Fast Times

Things are very busy at the moment.  I am going full throttle-up on finding funding now for "72".  We have a celebrity attached (I'll announce that when it's official) and I'm talking to distributors already.  My hope is to shoot in late October, but I have some ways to go on the funding.

In the meantime, I've gotten a couple of commercial clients and I'm always grateful for that.  So I've been doing some long editing sessions and a lot of green screen work lately.  BTW, for you FCP people, Ron Gonzalez told me to check out dvgarage for the chroma keyer and he's right-- it works great.

I've also finish the "Greenlight Yourself" DVD and that took some long hours to edit.  Finished is over three hours and we covered it heavily with b-roll and graphics to accentuate the points.

Then I've got an acting seminar on Saturday and an audition workshop on Sunday.

Going throttle-up for fund raising on a movie takes a lot of time.  Business plans need to be crafted.  Phone calls to prospects.  Meetings with prospects.  Script polishing.  Talent searching.  And the hardest part is not knowing yet that it's a "go."  This limbo state is one of the hardest times of the filmmaking process.

So here we go.

Humility

Humility is a rare thing in my industry.  To make it as a writer/director, you have to push and promote yourself.  You need the "numbers" to show to the Big Dogs who can shovel money your way to make a movie.  But this sounds opposite to what God has told us disciples, right?

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  This well known and oft quoted verse in I Peter speaks to the cornerstone of identity.  What is Humility?

As touched on in "The Imposter," I wear masks.  So do you.  As I pull down the masks, revealing who I really am (my true identity), I draw closer to God.  This is not an easy process and it's certainly painful.  But it's good.  (James 1... consider it all joy when you encounter... and Romans 8:28... all things good...).

Humility is understanding and comprehending my true identity.  When I start to see the various shades of evil of my flesh... I understand part of who I am.  When I start to realize that my spirit, my essence, is fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps 139) by God, I understand who I am.

And it's in understanding these things that true Humility is found.  Not the false "worm pride" humility of "oh look at me and how bad I am."  You see, Humility is simply understanding your true identity.

You see, promoting myself in this industry has less to do with pride or humility.  It has to do with mission.

So as I draw closer to God, He reveals masks that need to come off, and in the process I start to understand a little better who I really am-- the result is more humility.  My readers who profess to be Disciples-- draw close to Him.  Spend time communicating with Him.  Devour and study the Word He has left you.

Consuming

Consumer.  To consume.  To buy and use and then discard.  Our economy grows or dies on our level of consumption.

Over the last one hundred years, research has been fine tuned and advertising has become extremely effective.  The experts are extremely good at what they do-- convince you to buy.

I remember pitching an potential investor for one of the movies and he jumped up and went to his white board and began a twenty minute lecture on advertising (he was very proud of the fact that he had taken several radio stations from obscurity to big market share numbers).  Several times he told me that I wouldn't learn this at Harvard Business School.  Seeing as I wasn't enrolled and wasn't going to be, I had to take his word for it.

What he told me was that he had discovered the one thing people wanted when he built the largest Christian radio station in the country.  While I visualized Jack Palance and Billy Crystal, he continued.  He told me what the one thing was and then gave it to the people and behold-- big numbers!  (Too bad Jesus didn't use some Madison Avenue Advertising strategy... but that's another story).

My mentor defines Manipulation as the coercion to do something the person hadn't intended on doing.  Well, that applies to most advertising.

At the same time, I'm working with a client that deals in the consumer debt industry.  Well no wonder the US consumer is saddled with unsecured debt (ie credit cards)-- the culture here is to buy, buy, buy.  The advertising and marketing has gotten so good, that it's eating the foundation out from under itself.

And the consumer, like a good staph infection, has become resilient to antibiotics, so the Madison Avenue guys keep finding new and better ways to target.  It's amazing-- I've sat in on some conference calls for our upcoming small theatrical release, and there's teams of people dedicated to reaching different market segments.

In the meantime, no wonder it's hard to self-distribute your own movie.  You're competing against an army of advertising and marketing experts who can quickly and efficiently get the word out.

But in all this vast advertising improvement, target marketing, niche marketing, viral marketing... the number one form of advertising is the same today as it was when Jesus walked the earth during his three and a half year ministry.  Word Of Mouth.

So I think about "The Imposter."  We can drop some good money advertising... paying those specialist.  But at the end of the day, the most effective will be you-- if you liked it.

Apple of My Eye

Dear Bill Gates and Michael Dell,
I appreciate the low prices.  I really like all the software.  But I have to tell you, I don't like the open architecture that comes with the plethora of software.  Because it's buggy.  And full of viruses from people that shouldn't be allowed to continue existence.

You see, if I wanted to have a sure thing at success, I would create a virus protection company.  And unbeknown to the public at large, I'm sure there would be an executive at my company who would create viruses for surefire job security.  Really MacAfee?  Really Mr. Norton?

I like Jobs.  He thinks differently.  Sometimes he's too crazy.  But it's really hard to inflict a virus on a Mac.  And Macs are cool.  But Macs are expensive.  If it wasn't for that one thing, I would have convinced my friends to buy Apples.

Of course I'm writing this blog on my Dell laptop.  It was tops when I bought it several years ago.  But now the memory's full and the software OS is buggy.  And it's almost time to replace it.  So yes.  I'm coming to you Mr. Jobs.  Goodbye Gates.

I already have a Mac at the office, running my FCP system.  But the PC's are being phased out.  This laptop is the last bastion.  I am concerned about all the programs I use here... like Dreamweaver.  And QuickBooks Pro.  I don't want to buy software I already have.  It's what swung the balance back when I bought this Dell laptop.  Almost went Mac at that point.

The Rescuers

Like "The Incredibles," the scene has turned on the rescuers.  Around the Band of Christian Brothers and Sisters, a rescuer is someone who swoops in, because they feel value when they do, to enable someone to continue in a destructive, dysfunctional behavior.  Bad rescuer.  Go away.

One of the costumes I've worn as an imposter, is the hero.  I can rush in and fix this situation that has reached critical.  But that grows tiresome when it was because of my inattentiveness that the situation went awry.  In the Royal Rangers ( a boy scout like organization me and my son do), they have a life saving merit.  The only thing though is that you can't earn the merit if you were the cause for the life threatening situation.  Say you pull your buddy out of a burning tent on a campout... you can't get the merit if you were the one who caused the fire.

So as you can imagine-- rescuing is somewhat a dirty word.

But my wife made a comment today that I'm chewing on.  Jesus was a rescuer.  God rescues.  Peter and John outside the temple didn't have money, but they rescued the paralytic who was begging.  I get so caught up in the "dysfunctional rescuer" that I can get a bit twisted.  In other words, I'm with Peter that day, saying "look at that guy... he needs to just get a job.  Wait... Pete, what'cha doing?  Aw man, if you do that, you'll just enable his 'victim' mentality!"

I have no doubt that Peter walked past lots of people who were in need of rescuing.  But on that day, he said "silver and gold have a none."  What this says is that I'm not God... I'll let Him decide what to do.  I will just be a willing vessel.  There might be times when He impresses on me to take some action.  Other times He might say leave alone.

This requires a little work on my part-- I need to make sure my communication lines with Him are up and working.

Two Movies

I don't remember if it's a video game or just a recurring nightmare.  You know the one-- you get things stirred up, then you have to keep stirring as hard as you can so that the momentum doesn't die.  

Paperwork is created.  Script is passed the second draft.  We've just attached first name actor.  We're talking to another.  And we've got multiple possible funding sources.  Now to keep the momentum going.  And there's a different energy this time-- with my last movie about to get a theatrical release (albeit a small one).  Can this turn into an easier time funding?  I've always wanted to get to that point.

My goal right now is to raise money for a two picture deal.  The first is a very faith-based "72."  And it's going to be a less expensive-- easier shoot.  We'll do it in three weeks probably in late October if I can get the momentum going.  The second movie is a family film called "Game of Integrity" and it really needs to be shot only in the spring.  (And a lot of this movie is day exteriors).

72 is the story about a group of guys going through the ultimate gut-check weekend.  Sorry actresses-- this one just doesn't have that many women roles.  It should be a lot of fun to shoot.

Game of Integrity, like Rising Stars, centers around high school age kids.

So stir up the pot and let's see if we can get the momentum going!

Ownership Issues

A real man "owns it."  That means he doesn't throw others under the bus to escape judgment or blame.  He takes responsibility and when things go awry, he looks and pursues ways to make it right.

A man that owns it doesn't have a long "honey-do" list, because the person who makes the list, owns it.  So a real man makes the lists (sure, he builds it based on what his wife needs). 

You see, I find myself getting into trouble when I start trying to do things because I'm seeking my wife's approval.  It has taken me a long time (and is still taking me) to realize I need to seek approval from a much higher source (and I don't mean Obama.)  It's a sure sign my ego's in play when I find myself doing things to get by from my wife.  That's not owning it.

I had two similar issues happen on a movie set once-- a big mistake happened by person A and then Person B did something similar.  Person A is eligible for re-hire.  She realized the mistake and owned it.  She dedicated herself to making it as right as she could.  Person B moaned and said I must hate her now.  And that if she was Japanese I'd probably require hari-kari.  And then she did nothing to make the mistake right.  Person B is not eligible for re-hire.

You see, a person who doesn't own it is destined to continue making the same mistake.  I remember this as I work around the house.  I'm not doing these things to please my wife, although certainly I hope that's one of the outcomes.  I do these things because it's the right thing to do before God... to be a steward of what He's given me.

I forget this too often.  It's time for me to own it.