Balancing life with the weekend

And a healthy dose of balance. This weekend has been a treat. As you might remember, I wrapped my short film, JUST LIKE THAT, last week and I’ve been taking every opportunity to hang out with friends, watch movies, eat tasty treats and even catch a little theatre. Friday night was spent with some old…

Another day, another Crush

That’s the title of another short we shot this past weekend: CRUSH. It’s written by Richard Gali and we spent a little bit of time workshopping the dialogue. It’s another ambitious piece as it sits at a whooping ten pages! That’s exactly the page count for JUST LKE THAT. We approached this one more like…

Shooting Diary – Day 1, an overview

The day has arrived. The first (of two) shooting day. I woke up at 4:30am from my starchy motel bed with modest relief from the thoughts that bombarded me all night. Across from me, Richard is up too. He’s managed to prop himself upright and concerns himself with the act of waking up; So far…

Just Like That, a week before the first day

It’s exactly a week before the first (of two) day of shooting Just Like That. There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done before I can call “Action”. In fact, I shouldn’t even be blogging –but because I think you’re an important element to this equation called movie making, let me share…

Goldilocks-ian Locations

*Goldilocks-ian isn’t an actual word. But read on, you’ll see what I mean. I thought I was entirely clever for having written a story that takes place in one location. I thought, well hey, that should be easy enough to lock down ONE place. Right? Well, yes and no. If the story took place in…

The other side of the casting table

Auditions. A time to play, to have fun, to explore –at least, that’s how I feel about it when I got to auditions these days. But what of the other side of that table? That area has been a mystery to me…until this past weekend. If you recall in my previous entry, I’ve fast tracked…

Just like that

Subtext: “You can’t do that, you don’t know how…” And just like that, I’m spurned into action. It felt like a throw down, a challenge that needed to be met. It felt like an invitation to compete, and I couldn’t turn it down. I’m talking about why I’ve embarked on directing a short film I…

Adding venture to Square Marden

Richard and I spent the day exercising our imaginations. If you don’t already know who Richard is, he’s a good friend of mine I met through an audition he posted on Craigslist. Long story short, we’ve been buds since that faithful meeting (2006). We’re currently co-founders (2 of 4) to a media production company called…

A fella can get used to this

Today was one of those days where everything I did, planned and unplanned, tickled me! The day started with another Red Ladder workshop at the San Jose Repertory Theatre. It’s the last workshop for a few weeks. We had a special guest drop by today (unexpectedly). His name was Vincent Kartheiser and he’s on Mad…

An empty wallet but a full heart

For most artists, balancing basic life needs and passionate artistic endeavors is a constant see-saw. It’s a difficult road, which I suspect many artists never quite make –being able to support themselves doing what they’re passionate about. But taking it day-by-day is a great step. I started the day off with a good read. And…

Nibbles

We celebrated my boss’ birthday today at work. There was an impromptu disco dance party and lots of nibbles. Happy Birthday Margaret! I love how festive her side of the room is. Look at those festive cookies! There were strawberries too. Also -champagne and apple cider! I settled for several helpings of what you’d consider…

We’re all craving something

And those cravings need to be met with some type of resolution. In this case, re-writing a script and ramen. But not just any ramen –really good one. Not the pre-packaged ones seemingly abundant during the college years, but the ones from Japanese restaurants that greet you with a loud, “Irasshaimase!” I spent a portion…