Day Zero. The day before the first day of a shoot. Anxious, excited and prepared. It’s been almost a year since I completed the very first draft of FOR IZZY (originally titled “San Gabriel Valley” before going through multiple changes in title). Before that in early 2015, I didn’t imagine … Continue reading “READY, SET…”
Sourcing and scouting locations on an indie production can often be the most tedious and unnecessarily complicated tasks – especially since it’s not often a budget for a dedicated location manager. Which is why many indie productions limit the number of locations, which starts with the writing. Have the story … Continue reading “LOCATIONS, LOCATIONS”
One of the most wonderfully absurd yet emotionally accurate films about the process of filmmaking is Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056801/) (get the Criterion edition if you can). From the opening sequences to the final frame, it captures the confusion, anxiety, and exhilaration of having to creating something while at … Continue reading “THE DANCE”
Filmmaking has, and always will be to some degree, a collaborative process (note I did not say “art” because not all film is considered “art” even by the filmmakers themselves). Which is why I never understood the underlying reason for developing the “auteur theory” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auteur_theory) in the first place. Or … Continue reading “THE MYTH OF THE AUTEUR”
I was having coffee with a producer a while ago and as I was going through the various projects I was working on (including FOR IZZY), the producer mentioned that all my projects centered around women, which was something I didn’t realize until it was pointed out to me. There’s … Continue reading “WHY I LOVE WRITING FOR WOMEN”
In speaking with some parents who are taking care of their children with ASD, one of insights I gained was hearing about their biggest fears. They aren’t only concerned about what will happen to their children once they are adults (and where there are fewer resources to help them – … Continue reading “THE GREATEST FEAR”
One of the inspirations for writing FOR IZZY was to find a way to work with veteran actors Elizabeth Sung and Jim Lau again – both of whom were in my previous feature YES, AND… (and Jim being in most of my prior short films). And through the development process … Continue reading “BEING A SINGLE PARENT”
I received an email the other day from a recent college graduate who found me through my college’s alumni database. This person was asking for advice on being a screenwriter. What is ironic is the person giving the advice (me) is often the person who needs to hear it the … Continue reading “RESILIENCE IN FILMMAKING”
While our film FOR IZZY isn’t a soapbox for social issues, the lives of the characters impacted by addiction is underpinned by recurring struggles that many recovering addicts and their loved ones face. A recent article here (http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2016/05/opioid-addiction-treatment-focus) summed it up quite nicely: that treating addiction involves both addressing the … Continue reading “THE SCIENCE AND HUMANITY OF ADDICTION RECOVERY”