Delinquent

I’m sorry I’ve been so lacking in interesting things to say.  At the moment I’m just showing up to work and trying to write a business plan.  I’m doing a slight re-write of my Nicholl Script, “Bible Con”.  I’m hoping to have it and a new script ready to send to Nicholl this year.

So, I dunno, not a lot going on.  I’m about to start working on editing a short, but I haven’t actually started yet.  I spend a lot of time trolling the internets for jobs.  Yeppers.

Otters
Too Cute
Delinquent
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IMDb Update

1. I truly hate the new designs for individuals on IMDb.  It’s ugly and difficult.  But there is a way around it — go to by type on the side.

2. I’ve updated and added a bunch of credits to my IMDb page.  At the prompting of one of the actors in my short musical “Lord of Dreams” I’m trying to get that up again.

3. I’ve worked on a ton of Reality TV in the last year.  Sheesh.

IMDb Update

Life in LA; It’s the Economy Stupid

Sorry I’ve been quiet a while, crazy couple of weeks. I went to SC this weekend. I’m trying to put together a budget and business proposal for Bible Con, with plans to shoot it in SC. I think it can be done on a low enough budget that raising the money myself is feasible. I don’t know that I’ve described the story here, so have my logline:

Bible Con — Comic Con for Christians — goes straight to hell when Jesus and Mary Magdalene fall in love, the keynote speaker turns out to be an atheist, and the event is besieged by DaVinci Code fans.

It’s Best in Show meets The Life of Brian.

Nicholl Semi-Finalist, Movie Script Contest Finalist

I’m trying to do a rewrite now, but the drama in my life is making it difficult to concentrate on. I know too many unemployed people is basically what the deal is. One of my roommates is having to give up on LA and drive back home, selling all of her possessions to afford the trip. My other roommate is also unemployed, but theoretically has something coming up. Obviously, not a happy situation. And my closest friends can’t find jobs either.

And as much as I hate logging, and as much as it doesn’t pay me enough to live off of, I guess at least it’s something. Admittedly, the idea of getting my own project off the ground is probably all that’s standing between me and the cratering depression my current economic state brings on.

I’ve gotten a couple more requests that I haven’t kept up on posting. Maybe I’ll do that at some point.

Life in LA; It’s the Economy Stupid

Segment Producer: Ups and Downs

I got a segment producer credit instead of story assistant because of the sheer amount of work I’ve done on the show I’ve been working on.  This is super exciting, it’s a great credit.  Of course, I’m still making less than a living wage.  But there’s some hope that that will change by the end of January.  Which I need, because I can’t afford to live in Los Angeles on what I make, and I’ve been with this company a year now.

And, in more meh news, I’m probably going to have to go back to logging.  And because they’ve eliminated the day shift, that means a 7pm-3:30am shift.  I’m hoping against hope that something will save me from that schedule.  I worked it for a couple months last year and it was so depressing and awful.  It would be better this go around because it wouldn’t seem to go on into infinity, but worse because I’ve proven I can do more.

Segment Producer: Ups and Downs

Busy Weekend; Bad day for a Migraine

Friday was crazy. I got asked to write a pilot by a web producer, to write a polished first act of a feature for a manager, to edit a short, to add something to a reel, and that it’s possible that I will be promoted to Assistant Editor in January and that I will be responsible for the deliverables for the show I’m working on starting Monday. These are all good things, but suddenly my off days are very full.

I feel terrible today. I have the worst headache I’ve had in years. I missed my morning call about the trial drug I’m taking, I’m really hoping this doesn’t cost me being able to be in the trial. But seriously, my headache was so bad my eyes were watering. I took some Advil. And then I irrigated my nose. And then I took a decongestant. And then I found a bottle of Vicodin I had from a previous injury.

This stuff is magic. I still have a little bit of a headache, but I am functioning again. Albeit at a reduced capacity for coordination and thought, but still. I should say that I’m already prone to being totally dizzy and having zero coordination. Which is to say, on Vicodin, I am kind of hilarious. I’m like a tight-rope walker trying to balance who is also very talkative.

Yesterday, I met with the director of the short and got the footage. It’s a romantic comedy, the lighting looks good and there are some good performance moments in what I’ve seen. It’s 4 hours of footage to subclip and log and it took me 12 hours just to get the back up done. But, I’m hoping F will be able to take a little bit of the subclipping work off my plate. Like a subcontractor ha. I also met with the actress, showed her my rough idea for her reel and got another project from her. She seems happy, so that’s good.

I also got 12 pages of the first act for Dyke for a Day written, so I’m excited about that as well. I’m trying to finish it this week. Luckily I write fast when under pressure, so hopefully banging this and the short web pilot out won’t be too difficult. I’m just so Zombified from the headache and the vicodin that I’m not sure I’m useful.

I’ve been watching a lot of Hell’s Kitchen and Flipping Out. I must just love angry people because Jeff Lewis and Gordon Ramsey seem so adorable to me. I want little teddy bear versions of them to have walking around and yelling all the time.

I’m very concerned, having not heard from the producer, that Gold is not going to be happening this fall. I was really looking forward to being the Post Supervisor for that, but maybe there’s enough on my plate already. I’ll probably hear about the Nicholl this week.

It’s so damn hot in my apartment. I’m tempted to use my new cubicle space as my writing home. Maybe there’d be less distractions there.

Tomorrow: Doctor’s Appt at 8 AM, Starting story assistant job at 9 AM (probably will be late), and all that other stuff on my plate.

Busy Weekend; Bad day for a Migraine

Naughty Kitchen: Review

A crazy bad review. I think this person has gone a bit off the deep end, but I understand why he didn’t really like the show.  I couldn’t keep any of my male friends in the room while it was on.  The girls seemed OK with it.

My complaints about the show were all about structure.  I think the people within the show seem interesting but the pacing and storyline seemed jumpy and unfocused.  I didn’t really understand what the show was about, it had no through line.  I mean, the review was supposed to be the through line, but I never even got the sense of what sort of timeline this was happening in.  They should make everything feel like “A week in the life” or something, even if they’re faking more interesting events into a week than actually happen.

And it was frustrating, a lot of the people who seem really interesting, I don’t feel like I got to see at all.  Not much Curtis or Sam or Kerri.  And while I like Blythe, she can be a little grating if she’s all you get to see for an hour — and I’d have liked to hear more from her that didn’t sound like she was reading something the producer had written for her to say.  This didn’t feel very real at all.

I’m hoping the next show will be a lot better because it’ll be all about Blythe trying to make a comeback from this review, which will give it some cohesion.

I think that Blythe being on TV is great, I think it’s good to have some females on TV who aren’t thin, gorgeous, or nice but still manage to be talented and successful.  Blythe is very much a woman in a man’s world and she’s really rough around the edges, I just hope the show will let us see what’s beneath the gruff, pink exterior.

Also, isn’t Curtis the cutest thing?  My roommate thinks he should be a model or go on Project Runway.

Curtis, Me, and Amanda
Curtis, Me, and Amanda
Naughty Kitchen: Review

Naughty Kitchen Premiere: Tonight!

10/9c on Oxygen.

I promise to review it just as fast as possible.  You might be curious as to why I’m so obsessed.  Well, for starters, I <3 Curtis, the door whore who got openly mocked on The Soup last week.  And for seconds, Blythe Beck is essentially a drag queen.  And she’s a pale, young redhead who struggles with her weight.  I mean, I’m nowhere near as fat as she is, but I think anyone who’s ever been even a little bit fat tends to join her hatred of skinny people who ruin food.

Because skinny people ruin food with their low calorie, low taste, low life bullshit.

Hulu has some clips.  The Dallas Morning News, who gave Central 214 a terrible review (featured in Episode 1) back in the beginning of the summer, had a great review/introduction to the series.  Another decent overview here.

And for the technical minded, here is a link to a great article about the technical setup at Authentic Entertainment, the company that makes Naughty Kitchen, starring their Post Production Supervisor Will Pisnieski.

Naughty Kitchen Premiere: Tonight!

A portrait in how it is the little things that make a difference

I have been working at this company for just shy of one year.  I just got my first promotion from the depths of hell aka logging.  Logging is basically transcription.  It’s a potentially useful service, in that you have people who have seen all of the reality footage that a show shoots.  They write what happens so you can keyword search.

Theoretically, you could also go to the loggers with questions if you were looking for something, but none of the shows actually seek to do so.  This is a shame.  Of course, considering what they pay the loggers, that is above their expected skill level.

So, now that I’ve been promoted to Story Assistant, I actually get my own desk in it’s own cubicle.  I even have my own extension and a drawer in which I can leave things.  Apparently, these things are normal for people to have, but previously, I came in every day to a room with a few computers where I would be unable to leave, say, a jacket because it got cold, or a water bottle.  I had to get special permission to be able to put a lamp on the desk.  The room was so dark.  No windows, no skylights, no sign of whether it was day or night.

I switched to the Dvorak layout for my keyboard because I’ve been struggling with wrist problems, but gave it up because I had to physically bring in my own keyboard every day.  Couldn’t leave it.

I’m also now going to get information on the insurance policy that the company has.

So my own cubicle with it’s own set of drawers and a skylight may not seem like a paradise to many, but for me, it is so much better.  Today, people actually talked to me like I wasn’t a troll — they like my hair.  I may not be getting a pay raise, but I’m definitely getting better treatment.

A portrait in how it is the little things that make a difference

For those of you curious about this Naughty Kitchen thing

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/279474

Naughty Kitchen premieres Tuesday 10/9c on Oxygen.

“Blythe is someone who was just born to be on television,” explains The Naughty Kitchen With Chef Blythe Beck Executive Producer Lauren Lexton. “We (Authentic Entertainment) really enjoyed making the food-themed shows we did before (Ace of Cake, Best Thing I Ever Ate). And, we also love doing what we call docu-soaps, which are shows about real people living their real lives. This show is just a perfect combination of both of those.”

For those of you curious about this Naughty Kitchen thing