Talk Me To Death

2006-08-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

What's Next?

I've been working on a romantic comedy take on "Talk Me To Death." It's slow going, mainly because I'm not just making a bigger version of the short. I've got to go deeper into the characters, and right now, they're not talking much. Maybe my brain wants a rest.

I am eager to do a director's cut on TMTD. I want to add more cohesive music underneath, and use a few takes that I know are better than the one's we went with.
Time didn't allow us to scout about for them. We finished with only a few minutes to spare. It was a thrill to see it screened. At first I was anxious that we went on first, but later took it as a sign that the festival folks saw it as a good way to get the the Gala started.

Some screenwriting since I've been back, but mostly, I've been putting time into revamping my novel. I sent 80 pages to an agent, and she's shown some initial interest. It's been seven years on this project, most of them during the three years I spent at Sarah Lawrence getting the MFA. I would love to let it go out into the world and move on to the next book. That novel in the drawer thing... I don't recommend it.

Ah the life of a freelance writer. Sometimes I wish I just had a regular job.

I miss Albuquerque.

2006-07-30T00:17:00.004-07:00

Still Awake

For one reason or another, i'm still going. I guess I'm still on a high from getting the film done, and then the anticipation of seeing it on the big screen. Tonight at the gala, our Hari won best editor, and the film, itself, won the audience award. I know it was our acting that help put us over the top, that and best use of a cell phone in a short. There was that.

Twas very cool to have my mom fly in and share this with me. I got very lucky in the parents department. Mom is here with me; Dad is back in Long Beach, minding my unruly dog, Dixie. Being here in ABQ, amidst all this talent, makes me want to go back home, get to writing immediately and return to shoot something else. With the preparation for the festival, it's been hard to hang out in a creative space. But I look forward to returning with new material.

In the meantime, I'm going to get "Talk Me To Death" in as many places as will have it. I think people will be open and welcoming to it because nearly all of us endure someone's annoying, TMI cell phone conversation daily.

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2006-07-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

Wrapper's Delight

We turned the film in little more than half hour ago. And I figure while I have a minute I'll just upload a brief post, because the rest of the day, I'll probably be stumbling around, looking half coherent. I've been at this edit suite for nearly 24 hours (our outstanding editors, Hari and Monte, many more hours than that). Then I'm supposed to be somewhere at noon for the official "hand off" of the film, even though we already handed it off, and I've had no sleep. (Feel free to rethink that one, DFI.)

So I'm off to take a shower, so I don't offend anyone as I go about my appointed rounds. My mom flies in this afternoon. I feel like a kid with a school play, only this time I'm playing a really good part.

I'm proud of the movie we made. The performances exceeded my expectations, and the crew really hustled to make each day as productive as possible. The impeccable Michael Kamins even took time away from KNME and his dog-horse George, to make sure we had the best mentoring at all levels.

Good night and good morning...

Pamela

2006-07-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

Women In Film

Just attended the special panel on women in film (it probably had a flashier title than that), but hey, you get the gist. The participants made me feel encouraged, especially the two were documentarians, since I've had a documentary brewing in my brain for several months.

Beyond that panel and the Duke City Shootout, it's heartening to see N.M. cultivate a new industry. Watching filmmaking opportunities come alive here reminds me of when the Women's Basketball Association started. I remember seeing little girls dribbling basketballs with new determination in their faces.

Funny, I just looked back through my blog and saw that five people responded to my Kinda Racy blog, but a couple of them erased their posts. Too bad. I would have loved to hear what you had to say, even if I didn't like what you had to say. Dialogue is better than monologue--unless you're Shakespeare or August Wilson.

2006-07-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Post

I'm hanging in the freshly opened Insomnia Lounge, which must have a gazillion dollars worth of technology all firing off at once, including techno funk flaring in my ears.

We wrapped last night at 6:30. I even got in a shot I thought I'd have to trash. I called the actor, David House, who had always agreed to dash over within a half hour, and we shot a little scene with him that I hated to lose. Minutes before, I got tremendous performances out of two actors that I'd been working with all week in rehearsal. Up to then, the chemistry had not come alive. But maybe the roles had sunk into their bones, and maybe in a few-days time I had become a better director. I could see early on that their parts were the most underwritten. So those were the two that I had worked on the most, and the ones that eventually evolved the most.

It's been a tricky week. Nights of waking up at 3 in the morning, freaked the hell out about one thing or another. Making lists, and then getting to the set and trying to get to the items on the list, while keeping it moving. Directing a set and maintaining and even keel took all I had. But I'm happy to say I never bitch-slapped anyone.

On Monday morning I was thrilled that my reverend read some pages I'd written to create an audio bed, and then, when he ran out of pages, I just let him go, and he delivered the best performance he'd given, and they'd already been quite high level. That matches with how I feel about the parts of this process as a whole. It's exceeded my expectations in many ways. Can't wait to sit in the Kiva and see the opening credits roll.

2006-07-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

11:59

Line the babies up. It's time to kill them. Meaning some scenes I wanted, like really bad. I'm like, not getting them. Oh well. But at least I can see there will be a movie. Not the one in my mind, but what's that saying? There's the movie you wanted to make and the one you actually make. The real saying is more poetic than that. But I'm way past poetry at this point.

2006-07-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

Kinda Racy

1) On the set yesterday, one young woman put on a big hat (if it's one thing our set's got, it's hats). So I sez ta huh, you could do a Mexican hat dance. And she sez ta me, I'M not Mexican. So then a second young woman says, "HEY, you make it sound like being Mexican is something bad... I'm Mexican." The first young woman didn't say anything. I think it was too hard to talk with her foot in her mouth.

2) I ask for black extras for the movie, and get volunteered to call all the people I know to bring them out. While I do that, maybe the person booking the extras can do my rewrites and direct.

3) I'm driving up Lead/Coal and I see a billboard for the New Mexico National Guard: Protecting Your Future. It's a picture of a white guard with what appear to be two white kids and two Latino kids. I'm thinking, who's going to protect the Asian kid's futures, or the Black kid's, or the Native American's, and how about those Biracial kids? Do they even have a shot?

4) I'm staying in the Hyatt downtown, and I pass Glenna (?) Goodrich's sculpture of the people of Albuquerque, and she's worked in that tricultural theme. As a resident, I remember thinking. Tricultural is a cool place to be from, but why do they keep going there? It makes everybody who's not in the clique feel like fringe. I think it adds to the tensions, if anybody wants to know what I think.

5. I don't know why I added a number five. I guess I just like the number five. And maybe this last thought is that: We sure ain't finished with this race stuff. For those of you in search of a happy ending, try Snow White. I think things turned out pretty decent for her.

2006-07-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

First Day of Shooting

I think it went well. All the actors were strong. Things ran a lot longer than I anticipated, and I want to see us pick up the pace. I still can't say I know exactly what I'm doing, but my motto is "stumble forward." I realize that I have to learn how to give actors better notes. Not just for the overall scene, but for the parts of the scenes, and even for particular words. But the biggest thing is choosing the best talent, so you don't have to do as much work.

As tomorrow is Sunday, we'll take our shoot into one of our actor's homes for the first half of the day, and then go back to the church for the afternoon. It's all going really well. One sad note: My purse turned up missing. Fortunately I had my credit cards on me, but my digital camera my mom gave me for my last birthday was in it, and the purse I'd bought on a trip to Paris last year. Something told me not to take my purse in, but I didn't listen. Intuition is there for a reason.

Onward.

2006-07-21T06:40:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-07-18T04:58:00.000-07:00

Hard to Sleep

It's only five something, and boy would I love to be knocked out right now. But no, I lie there, thinking about how to solve problems. This job some times makes you have to hurt a few feelings to get the project done. And yet, you've got to pick the best people for the jobs, which can mean letting other people go. In the end, it's the film that I always need to keep upper most in my mind.

Last night I had my first rehearsal with the cast. Several people did not come nor call. I will
try to track them down today. It's the producer's team's responsibility to get people out to
rehearsal. I'm not exactly sure when or how they're doing it. But one thing you learn pretty quickly is to avoid letting what you do bleed over into what somebody else is supposed to do. People are plenty territorial, and it can get ugly.

Ordered my postcards for the film. Didn't not put written and directed by me on them. Thought about doing it, didn't do it. I view the post card as mostly for this event, and then later for a press packet that will have my name in several places.

My mentor, Michael Kamins at KNME, the pbs station here, is great with helping to shape the story, and to get me to push it full out. The script's gotten even better and funnier. Wish I was a little fresher. It helps in doing a revise to be rested. Soon...

2006-07-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

Man oh Maneschevitz

Probably spelled Maneshevitz wrong (it was some grapey wine I used to sneak when I was a kid). And "man oh Maneshevitz" was a phrase I used to say when I was a girl, and the tide was rising high around my boots, like it is now. Running fron the orientation meeting for the film festival, to meeting with the director of photography to trying to get postcards done to spread the word out there. It's all much. It's 5 something now, and I'm up to go rework the script (again) to make it more filled out in terms of having not only a foreground story, which is what is there now, but also a background story. This means writing the actual funeral service, with the ministers whole sermon, etc. and not just the funny one liners and the battle between the him and the widow. Three meetings today, including with the woman who was script supervisor on "Ground Hog Day" with Bill Murray. I hear she likes my script.

2006-07-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

Back In Duke City

Flew in this morning and met with my director of photography, my mentor and the casting director. We got a great kid to play the dead guy's nephew. He really popped. Ran around looking for cell phones for my characters. The tie for the dead guy came in (a whale tie) not sure it's going to work, more than $30 later. It's hit and miss some time. But I'm excited to be back, and this time, it's movie making time.

Need some rest. Tomorrow, shooting something for a promo postcard. Hope the elements all come together.

2006-07-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

Lazy Son of a Gun

I have not been faithful to my blog this whole week. Guess it's not a habit yet. What I've done for the film this week: worked on a treatment to turn my short into a feature. Man the process of getting notes can really snow you under. Note after note after note. And they all make a piece better. I plan to head to Albuquerque next Wednesday or Thursday to start the process that leads to countdown. In the interim, someone from another film snatched away my editor, so he had to be replaced, and now I've got to get in tight with my d.p. and get a vision going. Earlier this week, I met with the woman who wrote and directed the movie, "Phat Girlz." Very helpful and insightful about what cameras do what to what effect, and about other details of making a story work visually. (So thanks Nnegest. That was on the money.) Seeking out some directing books today and getting back on storyboarding. I don't like it because I'm lousy at drawing. But it must be done. Every shot needs to be on the page before it's on the screen. Onward.

2006-06-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Picking A Cast

I turned in my cast list yesterday, as well as my (almost) final script. I've yet to speak with my mentor, Michael Kamins, about the details of my script, but I'm sure he'll put me on track about what's doable and what's folly. That's exactly what I need. As well as help figuring out how to shoot all the technology (specifically text messages and ipod pictures), which are threaded throughout the film.

Yesterday I worked on a script I'd put in the drawer. This contest has inspired me to step up the pace of production. So my crazy breakfast-Tupac Shakur script is front and center now. It'd be great to have it in good condition by the Shootout. But time will tell.

Last night I went to a screening of "Infamous," the "other" Truman Capote movie. Liked it loads. Very different from Capote, but just as compelling in a different way. Strong focus on the creative process.

2006-06-27T06:45:00.000-07:00

Somewhere There's Music

Every time I visit New Mexico, I'm seduced by the beauty. Yesterday I was in Santa Fe in an adobe home with curved walls and windows that look towards the mountains. Cathy, Rashaan and I drove up so they could rehearse songs for a church performance this Sunday. The rehearsal went WAY TOO LONG, but at least they had good tomato and basil, thin-crust pizza. I ate about six small pieces and two helpings of salad. That's how long it went.

After we ducked out of there in the pouring rain, we went by another amazing house a few miles away, that of Larry Mitchell and his documentary filmmaker wife, Candy. Larry's a music producer and friend of Cathy. He promises to give the traditional gospel music for my movie a more hip hop edge. He's also going to do some music "beds" for the various scenes, to give them more resonance. Cathy and Rashaan sang a couple bars of "Jesus on the Main Line" and "I'll Be Somewhere Listening for My Name," and Larry did fun effects. I'm excited. Going to try to stay a little longer tonight and finish checking out the casting so I can finalize my cast list early tomorrow, and get on to putting finishing touches on the script. One of the auditioners misread a line that made it even funnier. It's a keeper.

Yesterday Patrick the Producer and I worked out a shot list, ripping it up (figuratively) four or five times before we came up with a good plan for the few days we have to shoot. In talking it through, piece by piece, I came up with a few more ideas that I think will enhance the storytelling.

2006-06-25T06:17:00.000-07:00

Home Again, Jiggity Jig

To check out the casting for my film, I decided to come to Albuquerque, my home from 1989 to 1993--and always in my heart. I met a few of the actors yesterday, and feel good about having the talent to do my project. This morning I'll connect with my producer. I love saying that. We'll go over some details, and scout about town for a church. Others are also looking for a church for my movie, about rampant cell phone use at a funeral, so I'm trying not to stress it. I'm not sure at what pace I need to be doing everything. I'm guessing fast, but I don't want to be running with my tongue hanging out. The thing I truly want to finish (hah!) is the storyboarding. I say "hah" because I know putting it down on the page one way, is probably the beginning of me putting it down on the page several different ways, and continuing to shuffle the ideas around, to come up with the most aces.

Great to see Catherine McGill again, my friend and former housemate, as well as some familiar Duke City faces. As a person who now lives in a city (L.A.) with a sizeable black population, it's surprising to be back in town where our numbers are few, and blacks here are sometimes pained by perceived invisibility and all that goes with that. That's why there's added excitement that two of the seven Duke City Shootout scripts this year contain a preponderance of black characters. That'll be interesting on presentation night, July 29. It's so cool when quality transcends race. Very "Grey's Anatomy," no?

Love the huge sky in Albuquerque, and the expansive clouds, as well as the calm I feel when I'm here. Feel a twinge of missing this place, one of my homes in the world, which includes New York, L.A., Rome, Paris and Mali. Important to keep ones traveling shoes shined.

2006-06-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

Double Vision

"Do you know how many people I would kill for the opportunity to direct?" my friend Hildred asks me.

"I don't know. Two?"

"At least four," she says. "It's every screenwriters' dream."

I can see her point. When I interviewed Shonda Rhimes, creator of "Grey's Anatomy," and asked her about, "Princess Diaries II," complimenting her on certain scenes, she said, "Oh that was the director." I notice that people do tend to think of the director as being the author of the film, more so than the screenwriter. Maybe that's because it's the rare screenwriter who makes all the way from the beginning of a project the end.

Most people who have writing jobs in Hollywood, actually have rewriting jobs. How soul melting is that? They buy your work to have someone else rewrite it. Or else YOU'RE the rewrite person. Talk about disposable. Except in TV, where writers rule.

2006-06-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

Swatting Flies

Today I wrote letters requesting use of songs for the open and close of my short, although my friend with the music-publishing contacts appears to be moving in slo mo. Admittedly, it's been only about 24 hours since I first requested the info, but I feel like every second until I start shooting counts. I want to send my friend a jokey note saying I'll send my witchdoctor after him, if he doesn't hurry it up. But I suspect that might get a good, old fashioned foot-dragging response.

While waiting for Godot, I storyboarded half my script. I constantly pushed myself to do the next shot, and the next, because I feel so inadequate as artist. Every art teacher I've ever had has said, in essence, MOVE AWAY FROM THE CRAYONS, AND NOBODY GETS HURT. But I actually find the storyboarding helps me not only think through the movements of this piece, but also to sense what is missing. In fact, I got to one frame and I left it blank. I knew it had to do with establishing the motivation of the character, Reverend R.C.C. Wyatt, but I wasn't sure how. Then the dialogue came to me, though not yet the image. I look forward to finishing the boards, because I think as I continue to interact with them, the story will show me how it wants to be told.

2006-06-18T00:03:00.000-07:00

Calling Shots

What’s my responsibility as a director? Everything it seems. Okay, maybe I’m awful-izing. But after reading an article about how first-time directors foul up their films, rendering them unwatchable, I felt like I had ten times more to do to make my little movie. But I also started to think props, sets, costumes, how to inspire a performance out of an actor, and casting itself. The article guy, whose name I’ll find and tell you later, suggested two helpful books: On Directing Film by David Mamet, and the other Auditions, which gives a director insights into how to get actors to give you what you need. I called a Barnes & Noble, and they had both books, so I did a swoop down. I’m reading the Mamet now. He’s rubbing my nose in the importance of scenes as the building blocks of a film, and how critical it is to know what the point of each scene is. Topping everything he’s said so far, is the notion that the movie is not made when you get behind the camera; it’s made on paper, as you choose the shots that ultimately ram together to form a story. Then you execute them, and get the hell out of the way.

2006-06-16T22:34:00.000-07:00

Turning An "F" into "A"

A few months back, I joined this group called the Southwest Manuscripters, average age 65. I like going there because it’s akin to visiting Mayberry. A more genteel crowd you won’t find, although there was a thorny moment tonight when one of the organizers asked if someone would take notes, and a gentleman volunteered. Turns out said gentleman volunteered to take notes in the past, but never delivered. When the smiling organizer brought that to his attention, he took exception to having his good name sullied. They volleyed for a couple more rounds. Clearly she wanted someone else to take notes, but he insisted that he was the man for the job, and since no one else stepped up, we’ll just see what happens next time. I don’t think any punches will be thrown, but it’s early yet.

I might have volunteered for the assignment, but I’d already put my name in to judge their current non-fiction writing contest, and as they say, we don’t need another hero. Ultimately though, I ended up taking faithful notes this evening because the speaker used to be F. Scott Fitzgerald’s assistant. Frances Kroll Ring talked about his final years, as he wrote The Last Tycoon, noting his faithfulness to the finding the exact right word; his devotion to his Schizophrenic wife Zelda and his daughter, Scottie (sp). But he also had a chick on the side, in whose apartment he died. Beyond making funeral arrangements, Ring took his unfinished TLT manuscript, along with his outline for it, and his notes about how it should end, to Scribner’s in New York. Somehow they nursed the unfinished manuscript into a book.

Ring kept returning to the central truth of Fitzgerald’s life: That he “made his living as a writer.” That’s how he put his daughter through Vassar; that’s how he paid for books to educate his unschooled lover; that’s how he was able to maintain Zelda’s long, expensive stay in a sanatorium. Maybe it goes without saying: Fitzgerald never enjoyed the popularity, nor the income in life, that he and his books generate now. I was all zooted to try and option this woman’s story, not having a clue what that might cost. But apparently somebody beat me to it. I’m told the movie is “The Last Call,” and starred Neve Campbell. Still, there may be a golden nugget lying unturned in this F. Scott saga. Makes me want to poke around a bit more. Tonight I bought Ring’s book, Against the Current, about her years working with Fitzgerald. Maybe after Duke City...

To Direct or Not to Direct

2006-06-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

I saved the trickiest for last: On the Duke City Shootout entry form for my short, "Talk Me To Death," they wanted to know if I would direct, or hand the reins to someone else. Having zero experience, my first thought was to sit back and be the brilliant writer on the project, let someone else call the shots, and then point, blame and bitch, if things went kalooey. But then I realized I might not ever have an opportunity to check that box again. So I decided, what the hell, I'll have at it, and blame myself if the need arises.

Now that my short's been selected for shooting, I'm starting to rev up. Yesterday, I saw an image in my mind that would work nicely two thirds of the way into the film. I know I’m starting to make the leap into my director’s chair, because that shot does not reflect something currently on the page, yet helps tell the story. I'm starting to think cast, and how I'll get the performance out of each actor that I need. This is all so trippple cool.