The Harvest Moon

If you didn't have a chance to see it last Saturday, check out this pic taken by my dear friend, Tanya, from the beach in Campbell River. Stunning.

Thought I'd make the move on her while she wasn't looking! (Come on, WHO doesn't feel romantic under a full moon? You would have done the same!)

As you can see by the above pic, I'm in Campbell River again. Here's the thing -- I get a lot of writing done in this atmosphere. It's the whole peaceful laid-back island vibe, and I love it!

I'm lucky enough to have wonderful friends like Tanya and her husband (also my dear friend) who own a big house on a big piece of property in the middle of nature AND they actually like it when I stay here. It works out perfect cuz I enjoy their company, too! Plus, I have pretty much the whole back part of the house to myself so we all get some privacy.

Anyway, I got some new plans.

I've spent the last couple/few years on dozens and dozens of our company's sets so I could learn producing from the bottom, up. And I have. I am now familiar with every single aspect there is when it comes to running a production. I've worked in almost every role from crafty/first aid, to transport. I've held bounce boards, I've driven the equipment truck (even the camera truck once, racing beside a porsche -- talk about fun!), dealt with lighting and gear rental, settled L&D claims, done set dec and begged people for favors.

I've hired people, fired people, done a budget, found funding, dealt with arguing crew, liquored-up artists and difficult actors.

It's been a daring adventure, that's for sure!

The only downfall to my "producing education" is that I haven't been able to spend as much time on my writing as I would like. It's all good, though. I had to sacrifice one to learn the other.

But times, they are a changin'. I am now a confident and capable producer, which is what I set out to become. Yay, me!  One day I'm going to make my mark as a writer/producer. But first, I need to return to screenwriting full time for awhile.

I've decided to (sort of) move to Campbell River to concentrate on my writing through this fall and winter. I say "sort of" because I'll be here from Monday to Friday and will return to my Vancouver home on the weekends to max, relax, and catch up with my pals.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes :)

Sneak peek!

Whew! Been a busy summer for me, my friends. Spent a lot of time working out of town and arrived home only three days before we went to camera on one of our current projects.

We wrapped that project a few days ago and I've spent the time catching up on all my other stuff that I had to let lag for the past few months.

Again, whew!

I'm taking the weekend off, though -- it's hot as HELL outside, too hot to do anything other than laze around or drive to a lake or the ocean and swim -- then next week I'm back on two other projects. One is filming pick up days, the other is editing one of my scripts. I'll tell you about them later. I'm too lazy right now.

Here is a sneak peek on the set of ES2.

  

Have I told you lately how much I love being on set? Doesn't matter how long the hours are or how demanding the work is, both mentally and at times, physically, there is nothing like seeing a movie come to life.

Love. It.

Anyway, I've got a pile of books to choose from and no plans in the morning so I'm gonna spend most of the night reading.

Cheers!

KUNTA KINTE IS MY UNCLE

The title of a comedy I'm currently working on. You like? Picture Kevin James trying to land Beyonce by proving he is black.

Among (many) other things, I'm also working on a baseball comedy, SONS OF PITCHES. Think BAD NEWS BEARS if they were old enough to drink.

Both of these projects are ensemble scripts (meaning a large cast of characters) and I've been asked by a few people how I manage to come up with so many different personalities.

Easy answer, my friends! I study real people. (not judge, but study)

People I know, people I come across on the street, people I interact with on the internet and people on Youtube. Oh, and also myself. There is always some part of the writer in every character.

Real life people turn into real life characters.

Take the baseball comedy, for instance. There is a whole baseball team of characters and I based each character on someone I used to play baseball with, or currently play baseball with.

In a few of my characters, I didn't even change their names that much. The name they have in the script is a letter or two off of the same name they have in  real person. 

Here are a couple of little gems from YouTube that I studied for the Kunta Kinte script. In the wedding video, about halfway through, take note of the old man in the rose silk pantsuit with the white hat. You'll catch glimpses of him until the end. Beyonce's* uncle's character is based on him. For an old guy, he can sure cut a rug! And in the script, he's also loose with his hands when a woman is around. Any woman. Any size, any shape and any color.



The Kevin* character's brother is an aspiring rap star based loosely on this guy 'cept he dresses better. The character, not the real guy. But he still has the same outlook on life. Matter of fact, he gets along great with Beyonce's uncle ...



So there you have it. Pretty much every character I write is based on something that comes from a real person. It can be as simple as the way they look, the way they walk, the way they react, the tone in which they speak, etc, and the character "grows" from that one aspect until they come to life. Or it could be much more complicated, such as an amalgamation of a bunch of different people.

Anyway, it's Canada Day tomorrow and I'm spending it in Campbell River with some dear friends. We're going to check out the celebrations in town and then the fireworks on the beach!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend as well!

*I haven't given either leads their real names yet, so for now they are Beyonce and Kevin.

Nominated for a LEO Award!

Sunday's Child has been nominated for a LEO Award for best make up.

Congratulations to make-up artists Catriona Armour and Hailey Howse!

:)

Canadian women KICK ASS!

And we do, especially when it comes to making movies!

As a huge fan of independent films, I have a list of three independent Canadian films that I strongly urge you to check out.

Listed in order of release date:

THE YEAR DOLLY PARTON WAS MY MOM
(click on poster to find movie showtimes)

Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker, Tara Johns, starring Julia Stone, an extremely talented local Vancouver up and comer, along with Macha Grenon, Gil Bellows, and... Dolly Parton!

It's 1976 and Elizabeth is just your average suburban 11-year-old praying for adolescence to arrive, when she discovers her whole life has been a lie. With only her imagination to guide her, Elizabeth runs away in search of her true identity. Her adoptive mother, Marion is then forced to break out of the carefully constructed "truth" she's been clinging to, and go after her daughter. This leads to a cathartic cross-country trek by a mother searching for a daughter who's searching for a mother - both of them really searching for themselves.

The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom is a poignant, sometimes funny, very female coming of age story that explores the tension between creating identity and finding it within...

The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom had it's Vancouver premiere on April 8th at Tinseltown to a sold-out crowd. Tickets went like hotcakes and our dear friend, Sue, found herself in a mad scramble to "move" tickets around and accommodate those of us who waited til the last minute to get them. If it wasn't for Sue, me and my team wouldn't have made it to the screening, only the after-party.

Thank you, Sue!! As ever, you are there when needed. And the after-party, held at District 319, was also a smashing success!

AMAZON FALLS
(click movie poster to go to movie website)

Co-written and directed by Vancouver filmmaker, Katrin Bowen, starring April Telek, Zak Santiago, and Anna Mae Routledge.

Amazon Falls tells the story of a faded B-movie actress JANA who refuses to let go of her dream of being a star. Famous for her roles in Amazon movies where she portrayed a variety of pre-Xena warrior-princesses, she desperately tries to keep her leg in the B-movie game, and pursues her career with a zealous fervor. She is on the cusp of forty and its now or never. She will not be dispirited by her job at a sleazy nightclub nor the ceaseless grind of waiting for the big break. She creates the illusion that her big break is just around the corner and her friends and co-workers are supporting her in her dreams: ARON, her much younger 25-year old boy toy is in love with her LI-LI, an achingly beautiful 22-year-old actress her best friend and protégé will follow in her glamorous footsteps DEREK, a film producer will be the one to give Jana the big break she yearns for. But the reality is she works in a nightclub run by TOMMY, her sleazy boss who encourages flirtation with an array of oily characters including CALVIN, a particularly shady character from Janas distant past who has resurfaced to tempt her down a dark path. Jana avoids facing the truth at all costs. Despite her best efforts to live clean and expand her skills, Jana is ultimately overcome by the burden of a dream in a business that would seem to punish more for virtue than for vice.

Amazon falls opens in Vancouver on April 15th, 2011 at Denman Cinema. Be sure to get your tickets early for the premiere as I'm sure it will be a sell-out!

A WAKE
(click on movie poster to go to filmmakers website)

Co-written and directed by Vancouver filmmaker, Penelope Buitenhuis, starring Nicholas Campbell, Tara Nicodemo and Krista Sutton.

After the mysterious death of their infamous director, members of a formerly renowned theater company reunite for his wake. The grieving widow welcomes the thespians to her country house, but the drama intensifies when old rivalries and jealousies erupt, exposing a myriad of secrets and lies.

In this intense drama, six former members of a well-known theatre company assemble for their infamous director's wake. Gabor Zazlov (NICHOLAS CAMPBELL) has died suddenly. His grieving French widow, Hanna (TARA NICODEMO), welcomes the thespians to her country house but soon loses control of the proceedings when old rivalries and jealousies erupt. As members of Gabor's last ill-fated production of Hamlet four years ago, the characters they played continue to haunt their lives. Tyler (GRAHAM ABBEY) who played Laertes then Hamlet, is now a minor Hollywood star and secretly in love with Maya (KRISTA SUTTON), the quiet, new-agey Ophelia. Raj (RAOUL BHANEJA), now a successful real-estate agent, is still resentful of losing the part of Hamlet to Tyler. The unexpected arrival of Gabor's loafer son Chad (KRISTOPHER TURNER), ratchets up the tension further. Traveling in Europe, he knew nothing of his father's passing and accuses his stepmother of killing him. Another Hamlet joins the fray. However it is sexy, troubled Danielle (SARAIN BOYLAN), whose presence causes the most controversy. At dinner, the company's patron, Sabina (MARTHA BURNS), demands to know why "this whore was invited" and the party erupts. Not quite forgotten in the chaos is Gabor's deathbed request to mount a final reading of Hamlet. When Hanna can't continue to lead the charge, Chad takes on the role of director, exacting shocking truths from the actors. As secrets are revealed, the players must come clean: To thine own self be true. With morning hangovers, they all leave altered by this tumultuous night. But there remains one last shocking truth that none would suspect.

A Wake opens in Vancouver on April 29th, 2011 at Fifth Ave Cinemas. As with Amazon Falls, be sure to get your premiere tickets early as this film will also be a sell-out.

I attended the premiere of The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom and will definitely be attending the premieres for Amazon Falls and A Wake.

Hope to see you there!

I got nothin'... but stones

I surfaced from my work the other day, not because I am finished, but because I needed a break from the rewrite for a minute.

I can honestly say that I have never worked so hard on a project (and that's saying A LOT, considering how hard I work) as I have on this one.

Three page one rewrites since just after Christmas. When I sent in the first rewrite, I took the script in a slightly different direction and touched lightly upon a new storyline. My notes came back with "that's intriguing and there's a story there. Find it."

So, I've spent the last two drafts "finding" it and I think I finally have.

Only thing, with all the thoughts still swirling around in my head, I can't settle my mind down enough to be able to read this draft and see if I'm right. When this happens to me, I generally stop my "regular writing" and clear my mind by writing little inconsequential short scripts and short stories.

However, I'm not feeling it right now. I'm not feeling like writing a short script or story, but I need to write something in order to refocus myself, so here I am.

But... I got nothing to write about.

So, I'm gonna post about one of the many mysteries of the world that I find interesting. I picked this one at random:

The Ica Stones

In Peru, just north of the Pampa Colorada, lies the community of Ica, home to physician Javier Cabrera.

In 1966, an illiterate farmer gave Dr. Cabrera a stone for his birthday that had an image of a fish carved on it. Upon research, the doc discovered that the carving matched a specimen that has been extinct for thousands of years.

He questioned the farmer about where the stone had come from and the farmer told him that he found it in a cave after a flood, and that there were many more of them. He also said that he had been selling them to tourists so the good doc offered to buy whatever he had left and any more that he could find.

Dr. Cabrera ended up with more than eleven thousand of them.

Word of the stones and the farmer got out, so the BBC did a documentary on the subject. At the same time, the Peruvian government stepped in to question the farmer in depth about how he came to have the stones. The government also told the farmer that he would spend the rest of his life in prison for selling the rocks, as Peru has tough antiquity laws. The farmer quickly changed his story and said he had carved the rocks himself.

Since the government wanted to get rid of any controversy, they accepted the farmer's revised story without question. In addition, the BBC took a beating and were criticized for airing a story that was a hoax, so they quickly swept it under the rug, too.

And there it would have stayed if not for Dr. Cabrera.

For the last thirty years of his life, Cabrera researched and investigated the origin and content of the stones. He desperately tried to get the scientific community to join in, but they wouldn't because of the "hoax stigma" attached to the stones.

Here's what he found out on his own:

The stones are made of a local river rock that's a form of andesite, a hard volcanic material, and they are covered with a layer of natural oxidation, confirmed by German laboratories to be an ancient patina of oxidation that is impossible to recreate in this day and age.

The stones range in size from those that will fit in the palm of your hand to those the size of two basketballs.

The images etched into the stones depict humans, ancient animals, lost continents and the knowledge of global catastrophes. There are also images of brain transplants, heart transplants and cesarean sections using acupuncture as anasthesia and artificial life support systems that are just now being used by modern medicine.

There are drawings of men using telescopes and aerial images showing the earth with several unfamiliar land masses and a completely different continent configuration. When scientists compared these maps to computer animations, they were found to be highly accurate of what earth would have looked like thirteen million years ago, when the continents of Atlantis and Lemuria still existed.

So, who made the stones? And where did they come from? Do you believe that the farmer carved them himself so he could sell them to tourists?

I don't.

Even the scientists can't explain how an illiterate farmer could carve more than 11,000 stones, depicting intricate and ancient knowledge of the stars and planets, and the cynics can't account for those maps of ancient origin.

No one can.

The Ica Stones still remain a mystery that no one can explain with incontroversial proof, which of course, is why they interest me.

I'm going to Peru one day, and I am going to find one of these stones and I'm going to hold it in my hand.

And then maybe I'll know...

Want to see my dick?

I've talked about PRIVATE DICKS here before -- the dildo-puppet noir that we filmed as part of a 72 hour film festival challenge a couple of years ago.

It's not the first thing I wrote and it's not the only thing I've filmed, but it's the first thing that I wrote that was filmed.

It proved to be one of the biggest learning lessons in my career thus far in both writing and film making.

At the start of the challenge, I received a package with a couple of character profiles, a few story elements and a mystery prop in a paper bag, all of which had to incorporated into the storyline. We had exactly 72 hours to write, film and edit a short film.

It was definitely challenging and when our mystery prop turned out to be real human-size handcuffs, it definitely forced me to the edge of my creativity to come up with a semi-plausible storyline.

There are a few things we could have done better -- the biggest being less "talking heads"(no pun intended) and more puppet interaction -- and I'm not actually completely satisfied with the dialogue, but all in all, I think the team pulled together and made at least a halfway decent film for our talent and level of experience at the time.

And, if I do say so myself, there is a 90 second sequence near the end that we NAILED. I think that sequence was perfect film making on the part of the whole team.

PRIVATE DICKS has screened at The Caprice, The Rio, The Hollywood and The Vancity theaters and now it's finally time for me to post it here.

Private Dicks from High Deaf Productions on Vimeo.

What is that smell?

Oh, yeah, it's December and Christmas is in the air.

I like to spend every December in reflection on how I've lived my life in the past year and if there is anything I could improve upon or anything I am not happy with.

I also take the time to remember the all beautiful moments, and believe me, the beautiful moments far surpass the "not-so-beautiful" moments.

Appreciating the beauty in life is really very easy to do. Anything that put a smile on your face or made you feel good, or made you connect with another human, is a beautiful thing. If you take the time to reflect, you will find that you literally had hundreds and hundreds of these moments in your life.

Off the top of my head, I could easily come up with at least 20 moments that made me smile in the past week, but I won't because it doesn't matter. They are my beautiful moments, not yours, so they won't mean anything to you. It's up to you to recognize your own.

My wish of the season would be that you -- yes, you, the one who is reading this blog right now -- will take the time to reflect upon your own beautiful moments in life. What have you got to lose? Nothing. But you have the chance to gain some much needed joy.

And life without joy isn't really life, it's just existence.

I'd like to leave you with a short script I wrote one night a couple of Christmases ago, just for fun. For a brief moment in time, I contemplated trying to get it made, but then I realized what it would cost to animate it so I moved on.

Even if the script didn't go anywhere, it gave me joy to write it, so I'm good. And if it makes you smile, or maybe even giggle, then I'm better.

After, all, tis the season...

(and I was going to install the scrippets html in this blog so the script would be properly formatted, but since this is a custom-made blog, I didn't want to take the chance of screwing anything up)

SANTA'S SPECIAL DELIVERY
By Lisa Purves

INT. PRISON INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY

A CAMERA CREW sets up in the corner, the only movement in the otherwise seemingly empty room.

REPORTER (O.S.)
Well, Santa --

KRIS (O.S.)
It’s Kris. I go by Kris, now.

REPORTER (O.S.)
Okay, Kris. You are finally ready to share your side of the story, that is why you requested this interview, correct?

KRIS (O.S.)
Yup. I have something important to say...

The CAMERAMAN flicks the on switch, and points the camera across the room to where KRIS and a REPORTER sit at a table.

THROUGH THE CAMERA LENS

Kris stares straight at the camera, his plump red cheeks now pale, and his previously bushy beard trimmed into a tidy goatee.

KRIS
I’m not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.

REPORTER
(snorts in disbelief)
Pardon me?

Eyes wide as Kris tries to adopt an “apologetic” look for the camera.

KRIS
It’s the truth. I was driven to it.

REPORTER
Mr. Kringle --

KRIS
Don’t “Mr. Kringle” me! I was insane!

INT. SANTA’S BEDROOM - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

Kris as he relaxes in his underwear and eats bon bon’s.

KRIS (V.O.)
I’m immortal! Know what that means? It means I’ll live forever!

The bedroom door FLINGS OPEN and in storms MRS. CLAUS screeching like a banshee as she flings a pile of Kris’s clothes at him and motions for him to get dressed.

KRIS (V.O.)
Imagine living with the same woman forever. All that nagging, day in and day out! With no end in sight!

Mrs. Claus as she follows Kris around the room, mouth still chattering a mile a minute.

KRIS (V.O.)
And the shopping!

INT. MRS. CLAUSE’S DRESSING ROOM - DAY - FLASHBACK

Row upon row of IDENTICAL RED DRESSES... thousands of them, as Mrs. Claus carefully chooses the one she would like to wear.

KRIS (V.O.)
What the hell is she gonna do with all those dresses? It ain’t like we get company!

REPORTER (V.O.)
Kris, that doesn’t explain the reason why you did what you did.

KRIS (V.O.)
I needed the money.

INT. SANTA’S WORKSHOP - DAY - FLASHBACK

PILES OF SUPPLIES to build toys are stacked knee-deep in the room, with the elves carrying in many more.

KRIS (V.O.)
It ain’t cheap to be Santa Claus. Who do you think pays for all the toys?

INT. SANTA’S KITCHEN - DAY - FLASHBACK

KRIS (V.O.)
Not to mention the upkeep of the elves! Especially since they brought that damn union in.

MOUNTAINS OF FOOD cover every available table top, but not for long as the elves furiously devour everything in sight.

KRIS (V.O.)
Those little elves are deceiving!

Kitchen elves sweat profusely over vast cook pots as they rush to keep up with the angry demand for more food.

KRIS (V.O.)
They’re little alright... little pigs!

EXT. SANTA’S FARM - DAY - FLASHBACK

REINDEER happily prance in from the trees when they see Santa coming.

KRIS (V.O.)
And I was sick to death of the reindeer. There’s just too many of ‘em.

The reindeer keep coming... and coming... and coming...

KRIS (V.O.)
All they do is fly once a year, and the rest of the time, they screw like rabbits!

PAIRS OF HUMPING REINDEER are visible behind every tree, nook and cranny.

REPORTER (V.O.)
Can we get back to the subject at hand? Why don’t you tell us how you got started?

INT. SANTA’S BEDROOM - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

Kris, as he lay back on the bed, his swirling thoughts not allowing for sleep.

KRIS (V.O.)
Alright, already! So there I was, broke and temporarily insane...

Kris gets out of bed and goes to the window.

THROUGH THE WINDOW

Kris watches as the reindeer devour all the greenery in sight, and the elves madly plant new patches of grass in their wake.

Kris watches carefully, then his EYES WIDEN.

KRIS (V.O.)
... when the idea came to me.

EXT. SANTA’S FARM - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

Kris as he runs outside in his boxer shorts, to round up the planting elves.

KRIS (V.O.)
It was easy.

Kris as he supervises the elves while they build a HUGE GREENHOUSE.

KRIS (V.O.)
If you know the right people, word gets around pretty fast. The “letters to Santa” that were full of money started pouring in.

INT. SANTA’S BEDROOM - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

As Kris waits until Mrs. Claus leaves the room, then opens a hidden wall safe to gaze adoringly at the STACKS OF CASH inside.

KRIS (V.O.)
So I started making two deliveries every Christmas Eve.

EXT. ROOFTOPS - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

Kris as he guides the REINDEER AND SLEIGH onto the rooftops, and carefully deposits TWO PACKAGES in each one.

KRIS (V.O.)
One for the children, and one for the adults. Everything was groovy. I was almost set to retire in a tropical resort, anonymous and alone...

REPORTER (V.O.)
Until the incident at the orphanage. How did that make you feel?

INT. PRISON INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY - PRESENT

Kris turns his gaze away from the camera to stare at the reporter for the first time since the start of the interview.

KRIS
(hands up in defense)
Oh no, you don’t! You’re not blaming me for that one. That wasn’t my fault.

INT. ORPHANAGE - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

All is silent as the NUNS do their nightly check to ensure the children are asleep.

IN THE FRONT ROOM

A small group of ORPHANS huddle around the Christmas tree as they lay in wait for Santa.
Shivering with cold, the oldest of the group heads over to the fireplace.

KRIS (V.O.)
I mean, come on! Who leaves a fire burning on Christmas Eve? It’s not like people don’t know Santa’s coming!

EXT. ORPHANAGE ROOFTOP - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

Kris as he deposits PACKAGES down the chimney with glee.

INT. ORPHANAGE - MORNING - FLASHBACK

As the nuns enter the smoke-filled room to find the orphans deliriously happy and giggling hysterically as they charge around the room.

Behind them in the fireplace, the smouldering remains of Santa’s presents:

PARTIALLY BURNED BOXES FULL OF MARIJUANA.

KRIS (V.O.)
That was the orphans fault. If you want to blame someone, blame those little bastards.

FADE OUT.