September 26, 2014 • 13

Opportunities…(and planes, babies and ideas)

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Opportunities.

You have to appreciate them…and take them. You really do. Because, even if they don’t amount to anything in the end. You at least seized the chance to do something. And that matters.

I have an opportunity to write a screenplay based on a logline that was provided to me.

What’s a logline, you ask?

A logline is essentially a one or two sentence synopsis of your movie idea. It’s similar to an “elevator pitch.” You know the concept. You have 5 seconds (or an elevator ride) to convince some big wig that YOU have the next great idea.

Usually, any movie idea I’ve generated has come from my own imagination. But not this time. For this opportunity, someone else is saying “Hey, dude, I got this idea. It’s pretty broad. As a matter of fact, it’s only one sentence long. Do me a favor, and write 120 pages of new material for me. Yeah know, based on this one sentence. Thanks pal.”

For now, all that is being asked of me is to write the first 10 – 20 pages of the script. I love that. For me, that is one of the best parts of writing a story. The beginning.

You get to have all of these crazy ideas. You let your imagination run wild. You create cool characters. Exciting moments. And, you don’t have to worry about tying it all together. Not yet, that is. Eventually you do. But, for now, you can just go crazy with ideas. Not too crazy obviously. But you might as well experiment with some interesting stuff. And, then filter out all the extraneous stuff later.

That brings me to planes. And babies. And ideas.

I don’t mind air travel. I usually just chill out. Listen to music. And think. What do I think about? I guess, all sorts of things. Pretty much anything that is going on in my life.

This past Wednesday, I flew from Los Angeles to New York with my wife and one year old daughter. Not a lot of thinking happened on that trip. Actually, I take that back. There was a lot of thinking. But most of it centered on how we were going to make sure our daughter did not wreak havoc for 6 hours in a flying bus.

But, let me tell you. My daughter did awesome! She enjoyed the experience. We enjoyed the experience. Our fellow passengers enjoyed the experience (well…everyone except the belligerent woman who was not able to upgrade. Poor her).

My daughter played peacefully. Cuddled with us. Looked around the plane. Looked out the window. She took in all of the sights, sounds and smells (some nasty ones too). We are so proud of her. Not that we wouldn’t have been proud of her if she had a bad experience, but hey, let’s not kid ourselves. A good experience is called a good experience for a reason. It’s good.

So….

I was able to think about my script, while simultaneously enjoying the company of my beautiful wife and daughter. I had some amazing ideas for the opening scene. And how I see the plot unfolding.

I disembarked the plane a happy man. And as an added bonus, the logline that I was provided involved a commercial airliner. If I couldn’t find inspiration on a cross-country flight for a movie involving that topic…well…I’d be pretty bummed.

There is deadline for this project. It’s in mid-October. So, for now. I am going to focus on both that project and my project involving Flynn’s journey.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Categories: General Blog Info, Ideas, Script

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13 replies »

  1. I learned a lesson at one of the San Diego ComicCon’s interview /critique booths– where I was trying to present my own barbarian fantasy novel. After about a minute of my narrating, both interviewers stopped me– only to state that any author’s presentation shouldn’t last more than 45 seconds… and that I need to work on a really good brief summary to any future listeners. Have a wonderful day, Kevin.

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      • Oh my God! You seem to have read my mind!! I was confused navigating through the previous layout. Your blogs were arranged vertically and I had difficulty scrolling up and down looking for the beginning because the lengths of your blogs were all different! With the new one, it’s much nicer to look at! To me, it’s more organized and if I wanted to scroll and click on your other blogs, they are easier to find. It’s great! Is your layout free or do you have a premium account? The photos are wonderful and when I put my cursor on the photo the title come out. Very nice! Stick with this one. 🙂 The squares remind me of my knitting project. I’m knitting squares to eventually put together! I like this one much better

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      • That’s great to hear. Yeah, it is a free theme. The only time consuming aspect was that I had to set every photo on the home page as a “featured image.” That entailed going to every post I have written and doing a quick edit. Took a few hours. But, I really like how it looks. I have gotten really into photography, so I am happy that I can showcase both my photos and my writing. That’s cool about your knitting project. Are you almost done with it??

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      • I just started knitting squares. I have a long way to go! Probably the entire 2015 🙂 Like writing and photography, it’s a process, it’s therapy, it’s reflection. So much goes on inside my head when I knit. What makes your page attractive are the photos. Very vivid in color, nice! Precisely why i was reminded of my knitting squares because in order for me to not get bored, i have to knit in color and vary the combinations otherwise what a dull project it would be! Is it hard to be funny (comedian) and a writer / photographer at the same time? They seem to pull one on opposite ends in terms of mindset? Comedy is light and witty while your writing digs deeper and more serious..

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      • It’s interesting that you ask that question, because it is something I definitely think about. I have always been a deep thinker. I really enjoy philosophy, and digging into issues with my mind. Probably why I became a lawyer. Because, at the heart of it, a lawyer is a problem solver. The facts are presented like puzzle pieces, and you have to make sense of it all. I think that because I do stand up comedy, and I have been joking and being silly my whole life, I truly enjoy exploring this deeper side of me. These are things I think about, and the topics seem to resonate with a lot of other people. So, that gives me confidence and motivation to keep pushing forward. As for the comedy. I think that to truly be funny, you also have to dig deep. Anyone can do the silly, over the top humor, but it takes a unique person to take a serious topic and make it funny. That’s real humor! Thanks so much for your great comments and being a part of my blog 🙂

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