Kung Fu Fighting

I used to try and avoid fighting with my producer, Patrick. But now I know it's pointless. Sometimes we have to call each other on the carpet, smack each other around, and then move on. It's happened enough times now that I've just surrendered to the process. Making a movie with 30 other people (cast and crew) can be infuriating. I want things my way, but it's just like they say about characters in a script, each one thinks the movie is about them. And in my case, I'm right, it is about me.

Yesterday I handed in my "final" script. Hah! Everybody knows there no such thing as a final script. I've heard that writing is never finished, only abandoned. So I abandoned my script on threat of those around me who wanted to memorize their lines, or finish updating the story boards. I feel like when I was maybe six, and my mother wrapped a thread around my tooth and yanked it out. It had to go, but somehow I felt denuded. Many huzzahs to my Duke City Shootout mentor Michael Kamins, who has been kind enough to read successive drafts and give great suggestions. Thanks to my cast who, in rehearsing the script, helped me see where it clunked, and needed to be saved from itself.

As much as I resisted handing over the final, at the same time, it's a great relief to just say "that's it." It's not perfect, but it's the best I can do in the time I have. Now it's on to the set to call some shots. People tell me I seem calm for the shoot starting tomorrow. I guess I figure the biggest thing was getting chosen. That was winning. And to come out of this with a directing credit, hey I'm already ahead of the game.

Okay, this is what they call in journalism 'burying the lead': I went to the set of "Wild Hogs," Wednesday, invited by the film's script supervisor Judi Townsend, who is mentoring Alicia Garcia, on our film, "Talk Me To Death." She sits right next to the director, making notes about the film, the takes, the scenes, and helping the director keep track of what's been shot, and helping the editor shortcut to the good stuff that's been shot. When we were there, we met a lot of the behind the scenes folks, and saw Tim Allen shoot a scene where he's in the hospital after a panic attack, and Martin Lawrence's character comes to visit him. Twas very cool. Judi was very kind to intro me to Lawrence's people, and while we were meeting his rep, he sauntered over and said hello. She also got the guys in playback (not the official term) to show us a barn the film's art dept. built from the ground up and then exploded, from 12 different camera angles, as a part of the plot. They had to get it right on the first take.

This post is so long because I met Phil Guzzo, one of the other Duke City Shootout finalists at Ann Lerner's fab party in Corrales last night. He said he actually reads this thing periodically.
Made a girl feel inspired. Tired of reading? Blame Phil.