Nuevo Year

Things are progressing nicely in the realm of Erik's writing endeavors.

"We Can Be Heroes" is slated to go into production after Kirk completes production on Five Venoms is complete. WCBH is something Kirk and I have been working on (with Rod Sokal) for some time now, currently Terrence Chang is set to produce. It will be an exciting action film in the vein of Desperado with a Hong Kong style twist.

For those of you curious about the state of "Beyond the Mat," the wrestling movie I've been working on for some time now (17 drafts later), the producers are currently aiming for a April/May start date. They're meeting with financiers continuously and are making progress every day. More as this develops.

My co-writing work on Sabina Shamdasani's feature debut, "American Bhangra", is coming along nicely as well. We just wrapped up the 24 page treatment and have moved on to the scripting phase. With any luck we'll have a working draft ready by mid Feb.

I am also developing a Sci-Fi epic with Kase Chong and Nick Sherman (potentially). The treatment is at 15 pages and growing. If Nick comes aboard, like I hope, we will be writing and hopefully finishing the script by March!

"Californio: The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta" was recently optioned by an independent producer recently. The producer is very excited and passionate about the script and hopes to team with some big name Latino filmmakers to get it done. I wish I could say more but doing so would be premature.

"Los Coyotes", my human trafficking story/treatment, is waiting in the wings over at Treasure Entertainment. With any luck I'll be writing the script soon (and getting paid to do so).

In non-film writing news. My short comic "Everybody's Hero" was recently accepted to be included in the Low Orbit Vol. 2 anthology from Image Comics, which spotlights rising talent (Vol. 1 will be in stands Jan. 24.). As soon as I am paired with an artist we'll be getting to work and getting the story ready for inclusion in the book. There is also a very strong chance that I will have a second story published in the anthology, but that, my friends, is currently tentative.

On to producing, yes I've started this too...

I've teamed with Beyond the Mat producer Kase Chong in developing two projects which I will co-produce with him. The first is horror project set against the political climate during the fall of the Berlin wall, the second is an Action/comedy being developed with a fellow Chapman Grad. Both scripts should be ready in March.

I am also circling another project by Chapman grad. Ingrid Sundberg, which I hope to kick into pre-production later this year.

And in between it all I'm finding time for a life, hanging out with friends, discovering new places in LA, movies, family and fun.

2007 is going to be a great year, I look forward to sharing it with you all!

Children of Men

Quite possibly the best movie of the year. 'Nuff said.

Realidad o Sueno

There should a little squiggly line (like this ~) over n in "Sueno." The word translates to "dream," with the former being reality. My life seems to be existing in a convergence of the two, most of it good. Great even. I'm feeling rather blase about it all, to be honest. My career is progressing very nicely. It's slow going, sure, but I can't really complain. Hard work is starting to pay off across the board. Hell, I even have my first IMDB credit for a film that probably won't see the light of day any time soon - damn that development hell.

Beyond the Mat is rolling forward; full blown pre-production looms on the horizon as I finished the 17th(!) draft a few weeks ago. Financing is falling into place finally, 6 months later than we we're hoping for but the production is looking good. A start date is being planned for Jan./Feb. at this point.

The Indian film I've been working on, co-writing with my collaborator on Californio, is moving along at a snail's pace. The treatment should be done this month and the first draft of the script should be completed no later than 4 weeks after that.

"We Can Be Heroes" is inching closer as well, tentatively slated to film next Summer. My work on that script has actually scored me the opportunity to do a rewrite on a Hong Kong Martial Arts film, which will be filmed in Chinese and English, right after Chinese New Year. Some sites have announced it as a rumor, but it should go through pending actor contracts and the like.

Am I thoroughly excited and elated by all this writing work? Well, yeah. Does it feel real? No, not really. I actually feel kind of underwhelmed by it all. Slightly jaded attitude aside, I just want to see these things happen. Like any writer who puts an enormous amount of time and effort into his endeavors, I want results.

The comic book is stagnant right now. My co-writer is overwhelmed with projects, as am I, but it'll get done.

Plus, if things keep on track, next year I'll be producing a film that my friend Ingrid wrote.

In due time, I know.

The onslaught

In brief...

Beyond the Mat. Received its first bit of financing. Sweet. More to come soon. Starting the 14th draft and getting paid to do, it even better.

American Bhangra. Starting a new project revolving around bhangra music and dance set in college, with a colorful cast of characters. Getting paid to write it. Indie rates aren't too shabby.

We Can Be Heroes. Terence Chang has come aboard to produce. Progress is being made, financing coming together, cast being sought. Pay day looming. Awesome.

When the Sleeper Wakes. Issues 3-5 being outlined. On the search for an artist. Sam Raimi's company interested in seeing the book once it's been completed. Cool.

Los Coyotes. Five actors/actresses attached. Management team is going after a lead and a director. Pitching starts very soon.

Future projects with Beyond the Mat producers being discussed with me as a writer and possibly even coming on in a producer capacity.

I'm off...

Nerd Prom

My visit to Comic-Con.

Yours truly quoted in USA Today

DVDs put viewer in director's seat

By Mike Snider, USA TODAY

Even as new high definition home video discs arrive to replace DVDs, some new DVDs show signs of evolution.

Final Destination 3 and Choose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowman, both out today, give viewers unprecedented control over the story line.

At several points, viewers must choose between two paths. Depending on the choices, the movies play out differently.

FILM IS IN YOUR HANDS: Play God on 'Final 3' DVD

In Final Destination 3 (New Line Home Entertainment, $30), some characters have different fatal outcomes, and several can survive the mayhem. Among the 11 unique story paths in The Abominable Snowman (Goldhil Entertainment, $20), an animated tale of three children searching for their explorer uncle, some have "very bad endings and some very good endings," says Michelle Crames, a co-producer. "This is new for kids entertainment."

Two more interactive Choose Your Adventure DVDs, The Lost Jewels and Mystery of the Maya, are planned for 2007.

Interactivity was among the most touted features of DVD when it arrived in 1997, but only a few obscure releases have allowed viewers to affect the story line. New Line Home Entertainment says Final Destination 3 is the first interactive movie to be created with the collaboration of a major studio's theatrical and DVD production teams.

"I have a feeling that we may see more interactivity on certain titles, sometimes even as just a gimmick," says Erik Martinez of DVDTown.com. "This could be a very good thing for studios."

Other interactive DVDs:

•What the Bleep!? Down the Rabbit Hole Quantum Edition (Fox, $29, out today). The three-disc set includes an expanded "quantum mode" of the 2004 film that produces a different movie each time.

•Livin' It Up with The Bratz ($20, Aug. 1) from Goldhil, the same studio responsible for the Choose Your Adventure series. The fashion dolls branch off into different scenes.

•A Nightmare on Elm Street Special Edition ($27, Sept. 26) is the 11th in New Line's infinifilm series that lets viewers opt to see additional features along with the film. "The infinifilm mode allows you to see all the special features in scene-specific context," New Line's Mike Mulvihill says.

New Line approached director James Wong before filming Final Destination 3 about the idea of alternate story lines. The studio allotted an extra $750,000 to the $25 million film budget.

"The hope is the audience will respond to this in a way to encourage us to do this again," Mulvihill says.

###

Plus a link to the article on their website:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-07-24-dvd-interactivity_x.htm

Sometimes you have to roll a hard six...

I finished my draft of "We Can Be Heroes" for Kirk on Thursday night/Friday morning. Apparently his agent really likes the script now and is much more confident in sending it out to people. I am too after the fiasco that was the previous draft - when you have Mexican characters speaking in Italian = not a good thing. Still, a few production companies and producers have expressed interest in the project based off of Kirk's pitch. So now the waiting game. Anxiety is kicking into over drive but I have yet to start bouncing off the walls.

Oh and if that wasn't enough The Weinstein Company has expressed interest in our previous project "Blood Bond". They requested a PDF copy of the script that they could print off and send to the higher ups. This was Friday as well, so again, a waiting game. Crossing fingers.

Plus a good friend of mine has managed to convince the producer of this TV show she script sups for to read a sample of my work, cause it just so happens that they're looking to fill a spot and need someone with quick turn around abilities. Ahem, that would be me.

I did, after all, right a completely new draft of "WCBH" in less than two weeks.

Oh oh AND... a friend of mine from Grad. school wants to shoot a feature next year, and is looking for a writer to pen her script and (gasp) she's willing to pay. I'm meeting with her today.

As a distraction I'm getting sucked in by the genius (madness) that is R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet". Also, I've been exploring some really cool L.A. eateries and bars lately, too. It's nice to finally be able to explore L.A. a little more. I'm loving the hell out of it.

I'm getting business cards, 'cause, you know I want to be all "legit" and shit.

So... I'm really, really, really in need of an agent, because if any of these deal go through (including my treatment - human trafficking script/treatment, my wrestling movie and Californio), I want to make sure I don't get in the a$$. Thus, I'm making a list, checking it twice, of all the people who I know who might have connections/referrals to agents. Working up a query letter and then sending that puppy out.

I will put as many cliche phrases and the like in this blog as I want, cause I don't want them in my scripts.

I need an agent. I need an agent. I need an agent. I will find an agent. I will find an agent. I will sign with an agent!

Oh and the Beyond the Mat webiste.

I don't mean to neglect you

Thought I'd take a second and give one of my lovely monstrous updates for all two of the people who visit.

The last few months have been decent. I've been focusing heavily on my writing and working on getting a few projects off the ground. I've been reworking my thesis screenplay (Los Coyotes - human trafficking story) into a much better treatment. To make a long story short, five recognizable Latino actors have signed letters of intent to be in the film based on the treatment alone. Pretty cool, eh? The treatment is also going out this week to some VERY cool actors for the leads, as soon as we have one or two of them, we're pitching to a whole slate of production co's and studios, in hopes that they might actually pay my brown ass to write the script for them.

Okay so that's one project. "Beyond the Mat" (my high school wrestling movie) is progressing along nicely. I finished the 13th (?!) draft two weeks ago. The producers are FINALLY going out to contacts for financing, trying to raise money, etc. There has been some dissatisfaction in certain areas that has been frustrating for some of us, but we're trying to band together and overcome these obstacles - which I'm certain we will. Any other kind of attitude would mean certain death for the project (that's for all of you f#$*ing naysayers - think positive bitches!).

So that's number two. Kirk, the Hong Kong director I sometimes write for, has lined up something promising. I call him "Hong Kong director" cause some of the other monikers I came up with might get me in trouble. We wrote a script called "We Can Be Heroes" (like the David Bowie song) a few years ago. At the time it was a crap script, but it had a lot of potential. Seriously. Well, he's been pitching the story around and managed to pique the interest of this superstar Chinese actor, who, if we attach, we could use to pre-sell the film in Asia and raise more than half our budget. Interestingly, he used my knowledge of Hong Kong cinema (ironic, cause he always says I know more about the subject than HE does) to pitch the idea with a new slant. It's now something of "Fight Club" meets "A History of Violence" with a Hong Kong twist, with a healthy dash of "Scream" like deconstructing of the genre (i.e. action films). So, I rewrote the treatment; I'm rewriting the script now (I F&*KING hate dialogue, grrrrrr) and should have a new draft done by mid to late next week. Whew!!! But there's also the case that Kirk is now entering "negotiations" with two U.S. production companies who are interested in the script, oddly enough, based on the previous draft. The whole thing has my head spinning, but in a good way.

AND (hehe) A friend of mine (also the producer of the wrestling movie) is trying to get me a writing job on a new TV show she is script sup on. The producer has agreed to read my stuff and meet with me. WHOA!

Plus, I'm working on a comic book with a friend of mine from undergrad. First two issues are in the bag. I have an artist that's interested in illustrating the book but I haven't heard from my co-writer in like month. But it will get done and it will get published.

I'm also trying to find a producer for the western I co-wrote with Nick (Californio: The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta), which we have some actors attached to.

Plus writing reviews for DVDtown.com

Plus trying to sustain something of a life between it all. If it wasn't for my friend Teresa, plus Ingrid and Russell forcing me out of the house every now and again, I'd be something of a cave dweller.

I'm off to see Superman Returns tonight

Peace out and much love. Until next time, I remain--

El Rey de los Chingones!

Bullshit!

"Bullshitting is not exactly lying, and bullshit remains bullshit whether it's true or false. The difference lies in the bullshitter's complete disregard for whether what they're saying corresponds to facts in the physical world: they don't reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose themselves to it. They pay no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are."

One step closer

PRELIMINARY investment trailer of "Beyond the Mat".

http://www.myspace.com/beyondthemat

Highly Recommended Viewing

Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut
From my review...The misfire that was the theatrical cut of “Kingdom of Heaven” has been meticulously corrected and refined here to create a more complete and rousing epic film. Scott has created an inspiring work of allegory; one of his best films to date, which is now smarter, richer, and bigger.

Still no word

Haven't heard anything from the producer interested in Los Coyotes, which means we're hitting up a few other interested production companies.

Financing for Beyond the Mat is taking its sweet ass time, but it seems we will have the first 1/4 of the budget sometime this summer.

Californio has hit an impasse, so Nick and I are going on the hunt to attach a producer. With the release of Brad Pitt's Jesse James movie later this year and Ed Norton coming out with a modern day western (Down in the Valley), plus the success of Deadwood - the genre seems to be on a slow up swing. Now, if we can beat the other Murrieta project out of the gates there just might be hope. So if any of ya'll no anyone who might be interested in producing a Mexican-American Braveheart in the old west, shoot me a line.

In the mean time enjoy some reviews:

Bee Season
Tristan & Isolde
The Family Stone
American Dad: Vol. One

Like molasses

...this is how things move in this town. That's what my friend from undergrad/temporary manager told me over the phone on Monday. I've known Mark (not Amazing Joy Buzzards Mark, but Treasure Entertainment Mark) since my first year at UCSB, 1998. The first short film I ever worked on was a crappy western we co-wrote, he produced and other assorted friends helped put together.

Back in December, Mark called me with a potential job offer. He asked me to come up with a few pitches that fell into the criteria of being "Latino" themed, music driven, urban stories. Once I had something rough we'd meet in January, I'd pitch him my ideas and we'd take those ideas, develop a treatment and then pitch to a legit producer (i.e. with money) who wanted stories/scripts/ideas in the "Latin" arena. I pitched Mark and his partner my human trafficking idea. They loved it. A Mexican-American Goodfellas - their words.

Roughly two months and 18 pages later, the treatment was ready to go. We set up a conference call with the producer who was in Spain and about and hour later, he asked how quickly I could get the script written, given the treatment I said 6-8 weeks. To say the meeting went well, would be an understatement. He loved the idea, wanted to get right on it. Getting him to pay for me to write, just take a look at the blog title.

Mark is trying to work out the details for me, get me an upfront/option on the treatment, a nice payday for the first draft, rewrites and polishes - a decent step deal. So, right now I'm just playing the waiting game to see how serious this producer is. He wants this script, he's going to have to pay me to write it.

But if this falls through Mark is setting up meetings with two very interested producers, one who works at one of the major studios.

I need an agent.

Little by little

Rumblings happening, slowly but surely. If everything works out, I'll have some really great news very soon.

DVDtown.com

In addition to my illustrious up and coming career as a scribe for the screen I have been known to dabble in the occasional movie/DVD review department. Five years off and on as a freelance critic/columnist for the Bakersfield Californian and now, nearly ten years after I started with them, I have spent nearly a year with DVDtown.com. Free DVDs for a consistent thousand word plus write up, yeah it was hard for me to say yes to this one.

And for the heck of it some of my reviews.

A History of Violence
Smallville: Season Four
Domino
High Tension
Veronica Mars: Season One
Ultimate Avengers: The Movie

In the mean time

My good friend Ingrid and I went to the Creative Screenwriting screening of "Brick," which was a pretty good overall, considering it was the writer/director's first film. It took a while for me to become invested in the film, especially during the first act, but after that I was hooked into the world - which was great, clever fun. It had moments of greatness and moments of not-so-greatness, but all in all I was pleased. The first time I heard anything about the film was a few months ago at the first screenwriting gathering, with Fun Joel, Warren and Bill over at DISContent.

Heading to Wizard World Los Angeles this Saturday with my hermano, should be a fun time.

Writing is what it is at the moment. Still working on the Coyotes treatment. Working on a revision and the third act now. I'll hopefully have something finished early next week. Once that's in the bag, I'll be pitching shortly after.

Working on issue 2 of WTSW with Mark Smith. Taking a little longer than I wanted but, a combination of things (having a tooth pulled and a little bit of slacking) have put me behind. I'm aiming to have something to shoot back over to Mark by next week.

Off I go.

There goes crazy

Quickly.

I'm knee deep in writing, finishing up my new Coyotes treatment and pitching it to a producer in less than two weeks.

The 11th Draft of Beyond the Mat is done; heading up to Bakersfield for the state wrestling tournament for research/promotion/investors, etc.

Still no word on Californio.

Blood Bond is now being looked at over at Touchstone.

WTSW (comic) is being chipped away at, plus a marvelous opportunity might present itself if the planets align themselves just right.

I'm off to go bang my head against a wall.

Breaking it down

My year got off to a shitty start. I'll admit it, it blew. It sucked in so many ways, I won't go into the boorish details. I will, admit, however, that I let it happen. I let things slip through my fingers when I should have focused on work and dove right in. Maybe one of these days I'll actually listen to my friends and my own advice.

But I'm back on track. No damage has been done to the career track. Though I was afraid that if I let things continue on the way they were any longer, there would be hell to pay - my ass on a lovely little platter.

Here's how everything is breaking down:

Beyond the Mat. Mine again. After meeting with the other writer, the director decided that the other writer couldn't really bring anything new to the script and that working with me was in his best interest. I made myself a damn good commodity to the project. Not to mention, when you get advice from a professional screenwriter (working on a high profile sequel) that says your writer is doing damn good work and that the script itself is pretty good, too, you tend to listen.

And they're thinking about filming in my hometown. Draft 11 is in the works.

Blood Bond. The script is at Hyde Park, doing what, I don't know. I think it's fermenting on a shelf in their offices. Kirk is in Taiwan. That's all I really know about that subject.

Californio: The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta. No news yet. After a little trouble getting things in order with the release form they finally received it about a week and half after the script. We're crossing our fingers, waiting to hear something. If worse comes to worse, we're considering trying to get it off the ground ourselves.

Coyotes. The new treatment is about halfway finished, roughly eight pages. I should be getting notes back from Mark at Treasure to see what our next couple of moves are.

When the Sleeper Wakes. A comic book I've been fiddling around with as a collaboration with Mark Andrew Smith, who writes The Amazing Joy Buzzards over at Image Comics. First issue is in the can, working on the second right now, next three issues are in a rough outline form. We'll be finding an artist soon.

Linda. She's a bad ass assassin/bounty hunter; pure pulpy, Hong Kong style fun. Two features in the can, I'm brainstorming a new idea for a comic book. My meeting with Mark Smith put me in the right frame of mind to get this off the ground.

Future Projects. Nick and I will be cooking up some new screenplay projects very soon.

Dvdtown.com reviews are piling up.

Writing needs to be done... and in all honesty I'm looking for more.

It's good to be back.

Boundin' and reboundin'

I woke up ass early to take my friend/producer of Beyond the Mat to the airport. Why I wake up and do these things for people is beyond me, oh wait I have a nice guy complex. Anyhow, she really hasn't been completely up on the porject the last few weeks. Her day job is being an associate producer ona reality TV show - she's pretty kick as at her job. She fights for my work, on getting BTM as tight and as "non-cliche" as possible, hard to do when the directorwas considering working on an Asian version of "The Notebook."

Well, I get a call from the director this morning to inform me (and seek approval to a degree) that I am being replaced as the writer of the film. A swift kick in the nuts. But also something of a relief. I've written 10 drafts, which vary from being page one rewrites to polishes and verything in between. Maybe I've written more, all I know is that I'm so close to the project that I do need a break, to come back with it with a fresh set of eyes.

I'm being replaced by an Asian-American writer. The director said he'd only be comfortable with this if I was. It'll make things easier to sell to Asian investors I suppose. But there's nothing like the feeling I'm having right now of knwoing that someone else is going to be rewriting something I've invested so much time and energy into. I still get credit, I still get paid, I still get to be involved with the production, develop the script, etc. I also get to feel anomsity towards someone I've never even met.

I often work with a co-writer but this is vastly different. My work with Nick is seamless and easy, Californio is my best piece of writing and it saddens me that I can't get him inolved on certain projects (yet) because of race. It's kind of ironic, but the truth of the matter is that we work well together. Very well. I really wish he was the writer that would be handling the rewrite on this but the director really wants an Asian-American writer.


Well, I am off for now. I have to go work on my Latino, Urban themed, music driven film treatment. Hijole.

Update: So, I spoke to the director of Beyond the Mat last night; the business plan/package still hasn't gone out. He' says Tuesday. But on a good note we've been getting a lot of good coverage from various readers. Yay.

I need a new day job.

El Gran Silencio

I handed off the 10th draft of Beyond the Mat to the producers the 2nd week of January. I hustled to get the thing done to meet a deadline they had imposed on the production. This was so they could get the script and business plan out by that weekend. We met on a Sunday, they expected the script on Friday, Saturday at the latest. They got it Weds. morning Jan. 11th. The last I heard the business package was going out this past Monday (the 30th). Nobody tells the writer anything.

There's this great void of uncertainty, waiting, and nail biting agony that I'm trying to push into the back of my mind. I need to focus on these two new projects I have going, they're very promising and could lead to great deals for myself and the production/managment comapny involved. Not to mention the anticipation over Olmos productions reading Californio (they did, however, just request that we sign a release form before anything else - why didn't they ask for that BEFORE we sent the script?). I can't help but feel a little helpless, considering I can really do nothing at this point to influence what will happen. It's something of a great silence, un gran silencio.

Whine, whine, whine. Negativity is a bitch. But I know how fortunate I am to be in this position. Three scripts in various hands, doing various things, that could kick start my career. It's scary, exciting to think about. I know plenty of people who would kill to be in my position. I am every bit a struggling writer and I'm making things happen, or so I hope. I dream. I ain't got much else.

But you know what, life is good.

Check it

The 'Bu

She never felt like home

The pre-wrtiting process has begun. Two treatments for a potential (paid) writing gig are currently brewing over in these parts. One is reworking of my human trafficking script, whcih seems to be all the rage of political discussion these days. The idea is to focus more on the main relationship in the film, a brother and sister at odds with their decisions about becoming involved in this underworld.

The second is kind of a Chicano/a "Garden State" with a rougher edge, and hopefully a female lead, that could be good. This one is a little closer to my heart considering it deals with a lot of issues and things closely related to my growing up in the community and the enviornment that I did. I had a friend, a popular white kid, who was murdered by gang bangers about 8 years ago. Some people say it was motivated by a riff between his close circle of friends and the gang bangers. Others say that it was for dating a very popular Mexican girl. Reasoning aside, someone very close to me knew details that could have led to much quicker arrests. This person never came forward and I never knew about their inolvement until after the police caught the guys almost year after the fact. Very sad.

In other news, the business plan for Beyond the Mat has gone out to financers and now we're just waiting to hear back from people. Crossing fingers.

Olmos Productions has requested to read our latest draft of Californio. The script goes out tomorrow.

Blood Bond is supposed to be making the rounds at Fox. Kirk is in Taiwan doing prep work on another project.

I'm about to start writing something new. It feels prett f'ing good. Hasta.

Up to Bat

Warren at The Screenwriting Life tagged me for the now infamous Scribosphere Meme, which I hadn’t noticed until this morning since I’ve been MIA the last few days. Argh, I hate being on the tail end of things. But thanks, Warren, much obliged.

ONE (1) earliest film-related memory:
My parents, mis padres, love the movies. Married 45 anos, their earliest dates consisted of going to el cine in their small, Texas town and when they had seen all of the films playing locally, they’d hop on a bus and head over to the nearest town to catch movies they hadn’t seen there. That said, they didn’t stop when they started having kids, movies became and important part of tiempo con el familia, family time together. My earliest memories are of Luke in the Rancor pit (sp?) in Return of the Jedi and watching Indiana Jones run away from the impending stone ball rushing after him in Raiders of the Lost Ark. There’s also an early memory I have of watching Rebel Without a Cause with my dad. “You’re tearing me apart!!!” Then there's also watching and crying at La Bamba con mi familia.


TWO (2) favorite lines from movies:
“It can’t rain all the time.” – Eric Draven, The Crow
“Stay frosty.” – Cpl. Hicks, Aliens.

THREE (3) jobs you’d do if you could not work in the “biz”:
Film Studies Professor/teacher
Own a Comic Book Shop
Journalist

FOUR (4) jobs you actually have held outside the industry:
Graduate Assistant to a Professor of Business
English/Math tutor
Boys and Girls Club Counselor
Hardware Handyman, True Value Hardware

THREE (3) book authors I like:
Sherman Alexie
John Steakley
Luis J. Rodriguez

TWO (2) movies you’d like to remake or properties you’d like to adapt:
John Steakley’s Armor, a great, pulpy sci-fi epic... and another project which I’ve been developing off and on for a while which I will leave unnamed for now. Gotta keep one in the bag. Con Safos.

ONE (1) screenwriter you think is underrated:
Tom Mankiewicz, who was responsible for making Superman into the film we all know and love. He turned what was originally a completely campy script into what we now know as one of the greatest Superhero films of all time.

THREE (3) people I’m tagging to answer this meme next:
Well since almost everyone I know has been tagged already, I’ll try:
The Write Brother
Phillip Morton (as Warren stated before me, let’s see if we can get any of the big boys involved in this)

She was a poem on legs.

Reboundin'

It's always interesting to me the kind of influence the people near and dear to us have over our writing process, wether we like it or not. Certain inflections of personality, speech, their way of doing things, it all rubs off some. My process has always been informed by the people around me, they engage me and challenge me to think of things in a different light. This is also one of the blessings of having a solid writing partner. I'm fortunate to have an almost constant sounding board with Nick. My dear friend Ingrid has always been extremely helpful in this capacity as well. Other people ain't too shabby in this capacity either.

I've been stifled lately, unable to really write ANYTHING in the last few weeks - outside of the few posts here, of course. A potetnial (new and paid) writing job might break this cycle of zero output. Me hopes. Nine drafts (with a few more on the horizon) of Beyond the Mat was starting to get to me. Not to mention I also have three new DVDs to review for dvdtown.com. I needed the break.

March 1st is the tentative first day of production for Beyond the Mat.

"Un revolucionario verdadero cree en el mejor de las personas, en su valor y su listo."

It's been a while

Qucikly, a few new things on the horizon. A potential pitch meeting and paying gig, if things pan out. Beyond the Mat is moving along nicely and as long as things keep moving as they are, the film is going into production in two months.

No word on Blood Bond.

Sent Californio out to another actor, waiting to hear back.

Coyotes outline rewrite is going slow, but I'll have something new soon.

Goals: Agent, Career start, New Script, Network, Californio, Assertive

Sometimes you'll watch a movie and it'll pull just the right heart strings to get you balling like a baby. Happy New Year everyone!

A snippet

I need to revise my credo, here's a taste:

I believe that what it means to be Chicano today, as was once said, lies metaphorically in the hyphen between Mexican-American. It’s an ambiguous, at best, notion of identity. I live in two worlds, a white one and a “brown” one; where sometimes you are not “American” enough for the Americans or Mexican enough for the Mexicans. It’s a difficult path to navigate sometimes, knowing that I am of one of the smallest percentages of “my people” reaching an educational level this high. I represent “us” without ever having been asked, but such is the role of minorities in America.

But I often wonder if Chicano is a term that represents me. The term is taken a group of people who split from the Aztec nation, who fancied themselves the sons and daughters of Huitzilpochtli (god of fire, war and the sun). They called themselves the Mexica (Mechica), hence the derived Chicano. Some find it offensive, associating it with a militant ideal, others not so much. Myself, I really don’t know. Maybe I’m Spanglish, what writer Ed Morales, claims is a “metaphor for what a mixed race culture means – a hybrid language, an informal code…Spanglish is what we speak, but it is also who we Latinos are, and how we act, and how we perceive the world… it is an immediate declaration that translation is definition, that movement is status quo.” Or maybe I am just the son of a couple of Mexicans from Texas, from a family who has had roots there long before Mexico or the U.S.

Tengo un mil solo para usted

Beyond the Mat draft 9 has been completed. I finished it up late last night and did a read through earlier this morning and then sent it off to Van for his notes, thoughts. Seems like financing will go through early in Januaruy and the production is pushing along as planned. If things keep progressing as they are, my first feature film will go into production in late Feb., early March - right around the corner.

Blood Bond is in the director's hands now and I'm now playing the waiting game yet again to see if the project is given the greenlight.

Still no further word about Californio and the big three Nick and I sent it out to. We're still waiting to hear back from Sal Lopez, Julio Mechoso and others.We al recieved our first "non-connection" request to read the script from an agent named Suzanne Camejo, who produced a version of the Joaquin Murrieta story over 20 years ago for PBS.

Todo esta bien en mi mundo. Hasta.

Walking Contradictions

Life has a funny way of throwing you curve balls during the writing process. I suppose it's all really a matter of how you deal with them that matters. If you can take that apparent hindrance, regardless of what form it takes, and make something positive out of it, that's what makes the difference. In screenwriting it's called a test of character.

There's plenty of reasons to turn tail and give up in this town, especially in this profession. I have the fortunate nature of personality that includes an overhwelmingly optimistic outlook on everything (it can often be a curse). But if it wasn't for this and the love and support of family and friends, I would have turned tail by now. Then there's that whole "talent" thing - but honestly who really cares about that.

My year in movies

The following is a list of movies I’ve seen since Dec. 6^th 2004- Dec.6th, 2005. Many were intentional, some were mistakes, some were for reviews, all took time out of my life. And this doesn't even depict the countless hours watching full seasons of Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls and Lost, among others. I know its fascinating...

Dec. 2004
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Blade: Trinity, The Day After Tomorrow, New Police Story, Elf, Walking Tall (The Rock), Ocean’s Twelve, The Bourne Supremacy, Shrek 2, I, Robot, Spiderman 2, Collateral, Dodge ball, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: Extended Edition, The Manchurian Candidate (Denzel), Maria Full of Grace, King Arthur, Garden State, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Jan. 2005
Carnal Knowledge, The Aviator, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, Blue Crush, Hotel Rwanda, Kaena: The Prophecy, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Escape From New York, In Good Company,
Phantom of the Opera, Closer, Twilight Samurai, Assault on Precinct 13, Friday Night Lights, Coach Carter, Million Dollar Baby, Farscape: Peace Keeper Wars, A Very Long Engagement, The Devil’s Playground, The Big Red One (Reconstruction), Rosemary’s Baby

Feb. 2005
Irma Vep, Superman, The Incredibles, Beauty and The Beast (Cocteau), Un Chien Andalou,
King of Comedy (Chow), Land without Bread, Trip to the Moon (Short), Everything in this country must (Short), Constantine, The Bronze Screen, Heat, Viva Zapata, The Mark of Zorro,
Devil in a Blue Dress, Kung Fu Hustle (2), Get Shorty

March 2005
Bachelor Party, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Be Cool, Rocky II, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, Rocky, Red River, Selena, The Bad and the Beautiful, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Redemption, Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman (2004)

April 2005

Sin City (2), The Last of the Mohicans, Tom Jones, Pistol Opera, House of Fury, Witness, Fireman’s ball, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Silverado, Sahara, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Appleseed (2004), The Interpreter, Cellular, Time and Tide

May 2005
Chop Socky, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Looking for Mr. Perfect, Ju Dou, Kontroll, Ocean’s Twelve, Monster’s Inc., The Fugitive, 2046, Apollo 13, The Notebook, Sideways, Easy, Wet Hot American Summer, Unleashed, Son of the Mask, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2), Vision Quest, The Rookie, Flight of the Phoenix, Crash

June 2005
Say Anything…, E.T., Love Battlefield, Take down, Miracle, Friday Night Lights, Reversal, Before Sunrise, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Young Guns, Young Guns 2, National Treasure, Batman Begins,
Anchorman, DEBS, Batman Begins, Spanglish, Napoleon Dynamite, Finding Neverland, The Incredibles, The Driver, Land of the Dead,Champion (Korea), X Men 2, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, House of Wax (2005), The Jerk, War of the Worlds

July 2005
The Last Shot, In Good Company, The Nest (France), Coach Carter, The Pacifier, Almost Famous, Freaked, The Island, Prozac Nation, Hostage, Kung Fu Hustle, Man of the House,
Unleashed, The Jerk, Beyond the Sea

August 2005
Arahan, The Upside of Anger, Million Dollar Baby, Gattaca, The Girl Next Door, Star Trek IV, Broken Flowers, Lightning Bug, Kinsey, Danny the Dog, Four Brothers, XXX: State of the Union, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Nausicaa

September 2005
Unforgiven, Steamboy, Transporter 2, Eros, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Jersey Girl, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, A History of Violence

October 2005
Serenity, Longest Yard, The Interpreter, Soldier’s Girl, A Lot Like Love, Motorcycle Diaries, 11:14, In the Mood for Love, Born into Brothels, Undead, High Fidelity, High Tension, Dracula (1931), Capote, Evil Dead 2, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, The Matrix Revolutions, Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary

Nov. 2005
Transmerica, Batman Begins, Happy Together, Freak, The Constant Gardner, Imaginary Heroes, Say Anything…, Safety Last!, The Freshman,Bad Education, Man on Fire, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Dec. 2005
Murderball, Mi Familia/My Family

Murder She Wrote

Via an email from our actress/producer:

"Mark Boone Junior basically said we should get the script to Gael Garcia Bernal and attach him. He also said we should attach a director in order to legitimize the project. But, he said we're doing everything correctly by sending out letters to Hispanic-content prod. companies. Once we have talent (actor, producer, director) attached, we can solicit investors.

...He said he would take the project under his wings, but that he's trying to get a script off the ground himself. So, basically, I'd say we're at ground zero. However, the good thing is that CALIFORNIO is in his head and if anyone is looking for a Western he'll let us know. "

Still no word from Sal Lopez, I imagine we'll hear something this week.

No word on Blood Bond as Kirk is in Hong Kong at the moment.

I'm off for now as I get to work on the 8th draft of Beyond the Mat (which may start securing investors, very soon - crossing fingers).

The Faith of a Writer

" 'An affinity for risk, danger, mystery, a certain derangement of the soul; a craving for distress... the predilection for insomnia' - these are some of the ingredients in the personalities of writers. Such are the people who create what Joyce Carol Oates calls 'the highest expression of the human spirits,' art. Oates writes that it requires solitude to create a counterworld, seeming to agree with Virginia Woolf, whom she quotes: ' A book should be unwriteable.' In other words, one can't lay it all out ahead. The writer is damned. While some used alcohol to rest, Oates admits an addiction to running. But Oates gives us something larger, something worthy of faith. She reminds us of the irrelevance of the writer's ego: 'The "artist" can inhabit any individual,' she writes, 'for the individual is irrelevant to "art." "

Quickly

Californio query letters went out last week. So far we have received about 4 rejections, all from agents, two return to senders, from production companies, and one request for our resumes and a copy of the script from actor Sal Lopez (Sleeping Giant Productions). We've had an in with him for a while since the music producer for Nick's thesis film is Sal's nephew. We're hoping to hear from Edward James Olmos and a few other big guns soon.

Blood Bond has been polished and sent out to director Kirk, who in turn is supposed to send it out to Hyde Park, who in turn are supposed to get it out to Fox in hopes of securing some financing.

Beyond the Mat is going through its 8th draft and director Van is hoping to have a finished draft in the next few days, by me, to get out to a potential investor/co-producer who may be able to fund the entire thing himself. We shall see.

400 Horse Power

...Abro la puerta y camino fuera de mi mundo, el tiempo despliega para dar la bienvenidame, y el aire de la noche descanse en mis hombros como una chaqueta fresca. Empiezo el motor envuelto en la nostalgia. Es un maneja largo y lluvioso al pasado. Tiro mi colcha de la memoria alrededor de mí tibio, en momentos calientes, cruza cosido juntos. Y entonces recuerdo...

My mouth tastes like envelope glue

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

I hunger for your sleek laugh,
your hands the color of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.

I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,
the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,

and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,
hunting for you, for your hot heart,
like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

--Pablo Neruda

An amazing poet and writer, Neruda wrote a play about the life of Joaquin Murrieta. It's an interesting take, to say the least.

Query letters for Californio go out this week. Were going out to about 30 agents, producers and companies, including personal letters/requests from our actress to Moctezuma Esparza, Gregory Nava and Edward James Olmos.

Let the anxiety begin.

The definition of Chicano exists somewhere between Mexican and American

I've been racking my brain for a new idea. Something to slowly research off and on that I can work up to. The last few days The Braceros have been on my mind and I'm considering working on, at the very least, a treatment of their story. This ties into my own childhood, growing up in a migrant labor camp, the son of migrant parents - it's close to home.

"...the emergence of a demand in manual labor in the U.S. brought about by World War II. On August 4, 1942, the U.S. and the Mexican government instituted the Bracero program. Thousands of impoverished Mexicans abandoned their rural communities and headed north to work as braceros.

The majority of the braceros were experienced farm laborers who came from places such as "la Comarca Lagunera," Coahuila, and other important agricultural regions of Mexico. They stopped working their land and growing food for their families with the illusion that they would be able to earn a vast amount of money on the other side of the border.

Huge numbers of bracero candidates arrived by train to the northern border. Their arrival altered the social environment and economy of many border towns. Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, across from El Paso, Texas, became a historic recruitment site and substantial gathering point for the agricultural labor force.

The bracero contracts were controlled by independent farmers associations and the "Farm Bureau." The contracts were in English and the braceros would sign them without understanding their full rights and the conditions of employment. When the contracts expired, the braceros were required to turn in their permits and return to Mexico. The braceros could return to their native lands in case of an emergency, only with written permission from their boss.

Despite their enormous contribution to the American economy, the braceros suffered harassment and oppression from extremist groups and racist authorities."

Cha cha cha

I think I'm the only writer in the area I know NOT going to the Screenwriting Expo this weekend.

I've got a potential new job/ collaboration lined up with a commercial director (a ten year vet), who is trying to break into features. He's got his first one lined up and is looking to develop more ideas with a Chicano/Latino screenwriter. That'd be me. I sent some samples and I'll hopefully meet up with him next week to discuss this further. Could be cool and exciting. We shall see.

Paper Throwing Stars

I'm in writing limbo. Actually I'm just taking a break from Beyond the Mat and Blood Bond as they enter their next stages of development/pre-production/hell. Been keeping kind of 'lax the last few days, toying around with the outline of Coyotes and slowly getting things for the rewrite on that one going. I feel a rewrite on that script right now could really make it a MUCH better script, especially with Nick's help.

I meet with the Beyond the Mat producers to finalize the script for the most part, or at least I think so. They're having a BIG investor meeting the first week of December, so things are starting to pick up pace in many areas.

Blood Bond, still no word. But the little fucker has a way of staying alive just when you thinks its been shot dead and buried. I'm hopeful. I have to be. It's a damn fun little script and with the slew of other horror hybrids out there, this one is easily a cut above. Kirk and I have been playing phone tag the last few days. Maybe he'll actually call me with some good news when I pick up next.

Nick and I are going the query letter route with Californio in hopes of landing an agent. We pulled out a friend's copy of The Hollywood Representation Directory, we compiled a list, we're checking it twice and gonna send out those letters and see what kind of response we get. The main plan is to circulate the script, to get as many eyes reading it as possible. So if any of you out there are up for a little western/Mexican-American Braveheart action let me know I'd be happy for the read/feedback/help and would gladly read something of yours as well.

Day jobs suck. I need to write more.

Any of ya'll know ANYTHING about the writer's training program as linked over at the WGA?

EPFC

Last night Jen and I went to see Capote, which wasn't as engaging of a film as I wanted it to be. Performances were awesome all around, especially Hoffman in the titular role. I was particularly enthralled by Clifton Collins Jr in his roles as Perry Smith.

We also went to see a print of Dracula which was a truly awesome experience. We saw it at the Echo Park Film Center. I want to get involved with this place. They work to empower people, especially young adults and children, with the knowledge of using film and new media to help give them a voice. I like that.

Vampires

Kirk just finished reading the latest draft of Blood Bond. He enjoyed the hell out of it. Aside from a few wrinkles he wants to iron out over the weekend, the man is pleased. To be quite honest its a damn good piece of genre writing. It's not trying to be anything more than it is and that is a pulp, fun, entertaining, scary, vampire action movie. He even complemented my maturing, my growth as a writer. Now he's just negotiating with Hyde Park to get things moving. Time ticks on...

Ticking Clocks

I recently completed yet another pass of Beyond the Mat and discovered the producers and director are trying raise a budget of around one million dollars. This bodes well for me if it goes through seeing as I get roughly around 2 percent of the budget plus a possible bonus and back end deal still to be negotiated. But overall I feel like I'm being kept in the dark about things but I guess that the nature of the beast. I'm excited about the project and I honestly feel like it will be a good solid film.

I also just emailed the latest draft of Blood Bond to the director. That was Sunday, I still haven't heard anything from him about it. I'm sure it will be a few more days before I hear anything at all. It'd be nice if Hyde Park/Fox gave a big thumbs up to the project. One less thing.

The uncertainty over all these things is becoming a bit of a strain. I know one of them will hit, get made, if not both. I just hate being in a powerless position. Hopefully this will change somewhat when one or both get made.

Californio is still lingering in various people's hands, waiting to be passed along and read, etc. Anyone know of any Latino producers/filmmaker interested in a Mexican-American Braveheart - western?

The repetitive nature of my writing here is becoming somewhat tiresome. I want to try to open things up a bit more and write about more things pertaining to my writing, my life, etc. We'll see how that goes.

A Better Person

Language, however brilliant and precise, cannot contain, control, or make perfect sense of the chaos of personal experience.

I've been writing for over ten years. I've gotten paid to be a freelance film critic, a writing tutor, a journalist, optioned two scripts and a treatment. I've been nominated for a few awards, won a few a others. When I first started out I thought I'd be content writing about movies. Nope. I soon discovered I wanted to write them. I turned towards theory and analysis. Maybe I could go the academic route. Nope. I wanted to write them. Graduate school came and went.

The writing experience, the growth as a person, my awakening, if you will, has all lead me to where I am now as a screenwriter. I have the skills, have learned the craft. I've got talent. I just need more people to notice. I need to get the word out. Working with Nick as a co-writer is helping to get me to that next level. I know we're close to breaking in. I've got my foot in the door, now I just need to bash it down.

I know I lack experience as far as "world travels" go but I know I've experienced enough to get me started as a professional. I've had enough universal experiences to be a relatable writer. My passion and voice is finding it's way into my current projects. Still, I know I could do more. I want to travel and experience new things, new adventures, get on a plane and go. As soon as I can afford to I will. I want to get my writing to the next level. I'm a good writer. I want to be a great one. I know I can be.

Beyond the Mat is now in it's 6th and half draft. I say six and a half because after I finished the 6th draft last week, I met with one of the producers (which was supposed to be both of the producers and our lead actor) and went over the dialogue with a bit of fine tooth comb. I think the results were good overall but when the director saw that we had gone ahead with a rewrite without his input, he was slightly disappointed. I figured he had given us the okay, that the producers told him what they wanted to do. He hadn't because they didn't. Sigh. No one ever tells the writer anything. I'm trying to smooth things over. Not there has been terror raining from the sky as a result; it's just an unfortunate bit of miscommunication. I think the next draft of the script will fall somewhere in between 6.0 and 6.5.

I think the meetings with investors went well. Hopefully they did, 'cause this struggling writer needs to get paid. My day job is sucking ass right now. The pay is great, the people are nice but they're not giving me nearly enough hours.

Blood Bond is progressing nicely as well. After rereading the script and realizing that the major patch and polish wasn't that major after all, I can safely say that the script is working really well. It's great pulp fun and once the rewrite is done I think it will have a shot. Hyde Park here we come.

We should be hearing about Californio soon. Major player gets it within the next week (hopefully). Our actress is getting it out to Mark Boone Junior for a read. We're still trying to set up a meeting with other people as well. Nick also received a request from a production company to read some of his work. He sent them our latest draft. Hopefully we'll get more calls from as a Nicholl's quaterfinalist.

My comic book with Mark is on hiatus for a bit, he's knee deep in Joy Buzzards work and other commitments. We'll get it done soon.

In a dark corner

Working on Beyond the Mat, draft version 6.0. Met the new co-producer, Teresa, on the project. Even more great energy to an already wonderful group of people. Van, the director, flies out to Seattle this weekend to meet with some investors. If all goes well he'll bringing back a sizeable chunk of the budget. Fingers crossed.

I'm taking over the reigns of the rewrite on Blood Bond. Met with the director to make sure we're on the same page as far as the rewrite is concerned. It's going to need a major patch job with a lot spit and polish to fix some stuff up. I'm confident I can handle it. Time is of the essence.

Califronio goes out to a major player in the coming week or so. Trying not to think about it too much as I'm sure it will overwhelm me if I did.

I'm writing with a bit more confidence and walking with a little more pep in my step.

Not So Random

Everything is going well. Writing has been consistent and good. Blood Bond is moving along nicely, we'll have a draft done in the next week or so and have that off to Hyde Park soon. Wish I could say more but that's pretty much where it's at. Writing the film has been quite the process for myself and my co-writer (RS), he's one of the most intellegent people I know and has come a long way as a storyteller. He's been a mentor and friend and deserves for this to happen. He got me excited about working in the Vampire genre and giving it our own unique twist. Hopefully my treatment, his changes, our polish will be enough. We shall see.

Californio, there's lots to say. But I'll hold back for now and say that we've got some very promising progress being made. It's being hand delivered to an important person this weekend. It's got me terribly excited. I'm down right giddy (it's not the only reason, more on that below) The 4th draft is being polished up after Nick and I rewrote it over the weekend. It keeps getting better. I love this story. I hope you all will, too.

Beyond the Mat is slowly progressing. I'll be statrting on the 6th draft of that in the coming weeks. There are mainly financing hurdles right now. I think if the director focused more of his energy into making it happen it would. 'Nuff said.

Reviews are going well. Free DVDs are nice.

Tutoring (i.e. the day job) is picking up and I like MOST of my kids.

My family is doing well. (i.e my parents, older brother and sister, their families)

I'm giddy for another reason. A real reason. Or at least the possibility of it. One that I'm not terrified of. One that I'm looking forward to. One that makes me smile. And it's all very unexpected. I like that about life.

I've got a lot to be happy about right now. Right now. I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can. I like to think I've earned it.

Blood Bond

Spoke to HK Director, if the rewrite goes as planned (based on a treatment he and I reworked back in November) Blood Bond will go into casting in November.

Meeting

Apparently the meeting at Hyde Park went well. I say apparently because I wasn't there and HK director met with co-writer no. 2 to discuss this all with him. Co-writer no. 2 informed me that Hyde Park wants to make "Blood Bond"now but it still has ties over at Fortune Star Entertainment. I'm not quite sure about the logistics of how that all works. But of course, they want us to fix it before they move on anything or make any kind of commitment. Co-writer no. 2 and HK director will be overseeing the rewrite based on the reworked treatment the director and I came up with almost a year ago. I'll be doing a polish as co-writer no. 2 gets pages done. I suspect that we will be spending about a week on or so on it and then pass it along to Hyde Park for the next step.

There was one meeting at Nu Image/millennium films that we pitched nearly two years ago that went very well. We optioned that sucker (for a very small amount) but nothing ever came of it (a sci-fi Matrix-esque idea called "Quantum Ascension").

I don't want to get my hopes up. It's just the way of things. I've had other meetings before with other scripts that never quite went anywhere. My confidence in such things is waning.

5.0

Beyond the Mat draft 5 was finished over the weekend. Things are progressing nicely with the project and I'm excited to see what the director and producer come back with as far as notes are concerned. They're gearing up to shoot a 5 minute trailer for investors the end of next month.

In other news, Hong Kong director is taking one of our old scripts, Blood Bond, to Hyde Park Entertainment this week for a meeting. Hopefully the right people like it.

Uno, dos, tres

Writing is going well. Beyond the Mat (the wrestling movie) just acquired a producer, who primarily works in reality TV and has been looking to jump aboard a promising indie script. I guess that would be this one. We had a story meeting with the director, producer and lead actor last week and it went over famously. Working in a group has never been so easy and synergistic. Awesome notes. Script is being rewritten (5th draft). And I'm excited. Sweet.

Californio (Mexican-American Braveheart) made it to the second round of the Austin Film Festival screenwriting competition (top ten percent). It was our first draft of the script. So that's good. We're now on the 3rd draft working towards a fourth. We received some awesome and very positive notes from a professional reader... "I think this is a really solid screenplay. I like the setting, the story and the characters quite a lot. Braveheart meets Zorro meets Robin Hood, all in gold-rush California. It should be a movie." Side note: There would be no Zorro is it were not for the legend of Joaquin Murrieta (who the film is based on).

My co-writer and I are also prepping other projects to sell ourselves as a writing team. He made it pretty far in the Nicholls and is being included on the list of people who go out to studios/producers/agents, etc. I'm going to do a polish on the script (another western) that he entered into the competition. He's doing a rewrite on Los Coyotes (US/Mexican border action/drama), which were also considering turning into a comic book. We're also working on a treatment for another script and coming up with a few rough ideas to pitch if necessary.

Warren over at The Screenwriting Life has a great post about sequence structure. This is the method I learned while going to film school at Chapman University. It's a great process and worth a look.

Geisha

Seems some folk ain't quite understandin'...

http://www.kaijushakedown.com/2005/09/geisha_trouble.html

Change of pace

http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

This journal has become the Survival of New Orleans blog. In less perilous times it was simply a blog for this guy to talk smack and chat with friends. Now it exists to share firsthand experience of the disaster and its aftermath with anyone interested.

Quickly

For the last few weeks I have been vying for an internship that, quite frankly, would have kicked ass to have. Yesterday, I received my rejection letter in the mail. At least they had the courtesy to inform me about it. Most of the people who were applying for it where at least 5 years younger than me but I'd like to think my qualifications were/are exceptional. Ah well, there shall be others. But I would have kicked ass at this one.

I've been spending the last few days working on comic book scripts. I rewrote issue one of my collaboration (When the Sleeper Wakes) with Mark Smith. I have four scripts to read for my work with the other guy, Matt, and need to get back to him asap. I'm also kicking around the idea of turning one of my screenplays into a comic book. Decisions, decisions.

Californio (western) has garnered some very positive feedback from a professional reader, which is making us all the more excited about the project.

The director of Beyond the Mat (wrestling), the movie I'm getting paid (gasp) to write has just found us a producer, who's credits primarily include reality TV shows. The guy has read a lot of scripts and immediately wanted to make himself apart of ours after reading it.

More later.

Whew!

Just a quick update of my progress on all the f'ing writing I've been doing as of late.

Californio: The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta. 3rd draft completed by my co-writer and I as of last week. Being read by our actress friend and waiting for feedback so we can get it into tip top shape before she sends it off to Gregory Nava and any other industry folks we can think of.

Bow & Arrow now retitled Beyond the Mat (by the director). Finished the 4th draft a few days ago and has been sent out to readers for feedback. Director says its 90% there. Work for hire is interesting that way.

Los Coyotes. Action/Drama set against the backdrop of illegal human trafficking. Is there any other kind? Currently in its 3rd draft as of March 2005, being read by my co-writer/roommate/all around bad ass, Nick. Thinking about reworking it together for instant strength/cred as writing partners.

The Sleeper. Comic book. Issue one has been completed and will undergo a rewrite over the next few days. Issues 2 and 3 are in the outline phase and the whole thing will span about 5 issues. Futuristic, sci-fi adventure with a Bruce Campbell flava'. Co written by Joy Buzzards friend and myself. Could be a potential comic book, feature film, video game kinda thing.

Possibly writing another comic book with another fellow I met at the comic con this year. He's close to signing with AP comics. We'll see how this progresses.

Linda Quan. Two feature screenplays based on this character. She's a bad ass. Like a female James Bond, only cooler. A third script idea is bouncing around in my head. Picture someone like Kelly Hu playing Jason Bourne, without the whole messed up memory thing. This is my Hong Kong version of the dollars trilogy.

Starting research (albeit slowly) for my next script. It's gonna be huge.

Somewhere in there is the still the possibility of the Taiwan project. Hong Kong director/producer is still talking to his people about getting the film off the ground. He's also trying to get one of our older projects off the ground - it needs a MAJOR rewrite.

Did I mention I also write DVD reviews for an online website?

Crackerjack

Remember the old prizes in crackerjack boxes? Well the prizes suck now but the stuff hasn't lost it's flavor since I remember it as a kid.

Anyhow, had a grand ol' time meeting fellow screenwiritng bloggers and the like at Joel's gathering this afternoon. Good times, good conversation, good people. In attendance:

Warren from Screenwriting Life, Fun Joel himself, Gary of Screenwriter's Podcast, Bill of Disc/ontent and his producer buddy Roy, Emily of E.B. Langton, Neil from Citizen of the Month, and my good friend Ingrid. Bill's got pictures, too.

Procrastination

From Steven T. Seagle's "It's a Bird"

"One thing writers have in common is the need to procrastinate. People don't understand this, but it's NOT avoiding work, it IS work. Going to lunch, cleaning the house, walking around eavesdropping, reading... all of it informs the process of pulling a story out of nowhere. After you've burned through the two or three tales that are born into your brain you have to siphon the rest from your environment. So, when I need something for my stories -- I open my eyes and ears to the world around me -- because I never know where the next idea, or scene, or line of dialogue is going to come from."

Now, back to writing.

It's all part of the process

As I've been looking over other screenwriting blogs and the like, over the last few days I've noticed some discussion on process - the way in which each of us, as individual writers/artists go about doing what we do. The only uniformity I see is in the fact that we all love to write and that we all write in different ways. I find that my process is ever changing. It's like water in that it kind of takes the shape that the particular project deems fit for it. As an overall blanket explanation of how I write, I'll toss this out.

I usually start with revisiting my "credo," which is exactly what it sounds like a personal manifesto of sorts that you put down on paper so that you are forced to look at your beliefs, thoughts, ideologies, etc. and take a real darn good look at them. I think it's a great exercise that really puts what your passionate about in the forefront of your mind.

Subsequently I like to watch films or read books/comics that are within the same genre of what I'm writing. It just helps me get a feel for the genre, type of film, etc. This of course is usually done on par with an extensive amount of actual research into particular things that need to be looked into about said script, story, character...

My actual process of writing is tricky, I write, for now, during the afternoons primarily, a few hours each day. A year ago I was a morning writer, before that, it was nights and EARLY mornings. Every project was different and still is. If I'm working on multiple projects, like I am now, I try and alternate days or time of day in which I focus on a particular project. Sometimes I like noise (TV, DVD's, music), though I still have yet to try writing in coffee shops or public places. Maybe the time is ripe to start trying. I had a professor, who said he wrote in 15 minute chunks, followed by 5-7 minute breaks over a stretch of 6 hours. Everybody is different.

I found a particular book useful, which is about learning and loving the process of creating your art called Art and Fear (written by Ted Orland and David Bayles). I learned about in one of Robert Rodriguez's audio commentaries (Spy Kids 2 I believe), which in their own right kind of make you want to get off your ass and create/write/draw/paint/shoot a film all in the same day.

I've also managed to learn to accept my procrastination, embrace it really. I found this in Steven T. Seagle's It's A Bird graphic novel, where he discussed writers and the art of procrastination. He explains that what we deem as procrastination is just another form of absorbing the world around you, gaining ideas, mind still working on the inevitable deluge of words to come. I'll get the specific quote when I have the book on hand.

That's all for now. Happy writing.

Sun Burger's

My co-writer and I just finished the third draft of The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta now retitled Californio and we're celebrating by polishing off a bottle of champagne (he scored like ten bottles from his brother's wedding) and "chillin" with our new roommate (check Gearhart photography on the links) and his girlfriend aka my best friend (check Sundberg Studio on the link) at our new place after just getting home from seeing Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers (pretty damn good flick in true Jarmusch fashion). That was a long sentence. Nevertheless, this is a good moment.

And so it goes...

Getting comfortable with the new apartment/area is taking some time but I think I'm adjusting nicely. My two roommates are great guys and very good friends (one is my co-writer). But I'm easing into rewrites on Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta which has since been retitled Californio. My co-writer and I are a little over 50 pages in and will most likely have a new finished draft by early next week. After that we'll send it out to folks and get some more feedback for the next draft. Once things are in a place we're both comfortable with it, it's on to getting it to Gregory Nava and a few other interested parties. To say the least, the rewrite is going well. I'd almost forgotten how much I really enjoy writing with my co-writer. We're contemplating starting a treatment for a new project, with various possibilities as far as what that project will be.

Bow & Arrow, according to the director, is about 80% where it needs to be (as far as he is concerned). With the exception of dialogue (my weak point) he feels this next draft will get us right where he wants the script to be as far as story and structure is concerned. I grow fonder of this project the more I work on it, the characters are loosely based on people I grew up with and I find myself pouring a bit of my own memories of high school into the mix. It's been good fun and will most likely be my first feature film to go into production. Damn, that's pretty "fracking" cool!

Not sure about the status of Taiwan but past projects with H.K. director are seemingly getting a second wind of life. I'm tempted to give him my Coyotes script and seeing if he might like to direct it, considering it's very much in tune with the tone of one of the other projects.

I got some reviews to write. Peace.

Human Traffic

Coyotes: Term used to describe the people who illegally traffic immigrants across the U.S. and Mexico Border.

My "thesis" screenplay down at Chapman University was about this very subject. It's an action/drama that followed a style more akin to John Woo's Bullet in The Head than Soderbergh's Traffic and in retrospect I think it needs to be an equal balance of the two. The script follows the story of Jesse Cerda, a young man who goes to Mexico to reunite with his sister, who has been putting him through school, only to discover that she is the head of a human trafficking operation involving immigrants from as far away as Hong Kong.

My co-writer, who didn't work on this project, will possibly be doing a rewrite, along with myself. The director of the film he is currently editing is looking for a potential new project to direct, seeing as he might be able to get a considerable amount of funding from a producer he regularly plays tennis with (who has a deal to develop Mexican-American themed projects, which seem to be growing in popularity -- FINALLY!). I proposed rewriting this script to my co-writer and he seems enthused about the prospect of doing so. It gives us a quick one two punch with our western in tow and sets us up as a writing team (which we really want to do).

Still have yet to start our rewrite on Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta, which is still progressing along nicely in the actress's hands. She's sending it out soon to some folks for feedback and the possibility of gaining some interest in the project.

Both comic book projects are still in the works.

Third draft of the independent feature (Bow & Arrow) has been completed and making it's way to various investors.

For your listening pleasure

I'm a huge fan of books on CD, especially Harry Potter on CD. The audio renditions of Rowling's books are, frankly, brilliantly executed. Jim Dale narrates/reads and personifies every character with a distinct style through his voice work. I just finished the 6th Potter book today - it kicked my ass, but in a good, slightly emotionally draining way. Sigh.

There is a passage that I love from the book and every time I read it or listen to it, it fills me with some sort of innocent giddiness. A childlike elation of discoverying something new. It's the way it's written, the pattern of the words combined with the moment of the book that's unfolding right before you (All well done) and most likely my own mood and frame of mind.

I am reprinting it here for good measure. It contains spoilers about the series so if you don't want it sullied for you don't ready any further. It's the first and last paragraph. Highlight at will:

"Harry looked around; there was Ginny running toward him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her.

After several long moments — or it might have been half an hour — or possibly several sunlit days — they broke apart. The room had gone very quiet. Then several people wolf-whistled and there was an outbreak of nervous giggling. Harry looked over the top of Ginny's head to see Dean Thomas holding a shattered glass in his hand, and Romilda Vane looking as though she might throw something. Hermione was beaming, but Harry's eyes sought Ron. At last he found him, still clutching the Cup and wearing an expression appropriate to having been clubbed over the head. For a fraction of a second they looked at each other, then Ron gave a tiny jerk of the head that Harry understood to mean, Well—if you must.

The creature in his chest roaring in triumph, he grinned down at Ginny and gestured wordlessly out of the portrait hole. A long walk in the grounds seemed indicated, during which — if they had time — they might discuss the match."

End

Whirlwind

Things have been a bit jumbled as of late, with the move to L.A. on the horizon (this Sunday). Life at the old apartment is sparse, seeing as my roommate has already taken up habitation of the new condo (he's got work that requires him to be in L.A.). Wrapping up my life in Orange County has been rather drab and boring to say the least. All that's really left outside of moving is returning a cable box and making sure mail will be forwarded come August.

In writing news, I'm about finished with the third draft of Bow & Arrow. The story is coming along nicely, but I still feel the dialogue and characters lack a needed spark, which I'm hoping to solve in the coming weeks. Re-writing on The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta will most likely begin right after the move; the ball is still in play on that one, moving along slowly but surely. I'll be making a call later today to a writer/editor I met at Comic Con about working on a potential comic book with him (he's signing a deal with APC comics soon, I believe). Hopefully that will go well.

House warming party in a few weeks. Looking for work after I'm settled. All in all, life is good. As my friend Walker would say, "I'm livin' the dream."

Movers and shakers

I really don't like it all that much and considering the next week and a half will consist of mainly just moving things won't be fun and writing won't get done at least not at a normal pace. Two weeks from now I should be flying high and doing quite well in the new place and adjusting "la vida" in Los Angeles.

In writing related news, my co-writer informed today that he spoke to our actress/producer friend who is interested in The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta. She recently landed a big part in a film and will be flying out for six weeks to work on that project. However, before she leaves she wants to get the script into the hands of Gregory Nava which is of course terribly exciting. The next few weeks should prove interesting. I pray that he finds it a story worth developing. Crossing fingers.

Today

Back from Comic Con, which was a great and overall exhausting experience. This was my sixth year in a row and every year it gets crazier in terms of the sheer amount of people in attendance and things to see and do. Whew.

I ran into an old friend from undergrad while there and talked shop. We just caught up some and exchanged contact info. Cool guy. I really just used the time to get away for a mini vacation of sorts now that I have to deal with the realities of moving (having a bad back doesn't help - damn you high school football). Did a little netwokring and spoke to my friend who writes The Amazing Joy Buzzards about our collaboration together, which we're looking to get off the ground very soon here. I also met another writer who has a deal with APC comics. He's got a few books in development and is looking for a writer (or two) to work on some of the other books he is developing with various artists... so that seems promising (especially considering a few of his ideas have interest from Sam Raimi).

More to come.

Dejame Entrar (Let me in)

I've been MIA the last couple of days, mainly taking a few days off and prepping for my move to Los Angeles. My current roommate (and awesome co-writer) found a pretty sweet spot in the Los Feliz (Fe-leez) area of L.A. It's an exciting time to say the least. The actress/producer interested in our Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta script lives nearby, which bodes well for quick meetings with other creative folk she might want to introduce us to. This has put a few things at a reasonable pause. The landlord is giving us what amounts to half a month to move and not have to pay rent until the start of August. Awesome. We're still trying to set up a meeting with another producer/actor who is an important person in the Mexican-American filmmaking community. Plus our actress friend wants to get it to what you'd consider the "it" producer of Mexican-American films. As always, we shall see...

Bow & Arrow is going quite well. The director gave me some really good notes yesterday and I will start my revisions probably as soon as I finish this post. He seems excited about the script and has already sent it off to our first potential investor. He wants a finished revisions by Thursday, which I think is doable.

Comic Books. My buddy Mark Smith, who writes The Amazing Joy Buzzards published by Image Comics wants to discuss a writing opportunity that we've both been rallying around off and on for the last few months. It's a cool little sci-fi/action story with Army of Darkness style characters (i.e. Ash). He wants to meet and discuss it more at the Con this weekend and hopefully we can get this project off the ground. Writing comics = one dream come true.

More to come.

Taking Care of Business

My co-writer met with the actress yesterday and spoke to her about our script (The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta). To sum up she loves it (she had some notes, but who doesn’t) and wants to play the female lead, not to mention she wants to produce the project with us. She’s up and coming, which bodes very well for us. I think she’s nearly perfect for the part; she’s got tons of connections and is hoping to get the script into the hands of some very influential Latino filmmakers.

It’s exciting. I’m excited. This has been very important project for me the last few months – really since November of last year. It’s the second project I’ve work on where I knew I was working with my voice (even if it is shared). At first it was something I wanted to do on my own (writing wise) but when I pitched the idea to my co-writer he flipped. He’s far too talented and intelligent not to work in film. I knew he was the right person to write this project with and he was. Working together is about as easy as it comes. The best part is, is that we really do work well together. Our ideas mesh wonderfully and with a good polish they are seamless.

Now that we have the actress interested and to see someone else, a complete outsider, have the same enthusiasm for something you love is just an overwhelming feeling. She wants to protect it and help us see it through to fruition. Still I know there should always be a certain level of reservation about things like this (just to be safe) but her enthusiasm is genuine. We’ve got another established actor/producer we want to show it to and are in the process of setting up a meeting with him as well.

Now it's a matter of trying to find a few more contacts, interested actors, producers and the like. Here's too good hunting.

Whew!

Bow & Arrow is going well. I gave the script to the director and he liked it (as far as the first draft is concerned). He gave a few comments so that I could polish it up for an investor meeting next week and the week after. He’s also sending to Cherry Sky films (they co-produced Better Luck Tomorrow), where he has connections.

The Hong Kong director I’ve worked with off and on for the last few years is also in town for the next week and wants to meet up..

And I’m going to Comic Con next week. Awesome.

Back on Tour

The Amazing Joy Buzzards, check it...
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=5501

I went to undergrad with this guy and to see him do good work in a medium he loves is refreshing. He's been wanting to team up on some stuff, but with his busy schedule who knows if it's possible. Then again, you never know. But his success inspires me. The book is a fun read and for those of you attending the Comic Con be sure to check him out at the Image booth.

Breaking in

The following is an email a friend of mine received after unwilling one of the head writers of a television show I managed to get contact information for. My friend emailed and received a very insightful response. With their permission (and sans any identifiable information) I am posting it here:

xxxx,

How's it going? Yeah, it's a tough gig, breaking in. It took me quite some time to get to a good place. And I had the same thing as you, where I was working production jobs, trying to get a break. And it's rough, because you rarely get free time to open your mind up to being creative.

I wish there was some magical advice I could give on what to do, how to do it and when to carry it all out. But really, it's just this, as far as I am concerned: if you are hyped up to write and want to dedicate your life to it, just stick with it.

I did, and even though there were times where I was really down and wondered if I would ever get a "real" writing job after doing all my specs and getting rewrites on loser indie films, I just kept going.

Even though that meant writing at home for awhile, and then taking a job to replenish the bank account, and then writing more, and then working more, I did it. So if you can do that, more power to you.

If you can get a job working with writers, that can really turn out to be a plus in a lot of ways. A lot of writers got their chances to move up by working as an assistant in the writer's office. Myself, included. The trick here is to know when to push yourself as a writer. Because you still have to do a good job, and they don't want to be bothered hearing about your aspirations all the time. But when it works, and they already know you and trust you, then you're in.

In television, a lot of it is getting in with a show runner/exec producer who likes being around you. There are tons of mediocre writers floating around in TV, and I've seen these people rise up. And it's obviously not from their scary talent. People hire writers in TV knowing that they have to spend tons of time in a small room with them, breaking story.

From my experience, you can get into TV writing one of two ways. Working up from an assistant is one of them. The other is, you come in cold. You have an agent pitching you as a new talent, and hope you can get someone to bite.

Agents always want what you haven't written, it seems. So be ready with everything. [Specs such as Six Feet Under, Smallville, Alias, The Sopranos and West Wing] might be considered old by now, in the agent world, because that was the hot spec show a few years ago. Now it's The Shield or Nip/Tuck, Lost or Desperate Housewives. And the agent would also probably suggest that you have a ... script [in the same style as the show you want to write for]. And also an original pilot. Sometimes a one-act play would be good to have, or a short story that shows your "voice."

Once you have what the agent needs to sell you, then it's very helpful. Staff writer positions are hard to come by..... So if you know anyone at all in the business, and can hit them up, you should. Agents won't deal with you unless you have a referral.

Well, I don't know if I've helped you at all. Feel free to e-mail me any specific questions you have, and if I can guide you, I will...

Best of luck,

####

Once again...

First draft of Bow & Arrow has been completed. It came out to about 95 pages in Final Draft 7, which is about 15 pages shorter than I had originally anticipated but a good length, overall, for a first time film. I'm emailing it to the director tonight, who is showing it to a potential investor this week. If all goes well - the man said "bonus." I cross my fingers. I feel good about the first draft as a whole. It needs work, of course. But I think it's a great jumping off point. Now, to set it aside for a a few days.

I've been contemplating turning one of my screenplays into a comic book. A friend is the writer an co-creator of The Amazing Joybuzzards, which has been published via Image comics. Both of my scripts are action oriented akin to Queen and Country. Both scripts could use a polish but I think are ripe for exploring. Decisions to be made.

In other news, my co-writer got our script to an upcoming actress who, after having read only the first 40 pages of the script, seemed to love what we were going for and wanted to set up a meeting this week.

Sweet.

Assassin's Tango

I love action movies. But I am no fan of Michael Bay, although admittedly his latest (The Island) does look rather appealing. Those who know me are aware of my deep love for Hong Kong cinema, old school John Woo (Face/Off was his last great movie in that mold), Robert Rodriguez, Johnnie To, James Cameron and so forth. When action films are done well they can wonderfully meld the brainlessness of pop entertainment while giving us something deeper and more complex to consider. Great action films do that. Mr. and Mrs. Smith was a great popcorn flic almost in this style. I'd written a pair of action films with a strong female lead (the same one for both) in this vein. If there was ever a sequel for Mr. and Mrs. Smith I'd love to be the one to write it, the possibilities are endless.

Still there is something to be said for the new flux of female action heroes invading the cinemas. It's something Hong Kong has done for as long as their cinema has been alive. And frankly, I love it. I love writing strong women. It's what I do.

I really need to write a film with a strong, Latina as the lead. Woo hoo, watch out!

I'm Waiting For The Man...

Progress on Bow & Arrow (the independent feature) as of this post. 77 out of 110 pages (Final Draft stylin')

Never grow old...

Life. I'm at the crossroads. I recently graduated with my MFA in something or other and I'm not quite sure what that means. I'm a master of some fine art, I think. The pressures of "what are you going to do now?" has never seemed greater or more real. To be honest, I don't know. I think that's okay though. But I do know that I want to write, be a writer. I am a writer. Right out of graduate school. And that's okay, too.

A friend and colleague recently offered me the opportunity to write an independent feature he intends to shoot in the fall. A coming of age wrestling story, about a Vietnamese teenager raised by white parents. It's got potential. I love the research part, most of the time. I'm discovering new things about "Boat people" and "Operation Baby Lift" which all seem rich for harvest. I know this is the key to making this more than your run of the mill coming of age/sports story. I want to tell a good story, plain and simple. Plus it's a (small) paying gig. So that's nice. I'll try and keep ya'll posted.

In other news, a director I used to work for has just offered me a job co-writing and shooting a film in Taiwan in August for two months. A friend (my co-writer with this director) has also been asked to come, which would be great. The director is offering to pay for travel and expenses while in Taiwan (he's possibly even going to pay my rent here for the time that I'm gone). If he can guarantee all of this, I'm as good as there.

Opportunity knocks... I just hope life doesn't get in the way.