SXSW Recap and Clips

As you know it's been 2 1/2 months since SXSW 2010, but I'm still processing everything I saw and heard. 

As you know, my first night I saw Leaves of Grass. Here's a trailer. And here are part one and part two of the q&a following the screening. Last I heard it was releasing wide in July.  I'll definitely be seeing it again. By the way, I missed Kick Ass, because it screen at the same time, but I've since seen it and it rocks!! (Here are the words of Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Moretz at their panel.)

Saturday, March 13, my first full day, I started off the day gently... with blood and gore at the Directing the Dead: Genre Directors Spill Their Guts panel.  Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth were supposed to be there, but they ditched at the last minute, even though hundreds of people had already been waiting for hours to get into the panel.  Those guys have class. But, since Tarantino wasn't there, the other directors actually got a chance to speak, which was awesome!  Ti West, Ruben Fleischer (his Zombieland is awesome!), Scott Weinberg, Matt Reeves, Robert Rodriguez, Neil Marshall were great speakers.  Here are clips of the panel. 1 2 By far, my favorite part of the panel was this section where Matt Reeves talks about being true to source material when making adaptations.  Also, I got to speak to Ti West later in the day at another panel, and he was very friendly and kind.   All in all, a great experience.

My next panel of the day was The Kids Are Alright: Jay and Mark Duplass Plus.  Their film Cyrus showed later that night.  The Duplass brothers direct is a way that is completely opposite of how I like to direct.  They know the goals of each scene, but the dialogue, mood, pace, and blocking of a scene changes dramatically from take to take.  I like to plan every angle and every shot, but I did like the idea of casting actors you can trust and giving them freedom to be creative and spontaneous and allowing them to use their intuition and stretch their acting muscles. Cyrus, the story of a single mother (Marissa Tomei), her new boyfriend (John C. Reilly), and her clingy grown son (Jonah Hill) was amazing - both surprisingly touching and surprisingly funny.  It opens on June 18.  Go see it! (Here's the trailer.) My favorite part of the screening, though, was during the q&a when Jonah Hill heckled the audience for not asking good enough questions! Hilarious! (For the whole Q&A, see 1 2 3 4 5)

Also that day, I saw the short Star Wars: Retold, where a girl who has never seen any of the Star Wars movies gives her analysis of the films based on the bits she's seen.  So funny!!  This was a warm-up to The People Vs. George Lucas which was a brilliant documentary full of great interviews detailing the amazing rise of George Lucas' fandom, and then their spectacular turn on him.  Definitely check it out.  Also, if you like Star Wars, check out Saber, starring two of my Twitter "friends"- Rileah Vanderbilt (the brunette) and Clare Grant, (the blonde) who is now Mrs. Seth Green.  Awesome!

Sunday, March 14, I went to some interesting panels, but, by far, the highlight of the day was the Jeffrey Tambor acting workshop.  (SXSW hasn't posted a clip of this panel, but here's a bit of the '08 workshop.)

The feature I saw that night wasn't very good, but the short before it, Always a Bride, was hilarious!

Monday, March 15, I went to two of my favorite panels, but neither are posted online. One was how to use storyboards in direction, and the other was how to plan for sound ahead of shooting.  I wish I could share!  March 15 is a sad anniversary for me, so I went home early that night to watch Chuck and go to bed early.

Tuesday, March 16, began with the MacGruber panel.  I didn't see the film, but the panel was awesome! (Including a fun NSFW cameo by Seth Meyers.) I also really enjoyed the Filmmaker War Stories panel.

That evening, I saw World Peace & Other 4th Grade Achievements, which was outstanding.  It's preceding short, Diplomacy, was also outstanding.  That was a really good session.

Wednesday, March 17, was my last day of SXSW, but I ended with two great films, and by meeting one of my favorite singer/actresses!  The first film was a documentary called For the Sake of the Song: the Story of Anderson Fair, and it chronicled the life of an amazing music venue in Houston.  I wanted to see it because Lyle Lovett, one of my favorites, was interviewed in it, and I walked away with a deeper understanding of Texas music and a desire to go to this place myself someday.

The second film of the night was Get Low, the story of an old man (Robert Duvall) who wants to cause a stir and maybe find a bit of redemption in his final days.  Sissy Spacek plays his old friend and former sister-in-law, and her daughter, Schuyler Fisk, is one of my favorite musicians and actresses.  Since I'm apparently all bold now, I approached her, told her how much I loved her music, and asked to take a picture.  I admit, I wasn't quite as cool as when I approached Edward Norton, I was maybe a little enthusiastic, but she was very gracious.

All in all, it was another great festival, and I am already making plans for 2011.  Wanna come? :)

Leaves of Grass and Baby Steps

Tonight was the first night of SXSW 2010.  For my first film of the festival, I chose to see Leaves of Grass, which was written and directed by Tim Blake Nelson and stars Edward Norton (as twins), Tim Blake Nelson, Keri Russell, and Melanie Lynskey.  I have deep respect for all of these actors, so it was the obvious choice for the evening.

I arrived over an hour before the screening, but became worried when I saw the 100 or so people who were already in line.  I was in the last group to be let into the lobby, and almost didn't make it inside.  I was third in line, behind a pair of friends, when the usher came out and said that there was only one seat left.  Rather than be separated, these lovely ladies decided to give me the one remaining seat, since I was alone.  I have been praying since then that God bless these two women with something amazing this week to thank them for the wonderful experience they gave me.  I was literally the last person seated.

The movie, about an academic who returns home to rural Oklahoma when he believes his twin brother has been murdered, was really well done.  Norton and Nelson create a fascinating world that is both fantastic and believable at the same time.  The film is hilarious, but also touching and surprising.  Very few films surprise me, and this story had more than one shocking moment that I never saw coming.  Norton is brilliant as both the tightly controlled professor Bill and charming pot dealer loser Brady.  Leaves of Grass is truly a special experience.

After the film Nelson and Norton did a q&a, and both were well spoken and kind.  After the movie let out, Edward Norton came up next to me in the hallway.  Now, I have to explain that I have been near celebrities before, both in public and professional settings, but I never approach them.  I feel that if an actor is just out and about, living their life, that they deserve their privacy.  Also, because of my previous size, I felt embarrassed to be seen, so I didn't seek attention.

Tonight, though, I approached Mr. Norton, shook his hand, told him that I have a great respect for his talent and that I thought he had made a wonderful film.  He was gracious and charming, and went on with his night.  This was really important to me for three reasons.  First of all, it's EDWARD NORTON!!!  Squee!!  Secondly, I was given the rare chance to express my appreciation to a film actor.  In theater productions, the actors give their all, and the audience gives back to them by appropriate responses during the performance and applause at the end.  The audience gets to thank the cast and crew for their hard work.  In film and television, that rarely happens.  I felt really good getting to give something back to an actor who had given a great performance.  Finally, I was excited because I stepped out of  my shell and didn't feel ashamed of myself.  I felt normal and not-at-all-freakish, which is a new feeling for me.

It was a really special night, that I hope is just a preview of the magic waiting for me this week.

I'm famous!

I was in a panel yesterday about how movie trailers are made, which was awesome. As I was waiting for the panel to begin when, no kidding, five different people said, "Oh, you're the interpreter from yesterday." (in the Jeffrey Tambor workshop.) It was insane. I have to admit, though, that I kind of liked it. :)

I heart Jeffrey Tambor

By far the highlight of my week so far has been an acting workshop given by the amazing Jeffrey Tambor. He led two actors, Greta Gerwig and Kent Osborne, through a scene while demonstrating directing techniques. It was amazing. It felt like taking a year of film school in two hours. If I were in LA, I would definitely try to take a class from him at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. The best moment, by FAR, was when I actually talked to him! The girl next to me had asked him a question, but in a roundabout kind of way. He didn't understand what she was asking, so I restated her question. Jeffrey Tambor said that I used wonderful logic and had a beautiful mind. How awesome is that!?!?! I'll be high for a week off that. :)

Harold and Kumar are my new buds (ha!-buds)

OK, so I've only seen parts of Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, and raunchy humor usually isn't my thing, but when given an opportunity to go to a panel with celebs, I jumped. The panel was made up of Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, creators of H&K, Neil Patrick Harris, Kal Penn, and John Cho. They were all charming and well spoken, and I may just have to join the church of NPK. (When you see the sequel, it will make total sense.) Later that night, I went to the world premiere of Harold & Kumar 2: Escape from Guantanamo Bay. The whole cast was there, and it was a really great crowd, so it was a riot. I laughed until my sides hurt. It was awesome!

Opening Night

With great excitement, I attended my very first film festival - South By Southwest 2008. The opening night film was 21, starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth. Well, actually the real star of the film is Jim Sturgess, a Brit who is absolutely adorable. The film is the story of a group of MIT students who made a fortune counting cards in Las Vegas that is based on the book Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich. The book focuses on (former) card counter Jeffrey Ma. The film was good, but the best part was a Q&A session following the film with Sturgess, Mezrich, and Ma. They were funny and entertaining. It was a really fun night.

Oscar Nominations Reactions

I was up early this morning, getting ready to go sub, so I got to see the Oscar noms live.

First of all, I'm so excited for Juno (my personal choice for best film of the year), and for Diablo Cody (nominated for her first film!!).

Not all all surprised at the love for No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, although one day I hope the Academy will realize that dark and violent doesn't automatically equal good filmmaking. Very surprised at all the love for Michael Clayton, which critics loved, but didn't really find an audience.

BTW, where was the love for Into the Wild? And Hairspray?

Also very surprised at Cate Blanchett's nomination for Elizabeth: The Golden Age instead of Keira Knightley for Atonement.

As usual, there were a couple out of far left field - like Ruby Dee for American Gangster and Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose.

Also, as usual, there were a couple of nominations that seem to be based on a strong career, rather than the actual film, e.g. Philip Seymour Hoffman (who was phenomenal in Capote) for Charlie Wilson's War, Laura Linney for The Savages, and Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah.

If only I ran the Oscars....

Quick Media Update

So, I'll be writing a few longer posts soon, but there are a few nuggets I want to share.

1. Dexter is the best television show I've ever seen. (Yes, ever. Even better than Firefly - only by a little.) The season 2 finale is one of the best hours of television ever made. (Yes, it's really that good.)

2. I love Juno. It's everything a movie should be - clever, funny, touching, strange - and it has a cheeseburger phone. Love it!

3. I have completely fallen in love with Jeff & Jen's big screen/flat screen/HD/all the channels on Earth entertainment system and am completely spoiled.

4. Lost is back in 23 days! Yea!!!

I'm Thankful For...

Hey there, friends,

Once again it's time for us to sit around the table, in a tryptophan haze, and say what we're thankful for. I am thankful for many things, including:

*an amazing family (those genetically related, as well as those connected by hearts and minds)-especially this year's newest members (Amelia Laurel, Haley Ellise, and Jensen Michael)

*my health (no surgery this year - yea!)

*employment (a steady paycheck is a very good thing)

*a safe, dry, warm place to live (with a sweet, warm, soft kitty to love)

*fresh food to eat and safe, clean water to drink

*creative opportunities in writing and film making

*the fact that I live in the greatest nation in the world, where even in our not-quite-finest hours we live in freedom (Had I been born in Eastern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, or Central America, my life would be very, very different)

What are you thankful for?

Mourning TV

by Damon Lindelof
New York Times Op-Ed
Nov. 11, 2007

TELEVISION is dying.

I should have realized this four years ago when I first got my TiVo box, but denial is always the first stage of grief. I simply couldn’t acknowledge that this wonderful invention heralded the beginning of the end.

TiVo stores your favorite movies and shows on its hard drive, allowing you to pull up last night’s episode of “The Daily Show” as easily as you click open documents on your laptop. In fact, once you download the original broadcast — sorry, I meant to say “record” it — you can watch it at your leisure. The next morning. Next year. Your call. Because now? You own that episode. Best of all, you got it free.

Television has always been free. Sure, if you want all the N.F.L. games in high definition, you have to pay the piper, but the broadcast networks still offer their entire schedules for absolutely nothing. The only catch, of course, is that you have to watch commercials. Economically, it’s a fair deal. The network pays for the shows, gives them to viewers, and makes its cash back through advertising. Which regrettably brings us to the most wonderful thing TiVo does: It enables you to ignore the commercials that keep the whole system running.

Twenty percent of American homes now contain hard drives that store movies and television shows indefinitely and allows you to fast-forward through commercials. These devices will probably proliferate at a significant rate and soon, almost everyone will have them. They’ll also get smaller and smaller, rendering the box that holds them obsolete, and the rectangular screen in your living room won’t really be a television anymore, it’ll be a computer. And running into the back of that computer, the wire that delivers unto you everything you watch? It won’t be cable; it will be the Internet.

This probably sounds exciting if you’re a TV viewer, but if you’re in the business of producing these shows, it’s nothing short of terrifying. This is how vaudevillians must have felt the first time they saw a silent movie; sitting there, suddenly realizing they just became extinct: after all, who wants another soft-shoe number when you can see Harold Lloyd hanging off a clock 50 feet tall?

Change always provokes fear, but I’d once believed that the death of our beloved television would unify all those affected, talent and studios, creators and suits. We’re all afraid and we’d all be afraid together. Instead we find ourselves so deeply divided.
The Writers Guild of America (of which I am a proud member) has gone on strike. I have spent the past week on the picket line outside Walt Disney Studios, my employer, chanting slogans and trudging slowly across the crosswalk.

The motivation for this drastic action — and a strike is drastic, a fact I grow more aware of every passing day — is the guild’s desire for a portion of revenues derived from the Internet. This is nothing new: for more than 50 years, writers have been entitled to a small cut of the studios’ profits from the reuse of our shows or movies; whenever something we created ends up in syndication or is sold on DVD, we receive royalties. But the studios refuse to apply the same rules to the Internet.

My show, “Lost,” has been streamed hundreds of millions of times since it was made available on ABC’s Web site. The downloads require the viewer to first watch an advertisement, from which the network obviously generates some income. The writers of the episodes get nothing. We’re also a hit on iTunes (where shows are sold for $1.99 each). Again, we get nothing.
If this strike lasts longer than three months, an entire season of television will end this December. No dramas. No comedies. No “Daily Show.” The strike will also prevent any pilots from being shot in the spring, so even if the strike is settled by then, you won’t see any new shows until the following January. As in 2009. Both the guild and the studios we are negotiating with do agree on one thing: this situation would be brutal.

I will probably be dragged through the streets and burned in effigy if fans have to wait another year for “Lost” to come back. And who could blame them? Public sentiment may have swung toward the guild for now, but once the viewing audience has spent a month or so subsisting on “America’s Next Hottest Cop” and “Celebrity Eating Contest,” I have little doubt that the tide will turn against us. Which brings me to the second stage of grief: anger.

I am angry because I am accused of being greedy by studios that are being greedy. I am angry because my greed is fair and reasonable: if money is made off of my product through the Internet, then I am entitled to a small piece. The studios’ greed, on the other hand, is hidden behind cynical, disingenuous claims that they make nothing on the Web — that the streaming and downloading of our shows is purely “promotional.” Seriously?

Most of all, I’m angry that I’m not working. Not working means not getting paid. My weekly salary is considerably more than the small percentage of Internet gains we are hoping to make in this negotiation and if I’m on the picket line for just three months, I will never recoup those losses, no matter what deal gets made.

But I am willing to hold firm for considerably longer than three months because this is a fight for the livelihoods of a future generation of writers, whose work will never “air,” but instead be streamed, beamed or zapped onto a tiny chip.

Things have gotten ugly and the lines of communication have broken down completely between the guild and the studios. Perhaps it’s not too late, though, for both sides to rally around the one thing we still have in common: our mourning for the way things used to be. Instead of fighting each other, maybe we should be throwing a wake for our beloved TV.
Because the third stage of grief is bargaining.

And bargain we must, because when television finally passes on, there will still be entertainment; there will still be shows and films and videos, right there on a screen in your living room. And just as the owners of vaudeville theaters broke down and bought hand-crank movie cameras, the studios will figure out a way to make absurd amounts of money off of whatever is beaming onto whichever sort of screen.

And we’ll still be writing every word.

Damon Lindelof is the co-creator and head writer of the television series “Lost.”

WGA Strike

I fully support the Writers Guild of America and the decision they've made to strike. I know the amount of personal labor that goes into writing a film, and I believe that those people who create films or television shows (or "webisodes") are entitled to a share of any profits. For the latest strike information, go here.

My Annual 9/11 Challenenge

Hey friends,

Please take some time today to reflect on the thousands of innocent lives lost on that horrible day 6 years ago, as well as the thousands of lives lost since then. Pray for our troops and the families waiting at home for them.

A few years ago, I decided that every September 11 could be a day of mourning or a day of celebration. Of course, I will always mourn those lost that day, but I choose to honor them by performing an act of giving toward our future, rather than lamenting the past. Every year I choose a non-profit organization and send them whatever small gift I can afford.

In the past I've given to the Red Cross, the Peace Corps, and the United Nations. This year, in an act of thanksgiving for the opportunities I've been given in the last year, as well as an act of remembrance of another innocent life cut short, I am giving to the Adrienne Shelly Foundation. I challenge you to follow my lead. Choose an organization that contributes to a healthy, free society and make a donation.

I'm Baaack

Hey there friends,

I have decided to start writing again. So much has changed this year. I had a short film produced, I've directed 2 shorts of my own, and I'm about to produce and direct my next short. My next goal is to finally write my teen rehab film. I'm also contemplating writing a television pilot.

Speaking of television, I want to practice my reviewing skills, so there will probably be a lot of posts in the near future regarding the new fall tv offerings. I'm the most excited about Heroes and the debut of Pushing Daisies. Oh, and I've just started watching season 1 of Dexter on DVD, and it's probably the most brilliant series I've ever seen. It's truly outstanding.

Time to go to work. Have a great day!

Cruisin' With the Getaway Girls

This weekend, my friend Laura took her girlfriends on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas to celebrate her 30th birthday. It was awesome!! We flew to Orlando from our homes around the country and met up to take a shuttle to Cape Canaveral. Although we (the friends) hadn't really met before, we all got along REALLY well. Nassau wasn't great, although I liked the pirate museum, but Castaway Cay was really cool. We all ate, drank, and were merry, including some karaoke performances that I really hope do not remain on anyone's handicams. We actually decided to form a vacation club, the Getaway Girls, who should travel together every two years or so. God help wherever we decide to go next! I'll post pics when I get some.

Take care!

My Grown Up Christmas List

In addition to ending poverty, genocide, war, and violence, these are the things I want for Christmas. (Well, if money grew on trees...)

1. a Ford Escape Hybrid

2. an Airstream Trailer

3. an iPod

4. a MacBook Pro

5. a mini-DV camera

6. my complete DVD dream library (which is always under construction)

7. a drop of Joss Whedon's talent

8. a body like Evangeline Lilly

9. a man like Nathan Fillion



What else could a girl need?

Glory? Me?

Of all the Buffy characters, I would have NEVER picked Glory as the closest to me. Who would you be?



Glorificus

63% amorality, 63% passion, 54% spirituality, 36% selflessness




You probably have a complicated, multi-faceted personality. Kind of like Glory-Ben-Glorificus.



Passionate and driven with a spiritual side that comes out at times, a healthy taste for the finer things in life and a willingness to do what's necessary to achieve your ends. You're assertive and have no problems standing up for yourself.
And, push come to shove, you're the closest anyone's ever come to straight-up beating the Slayer and her gang.



Congratulations!

On Hiatus

As most of you know, my life continues to be in flux, so I'm going to officially take a blogging break. As soon as I am moving forward again, I'll return to the blogosphere refreshed and full of new random thoughts. Until then, please visit my links from time to time to keep up with who and what are inportant to me.

Take care!

Spirits on the Rise

Today is a beautiful spring day in central Texas. The sun is shining. The sky is cloudless, and wildflowers are popping up everywhere. I slept through church and met Dad for lunch. I then took a drive through the cemetery and past my granparents' and our old houses. It was a nice re-connection to who I am and where I come from. For the first time in a long time, I can see some brightness around me.

Two of my friends, who know who they are, have also been instrumental in providing me with emotional and financial support during this trying time, and I am more grateful than they can ever know.

For the rest of this beautiful day, I am going to go home and write. My first writing goal is to finish a screenplay in time to enter it in the Austin Film Festival this year. It may suck, but at least it will be a learning experience. Who knows? I may even be good at it! :)

Enjoy these bluebonnets!

LOST: My Mojo

LOST!

One wispy cloud of mojo. Normally active and bright. Last seen sometime last year. REWARD!! Owner is lost, melancholy, and hopeless without it.

Rumors of my Death...

Sorry for the very long absence from cyberspace. Since I have been without employment, it has been difficult to get to a computer regularly. I am working part time at a tutoring center, and I am still looking for something full time. I admit I am discouraged, but I have no choice but to keep moving forward. I hope something comes along soon.

I went to an Oscar party last night at Alamo Drafthouse. It was fun. I was really surprised by Crash's win for Best Picture. I didn't think it was that great. I was very happy for Reese Witherspoon. The whole theatre cheered when they called out her name. Good for her!