AND THE WINNER IS...

Not me.

Sad news folks. The major cartoon network that bought Adventures in Milk as a full length movie has decided to give it the axe. The reasons I am not sure I am allowed to share, but suffice it to say, the movie does not fit in with their new "direction". Thanks to all of you who checked in here to follow my progress. I will keep this blog up for a little while as news gets out. For any of you interested, you can go to my other blog and follow my project BIGFOOT AND GRAY. You won't be sorry.

Thanks again to everyone!!!!
Chris

Original video source (video-play.mp4)

AHHHHHHHHHHHH....

Sweet Relief.

Look to the right.

AN UPDATE...

Hey. Hey. Since the anonymous commenter from the previous post asked so nicely...

As you can see from the PROGRESS BAR to the right, I am almost finished with the second draft of ADVENTURES IN MILK. This draft has been quite a challenge. One of the notes I got was to remove one of the characters. I thought it might be an easy task, but I must have woven him into the story more than I thought. I miss the character but, it really does help simplify the script and I actually was thinking he didn't fit while I was writing the first draft, but by the end I found a way to integrate him and give him an important role in the climax. When they say 'kill your babies' it's not only ideas, it's characters too.

On a slightly side note... I realize that my posting here is few are far between. The reason (excuse?) is that legally I cannot say too much about the project. Yeah, I know, awesome to have a blog about a project you can't really talk about or show art from. Ha. So, what I've decided to do is start another Blog! Yeah!

I have been working on getting a short live-action film going. I want to shoot it this summer so hopefully the posts will come faster and more frequently. Plus, it's MY project and I can blab about it as much as I want. So there. Anyway, if you're interested you can find the new blog HERE. I hope you find it entertaining and informative.

Meanwhile, I will keep updating this blog as long as the law allows!

Thanks for sticking around!
Chris

"SPEC-CETERA"

With the writers strike going well into its third month, I wonder what most of you are doing in between the picketing. Might I suggest taking a course at the UCLA EXTENSION WRITER'S PROGRAM. I took the CRAFTING THE COMEDY SCREENPLAY with STEPHEN MAZUR a few years back. He also teaches the 8 SEQUENCE APPROACH. Not only is the class informative, but it is also very fun. Stephen, who is not only smart, but funny, helps every student in the class develop their idea (which you supply) into a great STEP OUTLINE that you get to turn into a hilarious screenplay and awesome spec to shop around when the strike is over. I am going to (finally) start writing the script for the idea i brought to the class. I think that the Winter semester has already begun, but check to see if he is teaching in the spring. It is well worth the time and the money!

Chris

FINALLY!!!

Well, as you can see in the color bars to the right, I finished my first draft. Yes, I muscled through the below mentioned FUNK and finally wrote FADE OUT. Although I only had 8 weeks to write it (in my spare time) I wish that I had about 4 more weeks to "sweeten" it before turning it in. I am 30% happy with it. I figure if I gain a small percentage of happiness with each draft (3 drafts that I have to do), I should be about 65% - 70% happy by the time I get to the punch-up phase, when I get to hang out with my funny friends and come up with better jokes and dialogue than the ones I have written now.

I guess I feel pretty proud of the achievement of putting 94 pages of script to paper. And I am also happy to have solved all of the outline issues that I was having. I should feel relieved but I think the terror is just starting. This whole time it's just been me reading it. Now, there are people who are going to read it and give notes and opinions etc. It's not that I don't expect to have notes on a first draft, but as most of you writers know, the script is the like the stripping away of the flesh and the notes sting like salt.

If I really think about it, it's a good thing. It'll be nice to have notes from a new perspective. I am just too close to it now. I am hoping the notes don't really come in for a few weeks. That way I can get the distance I need from the first draft to start the second draft in earnest. Fingers crossed! I'm going to have a drink.

Until then!
Chris

FUNK

You ever get to that point in your writing where you feel like everything you've done so far sucks? Yeah, me too. That's where I am now. Typically I can surf the web or read a book or watch a movie to find some inspiration, but currently all of these things just depress me. I start to question my own ability (I always do... but now it's magnified) as well as my goals and where I am with them and why I haven't achieved them yet. It is an ugly downward spiral. I know that this a normal stage of writing (much like the 5 stages of grieving) and that I just have to muscle through this first draft but, I gotta say it is no fun.

Do you ever get this way? How do you rise above?

Ugh.

STRIKE

Be back soon! (let's all hope)