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Jeremy LaLonde Blog
May 31st

Jeremy LaLonde -Where have I been???

I haven't written in a really long time. Since finishing the Bravo!FACT things have slowed down a bit. I work as an editor and I've been working on a really consuming project recently (in addition to some pseudo-consuming projects). All and all with that and the wedding plans I've been a busy life. And I've kinda decided to enjoy myself over the last little bit. More on that later.

Words, words, words...

I have about half a dozen or more scripts going at any one given time. One is always in the lead for being closer to a potential candidate for treatment and drafting, but there's always a whole slew of them. Every week I usually come up with at least one new logline that either finds it's way into another half-baked idea, or starts something completely new. The one thing I'm really bad about, and I need to resolve, is the business of writing. I spend a lot of time writing but practically zero time trying to market myself as a writer. It's the curse of not being a starving artist. So I've decided that I need to at least make an attempt at representation, or sending my stuff out. In truth I haven't really gotten started because having friends that read for directors and executives I know that I'm only going to get one shot, really, in truth. You send in something that's not ready and your name goes on a little list (probably a big list), and you don't get read by that person again for a few years (if ever). My writing is somewhat internal, it's been a big push for me over the last year to write a little more externally. I find I also write in thematic trilogies, if that makes any sense. I kind of dig it, but I need to get over it. I've already written my 'artist trilogy', and I just finished the first in what I'm thinking is going to be my 'sex trilogy'. But it's what to do next. I've got a lot of the right elements in my scripts already but in truth, being an unknown writer, I need to write something a bit more commercial than my usual fare and I'm torn between three ideas. One is a Murder Mystery/Comedy/Thriller type thing, which is based on a play I produced many years ago and got a great reception from. The other two are very high concept films. One is a blockbuster type film and the other is a little less so. I need to force myself to do one of those next. I tried to write a horror film last year and it turned into an internal look at death and society's feelings about it. That one's back in the drawer.

So the script I just finished is something I'm writing for a producer friend of mine and we've been working out the story since last summer. I wrote an early draft and it got decent feedback from people but I just wasn't happy with it. I've stripped it down to it's core and did a page one rewrite, new title, new characters, everything except for the main character and the general idea. I spent a lot of time beating out all of the elements before even thinking about going to draft, and I have to admit that it's so rewarding to do that. It's an
exercise in restraint, but once you get to the writing it just blasts. I've always been a quick writer, but spending the time to really really go through everything before writing makes all the difference. I literally wrote the first draft in about 3-4 days from the FADE IN to the FADE OUT. Is it any good? We'll see. Hopefully it'll be workshopped at my writer's group in June, and then we're submitting it to the Harold Greenberg foundation in July.

Da Shortz

So I've got two shorts that I'm starting to whore out. "Mrs. & Mrs. Moosewood", and "Hoff's New Direction". Both very different films, both very near and dear to me. And both are going to be premiering at the Niagara Indie Film Festival at near the end of June on either the 22nd or 23rd. I'm excited to go, it's a festival I have a bit of a history with. A short I made a few years ago was there and one both the "Best Student Drama" and "Audience Favorite" awards. Both of these films will be entered into the comedy category so it'll be interesting. Can't wait to see them with an audience.

I may or may not be shooting another short this summer that a friend of mine has written. She's in the midst of looking for some funding for it. I'm excited for it, it's a great little story and it's very different from the last two films I've made so I'm looking forward to that change of pace. Fingers crossed.

Also, not a short note, but I'll be hearing back sometime in June from the Canada Council for the Arts about if they're going to help us out with "The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard", a feature I've been working towards getting off the ground for some time now. My producer, Mr. Grani, is looking into other funding avenues, so if all goes well we'll shoot in the fall. Very scary and fantastic :)

Life

I've rediscovered golf. I forgot how much I enjoyed it. It's a bizarre little game when you break it down. I'm going to take this little white ball and put it in that hole that's about 132 yards away. AND, I'm only going to hit the thing three times! Sounds like a magic trick almost. Last night, thanks to my co-golfers, I rediscovered my swing, so now not only am I enjoying it, but I'm getting better.

I bought a Wii. It was an accident really. I know people that have been looking for one since November. They call every day, they get up early, ebay, etc... Me. We were waiting for our car to get fixed at a dealership and decided to pass the time and go for a walk. We stopped by an EB Games and went in. I casually walked up to the counter and asked if they happened to have any consoles in. He gave me a look like he was hiding something. He asked me to wait there and he'd be right back. He went in the corner and made a few phone calls then winked at me and disappeared into the back room. A minute later he came out holding a box telling me that "You don't have to kiss me, but it is your lucky day." Apparently someone had just dropped two off and he needed to get permission to sell them. I was about the tenth person to come in that day asking, and the first he'd
actually been able to help. And so I was pretty much guilted into buying it, just because of the sheer difficulty of being able to find one, and here, on my first try, there it was. He was really really upset when I told him that it was my first attempt at looking for one. Part of me thought he wasn't going to sell it to me out of annoyance.

So I have it. And I got a few games. One "The Godfather" mostly just because my friend Mr. Andrew Pifko provides the voice of the player-character, and I thought it'd be fun to listen to him rough up people and hang out with Brando. I have to say it's probably one of my favorite games I've every played. It's got the whole Grand Theft Auto thing going on, but with a really great story line, and it makes you think about your choices a little more carefully. It really is a solid game. Now I'm not a gamer, not at all. But the Wii is cool. Arun Bharali, the director of the feature film I edited last year is a firm believer that video games will be the definitive art form of this century. It makes a lot of sense. It's interactive. It's a pretty common thread that many of the older generation believe video games to be a waste of time. I think there's some value in them when used properly. Either way it'll be interesting to see what happens once we become the older generation and there's more empathy.

Wow. I really didn't mean to talk about the Wii for that long :)

But things are good with me. I'm going to try and write more often. I haven't updated my movie journal onto hear either so we'll see if I can't get to that. Right now I have to go build a beat-box track using only animal noises, and then design a wedding cake.

Until next time..

-Jeremy
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