Super Spiritualize Me

In our Band of Christian Brothers, we have a rule that reads "no super-spiritualizing."  So what does this mean exactly?  Our definition is: religious answer without going through the process.

Let's say you've been stealing.  You come to the altar, convicted and morose.  You cry.  You leave your heavy burden there.  Your sin is as far away as the east from the west.  You're washed water than snow.  Then you leave the church and on the way out, steal the offering.  But that's okay, because you dealt with your issue of stealing.  You prayed and left it at the cross.

When confronted with a sin in my life, I'd like the Easy button... you know the one.  You push it and hard work becomes easy.  Yes, my sin is forgiven.  The power of the cross is very real.  So confronted, I'd like to just say the magic words and make it all go away.  The spiritual sweeping under the carpet.

Sin is forgiven.  To continue in that sin is to not repent.   Yes the first part is to confess, the second is to repent.  But that can be very, very hard work.  I'd much rather just say "I prayed and left that at the cross, so there."  As Paul writes, to continue in sin is to crucify Jesus again and again.  To be His disciple, I want to stop that, more than I want the payoff of the sin.

And you see, that's the key to repentance.  You'll only repent when you decide the payoff for the sin isn't worth it.

This is the daily battle I will have until I die.

Chariots

One of the great pleasures I enjoy with my children is the experience of sitting down to show them classic movies.  I want them to find heroes in the right places and for this reason, we're very selective about what we call a classic.  (And yes, for a discussion another time, I do consider "The Matrix" a classic.)

Today, it was "Chariots of Fire."  While watching the movie again after all these years, I found myself looking up facts on my iPhone.  I had forgotten the spiritual giant that was Eric Liddell.  Google rumored his last words were "total surrender" referring to how he lived his life.

Hard to argue.  When Liddell won his gold medal in 1924, he wouldn't have been one to announce that now he's going to Disneyland (even if it had been built).  No, he immediately headed back to China (where he was born to missionary parents from Scotland).  From 1925 to 1945, this is where this celebrity lived out his life.  Working with youth, teaching the Bible... really, he was discipling.  And to the end, that's how he lived.

You see, the Japanese invaded China and it wasn't a great time and place to be a Westerner.  He was rounded up and put into a camp 300 miles south of Beijing (the site of the 2008 Olympics).  In a prisoner exchange approved by Churchill, he was granted his release.  Which he then gave to a pregnant woman.

He stayed behind ministering to people in the camp until a brain tumor, exacerbated by the conditions, hit him fast and furious.  He died a few months before the camp was liberated.  When explaining to his sister why he was going to the Olympics instead of China in 1924, he wrote, 

"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."

 I have no doubt that God was pleased.

Draft Dodgers

A question has been asked-- "How do you know when the "first draft" is done and what provides the impetus for developing proceeding drafts?"

I have just finished polishing the first draft of "72."  There is no hard and solid rules for what constitutes a draft.  Almost like the rules for software upgrades.  When does it become a new version versus a new build? 

In the WGA world, a job is defined by drafts and polishes.  For some jobs, a writer might be contracted to write a screenplay, two drafts and a polish.  Usually, the writer will finish the screenplay and pass it off to a few trusted advisers for notes... then after taking them (or not), he has Draft 1.  He sends that off to the producer or entity that contracted him.

Notes come back.  Writer incorporates notes.  Then hands in Draft 2.  Then if there are just a few minor notes like "change this word from feline to cat", it might be just a polish.

For us in the Indie Film world, it might play out a little more arbitrary.   I usually have what I call a zero draft that only my wife gets to read.  Then I take her notes and incorporate and it becomes Draft 1.  Then I pass this draft to a few trusted friends and colleagues.  Since no one else has seen the script, I'll incorporate their notes and still call it Draft 1.  Once I start sending it out to people in the industry and then make serious changes, I'll call the new one Draft 2.   I have gone up to Draft 14 before... and that's with some changes simply being a polish and not a new draft.  But that script was 3 years in the making.

My "Game of Integrity" script was written five years ago.  I got to Draft 4.  I dusted that off last week and re-wrote some things and sent it out as Draft 5.   For "builds" I use letters.  So "Time of Chaos" is currently Draft 11b. 

One reason to rename even polishes is that it saves a record of the prior work.  There have been times I cut something, only later to regret it and want it back.  I open the older file and cut and paste.

So it's really pretty much up to you.  Draft numbers don't matter once we start Pre-Production, because the current draft gets "locked" and it becomes the "white" draft.  Future revision become a new color.

Simon the Zealot

I wonder how many people know what the "Zealot" part of Simon the Zealot's title meant?  I was under the impression that most people knew that the Zealots were a group of Jewish people during the Roman occupation who's one goal was to establish a Jewish-run state.  That meant, even if it required arms, to rise up and overthrow the Roman government.

This was a group who's purpose was to incite the people to rebel, and through the use of force, expel the Romans.  They weren't just a nice political organization or something like ACORN or the Tea Party Movement.  These guys were militia.  They were angry. They were dangerous.  Not only did they kill Romans and Greeks, it was not good for you to be Jewish and helping the Romans or Greeks.  They came after you.


In AD 66, they successfully rose up and captured Jerusalem through an armed initiative.  The Romans came down and came down hard.  It was this point, in AD 70, they destroyed the Temple.  The remaining Zealots attacked the Roman fortress of Masada and left no prisoner.  The Romans built a bridge to it over a very long period (three years), and as they came close to getting inside, the Zealots committed suicide.

Israeli Defense Force soldiers today take their oaths at Masada and say "Never again."

I bring this all up, because in discussing with someone the disciple Simon the Zealot, they didn't know about all this history.  In the script I'm working on, I present a character built on Simon and it came as a shock that he was militant.  Simon the Zealot wasn't a part of a nice little movement.  He was part of a group dedicated to giving their life to kill Romans and get them out of the country.

So I find it extremely interesting to study this in light of him being one of the twelve.  What was he like?  Did he simply become a peace-loving guy when Jesus said "follow me?"  What did his old gang think?  Did Simon harbor some feeling that maybe Jesus, since people cried out for him to be King, that Jesus would flush the Romans out and institute this "Kingdom of God" that he so often preached about?

I just find it all interesting.

Child/Teen Acting Seminar Results

We had the Child/Teen Acting Seminar today and it went very smoothly. What I liked was having the parents there. Lots of good questions were asked, and as a Director, I can only answer some of them from my perspective. Other Director's might see it differently.

Like what makes a great headshot. What is emancipation. How to get an agent. Whether or not to join SAG.

We spent a lot of time on the Audition. Instead of teaching actor to actor things that everyone's already getting, I wanted to offer them some cheat codes so that they can move to the front of the line and have a better shot at landing the roles in those auditions.

I believe that our local actors are every bit as much talented as the LA or NYC counterparts. The difference is experience and training. Training can be had fairly easily. But experience is the real difference maker. And here's why:

On a low budget movie, it's about how to get the best possible story with the least amount of money. An experienced actor knows without being told to find the light and find the lens. The experienced actor knows to hit marks resulting in fewer takes because of focus issues. The experienced actor knows to block in a consistent way to avoid continuity problems.

So get experienced. Find parts in films. There's a lot going on. Even shorts. And student films. Everything helps.

The Circle C

An Idea is a commodity. In the entertainment industry, it can be sold and traded. But an idea cannot be copyrighted. If you have an idea for a movie or a television show, treat it as a precious jewel. Don’t tell people where it can be found, unguarded. Sure, you might need to reach out to someone to help craft the story or the script, but make sure you protect your idea.

While an idea cannot be copyrighted, a script can. Many still believe that a literary work must be published to be considered copyrighted. Once a work is written down, recorded, or tangibly fixed in an acceptable form, it is in effect, copyrighted. The current copyright law protects a work for the author’s lifetime plus an additional 70 years, recently changed from 50.

So why register your work with the Library of Congress? First, it establishes a public record of your work. Secondly, it can lead to larger damages awarded in court actions. While the United States copyright law protects literary works, it does not protect titles, names, phrases or slogans. This is one reason you might see a movie with the same name as an older one.

Another recommended practice in the entertainment industry is to register the script with the Writer’s Guild of America. You do not have to be a member of the guild and it is common practice to register screenplays with the WGA. Registering your script is a solid way to establish a public record.

Both methods of registration are fairly simple and are not expensive. The common screenwriting software even allows for registration from a menu in the program.
It used to be important for copyright owners to put a notice of copyright on all published works. For works published on or after March 1, 1989, the use of notice is optional. If using a notice, the following elements must be used: the “c” in a circle symbol or the word “copyright,” the year of first publication, and the name of the owner of the copyright.

Protect your work and make sure you register your copyright.

What's Up With Jesus' Marketing?

Jesus did a lot of things backwards and by the conventions of worldly wisdom, just plain stupid.  I've run a production company, a film company, and have assisted many clients in trying to market their products and services.  I'm trying to get a faith-based movie out there.  And I'm trying to get a new one going, doing the market research so that I can find out what the audience is wanting to hear.

I mean, really.  After feeding 5,000 people, they were ramped up to make him king.  We just passed 1,000 Facebook fans for "The Imposter."  The word of mouth that can come from that is just amazing.  Viral can happen with just a few people... say like twelve.

But Jesus took that moment to say really hard stuff.  Stuff that turned people off.  Didn't He know better?  Isn't the point to get more people saved?  Isn't it about keeping score?  Like 18 people came forward after the screening of my movie?  Or 2300 came down at the crusade? Or, "we just passed the 4000 fans mark on Facebook."

So, marketing wasn't His point at that moment.  Increasing Followers wasn't His point.  Justifying budgets with awesome numbers wasn't His point.  He didn't care.  "But Jesus, how can you have no compassion for the lost?  Why pick that moment to push people away?  You knew what was going to happen."

I may be missing it, but it looks like He has a different purpose in mind than me and most churches and ministries around.  Seems that the evangelical thrust is a contemporary creation.  Because Jesus, yes I know it's crazy, had more focus on training and discipling, than just decisions. 

What was He thinking?