MONTH OF CREATIVITYMonth of Creativity
Things I’ve bought this month: Things I’ve watched this month: I bought more than the four films this month but the others are gifts for Christmas and therefore cannot be revealed. The ones I did buy I blame my wife. She informed me of a rare opportunity, which I’ll let you in on. There is a quirky little video shop over on the Danforth near where I live called “Revue Video”, and it’s closing down at the end of January. They have a pretty eclectic selection of films and they are no longer renting them, but they are for sale. Personally I think that they’re charging a bit too much, however I believe that their prices will go down as they get closer to closing down. That being said they have a little bit of everything for film geeks including a descent collection of Criterions, as well as TV series (probably the best deal they have). A writer-friend of mine Mr. Aron Dunn, cued me into a pretty awesome podcast provided by the people at Creative Screenwriting Magazine. You can get them through iTunes, and probably any other kind of pod-catching software. The majority of the podcasts are really interesting and insightful. Mostly you just have to get past the fact that the moderator, Jeff Goldsmith, is big sycophant, and I think you’re fine. They cover films from X-Men 3 to Little Miss Sunshine, all shapes and sizes. I just treated myself to a subscription to that magazine and I’ll let you know what I think of it once it comes, but the podcast is pretty great for anyone interested in that kind of thing. Looking back I think it’s safe to deem the month of November my month of creativity. I’ll get into further detail, but I don’t think that there was a single day this month that I wasn’t writing, reviewing, or doing something to do with a personal project of my own from either the past, present, or future. It’s a good feeling. Mr. Truffaut and our personal universes This month I’ve been a little more diligent in watching some classic films that have been on my shelf for ages but I’ve never gotten around to watching. This month I finally watched the entire Antoine Doniel series of films by Truffaut. First of all it’s just interesting to watch a filmmaker evolve over five films and twenty years, and on top of that you get to see a character, which becomes a friend, age along with him. Today we have sequels based, more or less, on financial reasons first, story second. What Truffaut did was create a series of films for no other reason than because he felt the stories were necessary. It’s refreshing. There are a few modern examples of this, the first that comes to mind is Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise”/”Before Sunset” films, which I’d love to see new installments of in the decades to come. I know that for me personally when I was in my teenage years and watching the films of Tarantino and Kevin Smith, I really dug the idea of all the characters belonging inside of a universe. I spent a lot of time in high school writing and directing plays with a group called the “Canfield Characters” with which I worked with others inside of a universe of characters. At least one character, Dr. Wentworth, existed within each play. All of them were stand-alone stories, however there were inside jokes that were intended for fans that had seen them all. I guess that says I like the familiar. The play, “No Girls Allowed” which I wrote, was performed this past month in Etobicoke. It was the last play I wrote that existed, albeit loosely, inside of that old universe of mine. Sadly there was no Dr. Wentworth, just a mention of him in passing dialogue. The play was the thing… For a few years now someone from my past has been pleading with me to let an old play of mine, “No Girls Allowed”, be performed. After much insistence I submitted to the idea. I think that the majority of my resistance came from my fear of the script just not being up to par with my current writing. At one point I actually toyed with the idea of doing a rewrite, but writing assignments both personal and professional kept me from it, and I think I just came to terms with letting it be as is. I wrote the play when I was nineteen and I was concerned that my youthful ignorance would be on full display. Having watched it performed again I have to say that, do to expecting the worst, I was surprised at how much good was actually in it. Some friends came alone, some with theatre backgrounds and insisted that with a brush-up I could probably get it produced in Summer-stock theatre. Pouring through the script now, with the performance in my head, I have a lot of ideas and thoughts on how to tighten it up, but I’m at a cross roads. Playwriting and screenwriting are two very different things. Instinctually I want to do a page one rewrite, but I’m not sure I have the passion for it. I have about a half a dozen other projects that I’m working on that excite me more, although my previous desire to be a playwright as well as a screenwriter does intrigue me. I think that I need to get my hands on the scripts for Neil LaBute’s plays to inspire me further. It’s an interesting experiment delving into my creative past. I think I’m going to let it marinate for a bit and work on it over the winter after some of my more pressing deadlines are fulfilled. Shorts and pants “Hoff’s New Direction” had a screening among some other shorts at the NFB this past month. The film plays really well in front of an audience. The moderator Liz Braun from the Toronto Sun called it “brilliant” and other lovely things, so I’ll take it gladly. The audience was really really lovely in their comments about the film, and the best part is that people really got it, many of them saying how this artist friend or that artist friend would really enjoy it. As a filmmaker it’s rewarding to know that people will be discussing your film long after they’ve seen it. Makes you feel like you’ve tapped into something. When it was over a group of friends and I were walking to a bar for a drink and I was stopped by someone who had seen the film, and they told me; “Dude, that was one of the best mockumentaries I’ve ever seen. But then it just made me think, ‘Man, it’s really easy to make a mockumentary.’”. A complete back-assward compliment…. I think. I think that the genre, or sub-genre, or whatever it is gets a lot of bad play. It’s looked down on, and I don’t get why. Sure it’s easy to make one, you can get away with a bit more, but it doesn’t mean it turns out well. I think it’s easy to make any film when you surround yourself with amazing people who are all smart and committed and understand what you’re attempting to do. I think it’s hardest if you’ve got a grand vision and aren’t able to share it. Have I been lucky so far? Sure, maybe. I just think I’ve been prepared to handle what could be considered lucky situations. So at the end of December I’m applying for another BravoFACT grant on a project that I’ve been talking about in this blog in somewhat hushed tones. I think it’s OK to announce now that the short film I’m going to be directing (hopefully with BravoFACT’s co-operation) will be “Starry Starry Night” written by Miss. Irena Huljak, and if all goes well co-starring a fairly recognizable up and comer. That I will keep under wraps for now. It’s a story I fell in love with when first reading and I’ve been working with Irena to hone the idea and I think it’s there now, and I’m really excited to make it with the team I’ve been working with for the last couple of projects. Hopefully there will be much more to report on that in upcoming months. Projects, projects, oh, and more projects… There is another short project that just came up this week. I met with the writer just the other evening and we’re discussing working together on it, so I’ll leave that up in the air right now. Currently that script is a bit long and so we’re looking into the possibilities of cutting it down, and if we can be happy with that by Bravo’s deadline as well as assembling the right package.On top of that I’ve been a busy little writer. I finished the first draft adaptation of the novel I really want to try and get the rights to, and I’ve just been making notes like mad on a whole shitload of other projects. This has been a good epiphany month, a lot of ideas have been gelling, concepts coming together, just over-all a lot of things have been making senses to me in ways that they haven’t before. It looks like it’s going to be an exciting winter and spring if everything starts coming together. My wife and I are also in the midst of looking for a house to buy. I’m really excited/scared by it. I’m just really looking for a place we can shape into our own from the ground up. Of the three houses I’ve lived in since I moved to Toronto as a renter I’ve never really felt at home 100%, maybe because I just knew I couldn’t put the personal touches in that really make it a home, so that I’m looking forward to. My next entry probably won’t be until the New Year, so if you’ve been reading thanks so much and feel free to throw and comments or questions at me, I don’t bite. Until next time… -Jeremy
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