and another link!
this one is really cool though. I never get excited about 1) COP SHOWS 2) LAW SHOWS 3) DOCTOR SHOWS
But this is a cop show I've already heard things about- plus a little something EXTRA
CLICK THE LINK!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
You Know You're REALLY Homesick when...
...THIS article makes me nostalgic for Chicago.
The Loop deemed 'rattiest' area of Chicago
By Erika Slife, Tribune reporter
9:43 p.m. CDT, October 25, 2010
If you smell a rat, chances are good you're in the Loop — and not necessarily near City Hall, according to a recent survey of Chicago residents on the city's "rattiest" neighborhoods.
That's according to a survey of city residents conducted by Sentient Decision Science LLC, on behalf of d-Con, a rodent-control brand.
Other neighborhoods where rat sightings were prominent include the South Loop, Lakeview/Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park and West Loop. At the bottom of the list of 21 Chicago neighborhoods in the survey were North Center and Lincoln Square.
Residents of the city's "rattiest" areas should not despair. It's not necessarily a reflection of how they live, "but more of a reflection of the economy, and empty buildings, factors like that," said Raj Jain, a senior brand manager for d-Con.
Precautions such as picking up after your dog, keeping the city's garbage bins closed and maintaining neat gardens and yards will starve the rodents of a food supply, said Matt Smith, a spokesman for the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation.
"The ability to stop rodents from taking up residence in an area lies in the residents' hands," he said. "If rats can't feed, rats can't breed."
The city doesn't have a list of its "rattiest" neighborhoods — there's no reliable tracking system.
The rat found in Chicago is the Norway rat, although the breed originated in Asia, according to the city. It lives about six to 12 months, with a female producing four to seven litters per year.
The Loop deemed 'rattiest' area of Chicago
By Erika Slife, Tribune reporter
9:43 p.m. CDT, October 25, 2010
If you smell a rat, chances are good you're in the Loop — and not necessarily near City Hall, according to a recent survey of Chicago residents on the city's "rattiest" neighborhoods.
That's according to a survey of city residents conducted by Sentient Decision Science LLC, on behalf of d-Con, a rodent-control brand.
Other neighborhoods where rat sightings were prominent include the South Loop, Lakeview/Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park and West Loop. At the bottom of the list of 21 Chicago neighborhoods in the survey were North Center and Lincoln Square.
Residents of the city's "rattiest" areas should not despair. It's not necessarily a reflection of how they live, "but more of a reflection of the economy, and empty buildings, factors like that," said Raj Jain, a senior brand manager for d-Con.
Precautions such as picking up after your dog, keeping the city's garbage bins closed and maintaining neat gardens and yards will starve the rodents of a food supply, said Matt Smith, a spokesman for the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation.
"The ability to stop rodents from taking up residence in an area lies in the residents' hands," he said. "If rats can't feed, rats can't breed."
The city doesn't have a list of its "rattiest" neighborhoods — there's no reliable tracking system.
The rat found in Chicago is the Norway rat, although the breed originated in Asia, according to the city. It lives about six to 12 months, with a female producing four to seven litters per year.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Week Sauce: Wednesday / Thursday
Yes, I'm running behind. What of it?
WED
Woke up early to do some rewriting on our hockey-horror-comedy webisodes. It was pouring rain and I met my co-writer at a coffee shop that was just a few blocks away, so I actually WALKED in the RAIN for about five blocks.
Not a big deal? Probably right, but reminded me of LUC days when it rained very very frequently and I had no choice but to march along #MEMORIES
Oh, and this "#" thing is apparently some part of Twitter. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I guess it lets you put your "tweet" in a specific "topic"... I dunno.
I'm totally on the Twitter bandwagon, BTW. Mostly, I like it because A) Conan Obrien, Jimmy Kimmel, and Steve Martin are HILARIOUS and 2) Its actually a pretty decent way to keep up on news and such too.
Anyway, Wed nights I've been attending an Alfred Hitchcock class at USC...now, I'm not registered for it, nor will I get any credit. Why, you may ask then, am I spending my Wednesday nights at it?
Well, the teacher is amazing and the class takes place in the Norris Theater - big theater on campus - so its a chance to see some awesome movies (some I've seen, some I haven't) on the big screen in 35mm. And, for these movies from 40+ years ago, that's a pretty rare thing. This Wed was I CONFESS and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN... great films.
I mean, its Alfred Hitchcock. The guy is to suspense what the Yankees are to the World Series. HE JUST KILLS IT.
THURS
Ah, so this Thursday was day #2 of a new internship. Its with Pierce Brosnan's production company called "Irish DreamTime" productions.
Pierce Brosnan is Irish.
I don't know where "DreamTime" comes into anything.
Anyway, they are expanding beyond just producing movies for Pierce and getting into TV and stuff so its nice because I should be getting a good bunch of hands-on experience and I love TV so that's good. I just started so still getting familiar with all the projects they got going on - will keep y'all posted.
Thursday night I have a pretty interesting class called "The Business of Representation" - its a business class taught by a TV agent at CAA - Creative Artists Agency.
CAA is to the representation game what Hitchcock was to suspense. They kick ass.
So, its been a really fun and interesting class, had some AMAZING guests in, real big players in movies and entertainment. One week we had the lawyer who brokered the big merger between William Morris Agency and Ari Emanuel's Endeavor. Another week was music mogul LA Ried and just last week we had a manager whose client list includes Bill Maher and Zach Galifianakis. Real nice inside baseball type stuff. Plus, we actually meet at the agency which is pretty sweet.
That's their fancy office in Century City...the inside is not too different from the super modern slick look that Ari's agency has in ENTOURAGE. A classmate had the best comment when we sat down at the giant marble conference table - "This place is like the Death Star".
I would not be surprised if some of the upper level agents had the ability to choke their assistants from 6 feet away....
That night I actually split class and met with some classmates who I've been working on a pretty exciting new movie idea with. I don't know if I've mentioned it on the blog at all - we've been keeping it pretty quiet just cause we really like the concept - but I think I can offer some insight into it.....on Friday's post.
Which will come on Sunday.
I know it doesn't make sense, but, just run with me on this...kapeash?
mk
WED
Woke up early to do some rewriting on our hockey-horror-comedy webisodes. It was pouring rain and I met my co-writer at a coffee shop that was just a few blocks away, so I actually WALKED in the RAIN for about five blocks.
Not a big deal? Probably right, but reminded me of LUC days when it rained very very frequently and I had no choice but to march along #MEMORIES
Oh, and this "#" thing is apparently some part of Twitter. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I guess it lets you put your "tweet" in a specific "topic"... I dunno.
I'm totally on the Twitter bandwagon, BTW. Mostly, I like it because A) Conan Obrien, Jimmy Kimmel, and Steve Martin are HILARIOUS and 2) Its actually a pretty decent way to keep up on news and such too.
Anyway, Wed nights I've been attending an Alfred Hitchcock class at USC...now, I'm not registered for it, nor will I get any credit. Why, you may ask then, am I spending my Wednesday nights at it?
Well, the teacher is amazing and the class takes place in the Norris Theater - big theater on campus - so its a chance to see some awesome movies (some I've seen, some I haven't) on the big screen in 35mm. And, for these movies from 40+ years ago, that's a pretty rare thing. This Wed was I CONFESS and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN... great films.
I mean, its Alfred Hitchcock. The guy is to suspense what the Yankees are to the World Series. HE JUST KILLS IT.
THURS
Ah, so this Thursday was day #2 of a new internship. Its with Pierce Brosnan's production company called "Irish DreamTime" productions.
Pierce Brosnan is Irish.
I don't know where "DreamTime" comes into anything.
Anyway, they are expanding beyond just producing movies for Pierce and getting into TV and stuff so its nice because I should be getting a good bunch of hands-on experience and I love TV so that's good. I just started so still getting familiar with all the projects they got going on - will keep y'all posted.
Thursday night I have a pretty interesting class called "The Business of Representation" - its a business class taught by a TV agent at CAA - Creative Artists Agency.
CAA is to the representation game what Hitchcock was to suspense. They kick ass.
So, its been a really fun and interesting class, had some AMAZING guests in, real big players in movies and entertainment. One week we had the lawyer who brokered the big merger between William Morris Agency and Ari Emanuel's Endeavor. Another week was music mogul LA Ried and just last week we had a manager whose client list includes Bill Maher and Zach Galifianakis. Real nice inside baseball type stuff. Plus, we actually meet at the agency which is pretty sweet.
That's their fancy office in Century City...the inside is not too different from the super modern slick look that Ari's agency has in ENTOURAGE. A classmate had the best comment when we sat down at the giant marble conference table - "This place is like the Death Star".
I would not be surprised if some of the upper level agents had the ability to choke their assistants from 6 feet away....
That night I actually split class and met with some classmates who I've been working on a pretty exciting new movie idea with. I don't know if I've mentioned it on the blog at all - we've been keeping it pretty quiet just cause we really like the concept - but I think I can offer some insight into it.....on Friday's post.
Which will come on Sunday.
I know it doesn't make sense, but, just run with me on this...kapeash?
mk
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
"Week" Sauce: Monday / Tuesday
Man, I really need to stop making blog promises, or "blogasises", I just can't seem to keep to 'em.
But, got a pretty good reason - last night I didn't get to post cuz I was a bit wiped from attending the 2nd annual Chicago-LA Link event: a little shindig for entertainment industry-types in LA with hometown roots in Chicago. I got to go last year and it was pretty awesome; year two did not disappoint.
Lou Malnatti's, Portillos and Eli's Cheesecake were just a few of the food highlights I had the pleasure to sample. Oh, and a number of notable and slightly more"under-the-radar" Chicago peeps were there. Without going into too much detail - had a few drinks, met a couple of new friends / contacts, and had a perfectly valid excuse to blow off my Monday classes!
Anyway, not much else to report on RE Monday since I kinda took the day off besides the event...not to be confused with "THE EVENT", NBC's "We pretend this is the next LOST but secretly hopes it just lasts slightly longer than HEROES".
Tuesday kicks off with screne writing class in the AM, a class where we only work on different types of scenes rather than focus on a whole script.
Its fun , easy, and requires a minimum of commitment.... so its essentially like a one-night stand of screenwriting.
Tuesday night is usually something really great b/c I've got Advanced Producing class, which is taught be a current vice president of Development at Fox Searchlight - a company that is pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to indie films.
Bottom line: if you've seen a movie with an equal amount of sadness and humor with great acting performances and a notable lack of fighting space robots and fat-guy-in -a-waterslide jokes, that's Fox Searchlight.
Anyway, our guest tonight was Shonda Rhimes, a screenwriter that is best known for creating a hit show on ABC...not LOST (2nd refernence in one post? I really do have to go baaaaaack".)
No, she created a show that actually got higher ratings than LOST and is still on the air- Grey's Anatomy.
Now, I've got to come clean and say I've never seen more than 5 minutes of Grey's pilot BUT Shondra was amazing to listen to. I've made no secret for my love of the wonderful world of television and gotta say there was nothing better than listen to the creator / exec producer of one a top show recount her path and experience which included an MFA from good ole USC!
Always happy to see an alum that doesn't have to worry about student loan payments!
That'll be it for now, had a late-night webisode meeting at a bar and have an early morning webisode writing sesh at a coffeehouse.
After listening to Shondra recount her 18 hour days I will say I don't mind them at all, I just can't wait for the day to get PAID for 'em.
Or just free movie channels....I'd....I'd settle.
But, got a pretty good reason - last night I didn't get to post cuz I was a bit wiped from attending the 2nd annual Chicago-LA Link event: a little shindig for entertainment industry-types in LA with hometown roots in Chicago. I got to go last year and it was pretty awesome; year two did not disappoint.
Lou Malnatti's, Portillos and Eli's Cheesecake were just a few of the food highlights I had the pleasure to sample. Oh, and a number of notable and slightly more"under-the-radar" Chicago peeps were there. Without going into too much detail - had a few drinks, met a couple of new friends / contacts, and had a perfectly valid excuse to blow off my Monday classes!
Anyway, not much else to report on RE Monday since I kinda took the day off besides the event...not to be confused with "THE EVENT", NBC's "We pretend this is the next LOST but secretly hopes it just lasts slightly longer than HEROES".
Tuesday kicks off with screne writing class in the AM, a class where we only work on different types of scenes rather than focus on a whole script.
Its fun , easy, and requires a minimum of commitment.... so its essentially like a one-night stand of screenwriting.
Tuesday night is usually something really great b/c I've got Advanced Producing class, which is taught be a current vice president of Development at Fox Searchlight - a company that is pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to indie films.
Bottom line: if you've seen a movie with an equal amount of sadness and humor with great acting performances and a notable lack of fighting space robots and fat-guy-in -a-waterslide jokes, that's Fox Searchlight.
Anyway, our guest tonight was Shonda Rhimes, a screenwriter that is best known for creating a hit show on ABC...not LOST (2nd refernence in one post? I really do have to go baaaaaack".)
No, she created a show that actually got higher ratings than LOST and is still on the air- Grey's Anatomy.
Now, I've got to come clean and say I've never seen more than 5 minutes of Grey's pilot BUT Shondra was amazing to listen to. I've made no secret for my love of the wonderful world of television and gotta say there was nothing better than listen to the creator / exec producer of one a top show recount her path and experience which included an MFA from good ole USC!
Always happy to see an alum that doesn't have to worry about student loan payments!
That'll be it for now, had a late-night webisode meeting at a bar and have an early morning webisode writing sesh at a coffeehouse.
After listening to Shondra recount her 18 hour days I will say I don't mind them at all, I just can't wait for the day to get PAID for 'em.
Or just free movie channels....I'd....I'd settle.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Week in the Life: SUNDAY
Hey, so in an attempt to try and keep bloggin with a bit more regularity, kind of like writers' Metamucil, I'm going to try and go through a week and do a blog post every day.
They're gonna be quick. Sometimes I get so set on trying to write some brilliant piece of prose and it takes an hour or whatever and then I end up taking three weeks off cuz i dont want to spend an hour writing this each day, but I figure if I start timing myself I may just get a decent update out without having to channel my inner Steinbeck.
Anyway, here goes....
Busy Sunday - the biggest time hog today was for a webisode that I'm going to be working on for a, wait for it, webisode class.
Its a new thing at USC, finally getting on to that "Internet" thing, only took a decade or two.
I guess the big delay on offering a class with web-centric content is that USC was wondering if web shows are "good enough" for their often hi-falootin' curriculum.
While, I've had my doubts about how good it really is to be successful when it comes to web series - ever heard of Clark and Michael? Chad Vader? The Office: The Mentor? - if so, kudos, because that's more webisode knowledge than I ever had before googling the whole notion for research.
BUT, I do think it can be a good way to make a name or get noticed or produce something that can show off some talent. It can also be a way to make money.
$! $! $$$$$$$$!
Maybe. If you get Old Spice to sponsor it, or something.
Anyway, the webisode that I am creating, writing, producing, etc with some classmates is tentatively entitled "THE SIN BIN".
Its about a Chicago Blackhawks fan who sells his soul to see the Hawks win the Cup. When they do, a sexy demon from hell takes his cute girlfriend away, and the fan must team up with another sexy demon to rescue his girlfriend before its too late, defeating all kinds of zombies and vampires and such along the way!
So, its like DAMN YANKEES meets ZOMBIELAND meets DANTES INFERNO. Meets the NHL NETWORK.
Pretty fun stuff.
We're going to be shooting the last two weekends in October, and I spent 4 hours in auditions today, plus a production meeting to figure out how we're going to bring these crazy ideas to the fruition in just two weeks.....
After all that, decided to "unwind" by going to ESPN Zone in downtown LA to watch the BEARS. Two problems - ESPN Zone is a overpriced, overhyped, money-grubbing excuse for a sports bar (made worse by being in LA) AND the BEARS were absolutely horrible...that o-line was so disgusting to look at I'm surprised the FCC didn't make NBC blur those sacks out...children could have been watching!
Well, thats it. Already been writing for + 20 minutes. Trying to keep it short and sweet. I wish I didn't have to be so long win-
They're gonna be quick. Sometimes I get so set on trying to write some brilliant piece of prose and it takes an hour or whatever and then I end up taking three weeks off cuz i dont want to spend an hour writing this each day, but I figure if I start timing myself I may just get a decent update out without having to channel my inner Steinbeck.
Anyway, here goes....
Busy Sunday - the biggest time hog today was for a webisode that I'm going to be working on for a, wait for it, webisode class.
Its a new thing at USC, finally getting on to that "Internet" thing, only took a decade or two.
I guess the big delay on offering a class with web-centric content is that USC was wondering if web shows are "good enough" for their often hi-falootin' curriculum.
While, I've had my doubts about how good it really is to be successful when it comes to web series - ever heard of Clark and Michael? Chad Vader? The Office: The Mentor? - if so, kudos, because that's more webisode knowledge than I ever had before googling the whole notion for research.
BUT, I do think it can be a good way to make a name or get noticed or produce something that can show off some talent. It can also be a way to make money.
$! $! $$$$$$$$!
Maybe. If you get Old Spice to sponsor it, or something.
Anyway, the webisode that I am creating, writing, producing, etc with some classmates is tentatively entitled "THE SIN BIN".
Its about a Chicago Blackhawks fan who sells his soul to see the Hawks win the Cup. When they do, a sexy demon from hell takes his cute girlfriend away, and the fan must team up with another sexy demon to rescue his girlfriend before its too late, defeating all kinds of zombies and vampires and such along the way!
So, its like DAMN YANKEES meets ZOMBIELAND meets DANTES INFERNO. Meets the NHL NETWORK.
Pretty fun stuff.
We're going to be shooting the last two weekends in October, and I spent 4 hours in auditions today, plus a production meeting to figure out how we're going to bring these crazy ideas to the fruition in just two weeks.....
After all that, decided to "unwind" by going to ESPN Zone in downtown LA to watch the BEARS. Two problems - ESPN Zone is a overpriced, overhyped, money-grubbing excuse for a sports bar (made worse by being in LA) AND the BEARS were absolutely horrible...that o-line was so disgusting to look at I'm surprised the FCC didn't make NBC blur those sacks out...children could have been watching!
Well, thats it. Already been writing for + 20 minutes. Trying to keep it short and sweet. I wish I didn't have to be so long win-
Monday, September 27, 2010
The Best of Times and the Worst of Times: BIRTHDAY EDITION
So I thought it might be fun, since today is my something-somethingth birthday, to share a brief look back at what I can pretty well point to my "Best" and "Worst" birthdays.
I do mean best and worst actual days, not "parties near or around", which puts OKTOBERFEST out of the running.
THE BEST
Unilaterally, unquestionably, September 27, 2003 - my 19th birthday. I attended a double header at Wrigley Field in which the Chicago Cubs played the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was me, my dad, and Mike and Rob. The Cubs won both games of the double header which, combined with a LOSS by the Houston Astros, made the Cubs Central Division Champs.
The sun came out just as it was setting (it'd been a partly cloudy day) and the team ran around the field, spraying champagne on the bleacher bums. We cheered. They cheered.
It was my birthday. It was perfect. Hopes were higher than the Sears Tower.
Then we beat the Braves and played the Marlins and some shit went down that I don't want to talk about.
Which is actually a perfect segue to the.....
THE WORST
I don't know exactly what year it was, how old I was turning... I know it was one of the first few years we moved onto Montclair. So, 5 to 7 range I'm guessing.
My parents - wonderful, generous, loving people that they are - secured a dragon-shaped moon walk (big bouncy thing) for my birthday party. It was going to be awesome.
The guys came that morning and blew it up for the party that was to occur later that afternoon. Once finished, it was beautiful.... a sight to behold. A whole jumpy-dragon thing, all for me.
Too excited to wait, me and I believe some neighbors, guessing Dietzler, decided to preemptively go for a jump. And we did. And it was fun.
I was having the time of life, laughing and jumping - what a fun party this would be!
However, I started jumping a bit close to the entrance (a thin screen veil) and before you know it I was airborne and clear of the dragon.
I hit the lawn hard and, I think for the first time in my life, blacked out.
When I came to, I had the wind knocked out of me and was scared beyond belief.
As soon as friends and family came to my attention and made sure I was okay, I got as far away from that f#%*ing dragon as possible.
I think I stayed in Joey's room throughout the whole party, so that I could watch all my friends have fun on the dragon that nearly took my life.
Only came out for cake.
Miserable.
Oh well. Happy Birthday!
(to me)
I do mean best and worst actual days, not "parties near or around", which puts OKTOBERFEST out of the running.
THE BEST
Unilaterally, unquestionably, September 27, 2003 - my 19th birthday. I attended a double header at Wrigley Field in which the Chicago Cubs played the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was me, my dad, and Mike and Rob. The Cubs won both games of the double header which, combined with a LOSS by the Houston Astros, made the Cubs Central Division Champs.
The sun came out just as it was setting (it'd been a partly cloudy day) and the team ran around the field, spraying champagne on the bleacher bums. We cheered. They cheered.
It was my birthday. It was perfect. Hopes were higher than the Sears Tower.
Then we beat the Braves and played the Marlins and some shit went down that I don't want to talk about.
Which is actually a perfect segue to the.....
THE WORST
I don't know exactly what year it was, how old I was turning... I know it was one of the first few years we moved onto Montclair. So, 5 to 7 range I'm guessing.
My parents - wonderful, generous, loving people that they are - secured a dragon-shaped moon walk (big bouncy thing) for my birthday party. It was going to be awesome.
The guys came that morning and blew it up for the party that was to occur later that afternoon. Once finished, it was beautiful.... a sight to behold. A whole jumpy-dragon thing, all for me.
Too excited to wait, me and I believe some neighbors, guessing Dietzler, decided to preemptively go for a jump. And we did. And it was fun.
I was having the time of life, laughing and jumping - what a fun party this would be!
However, I started jumping a bit close to the entrance (a thin screen veil) and before you know it I was airborne and clear of the dragon.
I hit the lawn hard and, I think for the first time in my life, blacked out.
When I came to, I had the wind knocked out of me and was scared beyond belief.
As soon as friends and family came to my attention and made sure I was okay, I got as far away from that f#%*ing dragon as possible.
I think I stayed in Joey's room throughout the whole party, so that I could watch all my friends have fun on the dragon that nearly took my life.
Only came out for cake.
Miserable.
Oh well. Happy Birthday!
(to me)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Playing Catch Up
Yes, much like the slowly fading White Sox in the AL Central, I am finding myself in the unfortunate position of having to make up for many weeks of blog-neglect.
But the Twitter feed is kinda cool, right? Kind of like little blog' d'oeuvres before the main course?
(I am really enjoying this Twitter thing, BTW, and I'll explain why later this or another post)
I guess I've been procrastinating for so long mostly because there's SO MUCH to talk about and I wanted to make sure I could devote some significant time to at least graze what I've been up to.
Like I mentioned before, the big, monstrous project that cast a giant shadow over my summer like a spaceship from my favorite blockbuster ever was THE LEPIDOCTOR. The graduate thesis film that shot for ten days, had over 30 people on set everyday, and had a budget over $30,000. Compared to all the other projects I've done, this was Godzilla coming ashore.
Not to that it was a bad thing, just that it was big. This thesis film I produced this summer was one of the largest projects I've ever been a part of, and by far the biggest and most complex I've ever produced. I learned a semester's worth of information in less than one month - and not just the specific stuff like "How to Get a Film Permit in Pasadena" or "Where Do you park the cars of over 50 cast, crew and extras on a campus while 8,000 college freshman move in?"....that was an especially fun one.
But I definitely learned a lot about planning and managing a large scale production. I also became familiar behind the wheel of some rather large cargo vans and trucks. You learn very quickly why the TEAMSTERS are such a big part of the movie industry - because you've got all these trucks, carrying lighting gear, props, tables and chairs, etc and SOMEBODY has to drive them. Of course, in a student film, it ends up being the producer who is insured ie: me. I must say, though, I did enjoy my temporary time as a transo-guy. Definitely could have been a trucker in another life....or later in this one.
But yeah, overall THE LEPIDOCTOR taught me about problem solving, management, expecting the unexpected, endurance, and - perhaps most revealing - how many McGriddles it takes to keep a producer waking up at 5 am or earlier during a shoot. [The answer is FIVE McGriddles over a 10-day shoot - and I'm still alive!]
I also worked with and met a lot of great people, made new friends, and might have made an enemy with a USC film school alum from 1948.
Reminds me...I have an apology card to write.....
Anyway, barely got to breathe after we wrapped because we were already one day into the first week of classes when we had our last day. The first week is always a mess because I'm in some classes I don't want to be in and am waitlisted for other classes and all everybody does when you see them is want to go drinking.
Then I had a wedding in Ohio.
So for the past two weeks I've been doing essentially what I've done in this post now: catching up. Paying parking tickets from before the Blackhawks won the cup and cleaning new species of mold out of the neglected regions of our apartment (don't worry - everything is clean now).
There's also been some ch-ch-ch-changes: the apartment has a new roommate [Joe], USC has a new campus center, and I have a new pair of socks.
Okay, I may also have a brand new kick-ass completely awesome computer with complete HD editing capacity and a spectacular 1080i screen....but we'll get into that later.
But hey, after being on my feet for what seemed like the entire month of August, those socks were DAMN comfortable. Like my toes were drinking scotch or something....
But the Twitter feed is kinda cool, right? Kind of like little blog' d'oeuvres before the main course?
(I am really enjoying this Twitter thing, BTW, and I'll explain why later this or another post)
I guess I've been procrastinating for so long mostly because there's SO MUCH to talk about and I wanted to make sure I could devote some significant time to at least graze what I've been up to.
Like I mentioned before, the big, monstrous project that cast a giant shadow over my summer like a spaceship from my favorite blockbuster ever was THE LEPIDOCTOR. The graduate thesis film that shot for ten days, had over 30 people on set everyday, and had a budget over $30,000. Compared to all the other projects I've done, this was Godzilla coming ashore.
Not to that it was a bad thing, just that it was big. This thesis film I produced this summer was one of the largest projects I've ever been a part of, and by far the biggest and most complex I've ever produced. I learned a semester's worth of information in less than one month - and not just the specific stuff like "How to Get a Film Permit in Pasadena" or "Where Do you park the cars of over 50 cast, crew and extras on a campus while 8,000 college freshman move in?"....that was an especially fun one.
But I definitely learned a lot about planning and managing a large scale production. I also became familiar behind the wheel of some rather large cargo vans and trucks. You learn very quickly why the TEAMSTERS are such a big part of the movie industry - because you've got all these trucks, carrying lighting gear, props, tables and chairs, etc and SOMEBODY has to drive them. Of course, in a student film, it ends up being the producer who is insured ie: me. I must say, though, I did enjoy my temporary time as a transo-guy. Definitely could have been a trucker in another life....or later in this one.
But yeah, overall THE LEPIDOCTOR taught me about problem solving, management, expecting the unexpected, endurance, and - perhaps most revealing - how many McGriddles it takes to keep a producer waking up at 5 am or earlier during a shoot. [The answer is FIVE McGriddles over a 10-day shoot - and I'm still alive!]
I also worked with and met a lot of great people, made new friends, and might have made an enemy with a USC film school alum from 1948.
Reminds me...I have an apology card to write.....
Anyway, barely got to breathe after we wrapped because we were already one day into the first week of classes when we had our last day. The first week is always a mess because I'm in some classes I don't want to be in and am waitlisted for other classes and all everybody does when you see them is want to go drinking.
Then I had a wedding in Ohio.
So for the past two weeks I've been doing essentially what I've done in this post now: catching up. Paying parking tickets from before the Blackhawks won the cup and cleaning new species of mold out of the neglected regions of our apartment (don't worry - everything is clean now).
There's also been some ch-ch-ch-changes: the apartment has a new roommate [Joe], USC has a new campus center, and I have a new pair of socks.
Okay, I may also have a brand new kick-ass completely awesome computer with complete HD editing capacity and a spectacular 1080i screen....but we'll get into that later.
But hey, after being on my feet for what seemed like the entire month of August, those socks were DAMN comfortable. Like my toes were drinking scotch or something....
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