the awesome/terrifying freedom

john august had a trailer-cutting competition using footage from his new film, "the nines." i worked all day sunday and all night monday to finish my entry in time, and received an honorable mention on his site for "best tic-tac-toe" hahahaha. which is great because that damn tic-tac-toe (i think of it more as a sudoku) was the only original thing about my entry, and 80% of my editing time was spent making it. check it out:



in other news, i am currently in negotiations with a small, independent production company to develop, produce, and direct 4 or 5 ten-minute gay-themed comedy shorts that will be bundled with a gay travelogue dvd. this is amazing. i would get paid to direct a series of narrative stories, it's immediate work for neal, my playwright-now-turned-screenwriter-who-just-moved-here, and the experience will be invaluable.

the permanence of film is astonishing. all the years, all the work i put into theatre is completely ephemeral. of course the experience was important, but all i can show is some reviews and some photos, and really, it's only agents and managers who take the time to physically come see the show who might recognize your talent and help you step up to the next level. but with film, the work exists and can be examined by anyone at any point. i've done tons of video projects, but only two "real" short films, and in the last year, they have both proven to have lives far beyond when i felt i was "done" with them. i realize now, that the "done" feeling is a symptom of theatre.

"loaded" played 2 major festivals and has made waves among the magicians circuit, having played every major magic convention in the country, and has probably been seen on youtube by every professional magician. i'm currently working with my dad on another magician-themed concept. "thanksgiving" is still popping up at festivals, playing its third on october 13th, at the long beach q festival.

i met these producers at a premiere, we hit it off, had a great conversation, and eight months later, called me up for a meeting, wanting to license "thanksgiving" and "loaded" for streaming on a pay-per-view web video service they are working on. the deal was placed on hold, in favor of this new opportunity, that would have me creating new content specifically for them, with distribution already in place. i don't want to count chickens before they hatch, but at this point in my career, even the possibility of this opportunity is exciting to me. if it falls through, i will learn how to make it sail next time.