The feel-good vibe here at the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival keeps on growing. Friday, day two, was awesome! Sadly, I missed the panels in the morning, but was able to catch the evening screenings the Male Pattern Badness block (featuring. Atom.com).

It’s not too late to see what else is going on for the rest of this weekend! Check out the festival schedule.

DAY 2 Favorites:

The FUTURE-ER -  a great, lo-fi, dark, complicated time-travel dick joke from Utah filmmaker P.M. Baird. The short, while I’d say maybe 3 minutes too long, is an excellent lo-fi exploration. It looks great, has the right about of sci-fi ambiance and humor and I love the black and white aesthetic. At the Q&A an audience member asked what was the most difficult part of making the film, Baird’s response: “Convincing my mother to buy me the camera.” Win.

The FUTURE-ER from P.M. Baird on Vimeo.

Mutumbo Golberg – a brisk, faux reality comedy series, featuring grown-ass-black-man Anthony Anderson as a young adopted Jewish boy living in the home of a clueless suburban couple.  The series is absurd with is juxtaposition of race and culture, Jerry Minor plays a OB / GYN roped into pretending he’s an African tribesman on behalf of “Mutumbo”, while Thomas Middleditch’s character (whitey mc-jew town!) waxes poetic about the planes of Tanzania. When “Mutumba” horns on in on Mutumbo’s free living arrangement, Mutumbo puts his foot down when she tries to rip them off. After all their his parents!

Then it was onto the magic school bus, and a short ride over to ESPN ZONE at L.A. Live for the BIG ASS KIDS PARTY! Woo! We got our drink on and played many a free arcade game. It was like 1988 up in this bitch!

Watch out folks, I can stomp my feet in a mechanical motion to the beat of music for the sake of entertainment. Or @CoverMyScript said it better, I’m “goosestepping my way to dance perfection.”

Stay tuned for LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival 2011: Day 3! And be sure to check out LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival 2011: Day 1

It’s exciting to be a sponsor of the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival, the vibe here in downtown Los Angeles is awesome. Over the next couple of days, me (@UncompletedWork) and Xandy (@CoverMyScript) will be tweeting and blogging talking about our experiences and all that fun jazz.

Here is the lovely entrance way of the Kyoto Grand Hotel. On Saturday night LA Comedy Shorts roof top party will be here.

Then it’s off to the Downtown Independent Theatre, to pick up our badges. And slippers. Xandy opted for the pink ones. Perfect fit!

Down at the red carpet, we tried out new battle poses. Watch out!

Hey! It’s a little CoverMyScript.com Signage. Nice!

Then it was into the packed theatre for the opening night screenings!

Last week, I was interviewed by The-Greenlight.com on the importance of branding. Today it came out so take a peek! I touch on the subjects of web presence, putting your best foot forward and taking ownership of what is quintessentially you.

It’s tough as ever to reach the dream. The talent pool grows and grows and at any waking moment in LA there is a cacophony of writers clamoring recognition and livelihood. When I say a screenwriter needs branding, it means they need to effectively set-themselves apart and above of their peers. Good writing is vitally important, not much can be done without a solid foundation, but so much is how you present yourself in the context of your good work.

Speaking of Branding there is even more exciting news in addition to all the goings on earlier this week!

L.A. COMEDY SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL PRIZES

Through CoverMyScript.com, winners of the Movie Magic Screenwriter Screenplay Competition for Best Comedy Feature and winners of the Funny Or Die’s Best-of-Fest Grand Prize Short will receive a Branding and Next Steps Consultation Package.

Over at the HQ of the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival, the CoverMyScript.com team met with Artistic Director and festival co-founder Gary Anthony Williams (you may remember him from such comedy things as, everything) and Festival Director and co-founder, Jeannie Roshar – we were originally just going to transcribe an interview, but our time with them so lively, it kinda turned into a podcast.

Read the rest of the L.A. Comedy Short Film Festival news: here.

There are so many instructional and scholarly articles out there about the writing and filmmaking processes. Hell, I write some of those too. But, I’m just a dude who loves his craft(s), and has his hand in 15 little fires at any given moment. I’m out to learn from the world. What does it take to keep my engine running? I’m excited to share some of the things I’ve been working on, will be working on, and where you can see me in LA this month:

APRIL 2011

RT Booklovers Convention

HOLLYWOOD: From Page to Screen : Script Consultants Give You the Goods
Date: Wednesday April 6, 2011 01:00 pm – 02:00 pm
Event Type: Writer Industry Workshop
Location: The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, 404 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Phone: 213-624-1000

RT Booklovers convention is hosted by RTBookReview.com and is a focused community of romance writers across several sub-genres. Though I’m not working on the next “Twilight-killer” I do know what makes for good story, and I’m delighted to be joined by fellow panelists and writers Xandy Sussan (imdb), Melinda Snodgrass (imdb) and moderator Vivi Anna.  We’ll sort you out. Romance lovers, hope to see you there.

LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival

CoverMyScript.com will be out at the LA COMEDY SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL:

The L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival and Screenplay Competition is dedicated to introducing the newest and hottest comedic talent to the industry, and helping them make the connections they need to take their careers to the next level.

In fact, the winners of the LA COMEDY SHORTS screenplay competition will also win a gracious CoverMyScript.com BRANDING AND NEXT STEPS CONSULTATION PACKAGE with myself and CoverMyScript.com owner, Xandy Sussan. Check it out, it’s going to be awesome, I mean Gary Anthony Williams people!  He’s very pretty (source: bio.)

Script Frenzy

Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants take on the challenge of writing 100 pages of scripted material in the month of April.

Along with Xandy Sussan over at  CoverMyScript.com, I’ll be co-writing a stoner comedy script, based on an outline we hashed out (pardon the pun) last year. Script Frenzy is an excellent tool to keep yourself accountable. My goals with this draft are simple; get it on the page, beat it up, slap it around. Many other will be pushing themselves to hit the 100 page mark this April too. Follow me on twitter @UncompletedWork and the hash-tag #scriptfrenzy for my progress and others. You can also sign up and track your progress on ScriptFrenzy.org

SCREENWRITER KARAOKE

Screenwriter Karaoke is going through some exciting changes in the coming months to include a NEW VENUE and NEW SPONSORS! Stay tuned for upcoming news about the when and where  and what special conventions and conferences you’ll see Screenwriter Karaoke attend. If you’d like to suggest your favorite karaoke joint in Los Angeles, tweet at @SWKaraoke.

ARTICLES

There are a million topics I’d love to be writing for and about. One of my most obsessive is probably video games. Last year I was able to indulge  with the sound design team on Medal of Honor.  This year,  I’ll be writing more content for other games. I can’t say which games just yet, but they are cool, well known franchises that fans definitely love.   I will also be contributing an occasional article over at Regrifters.com a new site about taking things old and making them new on the cheap.

WEBSITES

As part of the overall branding of individuals, I often do web development and design for my filmmaking clients. This month I finished the site of accomplished special effect make-up person Scott Conner (imdb). His website is EvilgrinFX.com.

If you are thinking about making a website for your film, or as a portfolio of your work as a filmmaker, reach out to Uncompleted at MerrelDavis.com.

Hey folks, so much on the horizon this month. My event, Screenwriter Karaoke, has grown so much since I started it back in New York City. I’m happy to announce I’ll be returning to New York City for a special post Thanksgiving appearance. And no worries for LA. we’re still on this Thursday November 18th 2010 at Sardo’s in Burbank.

SCREENWRITER KARAOKE LA
Thursday November 18th @ 8:30 P.M.
Sardo’s Grill and Lounge
259 N. PASS AVE.
Burbank, CA 91505
(818) 846-8127

SCREENWRITER KARAOKE NYC
Monday November 29th @ 8 P.M.
Baby Grand
161 Lafayette Street at Grand
New York, NY 10013
212.219.811

Hey folks, a quickie, I’ll be here in San Diego all weekend at Comic-Con. Don’t be a stranger.

Over the weekend at The Great American Pitchfest I hosted Screenwriter Karaoke. Debra Eckerling of Write On! Online of wrangled me for a couple of moments during the Screenwriter Karaoke set-up and posted this video.

http://writeononline.com/2010/06/28/speaking-with-merrel-davis-creator-screenwriter-karaoke/

This weekend I was glad to be a part of the ongoing and ever-growing Script Chat as a guest for their professional reader panel. In the past year, I’ve watched this small twitter chat go from real life colleagues and friends, and then sky rocket into six degrees of Twitter.

Twitter chats aren’t new, just take a look at the long list of Twitter chats about writing compiled by @inkyelbows and you’ll see what I mean. I entered the Twitter chat pool as a participant of #WriteChat but found the discourse was specific to fiction novel writing. I even lazily maintain my own chat #ScreenwritingSaturday. It’s an informal hash tag for causal weekend discussion. (Stop by!)

I have many peers that scoff at the idea of using Twitter. They complain they don’t care what I eat for breakfast.  But to be clear, I’ve staffed projects, met people, and received work through the magic of Twitter. I just smile when someone is excessively pessimistic about such things.

Community is important. I started Screenwriter Karaoke for this very reason. We, collectively, as a new era of filmmakers are carving out the attitudes and business models of tomorrow. It starts in the ground floor of dedicated professionals who are striving to make their work shine. It starts in communities like Script Chat.

My appearance as a panelist on Script Chat culminated with a special announcement — Double Feature: a new joint venture with CoverMyScript.com owner Xandy Sussan. We have harnessed our years of experience to provide simultaneous coverage and development services at a value to our clients. It is only with the support community can we try such enterprising things. So, thanks!

The pictures are in. October’s Screenwriter Karaoke was the largest one yet. Screenwriters and filmmakers filled out the entire bar from end to end. The place was filled creative energy.

Check out the pictures. (Yes, I’m the guy in the hat.)

And be sure to come to November Screenwriter Karaoke. This will be the last Screenwriter Karaoke in New York City for a little bit while I set up shop in LA.

Time: Wednesday, November 4th, 8 p.m.

Location: Baby Grand
161 Lafayette Street at Grand
New York, NY 10013
212.219.8110

It is quite possible that you’ve landed on my blog and you aren’t aware that I also organize a filmmaking network event called Screenwriter Karaoke. Right now the events are NYC based, but I hope soon to have an LA counterpart.

What is Screenwriter Karaoke? Think of it as a way to let your hair down, step up, wail on Super Tramp’s “The Long Way Home,” and then talk about your latest romantic comedy script. Looking for a collaborative writing partner with a knack for 17th Century English? You just might find one at Screenwriter Karaoke.

The event aims to be an informal way to meet your writing and filmmaking peers. Sometimes network events are just awkward, so why not try to loosen up have a couple of drinks and sing?

When: October 15, 2009 8:00 PM
Where:
Baby Grand
161 Lafayette Street at Grand
New York, NY 10013
212.219.8110

Please RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/Screenwriter-Karaoke/

To prove there is nothing to be afraid of, here I am on the right, rocking out to some Build me up Buttercup!

Screenwriter Karaoke aims to be a more informal way to get to know your industry peers and counterparts and hopefully make a connection! I created this event as a labor of love and a way to get and keep the community connected in a fun and informal way.

What: Screenwriter Karaoke September 2009
When: September 17, 2009 8:00 PM
Where:
Baby Grand
161 Lafayette Street at Grand
New York, NY 10013
212.219.8110

After a brief hiatus in August, Screenwriter Karaoke is back with a vengeance this time at BABY GRAND NYC a small and intimate Karaoke Bar at the nexus of Little Italy and Soho.

$1 dollar per song, but you must RSVP! as this is a very small and intimate location.

Think of it as a way to let your hair down. Imagine stepping up, and pitching your latest romantic comedy, then rolling right into Rocket Man. Oh feel the excitement! Looking for a collaborative writing partner with a knack for 17th Century English? Need a no-nonsense DP with a good reel? How about that next lead for your short? Woo them with your manly rendition of Sweet Transvestite.

The event is open to all Filmmakers, Writers, Actors, Producers, DP’s, Editors, Directors, etc. However, you must RSVP as space is limited.

For RSVP and more go to:
http://www.meetup.com/Screenwriter-Karaoke/calendar/11322583/

Novelist and screenwriter Alexander Stuart is commemorating the 20th Anniversary re-release of his novel The War Zone by offering up a signed copy of the new Authorhouse release. You can read my review of the novel here and read what’s new this edition on Stuart’s blog.

To enters just @reply to @AlexanderChow (his twitter name) with the hash tag #WarZoneNovel

“What experience in adolescence most shaped your life or work?”

Best answer in three tweets or less by midnight PST Sunday August 23rd 2009 wins a signed copy. [Full Disclosure: I am co-judging this twitter contest. You can follow me at @UncompletedWork.]

Stay tuned for my second part of “Stepping into The War Zone” where I review and compare The War Zone film to its novel counterpart.

I’m back from a five day stint at the Southampton Screenwriters Conference, which was held at Stony Brook University, Southampton, Long Island.

What a wonderful experience!  Back in May when I was accepted to the conference I had some very specific goals in mind. I was going to workshop my feature script Through the Broken Glass. By the time of the conference, I had finished my fifth draft and was ready to run it through the ringer.

Surprising to me, was just how many things I learned during the conference both internal and external of my script.

The Workshop

Each morning began with the core workshop. I attended “Mastering Scene Writing” with actor/writer/director Peter Riegert in a small class of about six people. In this intimate environment Riegert proved a sharp guy. He offered a wealth of anecdotal advice based on both his acting experience and his experience writing and directing his Oscar nominated short By Courier and his feature length film King of the Corner.

Merrel Davis (me!) and Peter Riegert

It was refreshing to hear a consummate actor such as Peter Riegert read lines from my script. A lesson emerged from reading, a lesson of cleverness and simplicity and their places. I had written something (in a much earlier draft) that tickled me pink, and I was proud of it. But as Riegert said, “wit runs only so far.” My clever scene with a visual trick with an overly complicated execution didn’t really add to the my story, in fact it detracted.

The rest of the workshop explored simplicity and profundity as a way to “rise to the occasion” in a scene. Many view scriptwriting as severely limiting – Riegert encouraged us to “exploit what is limited.” Part of filmmaking is to embrace the limitations (no internal dialogue, visual storytelling, et. al.)

The Classes

In the afternoon, there were electives available to all screenwriters and playwrights.  I took an elective course “What Lies beneath” about psychology and screenwriting with screenwriter turned psychotherapist Renee Shafransky. [Note: Look for a full post about just this topic in the near future.]

She opened quite compellingly with the statement “Every good screenwriter is a psychologist.” She focused on the concept of “Why Now?” The idea of why are we seeing these characters in a certain state at this moment, what pushed them there? Shafranksy stated: “This will give the urgency to your story.  What’s so urgent today that wasn’t urgent yesterday?”

“Writing for the Camera” with Robert Emmett Ginna focused on how the visual narrative can show so much, without a word of dialogue. He spoke about his time on the set of Lawrence of Arabia and regaled us with tales of old-Hollywood. We watched Kurosawa and talked about how important visual is to the story telling component. A real old-school Hollywood filmmaker.

“Based on a true story” with Carla Singer, whom had done many made-for-tv-movies for lifetime and others, was an interesting exploration of life rights, life story rights, and legal problems associated with basing a script on real events.

Lastly, I attended “Editing and Rewriting” with Carol Dysinger. We spent much of the class deconstructing the script and film version of Barton Fink. Dysinger was on point with no-bullshit advice advice about screenwriting. She convinced me to “kill the leather notebook” — I’d been hanging onto the vestiges of a sub-plot that existed in the first draft(s) that had proved problematic. It involved the protagonist receiving a leather note book as a child. I spent so much time trying to make this component work, when really it just didn’t belong.

Dysinger left two things seared into my mind: “Manifest the movie in the mind’s eye of the reader” and  “Dialogue should be Haiku.” I couldn’t agree more.

The Speakers

Novelist/playwright/screenwriter Peter Hedges, perhaps best known for penning the novel and screenplay of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, spoke at length about his creation process.  I asked Hedges to share the differences he saw in adapting his own work or others. He said that early on he was afraid to betray the voice of the novel, even his own. Hedges later realized it was the story which mattered and began to focus on developing story for screen without rigidly focusing on the novel counterpart.

Screenwriter and AMPAS Nicholl Fellow Will Chandler posted some great notes on Peter Hedge’s Q&A over at the ScriptMag blog.

The following night, Alec Baldwin and Jon Robin Baitz took the stage to discuss writing for film and television. Baitz spoke of how he entered television writing as a way to financially offset his love of playwriting. He cautioned playwrights against going into television writing for the money, as too many never come back into the theatre fray. Baitz said “be responsible for what you write” – he stressed culpability for the work you produce.

Alec Baldwin spoke similarly of the responsibility of an actor. He once turned down a $750,000 gig to read a ‘part of a cop killer’ for the Grand Theft Auto games. Baldwin also said “the time of the writer/director has arrived” – if not for any other reason than, budgets are shrinking and why pay for 2 people when you can pay for one?

The Atmosphere

The lovely setting of Southampton, with its beautiful sprawling land and the beach so close, proved the perfect setting to clear my head. The Stony Brook University campus was accessible and inviting, and the organizers took every step to accommodate conference goers.

Unbeknownst to me until arrival, a playwriting conference was also taking place, and as a result I spent my time mingling between actors, playwrights, and screenwriters (and a couple of poets and novelists for good measure.) There was a sense of camaraderie between the “students” and the “teachers.” But really were all students and all teachers.

As there was a concurrent playwriting conference, I had the oft not indulged luxury of going to see some theatre. I attended a reading of “The First Day of School” by Billy Aronson, directed by Robert Davenport. It was a great experience, and made me wish to go to the theatre more often.

Also, be sure to check out Laura Thompson’s recap of the event. She attended Christina Lazaridi’s workshop on “Understanding Film Structure.”

Was it worth it?

Walking away, I feel invigorated. I’ve met new friends, made new professional contacts, and damnit I enjoyed myself! Something interesting emerged from the conference that I wasn’t expecting; I connected. Not just with my own work, but with fellow creatives. I have new goals to compliment my already riotous and fast paced journey.

As I mentioned last month I’ll be attending the Southampton Screenwriters Conference.

The workshop I’ll be in has changed. I’ll now be attending Mastering Scene Writing with Peter Riegert. From the program sheet: “The main idea is that the screenplay is a living organ that must be constantly fed, i.e. rewriting and editing until opening night.”

Throughout the five days of the conference, in addition to writing and copious note taking I’ll also be tweeting and blogging. If you are attending the conference, please come and say hello!

For a while I have been kicking the idea of a hosting a networking event in the New York City area for filmmakers. This week I’ve birthed Screenwriter Karaoke. Screenwriter Karaoke aims to be a more informal way to get to know your industry peers and counterparts and hopefully make a connection! I’d love for all my readers to come out and help make this event a great time.

Think of it as a way to let your hair down. Imagine stepping up, and pitching your latest romantic comedy, then rolling right into Rocket Man. Oh feel the excitement! Looking for a collaborative writing partner with a knack for 17th Century English? Need a no-nonsense DP with a good reel? Woo them with your manly rendition of Sweet Transvestite.

The event is open to all Filmmakers, Writers, Producers, DP’s, Editors, Directors, etc. However, you must R.S.V.P.

Please go to http://www.meetup.com/Screenwriter-Karaoke and RSVP for

FRIDAY, JULY 10TH FROM 8PM TO 10 PM
Second on Second Karaoke Bar Lounge
27 Second Avenue (Between 1st & 2nd Street)
New York , NY 10003

IMPORTANT INFO:

• The $13 per person is to cover the cost of room reservation. This does not include drinks, which must be ordered in the private room and not out in the public area. (or they’ll charge extra!) Be sure to account for your drinks and pay out before you leave!
• 21 and over. Karaoke Bar is checking IDs at the door.
• Have fun!