Yesterday was the last day of the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival. In a sea of film festivals that take themselves very seriously, it is refreshing to see a group of people and filmmakers that are so comfortable in having a little bit of fun, while still being serious about their crafts. And have fun we did!

I met so many funny and amazing filmmakers, actors, and comedians that it’s actually hard to recount it all. The full list of official selections for 2011 are here.  And, you can read all the winners from last night here. The parties were great, the ceremony was chock full of awesomeness like the appearance of “the most beautiful woman in puppet-land,” Lynne Marie Stewart.

Comedy was in the air even at the Kyoto Grand Hotel, since the “Leather Leadership Conference 2011″ was also going on. I haven’t had this much fun since CES and the Adult Video Awards were in the same hotel in Las Vegas. Though I asked several men in ass-less chaps (seriously)  about the convention,  but apparently it’s a “long and involved 10-minute answer.”

Festival Favorites

One filmmaker, Lorne Hiltser, was sharp and prepared for the showing of his AFI thesis film Karl Mulberry. Karl Mulberry is a sweet, slightly awkward, yet totally endearing story of a boy struggling with the absence of his father. His over-protective tendencies get the best of him as he tries to thwart the local flower shop guy from dating his mom.

I actually missed his screening, and after I met him he whipped out a shrink-wrapped DVD and said “no worries, here’s a copy for you!” Lorne was the only person who was advantageous enough to ensure every one got to see his film at the festival. That’s dedication and preparedness.

Lorne’s diligence paid off. Last night, he received an award for BEST COMEDY STUDENT FILM. As such, he won the coveted horse’s ass. Xandy and I mugged with Lorne and his award (by this point it had been a looong 4 days, can you tell?)

But perhaps the film that was the most sweetly subversive and heart-tuggingly funny was Something Fishy written and directed by Aussie Kristy Best. As far as I know, she was not at festival, and one of the very few filmmakers I didn’t get to chat with about their work.

Meet Maxine, 7-years old. She’s a sweet and twisted, yet always well meaning little girl who marches to the beat of her own drum. Or rather dances, fully clothed, in the sprinkler with goggles on, cause she’s just that darn free-wheelin and in touch with her adventurin’.

Something Fishy taps into the sweetest, most naive part of children and turns it on its head. And does so in a funny, and slightly morbid, but totally bad ass way.

Here Kristy talks about making the film:

Be sure to check out the last 3 days of LA Comedy Shorts coverage

- Day 1
- Day 2
- Day 3

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.

2010 was a wild year of personal sacrifice and amazing professional growth. I’ve endeavored to live a life that seems glamorous to the arm-chair filmmakers. (It’s not.) I’ve emerge embattled the last year with the following thoughts and reflections on life in Los Angeles and the entertainment industry at large:

1. Desperation looks ugly on you.
There is nothing more noticeable than the stench of desperation in the room. Los Angeles is the city of  “keeping up appearances” and the way you carry yourself is as important as the message you carry. That’s not news, but be very careful not to confuse candor and aspiration for desperation, or the other way around.

This past year, I took what I thought was a mutual meeting with a peer. But as it turned out, he was “meeting with me.” He showed up,  resume in hand and instead of approaching me like a person, he begged me for a job. I had hoped for a meeting of the minds. I was testing the waters for a new collaborative partner. But his demeanor was so needy, he talked about how little money he had, how his old man cut him off.

I’m no job fairy. Whilst we, collectively, are a woefully underemployed bunch at times, this was most definitely the wrong way to approach anyone. And honestly, if I did have a job to give him, I wouldn’t have. Awkward and desperate when cultivating new work partners = see ya later! Everyone can smell fear. Which brings me to my next point…

2. Shut up and listen if you ask for help.
I recently had lunch with an Emmy award winning fellow who was re-evaluating his “legacy.” After the writers’ strike, work dried up, and he, like most others in Los Angeles, is still looking for a new way to make a living. Teaching workshops, he asked, was it viable? Could he do it?  I was enthusiastic and know people on the filmmaking workshop circuit and offered my help.

Much to my chagrin, he shot me down immediately; he gave me a litany of logistical and personal reasons why the solution, I hadn’t even offered, wasn’t viable. Not all who wax poetic about jump-starting their future are actually interested in getting on the bike. He wasn’t interested in networking to get on the workshop circuit or collecting his knowledge into what could be a publication. His impression: Someone would  descend from the heavens, orchestrate and pay him top dollar for workshops based on his body of work. That’s as solid a plan as I had ever heard. I mean sure, that would be ideal and the least amount of work in man-power and time (and awesome!) it is also the least likely to ever happen in any universe, even Dr. Who.

If you really want options and ideas ask for them. If you’d rather be jaded about your success or lack thereof, check it at the door and keep it to yourself. Good advice is not for deaf ears. It’s for the bright-eyed individual who’s willing to take the tools and do the work.

3. Los Angeles: “Fuck Yo steady paycheck. Seriously.”
The sheen of L.A. is the most fabricated and heralded social ecosystem of the entertainment world. Expectations, “Hollywood Bullshit,” and cost of living exist on different planes.

Chances are you aren’t independently wealthy. I’m not. But if you ask me “Merrel how did you make a living in 2010?” I’d respond: “With every bit of love, sweat and pain I had.”

Living in Los Angeles is exciting and tough. But in this current economic climate, but it’s harder making a living solely on one craft. So you want to know the real deal? You got to pay the bills, with more than said skills.

During the week, I might be working at a production sound shop. At night, I do coverage or development clients.  Early morning, it’s a bit of editing or graphic design work. Lunch time, I polish a magazine article for syndication. The scripts I sold last year were animated overseas,  so yes, I am a “paid screenwriter.” But that’s not what brought the bread. In a game of keeping up appearances, this town is hard work. Check your company-man hat at the door, because the only way you will survive is to synthesize all your strong skills.

4. “Yes” Means “No”, “No” means “No”
So,  you meet a  “big producer” for lunch. Maybe you are looking to compare notes, test the waters, partner with him, pitch to him. You had a wonderful lunch, great conversation. You gave him your card, some materials, everyone smiles, “we’ll be in touch!” he says.

On the surface, that seems like a pretty great interaction. But the reality of the passive-aggressive, hyper-polite “yes” is aggressively aggravating! The producer said “yes” outloud to interest, but  in his view, it’s the least confrontational way to pass on material or you. Xandy over at covermyscript.com calls it “aggressive obsequiousness” or when everyone is so hyper-polite because no one wants to accidentally tell off the next Scorsese.

The passive aggressive “yes” is like a sneak attack, especially if you have East-coast sensibilities. A meeting like that in NYC may have ended with a “thanks, no thanks” hand shake. At least you know where you stand. But, know that “yes” means “no” all the way to the bank. Be receptive and in the back of your mind know, most people will say “yes” but likely mean “no.”

5. Nepotism / Favoritism thy name is the studio system. Don’t take it personally.
In another life, I worked in the Washington D.C. corridor. The amount of inbreeding between government contractors and various agencies there is astounding (and makes for terrible oversight.) Every single person is somebody’s brother or cousin, close family friend. I once worked at a sixty person contractor — where all the team leads and middle management were cousins.  Interns? Forget about it, we’ve got middle management’s children for that.

I asked Xandy if she could elucidate this phenomenon:

When I first moved out here, my uncle (a prominent and important television producer) made a call on my behalf to a production company and “asked” them to hire me. I put the “ask” in quotes, because when you come recommended from someone like my uncle, you fall into the “must hire” category; like being a legacy at a college. So, I went to the prod co for my, what I was lead to believe was  just a perfunctory meeting, prior to an offer, but what I walked into was an ambush. The hiring manager was so annoyed that I was a “must hire” that she made me jump through a series of unnecessary hoops. I played along, knowing my uncle’s reputation was on the line. Over the course of the next six weeks, I was called back in to interview four more times. By our last meeting, I had lost interest in the hiring manager’s games and flat out asked her what the deal was. She laid it out for me. She didn’t like “must-hires” and she would never hire me. But she had to make it look like she was doing her job. She had already staffed the position with someone more qualified. And by “more qualified” of course I mean, her friend from Cornell. Ah the nepotism trump card; nepotism!  The bottom line, being someone’s relative doesn’t always pave the way for your advancement, it usually opens the door for somebody else’s friend.

You  must constantly navigate people. They all have their own motivations, and most people are acting to elevate, not your interest, but their own. Don’t take it personally.

6. The Dunning Kruger effect
I’d always been aware of this principal in sort of a storied sense, but it wasn’t until this past year that someone shared that there is a formal way to categorize “Dumb people are succeeding at an alarming rate, and smart people are languishing.”

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled people make poor decisions and reach erroneous conclusions, but their incompetence denies them the metacognitive ability to realize their mistakes. This leads to the situation in which less competent people rate their own ability higher than more competent people. It also explains why actual competence may weaken self-confidence.^{(Courtesy Wikipedia.com)}

When you see dumb people succeeding, don’t let it get you down. It’s not because they’re better than you, it’s because scientifically, they are so dumb they fail upwards.  Remember this on every production on set, during every pre-production, during development meetings and when you park your car at Target. Trust me.

7. No one has scruples. Protect yourself.
Story time, again: For over a year and a half now, I’ve hosted Screenwriter Karaoke, a fun filmmakers network event that puts people together in a room with just a little bit of booze, a microphone and tambourine. I’m grateful, this past year was a boon for my baby event. It went from small bars in NYC, to regular dives in LA, to two major screenwriting conferences the Great American Pitchfest and the Creative Screenwriting Expo 2010. These were amazing opportunities to reach to a whole new crowd about my mantra of connecting to peers with a bit of song and drink.

So, you’d might imagine my out right anger when a script doctor that was attending one of these conferences, falsely represented himself as part of my organization. He created a slew of false and misleading website postings / pages, all claiming to be a premiere sponsor of my event while never once speaking to me. One page with an “official website” link lead to his own website and services page! All this, while I do have real  premiere sponsors.

Standing up for yourself by protecting your blood and sweat equity from vultures is the only way you’ll set yourself apart. How do you respond to an astroturfer who unabashedly pretends to be part of your hard work? I sought him out, called him at 10:30 on a Sunday morning and laid out just how unacceptable his behavior was. Don’t let random people encroach on your success. Who the hell is he to come in, swoop up all my hard work and pretend he was there from square one in a lame attempt to drive sales in his own business?

I made it very clear who I was, and even introduced myself when I saw him at Screenwriter Karaoke. For the record, he stayed for one song before he bailed. But my mark is made, I protected myself and he will never pull this shit with me again.

8. Don’t write checks your ass can’t cash / Let people assume.
The two sided coin of entertainment work: you must at once not over promise, whilst still leaving an air of wonder in the room. You may have heard the adage “talk the talk, until you walk the walk” and while there is certainly some truth to presenting yourself well, don’t overstate who you are. We’ll know you’re lying. We always do.

People assume lots of things. Let them. There was a time in my early twenties where I felt the need to correct the real or perceived assumptions people made about me or my work. The correction never yielded more work. Usually, I’d just make more of an ass of of myself in the process.

If you talk a big game you better have the goods. For example, if you are pitching scripts, you should probably have it written. Sure, we all know the stories of pitches on napkins for millions, but what happens when you pitch, and they like it? Will you run home and do your vomit pass and hope for the best? That’s what I call a pay-day loan with strings attached versus writing your own checks.

Maybe the perception others have of you will be flattering, and perhaps not factual. People love to fill in the gaps, so let them. And just like a writer and mental spackle, people spackle their assumptions and personal experience over their view of you. If you find this happening, let it flow, people are going to think what they are going to think regardless if you correct them.

9. Being #2 on the list is like being an understudy. You never know when you have your opening night, so be prepared.
Building a support system of friends and peers is a slow process. It begins with letting people know who you are and what your about. There are ways to be well positioned. For example, seek out professionals you admire and cultivate a relationship with them. Exultation or demands for work won’t get you very far, but an earnest interest might.

In my travels this year I met a great fellow with a boutique production company. I made a good impression and we hit it off. We traded emails and then months later I got a call: “So and so dropped out, you were the first person who came to mind.” Ah, yes, music to my ears! I had an opportunity to meet with a great crew and DP on a top TV show in it’s seventh season and teach a workshop. Things lined up. It’s because I wasn’t bashful in letting him know who I am or what I do.

I was prepared and delighted to be able to try my hand at a new gig. The workshop went well, but I really did feel like an understudy. I knew all the lines, I’m just amazed I’d have a chance to recite them.

10. Opportunities aren’t presented, they are created.
Last story, I promise: I was staffed on a NAT GEO TV series. To get on, I contacted the executive producers, through a friend of a friend. The production company told me outright they weren’t hiring, they didn’t know the next series they were doing either. Basically, “go fly a kite, thanks.”

Most people would have stopped there. I was persistent. I landed a different gig in the interim, then called the following month and asked if I could come in to see the production offices. They obliged me, I went in and met the whole team. It was “Thanks for stopping by and seeing our digs!” and they sent me on my way.

By this point, I had made my intentions clear. It was a little discouraging to repeatedly hear “sorry, we got nothing for you.” But I kept in contact. Never overbearing, just a “hey this is what I’m doing now.” When the NAT GEO show came through, I was high on the list, and they staffed me for six months.

Even though I knew somebody personally who had done work for this production company and they referred me, I made this opportunity myself. Getting in front of somebody is the easy part, creating the opportunity for yourself is only way you’ll ever see success.

Oh no, here comes another life update!

Since February, I’ve been doing production work on two hours of documentary television which will air next month on the National Geographic channel. I’m excited, as this will be my first on screen television credit. I’ll post more details about the program as the air date nears, it’s going to be a good one.

I’m finishing up a “very special” romantic comedy script with a writing partner. First draft will be done in the next two weeks. We have an “internal” table read lined up for revising purposes before it goes out to people who expressed interest in the project (Some of whom I met at United Filmmakers & Actors.)

Still working as a script reader. As I’ve mentioned before, it is a great crash course for any screenwriter.   The quality of scripts vary greatly, but writing other people’s synopsis’ and coverage helps you stay sharp for when you send your own projects around. Plus it’s a chance to look critically at your peers work.

I’m gearing up for a major revision of my untitled project (which actually has a title, as of this week.)

Since January, the script has gone through three revisions. After putting it in the drawer for a month and some very detailed notes and discussions with a mentor of mine; I’m ready to take a stab at it again.

Stay tuned for some meaty announcements!

-Merrel

Apologies for the lack of updates the past two weeks. Things have been busy, but I finally broke free.

So! What’s going on?

Script Writing

I recently finished a four month intensive screenplay workshop at the New York Film Academy. The endeavor proved fruitful. In February, I finished my the first draft of my still unnamed feature script. In March, I worked on the first revision, and in the beginning of April I finished my second revision. The script is currently making rounds with some of my peers and mentors. I feel I need to work on some of my B stories and development of some secondary characters.

Overall the feedback on my feature script has been very promising. After another draft, I’ll explore entering it into a lab and possibly begin sending it out to production companies.

I’m in the preliminary writing stages of a trans-gendered romantic comedy. I’ve solicited the help of a writing partner who writes very “punchy” dialogue, which I like. I need to meet with him next week to push the project back in order.

I’ve also put down the foundation for a 1 hour drama TV spec with two other writing partners. It’s slow going as each of them are drafting up their own feature scripts currently.

On the short film front, I’ve written a 10 minute short called I Can’t Wake From Obsolete. It deals with concepts of planned obselescence taken to an extreme. My second revision and character backgrounds are in the hands of some producing students at NYFA. The short is the thesis for a directing student. I’m excited to see what he will do with it. The project is still currently in casting. More on this as it develops.

Other work:

I’ve been providing production assistance for Peabody and Emmy Award-winning documentary company. The past two months have been spent on a 2 hour project for National Geographic. The work is great, the people are great, the environment is electric. The program is set to air sometime in late June 2009. I’ll update when the official name and air-date are publically available.

I’m still working as a script reader for a managment company.  I’m reading lots of very bad scripts. And let me tell you, nothing is a better crash course in what not to do in screenwriting than reading some bad ones. Every once in a while I am treated to a good script, which makes it worthwhile as well.

Keeping in line with the aesthetic of my site, I made up some business cards. Like my splash page, I conjured up my graphic design prowess and hand drew the design.

Purdy, eh? I tested the waters with them over at the IFP Script to Screen conference last week. They were a hit.

So, what’s going on in Merrel-land? Quite a bit actually.

I sent my first draft and revisions of my screenplay to a select few close friends and mentors. The screenplay is still untitled, I’ve jokingly tossed the title Anybody Besides Merrel? But it seems too playful given the darker subject matter. Anyway, the first round of feedback seems to be that Act II isn’t strong. So, I’ll revisit that. I’m waiting for some more feedback before I take it out of the drawer.

My production internship at the documentary company has been great. The people are smart, driven and know how to tell a story. It’s a great environment. I had a reprieve this week as the core crew was overseas for six days shooting re-enactments for an upcoming National Geographic documentary.  They are back this week, so I anticipate to have some super crazy days later in the week. They’ll be transcribing and encoding around 50 DVCPRO tapes of footage.

Work as a script reader has proved fruitful as well.  I read and write coverage for about two to three scripts a week. I’m learning how to critically deconstruct a screenplay. It is interesting to view things from this side of screenwriting. I’m just packing away a wealth of knowledge. I’ll probably touch in greater detail in a separate post about the role of a script reader and its benefits.

I have three “floating” writing projects. One is a romantic comedy which I’m working with a classmate from the NYFA screenwriting workshop. The writing partner has a very specific dialogue driven spark. Which adds a great element to the writing.  I’m also working with a NYFA filmmaking student to re-work his thesis short script. Lastly a couple of other friends from the film academy have gotten together and we are working on a dialogue-heavy yet surreal table scene (ala Reservoir Dogs “Do you tip?”)At this rate there isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not reading or writing a script.

Quick Life update post. As usual, feel free to gloss over this entry.

So here I am. I’ve been living and working in New York for seven months. It feels much longer. I think that is largely because so much has happened.

In July 2008, I began working for a small web production company. Lots of dreamweaver/fireworks image slicing, and website maintenance. Then in August 2008, I worked on a Beijing Olympics project, editing and encoding video for an internet TV platform.

Throughout the fall I worked on various projects at the web production company, including a Web TV show. I wore many hats, video editor, camera man, blog editor, etc. Around mid-fall I redirected my sights on some production work, and began cultivating my own projects more seriously.

In the winter, I had to take a break from pursuing production and post production work to deal with some family issues.

Now, I’ve geared up to finish my first feature screenplay. As a way to educate my self about the technical aspects of script writing I enrolled at the New York Film Academy for an extensive script writing workshop. The workshop is great and I believe I will have a solid feature script very soon.

The market for work in New York City right now is very tough. I’ve seen many people lose their investors or fail to get a second round of investment. I’ve worked several internships at production and post-production houses as a way to stay sharp and make new contacts, but even getting those has been tough. The selection process, even for an intern is very tight.

I’ve begun several writing projects with some writing partners from the New York Film Academy, and hope to finish a light-hearted comedy screenplay in the spring.

I’m waiting for this next wave to break. I’ll continue to cultivate my craft and work on writing one hell of a first screenplay.

One last thing. I now have a twitter account. Follow me! You can also see my most recent ‘tweet’ on the side bar of my blog.

I’m back from Miami.

The weather, as expected, was great. A nice breezy 80 degrees each day. It’s a treat to wear shorts comfortably in December when you live in the North.

It was an interesting week. I mainly played the role of silent cameraman, while everything went on around me. (Plenty went on, I’ve got almost 10 hours of footage to dump!) The trip was valuable; it helped me recenter my focus and realize the “Art Scene” isn’t really for me.

I’m not a traditional artist, that breed is dying. At this point, I even hesitate to categorize my self as an ‘artist’ since so much of my design aesthetic has nothing to do with the traditional fine arts. I’m a bit of a fish out of water working on a Web TV show about drawing the figure.

The truth is I’m working very hard (with little pay!) to help other people realize their creative visions. There is a generational schism taking place between ‘old media’ and ‘new media’ – I can see the writing on the wall and I’m not so sure others do.

It’s an strange (natural?) progression I’m taking – when I first came to New York I was happy just taking work any production work, anyone’s creative vision really. It is beginning to wear thin. I’m learning I don’t like standing in the shadows of others. I guess somethings never change once you leave the corporate world.

Come January I will kick my screenplay into high gear as I start attending the New York Film Academy Screenwriting workshop. Then I think it’s time to start looking to work with the best people of my generation.

This was all heavy on my mind as the plane made its ascent above the clouds. The clouds almost looked painted – it was beautiful and just for a moment I forgot about what a silly little mess life can be.

Hello. I’m actually very good at keeping up on other blogs I maintain. It’s just this one I can’t seem to update. Oh and pardon the post title – StrangeLove has been running through my head all day.

So what’s going on?

Work:
I’m in the thick of producing a web-tv show – it’s a small operation, but I’m truly enjoying the work right now. We’re getting good bit of traffic on youtube, and the aforementioned blog. It is busy, the studio also has outside clients, so on any given day I’m working on everything from web and video production for nude women to high fashion women’s shoes.

On the art side recently interviewed a fine art photographer friend, Sid Ceaser, for a post and just today I was shooting interviews at a Gallery in SoHo. I still haven’t seen much of the city, but that’s ok right now.

Play:
To address my insatiable need to play something with keys I recently picked up a Yamaha Cs1x synth on the cheap. There are some great sounds in it, but it could be a little bit before I can use them the way I’d like. I’m still learning how to program it. I’m also digging the tactile knobs. It gives the board a great analog feel.

Here’s a quick snapshot – as you can see, I was in a hurry to try it out. [For those wondering, that's an M-audio FastTrack Pro in the background]

With this purchase, I’ve given up on buying a Yamaha DX7. Though the DX7 is a great synth, it is heavy, and notoriously difficult to program. Instead I picked up FM8, a full featured software synthesizer, that supposedly does a good job of emulating the DX7. We’ll see – up until I’ve been mostly using Reason as my primary software synth.

When I do sit down to compose, I find myself creating landscapes that sound like they belong in an episode of The X-Files. Coincidentally, I’ve been watching quite a bit of X-Files lately. Maybe I’ll gush about Mark Snow in a different post…

Somewhere in between:
My script is ongoing. It is slow, but I hope to have a completed draft before January. I’m encouraged by the responses that I’ve received from people so far. When I described the opening shots of the film, one friend said it was “brilliant.” I believe she was drunk and well meaning! I don’t think this is “brilliant” material – at least not yet.

Other projects are not faring so well. One of the casualties of moving to New York is a podcast I’d been producing since 2006.  It was my first foray into podcasting and focused on Japanese Culture, specifically anime and manga. I’m still very much interested in those things – but I just don’t have the time to work on something I essentially started as a lark. I’ve learned lots of great lessons on producing serial audio though.

Warning! Life Post:

I put my MIDI controllers and my upright piano into storage before heading to New York and I’m hurting now. I’m in a temporary living situation and I wasn’t about to bring the whole calvary.

And in true Merrel fashion, I’m scattered as usual! Entrenched in multiple creative endeavors, but now I feel like I need to write some music. I have the opportunity to do some fun music for a web-tv show I’m working on. I’d like just to fire up Reason and pop-out a couple tracks – but I need a new keyboard. I was looking at the something like the M-Audio Oxygen-49 to hold me over,  but I don’t really like only having 49 keys.  I need those extra octaves when I’m playing. Still, I’m ok with having less keys, after all a while back I said I wanted a Little Phatty, along with some other “toys” - all of which I still can’t afford.

The New York City Craigslist is chock full of good deals on this type of equip, even saw a great deal on a Yamaha DX7 II. But I’ll have to wait. I’ve got to bring some of my current projects to a close before I begin buying equipment for new ones.

I’ve got to stay focused! Does anyone else have this kind-of creative scatter brain?

-M

It really has hit me. I’m working in Manhattan, I’m up to my eyeballs in the Olympics and other projects. A month out, and it feels like I’ve been here forever, and that’s a good thing.

I wanted to share the sheer absurdity and tranquility that is New York through a series of (sometimes blurry) pictorials and stories.

People in New York City do smile

On Saturday night, I was walking down 9th Ave, around 45th or so toward Penn Station. Ahead of me was a huge crowd of people surrounding the opening of about 4 different restaurants/bars. Naturally curious, I went to see what the hell was going on.  As it turns out, each bar had the 4×100 meter medley (otherwise known as the “Phelps 8th gold race”) showing on their televisions. Lucky me, I had walked up with less than a minute left in the race. I stopped, joined the crowd and got swept away. Every time Phelps touched a wall, there were uproarious cheers down 9th Ave.  By this point, some cars had stopped, and were watching from their windows.

The last 100 meters of the race were intense in their own right. As Phelps fought through and touched his hand on the final wall, the collective crowd -  patrons, pedestrians and drivers all – exploded into raucous cheering and applause. Admittedly, I was caught up in the moment.  I jubilantly cheered, feeling I had just experienced a strange and unique camaraderie that would be difficult to manufacture.  It was over as quickly as it began, as though a work whistle had been blown, the crowd dispersed almost immediately. I walked with a slight spring in my step for the rest of the way to Penn Station.

Slightly aged, non-mutant, certainly not ninja turtles (in Manhattan!)

Later in the week, I was walking around West 50th St and 9th and I was astounded to see a huge freaking turtle walking down the street! The turtle was followed by a meek non-English speaking woman pushing a cart. She smiled, did not respond to any English, and continued walking with the turtle. During this time I also had the following dialog with a passerby “Whoa, it’s a turtle.” “Yeah, It’s Manhattan what do you expect?” “Umm. A turtle apparently?”

New York is beautiful

I may have mentioned I’m staying in Long Island right now. In my (very little) down time, I’ve taken to walking the area. Staying in Long Island has done wonders for establishing an equilibrium between my old life and new. I need trees. I need to see grass, I didn’t grow up in the city, so it’s just one of those strange things that may be slightly comforting on a sub-concious level.

I managed to find a nice park area that opens up to the water. It has a rec center, pools, and various other amenities. I found it to be a great place just to chill out after spending alot of time in the city. As the sun was setting I snapped this on my cell phone. (Translation: “pardon the picture qaulity, but the moment shouldn’t have been lost, so I took the picture with my cell phone.”)

Ugly Betty tows cars, people!

I’ve been working in the Tribeca area the past two weeks.  I pass Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Grill on a daily basis and I’ve had the opportunity to visit the firehouse used in Ghostbusters. But what really put a smile on my face was this notice posted on Monday morning this week on Franklin St:

That’s right. The third season of the ABC show Ugly Betty has moved production to New York City. Quite amusingly, the note reads “Vehicles will be TOWED to the nearest legal spot..” That’s great, they don’t actually tow you to a yard, just down 4 blocks! How will you ever know? Note the cones along side the street.

Raccoon’s love cat food too

Bless my dear Grandmother. She is something of a good samaritan when it comes to feeding stray cats and catching them to be neutered. As such she feeds a mini-colony of cats who come to her home on a nightly basis. Most of them are adorable, and skittish, some feral, but all definitely CATS. Except on Tuesday night, when her customers were a little less friendly.

Meet “Mr & Mrs. Screaming Hissing Raccoon.” No, that is not a two-headed raccoon. Rather it is two of the five raccoons that were chomping down on some cat food.  They were not happy by my presence and immediately began hissing and showing their teeth. They stood their ground, and ultimately I opted to leave the house from a side door. (I’m cool like that)

Ouch, I’m dragging ass.

I’ve been working nights since Sunday and it has put my schedule on its head. Actually, right now (it’s 2 a.m.) I have a little bit of a lull in work, but for the most part it has been pretty busy since Sunday. One of the great benefits of this gig though is I am watching many Olympic sporting events I probably would have missed otherwise. Like the pommel horse…

The last Olympics that I watched with any level of regularity was the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics and that was mostly because of my great interest in Japanese culture and geography and the debut of the Snowboarding and the Half-Pipe as events. With the 2008 Beijing Olympics, I’m equally as enamored with the culture of China.

Speaking of China, I have another post up over at The Great Nude.tv website. It is part one of a multiple series of posts that explore some of the contemporary Chinese painters as they relate to figurative arts. It is a great time to explore some Chinese culture as it relates to the arts, don’t you agree?

-M

Last month I dropped my Sony PD170. Functionally, the camera is sound, I’ve and shot several additional hours of video since the drop. Though the casing for my wide-angle lens took a beating, the brunt of the impact was absorbed by the viewfinder.

It’s a detachable piece – and I’m looking for the specific model number for a replacement. I can’t seem to find it, but I just may go with a different more comfortable viewfinder. Anyone have any suggestions?

-M

I’ve got alot on my plate this weekend, I hoping to finish the “Adrian Is Missing” music video, and edit some other things. In the meantime, I was digging through some of my files looking for an old storyboard (I’ve yet to find it!) and I came across this little gem.

Yes, that’s me on the left. Such a dork! I’m actually wearing an Avid hat. Also, it’s obviously clear that I’ve dressed up for the occasion isn’t it?

Back when there was an International Television Association (they’ve now become Media Communications Association International) – I attended one of their workshops on Independent Filmmaking. I wish I remembered more of the details of the meeting, I do recall there was a good bit of legal advice regarding permits and the rights to shoot in public. There was a great handout of applicable laws too. Suppose, I should have remembered those.

-M