Music Currently

Music is important to me-- and sometimes it's been unhealthy. There was a time, as a teenager, I would say music was my best friend. It was the only person I could talk to. Sad, yes.

Anyway, I did want to talk about what current music I'm listening to. And if you have some tunes rolling around in your head, let us know as well.

I've discovered FireFlight. I really like this Christian Rock band. They have a really good sound. Also been listening to Red lately. And Seventh Day Slumber's It Is Well, is an awesome worship album.

Songs that I've been playing over and over this month of January include some of the new cuts from Rising Stars-- The Refund Desk song really rocks-- live what Ben Reynolds and Jason Germain are doing. We also got Lauren Ashley Carter to sing a song for the soundtrack and it's incredible. I wish I could share that with the world, but alas, not yet. Everyone talks about how expressive Lauren's eyes are, but what's really standing out to me, is how expressive her voice is. Matches the eyes.

Wrapped in Your Arms by FireFlight. Red's Start Again-- my twelve year old son wanted this one and I see why. I pulled my old Burlap to Cashmere album out and have been listening to some tunes off it.

So what about you?

My First Business Plan

The year was 1999. I knew that I was getting closer to launching out on my own to make my first feature film "The Keyman." I was at 40,000 feet over the Atlantic headed for Spain.

The guy I was seated next to looked like a businessman type. I had a very rough draft of my first business plan and I asked him if he wanted to read it and give notes. He looked through it and gave me some of the best concise advice I'd ever had.

"First," he started, "I invest based on what the idea is and on the people who are to make the idea work." He went on to tell me that the rest was fluff, mostly necessary but fluff nonetheless. He wanted to know clearly what the idea was and who was doing it.

On that flight I came up with what I began to call the three "R's." And these have led off every business plan I've done.

Right Idea
Right Team
Return on Investment

My Executive Summary begins here. Now as I pitched investors over the years, I've added, adjusted and changed some of the info. Probably the biggest addition to the guy on the plane-- comparable picture reports and financial projections. And for that information, FilmProfit has been a great source.

I'll go into all this, including providing you samples from my business plan in the workbook for the "Greenlight Yourself: course. Were prepping workbooks now for Saturday's class in Fort Worth, so if you plan on attending and haven't registered, please hurry and do so. www.s-films.com/pov

Seminar Update

A week ago I was worried about the Acting seminar for next Sunday. Since a couple who signed up were coming from out of town, I decided to just lift the minimum and have it even if there were only four or five. I also lowered the price to $35 (form $50). Now suddenly, we are starting to get a strong attendance. Not sure why the sudden interest. Don't know if it was the price drop or just word of mouth, but I'm glad we'll have a bunch coming.

The Greenlight Yourself is looking good as well. I'm asking everyone to make sure they register for this one in advance-- I'm making workbooks for each attendee. For Acting: A Director's POV, it's not as critical to pre-register.

We still have room in both semianrs, so I hope you can make it. For more info and registration, go to www.s-films.com/pov.

Stories from the Farm

There was a land where there were only sheep, sheepdogs, and wolves. And a shepherd. The sheep bristled with self importance. Everything seemed to be about them. There were nice sheep. Dumb sheep. Smart sheep. Lazy sheep. Really all kinds.

The wolves also came in a variety of flavors. There were the ravenous ones that would grab a sheep by it's throat and not let go until it had consumed it. And there were nice wolves who spoke kindly to the sheep until it too was devoured. And of course the wolves who dressed up like sheep.

The sheepdogs were few and far between. Ever vigilant, the sheepdog had to watch out for sheep, many of whom didn't want to be watched out for-- who thought themselves smarter than most others-- and also keep a lookout for the wolves. The sheepdogs had to nip at the heels of the sheep to keep them in line and take their constant bleating. The sheepdogs were a small lonely group.

The sheepdog's job was difficult. There were times that sheep acted like wolves and times the wolves acted like sheep. And the real interesting masquerade-- when the sheep or wolves acted like sheepdogs.

As the days wore on, there became fewer and fewer sheepdogs. And the number of wolves masquerading as sheep and sheepdogs increased. The sheepdog continued their lonely travail because soon, the knew the Shepherd would return.

Redux: Pink Slip at the Cheesecake Factory

I'm packing up the powerpoint and heading to North Church in Carrolton for the CMA meeting. One of the most popular posts this blog has had was a year ago with "Pink Slip at the Cheesecake Factory." Here it is, version 2.0.


I went to Nashville last year in February. The National Religious Broadcasters convention. Talked about "The Imposter". Worked on getting buzz going. So what's the most common comment when mentioning a Christian movie?

"Most Christian movies are cheesy."

Well, you're right. Christian movies are where Christian music was 25 years ago. Almost any Christian movie you pick up and watch will be high in the cheese factor. Why?

Let's first start by defining "cheese." In this context, it means hokey, on the nose (OTN), predictable and the most accurate-- doesn't ring true. Wait a minute! Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, the life..." If He's the truth, why are most Christian movies not ringing with that truth? (Perhaps they're trying to force some noble, or even God message out of their own ego or flesh?) Now that's a good question. I've got some ideas, but I'll save that for another blog entry.

So what is OTN? That's where you actually say what you mean. What's wrong with that? Well, in scriptwriting, it's a rookie mistake. People actually *don't* say what they mean. It's the difference between "text" and "subtext." If I say "sure I'd like to have lunch with you," I could actually really mean, "I really don't want to have lunch with you, but I'm trapped and will look like a bad guy if I turn you down." Hokey, cheesy writing in this scene would be for the character to actually say "I hate you and don't want to have lunch with you." It's much more interesting for him to say something else and just mean that underneath. But then to do that, you'd actually have to have some actors with chops. And that's something you usually don't find in a Christian movie.

So, the bottom line is STORYTELLING. And as more and more people learn the craft, I think you'll see the quality of Christian movies increase. But it will take courage to write stories that aren't OTN, that don't require brain-checking at the door, and might actually make some people uncomfortable. BTW, Jesus was a Master Storyteller.

Kids and Cars Last Day

I mentioned the other day you can help the awesome organization "Kids and Cars" by voting for them... we're hoping they get awarded $$$ from Chase. Here's the info:

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Voting ends Friday night 1/22/10 at 11:59 pm EST.

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Best Regards,

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Janette E. Fennell
Founder & President
www.KidsAndCars.org
Office: 913 327-0013

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Acting: A Director's POV

Registrations continue for the last weekend of January. "Greenlight Yourself" is doing pretty good. The "Acting: A Director's POV" not so good. So I'm dropping the price to $35 from $50. You can register at www.s-films.com/pov.

Info: This acting seminar is different than most of the others-- it's
taught by a working film Director. Dan Millican, writer/director of five
feature films, who shoots them here in Texas, talks about what Directors
look for in actors, from the audition to the edit room.

Find out what the Director thinks about in the audition-- what he looks
for. What he doesn't. How you prepare for that role... And how to
perform in the best way to avoid being cut in the edit room.

He finishes the day with an in depth scene study, using the raw footage
with all the takes from a scene in one of his movies.

Details:
Sunday, Jan 31 from 9am to 5pm
6125 Airport Freeway, Suite 102, Ft. Worth (Studios 121 building)
Cost was $50, now $35.
Register at http://www.s-films.com/pov