IMDB Accepts!

Since I am losing my internet access soon, I just thought I would pop in and update-Generator has been added to IMDB, and the credits will be added this week. Being a stubborn prick does accomplish something after all.

Final Stats-7 Submission attempts/1 Successful Submission

Save For Your Funeral...I'll be Broke When I'm Dead

I always accuse my girlfriend Katie of being the eternal optimist, the girl who still believes in the American dream. She likes to save pennies because someday they'll add up to a nice vacation. Me? I spend my upcoming check in full to take the damn vacation now. So, my electric may be turned off. So what? I'll get it turned on again. (a slight exaggeration...I usually pay it just before it's turned off) I am throwing my nuts out there to make a movie, and starting with what amounts to very little in terms of budget. I believe the budget will grow as I go. This infuriates her. How can I waste my time, and what will I do if midway through the budget hasn't received any bumps? What about saving money? I say burn baby burn!

Ah, Katie. You're saving for your own funeral. At least you'll have a nice golden casket, and I'll be stuck with a cardboard box. But I'll be smiling.
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I am very down on writing right now. In the past two years, I have seen two of my more well known screenplay efforts(to me, people around me and some on the left coast) end up as feature films. Only they weren't mine. You see, we get a very short window to get our shit out there while it's fresh. The problem being we have no outlet, no exposure, and all we can do is enter 30 contests a year with the hopes that one of the readers will be a fan of the genre we've chosen. And then it's gone. Then, as if smelling your disappointment and wanting to rub it in some, Hollywood releases 10 films that could just as well have been based on your screenplay. It's either A)everything is in production all the time, or B) a wave of certain genres of screenplays hit 2 years after I tried to market one just like the it. Either way, it's disheartening to try and sell your story, then 4 years later see the Best Buy shelves deluged with direct to dvd versions of the exact same premise. So now when I get the comment, "It's really good. Solid story, great twist at the end. But don't you think it's a little to close to ? " Well, I wrote this 5 years ago. "Oh, well it seems just like it." , it makes me want to lop a few heads off. Hence, I'm making my films from now on. I'll write them how I want to write them. And I'll make them how I want to fucking make them. If I don't get rich I won't care. I'll be creating a lasting legacy, something my children can see. Something to show I did something.

All Quiet On The Southern Front

It's going to be a slow week or two for me, blog wise. I'm moving back north in 8 days, and have a lot of garbage to get rid of or pack away. (Though I'm leaning towards trashing everything)
I reapplied for IMDB on the 15th, with the Variety link included, and have yet to hear back. I'm cautiously taking that as a good sign since the last time I submitted, it took only two days to turn me back.

If anything new hits, I'll pop in.

The Tyler Durden Motivational System For Writers

Fuck off with your sofa units and serine green stripe patterns, I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let... lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may.

People do it everyday, they talk to themselves... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it.

Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great aDepression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. yWe've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.

Listen up, maggots. You re not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else.

Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.

Fuck what you know. You need to forget about what you know, that's your problem.

Self improvement is masturbation. Now self destruction...

F*ck Me! Pay You!

My production chart for Generator is now listed in Variety. Next up, IMDB-fascist punks.

The script is about as far along as I want it to be at this point. I want to add two more sequences I have been thinking up, but finding the right spot to insert them has been troublesome. There's one scene I am probably going to tear out of the script as soon as the new two are cut in. Other than that, the rewrite process is a done deal. ...for now. Since I'll have 6 days in between each day of shooting, I can see me fiddling around with the coming weeks material, but for now, it's about done.

Just thought I would add, I payed IMDB for the PRO membership, and again was turned down. I'm coming back with an arm full of Variety suckers, and they had best follow their own guidelines and submit it. They had best! V for Variety

For Those Who Wondered "WTF Is A RotoZip ?"

In my script, I often mention name brand tools, but since people don't have the background I do , which is in construction, they have no clue what's happening in the scene. Well fear not, here are a few examples of said tools:

#1-The Rotozip-Rotozip is a brand name, under Bosch tools, which specializes in small hand saws. Here is an example of tools that might fall under the RZ name:

A small circular saw and grinder which pretty much works for everything from ceramic tile to wood.

#2-This is the famous Rotozip I describe in the script, however, I had to use the Porter Cable brand since I couldn't get a good pic:



This is my favorite. It fits in the palm of your hand, making it really f'n convenient. We use this for cutting around electrical boxes, or for cutting the openings for the boxes into the sheet rock before we hang it. This is one of the tools described in the script. :)


#3-The following bad boy is a mini rotating saw. The blade rotates in a two inch circumference, creating nice circular holes in wood for whatever you may need them for. This thing is nasty.

#4-Another personal favorite-The Sawzall. Sawzall is a Milwaukee tools trademark, I think, but we call every make and model a Sawzall, so I'm not sure. At any rate, this fucker will cut through anything. The blade pumps back and forth real fast, but you can control the speed. You can also change the blades for cutting metal, wood, tile, sheet rock, skin and bone...um..yeah...


So there you have it. Makes reading my script a little more logical...and disgusting, eh?

And yes, I am trying to gain clearance to use the actual tools I put in the script. :)

"We Will Not List Your Film...Unless You Have $13 A Month"

IMDB apparently does accept independent films in early stages of production. They even accept titles from newly formed production companies. You just have to join IMDBPro. If it was about the money, couldn't they just tell me that in the beginning? Anyway, we'll see if my film meets the criteria for it, because I'm going to suck it up and join. If it goes through, it'll be the best money I ever spent. Aside from that time I bought microdots with Christian...ah, the good old days.

Edit: I may be getting my production chart published in The Hollywood Reporter, which would knock down the barrier that is IMDB. I don't want to jinx it right now, but stay tuned.

"Too Stupid To Know Better"

I hear a lot of people say that, that they were too stupid to know any better, especially from those who made a splash into the film industry as directors. They take chances and use unconventional means to finish the job, because they are forced to. It's often why their first film remains their best, too. I wonder if I suffer from a little of that stupidity. People tell me I'm expecting to much of my first feature. But I can't see how. Are there little things that I don't notice right now that will trip me up? Definitely. But really, does a person need anything other than passion and drive to make a project happen? It's funny, when I worked in construction all those years, there was a saying amongst the foreman and big boss-Make It Happen. Don't have enough time to finish? Make it happen. The sheetrock wasn't delivered? Make it happen. Over and over again, the reply was basically NO COMPROMISE. Proceed as planned, because there is no other choice. I used to roll my eyes after hearing it spewed out by my foreman, who is an ex-marine. But years removed, I think it is exactly what I am doing now. The reason it never resonated before was that I didn't believe in what I was doing, and I didn't take a personal interest. It was a job I loathed much more than I loved. But now that I care about something, I can see I follow that advice on a daily basis. When I get turned down, I bitch and hate the world, but I don't give up. I find an alternate route.

Friend: How the hell did you get Metallica and Adidas to sign off on a clearance for this tiny movie?
Me: Um, I don't know really. And it's not tiny-it's budget unknown.
Friend: You know it's not normal, right?
Me: No, I don't know that.
Friend: So, how did you do it?
Me: Two emails, and two phone calls.
Friend: What?!
Me: Anyone can do it.
Friend: I don't think so. You got them for free. Why don't more people do it then?
Me: I don't know. All I did was call.

Too stupid to know whether or not this is the way things work. I just Made It Happen Whether this is normal or not is not the point. The point is, I don't know if it is or not. It's called drive.
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I saw this in action in film school. Everyone wanted to be a director when the class started. After our first project, I would wager 50% wilted under the pressure and changed their aspirations accordingly. They gave up over one weekend, a 48 hour film contest, and that was that. It was a shame really. There were some real talented people who just didn't have that passion, or drive to finish one measly project. I stayed up 44 of those hours filming and editing, and didn't win a thing except some laughs from the crowd when we screened it. That kept me going though. I bet there were 300 people enrolled in my class. I would say 250 wanted to be directors. 6 months in, it probably dipped to 100. By graduation, I don't think it's crazy to say only 25 ended up sticking with directing as their main interest. Out of that 25, 10 will finish one feature film. 2 out of that 10 will attempt another. And it all comes down to making it happen.

I suppose there are certain personality traits that one must possess in order to have that stubborn drive, and I can't necessarily fault someone for a lack of those traits. I think you either got 'em, or you don't. I have a strong red personality. I'm stubborn, and I have innate leadership skills. I am also quite mean, and can almost become a God in my own mind overnight. Thankfully, I have a very big case of horrific self doubt immediately after to keep me grounded. Some people constantly pass the responsibility of the smallest jobs on a set to someone else(on amateur productions). Some have a chance to take charge and don't for fear of stepping on toes. Other's are content to be a grip for their entire life. And all of that is okay. But I'm not one of those people, and I think that's what will make this film a successful endeavor. I will just Make It Happen.

Denied!

IMDB denied my application for a page twice! Their reasoning? I'm not far enough into pre-production(Funny, I feel knee fucking deep in it)), and I don't have a third party site announcing my film. Well guess what? Horrorbrain has put my press release on their front page! Go visit horrorbrain, which is part of the IGN network and take a gander! Extra thanks to Brandon(aka Gorefan), the head honcho over there, who graciously accepted my press release without trying to crush my little independent ass...as most horror sites have done.

Just to throw a tidbit out there-I may be gaining the right to use Black Sabbath's Solitude for my film. We'll see how this one shakes out!

Generator Update Part 2

Adidas have allowed us to use their clothing for the lead actress, for free once again. Metallica and Adidas are going to get very special thanks from Damage Done Productions, that's for sure.

She will be sporting a green Adidas, 80's style jumper/track suit.

Generator Update

#1) Metallica have kindly given us clearance to outfit one of the main characters in Generator with an...And Justice For All T shirt. Damn nice of them too, as I was expecting a 'no', or a huge charge. So that's awesome. (Intellectual property garbage is a pain in the ass-you can't have anything in your film without an okay...yes even clothes.) Justice is perhaps my favorite album of all time, bar none. Yeah ye yeah!!

#2) I created the Generator page for IMDB, and it's been submitted. I am currently awaiting approval, which I assume will be forthcoming. I offered all the information they ask for, with the exception of Distributor, Official site and a third party site link. Since I listed it as being in pre production, I don't think it should be a problem. And since it's truly in pre-production, I would hope they would allow it. So that just about kicks ass. Can't wait to lure private investors in through IMDB. (Hint: Professionals you may approach about investing are easily impressed by an IMDB listing-it makes the film real, even if you haven't shot one inch of footage! One of their first questions is "are you on IMDB?" Now I can say YES. Thank you Eli Roth for that one!) Now all I got to do is take some freaky stills to submit, and create a trailer. What a great day today was! I wish it was Groundhog Day!