, and a 10-episode treatment of the entire thing. We're generally freaked out, but know that this will be an interesting experience.

Also, I need to update this thing a lot more than I have been, especially since we've been working on some really cool scripts, two of which we plan to film during the summer, and 2 web series (we we hope to receive funding for *crosses fingers*) and are planning on finally getting that GL-1 camera we've been interested in. (Yes, that's the best we can afford. Shut up about it, already!)

In movie news: There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece. Everything about this movie, from the cinematography, to the writing, to the acting, to the music was perfect. Atonement might tug at your sentimental heartstrings, but There Will Be Blood rips out your soul and exposes what it means to be human.

List of Non-Struck Companies

2007-12-27T14:13:00.002-05:00

K here.

A lovely Anon sent me a link via the comments section from this post, with a list of non-signatory production companies that non-WGA members may solicit during the strike. He also has a link (to the official WGA West website) that gives a list of the struck companies.

You can check it out here.

Film Comissioner of Cleveland: Ivan Schwarz

2007-12-22T13:14:00.000-05:00

-M hurr

Film in my hometown really sucks right now, but I thought it was important to post what he's saying about film, the internet and global television. This video was taken 1 year before the writers' strike began, so it's very interesting to hear the same things coming from this man's mouth that the writers are talking about/fighting for now.

Enjoy!

A Word from Pitch Nesht Producer: Larry Meistrich

2007-12-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

I'm Larry Meistrich. I've produced almost a hundred feature films including Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade, You Can Count on Me with Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney and Belly with DMX, Nas and Method Man. We've just started a major new studio called NEHST. We've closed a large film fund, and we're financed to produce and distribute pictures, TV, and Internet projects.

I've never felt like the traditional Hollywood system gave people a fair chance so lots of talented people stand outside the doors and never get to show their work. That's why we created PITCH NEHST to accept new ideas in all media, new scripts, finished films to distribute, and learn about talent of any kind. You don't need an agent, a lawyer, or a relative in the business. Follow the instructions, prepare your pitch and send it in. There's a nominal ten dollar fee that goes to cover website overhead and admin costs.

I've already made deals with seven people who attended my Pitch Sessions, Aspiring Filmmakers Bootcamp workshops and online here at pitchNEHST. Rafi Marcus, a student at University of Miami, got a deal to produce an original webisode and video series. Jamie Eschricht and his partner John Infantino pitched their kids sports series Dribble Kick Throw on this site and it's currently casting. More deals will be announced in the press soon, and others are in the works.

We're looking for anyone who has a great idea - on paper or in a short video. If you have a finished film and want distribution, our team will review it. If you're a cameraman, editor, musician or actor pitch your work too. If you're an actor, check out screentest.biz. Watch this site for notices about what we want to be pitched on. I'll be doing a series of PITCH NEHST LIVE sessions where you get to pitch in person - just check the schedule below. I look forward to seeing your work.

source

Youtube, Blogs, what?

2007-12-18T13:17:00.000-05:00

As I stated before, me and Keigh are becoming "youtubers". I personally think it's going to be a good venture and that it's gonna be pretty fun just expressing ideas. So, check out my channel and Keigh's channel!

Enjoy!

Updates for the little Filmies...

2007-12-17T22:45:00.000-05:00

-M in da hizzie!

So, we're back in Cleveland, ready to actually get the HANG of things now that we don't have school bogging us down anymore. We got a car (finally) with enough trunk space to fit our film gear, and we are coming into some dinero in January so we can start paying off bills and...

...finally get started on some projects for our COMPLETED screenplays (YEAH)!!

So, here is a rough list of what we're working with at the moment:

January 6th-February 6th 2008: We'll be working on a feature film that is being shot in Cleveland, no we're not directing, we're doing some grunt work (script supervisors, etc.) just to help out the local community.

Sometime during January we'll actually be reading/casting LOCAL TALENT (Cleveland, holla!) for our short, entitled "Dilemma".

We'll be shooting in February (for two weekends) then we'll be in the editing room for the rest of February and a good portion of March.

By March we hope the weather is nice enough for us to begin real filming of "Refugee", because I would hate to have my actress running her ass of in the snow!

We'll also going to be volunteering and chilling at the Cleveland International Film Festival, which I know is going to be filled with shenanigans and good times.

Then, finally, SUMMER. Long, hot days with friends and family at the Lake shore, chilling and countless warm nights continuing the writing/filming process.

We've also been thinking about doing some youtube/webshow stuff. We figure that not only is it a way to augment a resume, it's a great way to create a rapport with local actors and crew that can one day become, who knows, a production company of sorts? :)

I'm also looking into animation techniques, because I think that "Born Under Water", which is more Sci-Fi, would look and feel better animated.

Anyway, that's all I'm writing for now on "the plan" tip, because it's late and I have to go do some editing and software updating like the little nerd I am.

Peace!

Oh, and cross your fingers for our older brother, he just got into the game and is hoping to confidently shop around his spec this summer. :)

Simple Film

2007-12-17T22:40:00.000-05:00

Why They Fight

2007-11-09T15:35:00.000-05:00

Strike or BUST!

2007-11-05T23:39:00.000-05:00

It's been hinted at since early June, but now it's finally here.

The WGA (Writer's Guild of America) is on strike. From what I can gather from various sources, the gossip mill and a few friends on the picket lines, the strike centers around these key issues:

1. New Media

As it stands, writers don't get paid residuals from shows re-aired online. The writers are also asking for basic protection of any new material they create for the internet. Currently, those who write shows for the internet, or create characters for the internet have no protection--they don't get paid WGA wage minimums, they don't have pension plans, etc. They're also trying to get residuals for iPod downloads and downloads to cell phones.

2. Enforcement and Expansion of the Contact

Game shows, talk shows, documentaries, etc also have writers, but a lot of times, production companies like to pretend as if these writers aren't covered under the contact. Sometimes they refuse to give them health care, etc., but if the writers ask about it, they can and often do get fired.

Even though most people think Reality TV is "reality", they actually have writers. ("The Hills" hint, hint) Writers for Reality TV and Animation aren't covered under the contract--the WGA thinks they should be.

What does this mean for TV?

Shows like The Daily Show and Colbert Report are completely screwed. Late Night Shows, too. Immediate reruns. Then comes daytime TV. Eventually, when the order runs out for shows like Heroes and Bionic Woman, primetime will be shot.

What does this mean for WGA Members?

On the writer's forum I've been reading posts from the WGA Member's Only section, and it's quite startling how so many people have gotten screwed by the Companies. Shocking, really. How the production companies in animation have literally laid of hundreds of artists and blacklisted writers for joining the WGA. They also seem to be fighting about what the strike, exactly, is about. Some say New Media, others say it's about something else.

I'm also hearing stories about the "little guys" who can't afford to keep up the strike. Sure, the well-known, well-paid writers can do it, but the average WGA guy isn't making enough bank to keep her house, car payments, etc. So there's an internal battle as well. Not everyone in the WGA writes for Jon Stewart. (I hear he's paying the salaries of the Daily Show writers until the end of the strike.)

What does this mean for us, the non-WGA Members?

Nothing. Not really, anyway. If you weren't getting work before the strike, you're probably not going to get work during the strike. But...just in case, there are:

Rules of Conduct for Non-WGA Members

13.

The Guild does not have the authority to discipline non members for strike breaking and/or scab writing. However, the Guild can and will bar that writer from future Guild membership.

This policy has been strictly enforced in the past and has resulted in convincing many would be strike breakers to refrain from seriously harming the Guild and its members during a strike. Therefore, it is important for you to report to the Guild the name of any non member whom you believe has performed any writing services for a struck company and as much information as possible about the non member's services.

--

We can write for non-signatory production companies, but that's pretty obvious, anyway.

Or in other words: New Media is too new, and the prodcos don't know if they make money off it or not, HA!

If you want to find out more about the strike, please check out the sidebar links in "Who's out there?"

Cheers and good luck to the WGA members.

Writing Bug, Film Festival

2007-10-27T12:14:00.000-04:00

M in da house!

I have that writing bug again, and have totally dug deep into my third draft of "Great Water". I have changed some key elements and have definately dug deeper into the personalities of the protagonist. I am greatly excited by this.

Also, I just got notice that I will be in a position to volunteer at the Cleveland International Film Festival. K. is also going to do this as well.

I am excited that this is going to happen, because not only are we going to volunteer, but we are going to be at the parties, the screenings and the mini classes that they are going to have.

And we are going to write about it all HERE!

Speaking of Film Festivals, The Cleveland Film Festival is CALLING FOR ENTRIES to its 2008 fest.

The deadline is November 30, 2007 and you can download and entry form here.

The screenwriting course is almost over, and through that class, our professor offered to make us PAs during the production of her television pilot. We're really excited and can't wait to help her out!

We'll post around November when everything gets started.

Reviews of The Good Book

2007-10-23T18:09:00.000-04:00

K here.

I've gotten two reviews of The Good Book so far, and they've been really positive. Both reviews told me that I need to focus on the interactions between Dane and Diana, which I figured they would.

I'm going to wait to do a second draft on The Good Book until after NanoWrimo and after I've finished my portfolio for the MA Creative Writing program I'm trying to get into.

Hopefully that won't take too long, but it will be at least a month and a half. Ah, the life of a writer.

Let the Writing Begin!

2007-10-01T13:56:00.000-04:00

K here.

I've convinced Meekie to finish editing her 2nd draft of Sons of Ham--which is an impressive screenplay, BTW--and I'm going to work on Heart of Wolf, which I'm really excited about.

I was supposed to do the outline last Saturday, but, as usual, I procrastinated my way out of that one. Not to worry--I'm pretty sure I can pump out a well-formed outline tonight, and be up and running by tomorrow afternoon.

Such are the joys of being a college student who doesn't go to class.

New Screenplay!!!

2007-09-29T15:35:00.000-04:00

K here!

After finishing my first draft of my first (solo) screenplay, I've decided to take a break from rewriting, and begin a new screenplay.

I've actually edited my first screenplay before, but I still consider it part of the first draft. I'm not really sure why.

I had ideas (and outlines) for at least 2 more screenplays, but I didn't feel like writing them. I feel like I will write them in the future, just not now. This next screenplay I'm soo ready to write.

Today I'm going to crank out the outline, and perhaps tomorrow or Monday I'll begin writing.

In other news, I finished the first 5 pages of my script for Scriptwriting class. I'm not too happy with it--not because it's "bad" perse, but because I don't feel like there's a point. I basically made the story up as I wrote along, and I hate doing that, because I can get easily distracted. Hopefully I'll get back some good notes from the class.

Coppola got robbed!

2007-09-29T15:06:00.000-04:00

K here.

Zoetrope founder and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola got his computer stolen a few days ago while working at Zoetrope Argentina. His latest script "Tetro" was on the computer, as well as other files, including pictures of his family. All of this leaves me with just one question:

There's a Zoetrope Argentina...?!

Writing a Screenplay that we can READ

2007-09-23T18:24:00.001-04:00

K here.

We received a packet of short scripts, for which we need to review and make notes. Tuesday, we're going to go over them in class, but I need to get a few frustrations off of my chest.

1. If students turn in another script in anything other than 12-point Courier, I will not read it. I used to laugh when people said it was hard to read a script in anything other than the normal, but really--not only is it hard--it's annoying. It's not hard, if you do your script in MS Word, to scroll up to the fonts and click on "Courier New", and set the size at "12". I read a script where it was obvious that the guy had fiddled with the font size. I never thought it would be easy to see--but it's glaringly obvious. I'm not trying to be a jerk--but in other classes, when you turn in a paper, it has to be Times New Roman, 12. I would never turn in a paper in Comic Sans MS font 20. That's insulting.

2. Parenthetical should never be used--I really don't care who you are. And if you need to use a parenthetical, please keep it to one or two. One script I read had parenthetical as a replacement for action. I mean, it literally read like:

DAVE
(picking up paper)
What's this?

SUSAN
(leaning over to Dave)
Oh, that's just my report.

DAVE
(turning back to Susan)
You always do so well.

No!

3. Talking Heads. Enough said.

4. The scene never ended: I'm glad I've gotten to see what unended scenes look like, because I really never understood the concept before. We were supposed to write 5 pages (some people wrote less, others wrote more) of a scene or series of scenes...and some people just didn't get that just because you make a new slugline, your previous scene is ended. It's kind of frustrating, because you know exactly what they were trying to do...

5. Lack of voice. I have no idea how to explain this, but you could tell who did and who didn't have a voice--and a "voice" is necessary for the story we're all trying to tell.

I know I'm just venting now, but it almost feels like they just don't care because most of them are going to end up working on other people's films, or in editing, or they thought it would just be "a fun class". Eugh!

Scriptwriting

2007-09-21T00:09:00.001-04:00

Having a workshop-type class is always good in helping you improve upon your craft. In this case, it's screenplay writing, but really, any kind of writing where you have to get up, read what you wrote, and listen to feedback from people who, often times, don't get it, is helpful.

But let me just say this: Editing is your friend, especially if your monologue is actually a dialogue written in the voice of Jeffrey Dahmer, who has an orgasm right after he kills a runaway.

Uh...okay.

Scriptwriting Class

2007-09-12T14:32:00.001-04:00

K here.

M and I finally signed up for a true, bona-fied scriptwriting class, and, I have to say I'm disappointed with the way it's been going so far.

There's nothing wrong with our instructor. She's nice, liberal minded as long as it doesn't involve violence towards animals or Full Metal Jacket references, young and hasn't become jaded--yet.

The unfortunate thing about it, though, is that this is an introductory course in screenwriting being taught by a film grad student who has a lot of things going on--namely her responsibilities as a producer for another film.

We've been in class for three days. The classes run for 2 hours, but for all three days, we have been let go early. Last Thursday was the third class--we were let go with 45 minutes left over. I suspect this is because she's busy with her other responsibility. I'd estimate that for the 8 hours we're supposed to have of classtime each week, we only get 5 or 6. That means we're losing at least 2 hours a week. This class is 10 weeks long. By the end of the course, we'll have lost at least 20 hours of classtime which could be used for improving upon our craft in a workshop setting. There's nothing better than getting feedback from your peers. That 20 hours could provide a lot.

My other gripe is that she's a first time instructor. That in itself is not a reason to have a gripe, it's just that she seems a little unsure as to how to structure her class. We've watched excerpts from movies, but done little with actually getting down and reading a screenplay. Sure, we read a simple excerpt from "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", but it was only a page and a half of mostly dialogue.

We haven't even worked on creating a story, yet she wants us to write a "interior" monlogue for class on Thursday. That, of course, won't be a problem, but I'll be interested to see how the others will format their screenplays. (She told students they needed to buy a Final Draft, which, for college students not majoring in film, isn't work the price or the hassle). Most students have this idea of formatting it based on indents she provided for Microsoft Word. I'm not kidding. I have the mind to tell everyone on Thursday they can download already formulated Microsoft Templates for $45, or they can download freeware like Celtx.

The students haven't truly been tested on whether or not they know what a "slugline" is, or whether or not they know how to use INT./EXT., or whether they now they should not put "INT. HIS BEDROOM 8:00 PM THE THURSDAY BEFORE THE PROM -- NIGHT" or not. She hasn't even asked us the very first question you should ask kids in a screenwriting class: "What's a screenplay?"

In class on Tuesday we did a really neat exercise that is supposed to help writers find motiviations for their characters. I'll have a scan up of mine probably tomorrow, but the point is this--she knows of exercises that will help writers, but I don't think she's using them. Either she doesn't have the time to prepare, or she's nervous. Either way, we're missing out.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, whichever way you choose to look at it) M and I are just too advanced for the class. This isn't intended as some sort of weird stroke of our egos, it's just a fact. She started the class by saying "If you come out knowing more about writing screenplays than you did before, that's a bonus" I almost shat myself right there. I don't want to "know" more about writing screenplays, I want to make a screenplay--a really, really good one. It's almost as if she doesn't have high hopes for the class, so she shoots from the hip and hopes it hits something.

The other kids in the class seem a bit slow. Well, that's the nicest way I can put it without getting all ad-hominem...y. They don't seem to be interested in anything our instructor has to say. I just don't think they realize how hard it is to write a screenplay, or how passionate many of us are about the craft...And they'll probably never learn from this class, because, even thoug we're supposed to create a 20-30 page short, she said we can produce 5 seperate 6 pagers that we're supposed to be working on.

WHAT. THE. HELL.

But, enough of the complaining. I'm glad to be able to take this screenwriting class, if nothing for the fact that it's in a workshop setting, and we get to hear other people's opinions. It will be nice to see if my work is as good as M says it is--and vice versa. It will also be interesting to hear other voices read the work, how they interpret the words, how the scenes map out when it's played in real time.

For that, I am glad.

KarmaCritic gets a makeover

2007-08-31T14:45:00.000-04:00

K here.

Looks like KarmaCritic has a new look, and I like it, a lot! It's much lighter than the older version, and it's easier to read, which I'm sure everyone else loves, too.SUBLIM, the screenplay contest held by the good folks at KarmaCritic, seems to be getting a fair number of scripts, but from the loglines, I wonder how distinct they will be from one another? So far, we've got a couple of romances, some comedies, some fantasy, and (at least) 2 supernatural screenplays.

Interesting. At any rate, neither M nor I have joined KarmaCritic, but I'm going to try to join today or sometime soon when I get the chance to get everything together.

The deadline is October 2007. I wonder if more people are going to wait until then to submit? They won't get very many votes, though.

New Blogs!

2007-08-27T21:28:00.000-04:00

K here.

I was browsing through BlueCat, checking out their scriptwriting lab deadline, and I found links with blogs from writers in the industry. Here's a list I've compiled. Check it out!

Scriptwriting and Scriptreading in the UK

Danny Stack, fellow libra and scriptwriter: "Practical advice and insights about screenwriting, how to build a career and what the process is actually like, in front and behind development lines. A place to pitch, moan and share."

Vodka-Yogurt

Adam Deich gives critiques and reviews of films. It also has a good interview up of Gordy Hoffman, founder of BlueCat.

Development Hell

Christina Ferguson does it all: Screenwriting. San Francisco. Ashtanga yoga. Bass guitar. Short fiction. Reviews of music, movies and books. And other random topics.

Neal Romanek, words + images

I don't even really know how to explain this website, but from what I've seen so far, it looks like it's going to be an interesting ride.

DIY Film Explosion

Sujewa Ekanayake likes to do it himself. Experience the ultra-low budget, real independent filmmaking & self-distribution adventures of a Washington DC scriptwriter and filmmaker.

The Happy Existentialist

Join the Screenwriting Revolution Today! Includes 1 page excerpts from various screenplays written by the blog's author.

Happy reading!

Marty Martin Comes Clean

2007-08-22T17:02:00.000-04:00

Taken from Zoetrope which was taken from IMDB.com

MartyMartinOnTheLot aka Marty Martin writes:

To everyone out there,

I have purposefully chosen not to respond to anything on these forums. I hate getting mixed into this kind of stuff, but at this point I have to say a thing or two.

First off thank you for everyone who has supported me. Secondly, for those who literally HATE me, get a life and realize this was a reality TV show and not everyone on the show was represented acurately. I am an outspoken guy and came across like a jerk, but this is TV guys. I am not THAT guy and you can choose to believe it or not. But the kind of hate I see in these forums is just sad. You are tearing apart real people who have real lives, families, etc... based on certain things that may or may not be true about them. I really hoped that I had had the opportunity to stay on the show longer to show the real me; a nice and humble family man with a lovely daughter and wife who has been struggling to make it for the past couple of years. I unfortunately didn't get the chance to get that message across.

Aside from that, I will tackle another little criticism I keep seeing around. I didn't follow the rules by making a trailer....? Every piece of work we produced from home and submitted for the show had to obviously be approved by the show before it could air. If I actually hadn't chosen to follow the rules, do you think they would have allowed me to show my short/trailer on national TV? I just chose to take a completely different angle on the 1 minute short concept. I actually wrote an entire treatment for the Big Bad Heist before I broke it down into a 1 minute trailer, and filmed in 12 locations with a large number of actors. No simple task. I was hoping I would stand out as the guy who really took a big risk, and it went the other way around. Oh well, that's life. But being criticized for not following the rules? No way. I'm not stupid, I followed the rules. I just wanted to try something different. Still not sure why Carrie had said I didn't follow them because that wasn't the case. I am sure that if she hadn't had said that, people watching the show wouldn't have thought I violated any rules. But who knows?

As for not being able to take criticism... For those who know me, this is one thing I actually take very well. I came to Hollywood with my first short film 4 years ago and wanted criticism from real producers who were making films. And I got it. And this is how I got better. The only way I can improve on my work is by comparing it to high standards and taking in criticism and learning from it. My issue with Carrie Fisher was blown out of proportion, and being on TV in front of so many people didn't help my judgement all that much. But you know what? I learned from it. If anything, the people who know me know me as a super confident guy, but also one who is humble. And if I came across anything but humble on TV, I can blame some of it on editing, but I also have to take responsibility for stuff I did LIVE on TV. So maybe I got a bit carried away, but no one is perfect, you mistakes, you fall down, then you pick yourself back up and brush yourself off and start again.

I just want to set the record straight on this stuff once, then you guys can continue to tear me apart and I'll leave it at that. The show was a great experience for me in a lot of ways. I've taken a lot from it. Ultimately though what I got out of it was a bunch of great friends. Believe it or not, we were ALL fantastic friends on the show and still are. Which is a pretty rare thing to find in life. So many of these guys are so talented, and it is awesome to be able to stay in contact with them, hang out with them, share ideas, etc...

So it's easy to judge.... To type expletives about contestants and how they are bad, stupid, great, mean, idiots, etc... But it's also kind of sad you need to spend your free time tearing apart people you don't really know. On one hand we all signed up knowing this could happen, and I don't think any of us really take it to heart, but we all do feel it is so over the top. However, thanks for caring enough about the show to get so involved. It's cool to know that you were really following everything so closely. Stay tuned for who wins next week! We can't wait to find out as well!

Marty Martin
Director/Producer/Editor
www.imagenfilms.com
www.marty-martin.com

---

So I guess Marty Martin really wasn't the asshole we all thought he was, right? I don't know. Reality TV can make people seem meaner than they are, but no one who wasn't even a little bit arrogant would get on stage and disrespect the judges as many times Marty did.

But, that's the nature of things, right?

Congratulations Will

2007-08-22T16:35:00.001-04:00

On winning the cool $1 million development deal with DreamWorks. How far does a million go, anyway?

We're under the firm belief that Zach Lee got snapped up long ago.

Would You Support Cinematic Racism?

2007-08-21T11:35:00.000-04:00

The sis has just completed her award-winning research on images in American film. Included in her research was a question that asked, quite frankly, if a person would "recommend or see a filmn that slightly stereotyped African American women".

A high percentage said that they would.

And that's the type of thinking that boggles my mind. Has Hollywood wrapped our minds so much that we're just letting them do anything? I mean, seriously. First, you've got Eddie Murphy and the lot dressing up like Neo-Mammies, then we see Frank Miller changing the history (can someone please explain to me how Persians are black again??) to one of the most important battles of the ancient world and now, with this new 10,000 BC movie coming out with what, two or three people of color all swarthied up, we've got even more blatant disregard for historical and cultural accuracy.

JEEZ! Is it too hard to just do it right? Just this once? What could you lose?! Wouldn't it be awesome to be THAT studio who totally went against the inane materialism and blind assimilationism that Hollywood encompasses to created THE MOVIE of the century. That movie (which has yet to be made) that was truly color-blind and STILL had actors of color. That movie that didn't stereotype, that tried to get history right, no matter how hard or pointless it seemed?

No, I guess not. Cuz it surely hasn't happened yet.

(Or maybe I'll stop being lazy and make it myself).

So, I guess what I'm asking you, all of you out there in the land of Ones and Zeroes..Would you support cinematic racism?

It's Been A While

2007-08-08T15:55:00.000-04:00

M Here,

So...its been a while, and folks "out there" are probably wondering what the hell has happened to the films we promised we would be updating about.

Well, it just so happens that when you live in the real world, as much as you try to block it out, real stuff happens. So, we've had to pospone our lovely film adventures until September.

I know, I know, I to, follow the mantra of "never slow down", but this time, its unavoidable.

But never fear! There are still tons of things we will talk about, INCLUDING our screenplays and the contests we WILL be entering. See, you don't really need 2,000 dollars, a dolly and final cut pro to spit out your baby on Final Draft...

So, the sis and I are planning to submit to as many screenplay contests and our dear, neglected wallets will let us.

So far, I think the closest screenplay contest coming up is the Zoetrope Screenplay Competition.

We'll update later with more contests that YOU can apply to!

Can we make an American Hoe?

2007-07-24T20:48:00.000-04:00

K here.

I know I said we were going to boycott "On the Lot" but something drew me back. Was it to see how Zach Lee fared, or was it to see the obvious train wreck the show has become?

The films this week were supposed to be "romantic comedy". Zach disappointed me, not because he's not a great director, but because his film just lack story. The guest judge this week told him they needed to hook him up with a good writer. Fair enough. Will Bigham's "Unplugged", about two desk lamps that withstand impossible obstacles to fall in love was the best for me. The rest? Forgettable.

And I say "Forgettable" not because I want to be mean, or because my work is a thousand times better---but it's making me a little mad that there doesn't seem to Adbe much evolution going on, here. None at all. They have it easy--all the perks of working with TALENTED actors, a budget, and professional equiptment, yet they can't sit down and create a short film that actually says something?

*sigh*

I want them to succeed---I really do. But at the same time, I'm worried that another group of good ol' boys are going to march into Hollywood as if they own it, while women, and people of color are going to have to work a thousand times harder to break the barrier. Shalini Kantayya has beautiful vision---and even though she's been On The Lot, she'll probably never have it as easy as that Brit who got kicked off the first episode...

Adriana Costa was the same--short dress, bland lines, although her comment to the boys of "You all look sharp, I must say." followed by a halfway stifled laugh was a new low.

I've got to give it up to Spielburg and Burnett, though. About halfway through the show, Adriana goes up into the control booth. There, she says something along the lines of, "We just wanted to show America how much work it takes to make a live show." Ha! Well played.

And just so this post won't end up negative:

Steven Spielburg
Duel (1971)
The Sugarland Express (1974)
Jaws (1975)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
1941 (1979) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
The Color Purple (1985)
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Hook (1991)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Schindler's List (1993)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Amistad (1997)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
Minority Report (2002)
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
The Terminal (2004)
War of the Worlds (2005)
Munich (2005)
Indiana Jones 4 (2008)

Mark Burnett
Survivor
The Apprentice
The Restaurant
The Casino
Rock Star
Combat Missions
The Contender
Martha Stewart
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
Pirate Master

Upcoming Screenplay Contests

2007-07-15T19:55:00.001-04:00

UPCOMING SCREENPLAY COMPETITION DEADLINES--

JULY/AUGUST 2007

Bruce Geller Screewriting Competion
First Place: $25,000
2 Runners Up: $5,000

Deadline: July 31 ($45)

American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition
1st Place: $5,000, script considered for option and development
10 finalists: Script considered for option and development

Early Deadline: August 1, 2007 ($35)
Deadline: September 4, 2007 ($50)

The 2008 BlueCat Screenwriting Lab
" All screenplays entered for consideration will be evaluated for narrative promise, emotional impact, original voice and personal spirit. Based on these criteria, three writers will be named BlueCat Fellows and flown to Los Angeles for one week of intense development in the home of the motion picture industry, all expenses paid. In addition, each Fellow will receive $1000."

Early deadline: August 1, 2007 ($40)
Regular deadline: September 1, 2007 ($40)
Late deadline: October 1, 2007 ($50)

Screenwriting EXPO 6
Grand Prize: $20,000,trip to Los Angeles for Screenwriting EXPO 6
Genre Category Prizes: $2,500 plus trip to Los Angeles for Screenwriting EXPO 6

Regular deadline: July 31, 2007 ($50)
Late deadline: August 14, 2007 ($55)

Slamdance Teleplay Competition
Grand Prize: blind script deal with fox21 to develop television show, plus $30,000 (half-hour) or $45,000 (hour).

Deadline: August 20, 2007 ($30 half-hour, $40 hour)

Bruce Geller Screenwriting Competion

2007-07-15T17:19:00.000-04:00

K here.

Heads up! A new screenplay competition has opened up. The First Annual Bruce Geller Screenplay Competition:

"To increase the richness of contemporary Jewish culture through the creation of screenplays and films that reflect aspects of Jewish life in the United States or elsewhere.

Submit a screenplay that relates to, touches upon, explores or includes some aspect of Jewish life. This could be a location, a Jewish character, a Jewish theme, or anything relevant to the Jewish experience. This competition is open to writers of all religious and ethnic backgrounds. Entries accepted from June 4 to July 31, 2007. See the contest rules to learn how to enter.

One first prize winner and two runners-up will be selected. First prize is $25,000. The two runners-up each receive $5,000.

Winners will be announced at our gala dinner."

Please, PLEASE check this out! Looks like it might be a good venture.

A Screenwriter's Guide to the Galaxy

2007-07-12T15:47:00.000-04:00

K here.

You may have noticed the links positioned quite nicely in the sidebar to your left. These links lead you, the hopeful screenwriter or filmmaker, to some great blogs and forums on screenwriting, filmmaking and ~~procrastination~~ networking with other filmmakers/screenwriters.

We here at CWMM present you with:

A Screenwriter's Guide to the Galaxy:
Navigating the Links on the Lefthand Sidebar

THE WRITERS

Carolyn Haywood
Regular poster on the American Zoetrope Vertiual Studios hosted by Francis Ford Coppola. Her website includes samples from her award-winning screenplays, which could be a helpful resource. It has been to us!

Christopher Lockhard
No-longer updated blog by executive story editor and creative consultant, that answers e-mail questions about screenwriting. He also hosts the website twoadverbs.com, which focuses on giving advice to screenwriters.

Jane Espenson
Former writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and has written episodes for Angel, Firefly, Gilmore Girls, Ellen, The O.C., and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (among others). Her website focuses on the ins and outs of writing spec scripts for televison...and what she ate for lunch.

Jeremy Slater
Amazingly hilarious blog featuring a writer navigating through agents, spec writing and trips to industry studios. Link to an even funnier blog: How To Write Screenplays. Badly.

John August
Blog from the writer of such films as Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie's Angels, and Go. Answers questions from readers on every aspect of screenwriting.

Lorelei Armstrong
Award-winning screenwriter and novelist who gives no-nonsense advice about screenwriting, and how to navigate through The Business.

Ted Rossio and Terry Elliot
The Grandaddy of all screenwriting blogs, and written by the geniuses who brought us Aladdin, The Legend of Zorro and the POTC Triology, Wordplay takes you to an entirely new level in understanding screenwriting and improving upon your craft. The site features 60 columns on screenwriting, a forum and essays from industry professionals. Highly recommended for all screenwriters.

The Unknown Screenwriter
In-depth blog second only to Wordplay, which gives writers the opportunity to study screenwriting without ~~having to pay tens of thousands of dollars at USC~~ having to go to film school.

WHO'S OUT THERE?

American Zoetrope
A "Virtual Studio" founded by Francis Ford Coppola. It operates on a peer-review system, allowing users to upload their screenplays, stories, music, pictures and more, and receive feedback from fellow users, with the occasional industry professional dropping in on the main boards to offer advice and feedback. Has four "buildings": Writing, Arts and Design, Music and Sound, and Other (Acting and Directing). The Screenwriting buildings is active, with several private offices hosted from a range of individuals, some industry profressionals.

Cinnematical
Cinnematical gives information on recent sales and upcoming movies, as well as reviews of recently released films. Check here often to see whether or not you should spend 4 months writing that spec script...

KarmaCritic
Website/blogsite created by frustrated "On The Lot" community members. Open to filmmakers, screenwriters, and anyone else involved in making a professional or semi-professional film. Also has a screenplay competion, SUBLIM, which opened on 07/07/07. How's that for good luck?

The Artful Writer
No-holds barred blog hosted by Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 3) and Ted Elliot (Pirates of the Carribean Trilogy). It features an active forum, which hosts the informative "Ask a Pro" question and answer sesssion. (Previous professionals included Ted Elliot, John Turman, Craig Mazin, Tim Talbott and others). Good resource for those wanting information about screenwriting from an industry pro's perspective.

Query Letters We Love
Started by the late Manager Guy, this website pokes fun at some odd query letters the host has received over the years. Interesting read, and may give you an idea what not to put in your query letters...

The Movie Blog
"The Official Home of Correct Movie Opinons". Enough said.

TriggerStreet
Large-scale site in the vein of Zoetrope, which focuses on peer-reviews as a means to improve filmmaking and screenwriting as a whole. It has a message board, blogging section and will soon add Plays, Short Stories and Books to its lineup.

LEARN HOW TO...

Michael Hauge's Screenplay Mastery
Site by writer Michael Hauge, with articles on screenplay structure, pitching and telling a story. Great for those who need a better grasp of screenplay structure.

Proper Screenplay Format
How to properly format a screenplay from the Academy of Arts and Sciences' Nicholl Fellowship Program. PLEASE READ THIS NOW.

FESTIVALS

American Black Film Festival

Deadline has passed for submit to the festival, but the festival itself will be held in October. Geared toward films focusing on African American and/or urban independent films.

The Sundance Institute
Institute created by the spectacular Robert Redford,which focuses on independent film. It has several contests and programs aimed at the indepedent filmmaker, cummilating in The Sundance Festival, held every January, in Utah.

Tribeca Film Festival
Annual Film Festival held in September, Tropfest@Tribeca holds an annual short film competion. This year's theme: "Slice".

Telluride Film Festival
Held August 31-September 3 in Telluride, Colorado, this festival accepts only the best shorts and films to be showcased during the it's run. The deadline for this year has passed, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't still be working!

Human Rights Watch International Fim Festival
"Each year, the festival's programming committee screens more than 500 films and videos to create a program that represents a range of countries and issues. Once a film is nominated for a place in the program, staff of the relevant division of Human Rights Watch also view the work to confirm its accuracy in the portrayal of human rights concerns. Though the festival rules out films that contain unacceptable inaccuracies of fact, we do not bar any films on the basis of a particular point of view." Check it out.

Los Angeles Film Festival
Presented by The Lost Angeles Times, this festival offers some of the best of independent film, accepting films from high school students as well.

SouthXSouthwest
Has several components but the Film Festival is probably what you're looking for. Located in Austin, this highly respected festival has several competions geared toward the up and coming filmmaker.

Ohio Independent Film Festival
Held in November in Cleveland, Ohio, this film festival, run exclusively by women(!), also has a screenplay competion.

This list is subject to change--and probably will, as we navigate the web finding the Best of the Best.

Good luck!

WHAT? No On The Lot?

2007-07-11T01:21:00.000-04:00

K here.

"On The Lot" got bumped to next week due to ~~sagging ratings~~ the Allstar Game.

Not that it matters to me, anyway. Can somebody say "Boycott"??

Expect updates soon.

Confessions!

2007-07-06T21:08:00.000-04:00

M, M, M, M.

So, earlier we told you folks that we were going to shoot on those ancient Bolex's. Well, we decided instead to shoot on a bootleg Panasonic Mini-Dv. The reason? No processing or transferring fees!!

When you're poor, you've got to work with what you've got. And what we're got here in the Big O are free Panasonic Mini DVs from the university library.

That's right . We're repping it for the poor folks!

We were even talking about making a festival for short films that require that students make their films with REGULAR Mini DV camcorders.

It's should be the story that really counts, right??

The Countdown...

2007-07-06T21:02:00.000-04:00

M here...

We are T-minus two until we begin to shoot "Refugee". I for one, am excited as hell. I am also nervous as hell because, even though I have a solid cast that "say" they'll be there on Sunday, I'm not sure if they are really going to stick to their word (college kids).

That aside, I can't wait to KICK ASS in the film area and show the world what me and the sis are ready to do!

Look out for great things from this camp. :)

Production Pics!

2007-07-03T13:47:00.000-04:00

M hurr...

So, we got our set together and we did some shots outside to get a feel of the light at certain periods. We also thought it would be nice to share with you guys what everything is gonna look like.

Do Not X-Ray

2007-07-03T13:34:00.000-04:00

M here-

Life is weird. After setting up the Bolex, I freaked out for a hot second because I could not see ANYTHING in the viewfinder. The problem? I had forgotton to OPEN the viewfinder using this little nob located at the top of the camera. Up means closed. Down means open. DUH.

But in a strange twist of fate, because I had fretted over the camera for about half and hour, the sis and I were late to lunch, and in turn we were late coming back to the room.

But the thing is, if we hadn't of been late coming back to the dorm, then we would not have seen the DHL truck racing down the street to our dorm with our package of film. If we hadn't seen the truck, we probably would have had to wait for the RAs in the dorm to alert us of our package (and our film inside) until tomorrow or Thursday, totally screwing up the shooting schedule...

So, even though I almost had a heart attack wondering if I broke a school camera that I could definately NOT pay for, it was worth it. Because we got our film on time and in tact.

YES!

Can We Make a Community With You?

2007-07-02T22:03:00.000-04:00

K here.

We've been hearing a lot of rumors about the "On The Lot" community/forums, not just from KarmaCritic, but from other writers and filmmakers as well.

It seems that if you use certain words, or talk negatively about the show, your post is censored, the offending words *bleeped* out.

According to this Aint It Cool article:

"Even to this day, if anybody, no matter how established or respected, posts the words "karmacritic" over there... the words first turn automatically into "BLEEP". Within 5 minutes the post is deleted, within 10 minutes the user's account is banned, and in 15 minutes his whole IP is banned (so he wont make new accounts). Then all the posts that person EVER made, go byebye too. OTL uses drupal, like you do in aintitcool.com, like I do in karmacritic.com, so you know all these things are possible with Watchdog triggers. They do it."

Hmm...I wonder...?

Expect an update soon.

ABC Writing Fellowship

2007-07-01T21:08:00.000-04:00

M here!

Today, July 1st, 2007 was the last day to postmark any scripts for the ABC Writing Fellowship. For Directors and Actors, there are separate deadlines.

Good luck!

The Sekonic Light Meter

2007-07-01T20:56:00.000-04:00

M again!

Since I am a complete dumbass and technology scares me like low income mothers and blakc people scare Paris Hilton, I decided to search out exactly how to use the Sekonic Light Meter.

And, since we did tell you all that we were gonna share any and all information with you, here below, are some sources that might help you too!

1. How to Use the Sekonic Light Meter from The New School

2. Extensive Guide to using the Light Meter.

Go Out and Do It, Damnit!

2007-07-01T20:06:00.000-04:00

Ya Girl M. Here-

I'll admit it, I'm scared.

No, not in the "USA Terrorist Alert Raised to Orange" way, but in the "Damn, it's time to make it or break it" way.

You see, starting THIS TUESDAY (ahhhh!!), the sis and I will attempt to make our own short film. Now, even though the short is about five minutes, we're freaking nervous. The film, entitled "Refugee" is gonna be filmed on a wind-up Bolex, you know, those ancient cameras that are heavy and hard to manuever? We're gonna shoot for 3 consecutive days, in the mornings starting whenever the hell the sun chooses to rise. We're probably going to do some running and using stuff that isn't ours and trying to route people away from the set (which is outside) and blah, blah, blah (nothing too illegal).

Because we're poor and we can't afford that digital shit, we're gonna have to do a meter reading (and I swear, I just learned how to use it semi-correctly today) for each shot...and because the film is Kodak B&W Reversal, we're gonna have a helluvah time getting the light readings correct, so that when all is said and done, we're not looking at blown out or too dark film.

We just got through a shoot on another woman's film (pics will be up soon) and it was a really great learning experience. I was a bit nervous ( and still am) about how her film will develop. I don't want it to be ruined because I didn't know how to use the light meter. And I don't want MY film to be screwed up because I didn't know how to use it either. That's why I am forcing my professor (who, even though he's a nice guy, seems to be not that into teaching) to actually show me FOR REAL how to use this thing.

All in all though, that shoot was pretty exciting, even if it was tiring. Besides, the director fed us coca cola and tuna and crackers! Seriously, it was free and FREE always=DELICIOUS.

To make things a bit more complicated, as you all probably know, I have to create ANOTHER film for my class this weekend coming up, which is making this week, REALLY HECTIC. I have some actors, a location and my crew...I just gotta geta movin' on it!

Yet, even through all of my complaining, I still think that the sis and I are going to have a great time. I mean, we're making a film...and not just your lame "watch me do stupid shit" Youtube videos. We're making a film that we CAN and WILL submit to festivals.

We're making a film! We're making a film! We're making a film!

There, I said it three times, and I'm still scared.

Because even though we may try our hardest and our ideas may be the most awesome ideas to hit the film industry, we still have to rely on OTHER people to get it out there. It'd be amazing to get accepted to some film festivals, and it would be ever more so to actually win something (preferrably a cash prize for a certain someone's student loans, *ehem*), but we're still left in the hands of other people who may not agree with our philosophy or our "artistic visions".

But, I'm just happy that we're putting ourselves out there, and that at least, even if it doesn't turn out the way we want it to, we can say we gave it our best shot.

Now, off to filmming!!!

STORYBOARD

2007-06-30T18:19:00.000-04:00

K here.

So we finally got the storyboard down. I actually outlined, while M did the very beautiful artwork.

If you're so inclinded, here are the scans:

Yeah, well, nobody said we were Picasso and Rembrant, okay?

We're trying to do the costumes, now. M got a classmate to help with the make-up, and I think we're going to go with a whole Harlem Renaissance feel going on...which should be completely awesome.

Here are some of the styles we're looking at:

I'll be taking pictures during the shoot, so I'll be sure to post more here, plus tips we used while shooting.

Sound good?

KarmaCritic, Fox and Screenwriters

2007-06-29T13:06:00.001-04:00

K here.

This showed up in the comments section of "On The Lot" Members Move Out.

From KarmaCritic:

"Just discovered your blog. I'm glad I did! I'm surprised you picked up on our contest after just one day of publishing the promo, but that's why the blogosphere has its reputation :)

I concede the comment about the mystery judge was cheesy... hollywood types dont like a lot of risk, and this trend seems to go up proportionally with how high they are in the totem pole. Its a "if it flops, no one knew I was in it, if it succeeds, I'll come out and jump the bandwagon" kind of thing.

And screenwriters -are- filmmakers! We take anybody who has ever worked above or below the line in any production, studio or indie. If there's no film to enter in the application, any reference to anywhere film that credits you is enough. Thanks for this post, I'm enjoying the rest of your blog, we agree a lot about On The Lot, obviously. Did you know the VP of FOX Branded Media was engaged with us in hand-to-hand combat in Wikipedia?

It was fun: http://www.karmacritic.com/node/276"

Hmm. More updates later when I read and review what happened...

UPDATES!!!

Going through all the information, it seems rather cowardly that those affiliated with FOX would try to censor wikipedia. I mean, it's a free encyclopedia, for Chrissakes, calm down, Fox. You've got an entire station to manipulate.

Regardless of whether or not On The Lot lied about how it does business is one thing, but to repeatedly erase truthful posts on wikipedia simply because you're pissed that your show isn't as hot as you thought it would be is seriously crossing the line.

And House is such a good show, too.

Trading Races

2007-06-29T11:58:00.000-04:00

-M in da house, again!

I really want to see this film, I think this is a topic that is totally looked over. Most people don't even know that this is going on. So, I go to the yahoo website and see the poster:

Hmmm. A blond white chick is on the cover. Now, I have no problem with blond white chicks, I personally think Charlize Theron is the baddest blond chick out there. I just don't freaking get why, if the movie is about a Mexican boy searching for his kidnapped sister, there is a white Polish chick on the cover. I mean, seriously. It's that type of nonsense that pisses me off.

As a black woman, I feel as if women of color are always cast aside. It pisses me off, especially since you would think putting the Mexican girl on the cover would pull more heart-strings, since she is A) Cuter and B) a little younger, and therefore more relevent to the child-sex slave story.

Seriously, THIS IS THE STORY!!

I mean, damn, folks! It's 2007, putting a colored person on your poster isn't going to destroy you film! And, even if it does, you should be more honored to have stood up to bigots and racists.

And even if they were scared, why wouldn't they try to put BOTH girls on the cover? I mean, are people THAT uninventive? I would have them both on a bed, makeup, staring out from the poster at the world, or something to that effect.

But then again...

How To Make A Film...The Right Way!

2007-06-29T11:43:00.000-04:00

-M in da house!

This beautiful film, entitled "Impressions ofr Africa" was made by youtube member Pimhawinkels on a bolex 16mm with kodak 50 iso Daylight film. The music is by famed group Amadou & Mariam, from the album 'je pense a toi'.

Beautiful! I hope that "Refugee" (our own, homegrown film) looks as beautiful as this!

Isaiah Washington v. TR Knight

2007-06-26T20:40:00.000-04:00

K here.

As much as I should be working on another script, I've been so caught up in the whole Grey's Anatomy scandal surrounding Isaiah Washington, Patrick Dempsey and TR Knight. It says a lot about the politics of words, and even might say a thing or two about how private matters can easily turn into public feuds.

In a new interview with openly gay AND black (go figure) Kieth Boykin, Isaiah Washington tells it all.

Isaiah Washington Breaks His Silence In Interview

By Keith Boykin, in pop culture
Friday, June 22 2007, 10:07AM

DEVELOPING STORY -- The phone call caught me off guard. As long as I've been talking and writing about Isaiah Washington, I have never met the man or spoken to him, despite the arguments by some critical commenters that I've "defended" him because of a supposed friendship we have. That's not the case.

Washington called me last Sunday for the first time to speak about the brewing controversy and to tell me his side of the story. It took several days for us to connect, but last night we finally spoke.

I stepped out of a DNC dinner when I received his first call, and Washington told me that he had wanted to call me for six months to share his side of the story but he had declined to do so out of "loyalty" to ABC and Grey's Anatomy's black producer Shonda Rhimes.

Listening To Washington
In his first voicemail message on Sunday, June 17, Washington said he was "trying real hard not to incite an unnecessary war," but he wanted the rest of the story to come out. "A lot of people made a lot of mistakes," he said. Washington said he had "owned up" to his mistakes, but added that there were "some things that happened October 9 on the set that were never addressed, that were covered up," he said. "The truth will set you free," he added. Washington seemed reluctant to disclose the new information then out of fear that it might hurt Shonda Rhimes's show. "Apparently that's what's gotten me in trouble, trying to be loyal and a defender of something that obviously has not been interested in defending me."

Then last night he filled in the details. Washington said he stood behind everything he said in his hometown paper, the Houston Chronicle. "I'm not firing back at anybody else in the cast but T.R. Knight and Katie Heigl because they both know as well as Chandra Wilson knows that T.R. Knight was very tactical in trying to remove me from the show because he knows and I know that I was gagged, and he has been working on a conspiracy to get Patrick Dempsey and myself off the show for the last year and a half."

According to Washington, "He had led me to believe that Patrick Dempsey was so abusive and so horrible to people in a two and half hour conversation on the plane. For two and a half hours, this boy talked me ear off, Keith, about how horrible Patrick Dempsey is and how he needs to be removed from the show. And in my argument, the irony of it is that Patrick happened to show some behavior that was very in line with what T.R. was telling me on the plane and I challenged T.R. to deny it or say this isn't true."

He went on: "All the dirty macking he gave me about Patrick Dempsey led me to believe that Patrick was trying to treat me in a disrepectful manner in the same kind of manner apparently accorded to T.R. that Patrick had treated him. And even to this day, Patrick Dempsey and T.R. still have a rift and are still not on speaking terms. They do not talk to each other...I know Patrick Dempsey has supported me by stating that if there is anyone that needs to be fired it is T.R. Knight because he has created such a negative environment on that set because he felt like he has not been treated and giving the same kind of leading man type of story lines that have been given to Patrick and Isaiah. He felt like his character has been treated very caricatureish and dopey. That's why you see his character changing so signifcantly...This is something that T.R. Knight has been trying to do and using the incident of the so-called F-word that was targeted at him, which is a flat out lie, to blackmail the writers into doing his bidding, and it's not working. The producers are not happy about it, and quite frankly, they think something has gone awry with T.R. Knight... But all of them, including the producers all the way up to Touchstone, are not happy.

"And let me be clear Keith. All of this I'm saying to you has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he's gay. He came out October 19 as purely a tactical move to do exactly what he did, get public opinion in an outrage to lead him to believe that he is being picked on because he is gay. He could care less about the gay community."

Speaking Of Washington
To be clear, I have never defended Isaiah Washington's use of the F-word. I have said repeatedly that the word was wrong. But I have also declined to join the army of people who have called for Washington to be fired from Grey's Anatomy. To me, his history of support for the LGBT community argued that he should get the benefit of the doubt. The f-word using Isaiah Washington is not the same man I first saw on the screen playing an openly gay man in Spike Lee's groundbreaking 1996 film Get On The Bus.

Last night Washington told me in no uncertain terms that he had not changed. He said he's still the same person he was before who always believed in respecting everyone regardless of their sexual orientation. He said he supported the gay community in the past and continued to do so today. And it was T.R. Knight, he said, who had pimped the LGBT community. Washington charged that Knight was not on the set the day when the f-word was used, that it wasn't used in a critical way, and that it wasn't used against Knight.

Washington went on to say that he wanted to give me a "scoop" on the story but couldn't do so because I hadn't gotten back to him in time. He pointed me to an article in the Houston Chronicle yesterday that he said was mostly accurate in describing his side of the story.

But assuming he was right about the use of the f-word last fall, why did he use the word again at the Golden Globes in January? When asked that question, Washington told me that he was responding to a reporter in the audience who had yelled a question to him about the incident with T.R. Knight.

I told Washington that the footage I had seen only showed him speaking at the mic and did not seem to show anyone asking a question about the issue. It looked to me as though Washington just started shooting off about the issue for no reason. But Washington said the part of the discussion where the question was asked was cut out from the stories in the media.

I've worked with the media for 20 years, and I think what could have happened was that the questioner was not on camera or on mic, and therefore the question might not have been picked up by the cameras that were hooked up through the mult box to the main microphone.

I spoke to Washington again late last night and by text message early this morning. He told me he was planning to tell all when he appears on Larry King Live on CNN.

"On the Lot" members Move Out

2007-06-26T11:14:00.000-04:00

K. here.

It seems we weren't the only ones disappointed with the way "On the Lot" has turned out. The disgruntled-ness (is that even a word?) has spilled on to the forums, where a secret friend of another secret friend informs us (and other Zoe members) that there have been mass "...deleting or editing of our blogs, our posts, film comments...", with a deactivation list that reads "like a who's who ".

Enter KarmaCritic, a website created by filmmakers that got together in the "On the Lot" online community.

Also, from the website:

"This is KarmaCritic's 1st Annual Screenwriting Development Contest. Round 1 starts with a simple 1-page synopsis and the first 5 pages of your screenplay. Round 2 moves on to a treatment and the first 30 pages, round 3 is the full feature-length script. Judges are high powered hollywood producer Tova Laiter (Die Hard 3, Glory, Evita, etc), Jon Brown (represents De Souza, Orr, T.J Scott and Kevin Lund), as well as a special figure too high to disclose publicly at this time. The prize is a professional relationship with them!"

Cheesy references to a high up "mystery judge" aside, it sounds like a really good venture, should you be interested.

The only drawback to this "community" is that only filmmakers--that is, people who have already made a film--are allowed to join.

I wasn't aware that screenwriters weren't a part of the filmmaking industry, but however they want to run it, that's cool.

Funny enough, there's a screenwriting competition: SUBLIM. Check it out.

"On The Lot" a crock of bull

2007-06-21T17:22:00.000-04:00

K here.

It has come to my attention, late though I may be, that "On The Lot" isn't really what Steven Spielburg and Mark Burnett say it is.

I've been under the impression that the videos screened each week were done in one week, with materials, money and actors given to the directors from the show. After this one week, they sent the films back to The Lot, where they were screened for the first time in front of a live audience. Sounds about right, right?

WRONG.

According to Rich Copely during an interview with "Ghetta Room" Jason Epperson, the three minute shorts weren't made after the final cut widdled the contestants down to 18. In fact, they weren't even made at any time during the course of the show. From Epperson's own words, here's how it actually went down:

Rich: Tell us about the process of getting on the show in the first place.

Jason: It all started back at the very first of the year. My mother-in-law told me about this competition. I did the search for it and found some information about it.

The crazy thing is, like I told you before, the main thing I do is music videos down in Nashville for some pretty good-sized artists. That’s where I was making the money and feeding my family and paying for bills and all this stuff. I didn’t have a lot of time to do these short films.

So when I first heard about the competition, I took a chance and just put a music video in the competition. There was a music category. But I knew it was not specifically devoted to music video.

I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t want to say “What if?” down the road. So I put it in, because it actually best showcased my work, my talents.

Rich: Which video did you put in?

Jason: The band is called War Within, it’s my brother’s heavy metal band down in Nashville. The song was called Bombs Away.

You see music videos that have a story to them anyway? The beginning of the video is a classroom full of kids, and one kid’s a rebel and the whole classroom starts loving this kid and ripping the classroom apart. It was a fun video. I always heard the hardest thing to direct is kids and animals, and so I thought maybe this would be my best chance to get in, to show I could direct a big room of kids.

I got a phone call after that, to go through an interview process. I had to go down to Atlanta, did an interview, and then I had an assignment to come back home and do another short film in a week. And they pretty much told us that depending on who did the best on this project would get the chance to come out here and be part of the Top 50.

So I did this three-minute short film in a week, submitted it, and two weeks later, they gave me the phone call and said, “Do you want to come to L.A.?”

There you have it. Despite what Spielburg and Burnett have been telling us, this isn't really a "competition" at all. It's a showcase of previously made films with moderate to little funding and without "the best resources the industry has to offer".

What a load of bull. How hard was it to make a reality tv show about filmmaking? Apparantly too hard for Spielburg and Burnett. Honestly, I think they're out of touch, and trying to become relevant through this shady idea really isn't gaining them any new fans.

Marty Martin Goes Home, Hell Freezes Over

2007-06-21T16:37:00.001-04:00

K here.

It seems America didn't like Marty Martin last week, voting him off The Lot in a surprise move that I'm sure has Carry Fisher doing brain cartwheels. In fact, after what happened during last week's episode, I wouldn't be surprised if she went crying to Spielburg himself.

Adrianna Costa, whose dress would have gotten her kicked out of most any Catholic school, didn't even wait until the end of the show to announce his departure, and, being the brilliant host she is, said so. What happened to Chelsea Handler, the smarter, prettier, overall better host? Wasn't screwing a producer, you say?

The shorts improved drastically this week. Underwhelming resident Daddy Will Bingham's short about a man who loses his glass eye was pretty standard with some good funny moments, while Jason Epperson's short "Blood Born" shows you why it's not a good idea to waste your life.

Obvious standout Zach Lee, wowed the judges with "Sunshine Girl" a cute little short about a girl who steals the sun. The not-so-lucky "it's my journey" Jessica Brillhart didn't fare well with her confusing "horror" short shot from a tree's perspective.

With the departure of Marty Martin, I wonder how the show will go? I'm hoping the bland days of uninspired contestant/judge banter goes as well. (Along with Hilary.)

In other, not quite irrelevent news, Vote for the Worst has pegged Kenny Luby as their lucky pick, followed by the heading "Hey no one else is watching this show. Might as well try while we wait for Canadian Idol to start, right?"

"On the Lot" continues to Piss Me Off

2007-06-18T11:43:00.000-04:00

K here.

Hilary Graham, the woman whose short last week got canned by Michael "we call that a groaner" Bay, was voted to continue on toward the million dollar deal, while one of the best in show, Trever James, got the boot.

Go to the On The Lot website and you'll see Tever's face staring back at you from the "We Say Farewell to..." page. It's supposed to be a homage of sorts, and he even gets his own little exit interview, but between Carrie Fisher's scandalous "Your films are terrible, but you're cute" reference to Kenny Luby, and dead-in-the-eyes Adriana Costa's skimpy, low-end outfits, I just don't know anymore.

The Episode itself was blasé. Kenny embarrassed himself (again) with a film even more wacked out than "Wack Alley Cab". Shira-Lee Shalit pleased the judges with her short "Beeline", while David May wasn't so lucky with his uninspiring "Love at First Shot".

The best (or worst) part of the show was when the unfortunately named Marty Martin scrapped with ~~Princess Leia~~ Carrie Fisher after he premiered his trying-too-hard short "Dance With the Devil".

"Well it certainly seems you're in love with yourself." Fisher quipped, after Martin said he made "Spielburg-size films."

Speilburg-size films? There's a certain level of cockiness that comes along with being a filmmaker, epsecially when you do it in Hollywood. But he doesn't have the charm of Zach Lee, the style of Shalini Kantayya, or the boobs of Adriana Costa.

All he has is a red beard and a penchant for being a douche.

If there's anything I've learned from watching "On the Lot" so far, it's that there are a lot of people in Steven Spielburg's debt. Either that, or Hollywood must really enjoy bad reality tv.

Just a bit of news

2007-05-29T16:05:00.001-04:00

K here.

Once in a while, an opportunity comes up that's too good to pass. This, my friends, is one of them. Think you could have written a better script than Pirates the Third demi-Gods Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio? Convinced Shonda Rhimes has been stealing ideas from your incredible, undiscovered, hour-long teleplay about hot doctors with even hotter love lives?

Then it's time to put your money where your mouth is.

Disney and ABC will be accepting screenplays, plays and teleplays for the Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship in both the screenplay and teleplay categories. For more information, check it out here. There is also a directing and acting section, but sorry folks, the Production section deadline has passed.

And for all you writers out there, check out Wordplay, and awesome site by two of the above mentioned writers.

Welcome to Hollywood, Son!

2007-05-29T13:09:00.000-04:00

M. here!

It's official: Zach Lipovsky has made it to the Big Time, when celebrity judge Garry Marshall gleefully proclaimed "Change you name, son, you're gonna be BIG in Hollywood!"

After resident wax-figurine, I mean, On The Lot Hostess, Adrianna Costa, asked Garry which name would be best suited for the goofy, wide-eyed 23-year-old, Garry laughed "Lee! Zach Lee!".

We here at CMMY totally agree!

Our support is totally behind this young kid who seems to not just have the heart to be a filmmaker, but the vision and style as well. His youth is his charm and his eagerness to create and perform is his ticket to that golden office at Dreamworks.

But it's also much more that that. This kid has a humor about him. As we screened the entry films from the 50 semi-finalists, we were disappointed one after the other until Zach Lee (!!) brought us comedy and humor with his entry. We liked Zach even more after seeing his second short with those lovely special affects. But what made him a solid winner in our books was his 1-minute short entitled Danger Zone (Check it out here). Shot continuously it is a hilarious ride through what is (supposedly) the safest place on earth!

Zach Lee is truly an inspiration, and it the one person we think is going to make it to the big time!

Good Luck, kid!

On The Lot? Maybe not.

2007-05-28T22:51:00.000-04:00

M here.

The First true On The Lot screening episode happened tonight. Some films were pretty great (see above post for "Zach Lee" fandom), the commentary was a little fun but all-in-all this episode left something to be desired. What a complete turn around from the first episodes!

The host, who's name I cannot remember replaced a funnier, livelier Chelsea Handler to create a knock-off American Idol reality show, where the only reality is the fact that it might not last through the summer.

And believe this, these two bloggers want On The Lot to stay On The Air. Seriously, this is the greatest concept ever, but the producers are letting the ball drop. We as an audience are left high and dry many times during this show. We didn't even get to see what the heck happened to the rest of the semi-finalists (evidently they got kicked off in a Round Two that no one besides the producers of the show knew existed). We didn't have the slightest idea how the filmmakers made these lovely gems, only that they somehow got sent back to their hometowns where they were given a crew to work with for a 1-minute comedy script. And we're given this new hostess that dryer than the Sahara in the summer. (Seriously though guys...where the hell did she come from?!)

What a way to leave your audience out of the process, guys!

We love this show, but we'd like to feel more included. We don't want to see American Idol's younger, less attractive sister, we want to see a well thought-out progran that will attract us each and every week without leaving us feeling cheated. So come on! Man up!

Here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Please, please, please get rid of the hostess! We had a cringe-fest when she bounced on stage after the judges crucified Kenny Luby's sporatic cabbie flick with her plastic smile and Scarlette Johansson-esque voice: "Well, we've heard what the kjudges have to say, but let's just see if we can get American voting for you!"

"Seacrest, out!"

2. We don't want to hear the directors talk. Unless they're talking while shooting their film and explaning their film. Please, more shots of them doing...not sitting on a stage reminding everyone that one or all of the producers were obsessed with American Idol!

3. Get a mean judge. There's nothing better than hearing the truth from someone who is either too old or too jaded to be nice.

4. Focus on some drama. We all love drama. That's what Hollywood is about! If you want people to get interested, keep it lively. You were hitting gold when you touched on the tension between Jessica and Kenny over their infantile short.

On The Lot has a great deal of potential...but we as an audience can't see that if we're spoon-fed this regurgitated reality tv nonsense.

WELCOME TO NeoSHOP!

2007-05-01T12:53:00.000-04:00

K and M here.

Let’s get a few things straight.

We here a NeoShop know nothing.

…

Well, that’s not exactly true.

We know how to format a screenplay. We know that writing 3 ACTS isn’t just for plays. We sort of know what’s going on when someone yells STRIKE! during a film shoot, and what the F-stop is. We know how to make a poor man's green screen. (see the pictures)

Unfortunately, there’s a lot we don’t know. We could list it all, but writing out one’s inadequacies and limitations is a tad bit depressing. Not to mention it might make the blogspot survers crash.

Besides the technical stuff, like figuring out how to get a copy of Adobe After Effects for free,(we've tried. It's impossible.) we don’t know what it’s like to go to film school and have that awesome, pre-made system of networks. We have no idea the feeling of being 21 and having the best writers and directors chill with you at a bar after your Film 301 class. We couldn’t possibly imagine being part of a film scene that produces talent that can exist locally–and that doesn’t have to come to us through NBC.

Not to take anything away from those very lucky kids in New York, LA and those other well known cities, but up here in Cleveland, it’s pretty lonely.

And cold. Really cold.

So what are we going to do about it?

We’re going to write our own screenplays, and produce our own shorts. We’re going to volunteer at film festivals, and basically whore ourselves out (in the most platonic way possible) to anyone with a camera and a PA spot to fill.

But wait, THERE’S MORE!

As we make our shorts and help on set, we’re going to take you inside and show you what it’s really like when film newbies try to make a film. We’re going to put up pictures of us freaking out because we have no idea how to work the camera. We’re going to have blog entries filled with frustration and emo angst when the actors can’t seem to understand our creative vision.

But wait, THAT’S NOT ALL!

We’re going to scour the internet searching for the best screenplays, the coolest trailers and films, the best musicians, the most amazing bands, the funniest bloggers, the most interesting sites, and more.

And when we get all these things here, we’re going to have one of the best sites out there for people who can’t afford film school, who’ve never written a screenplay, and who never knew, until it was (realistically) too late, that it probably would be a good idea to get into the game at an early age.

Like 5. But I digress.

The most important thing we’re going to do is try to explain exactly what it is that we’ve learned: terms, tricks and tools of the trade.

Of course, we’re not film gurus or writing geniuses. But what we lack in filmmaking experience and years of promotional practice, we more than make up for with the willingness to learn.

So kick back, grab a beer (or an Arbor Mist, we don’t judge here) and have a laugh at our expense. Who knows? You might just learn something.