For the screenwriter in you

I’m sure it’s all over the blogosphere that RWA National in San Francisco was an awesome event. What may not be all over the place (and it should be) is how amazing the screenwriting event was, that for me, kicked off National. I’m talking about the Scriptscene mini-conference. It was a great event. It was awesome to meet the amazing ladies who are a part of this chapter. We had three speakers who offered three different perspectives of the film industry.

Leighanne Haddock gave us an insider’s look into the industry from the perspective of a set decorator. It was obvious she loves what she does. So many things go into getting just the right look. I want to go back and re-watch some of my favourite movies now just to pick up the things she talked about.

James Dalessandro had amazing energy and also loves what he does. His book 1906 is being made into a big budget movie. I bought the book and I can’t wait to see the movie when it comes out.

Marilyn Atlas talked about Rom Coms and what’s wrong with today’s movies in that genre. Her talk made me want to write one. I just have to find the right story.

Though he wasn’t part of the mini-conference, Blake Snyder was also at National. He gave a workshop on Saturday morning. He was very motivational and broke down his 15 beats for us. He also talked about the 5 count finale. I was also very pleased to hear about two more upcoming Save the Cat! books. The second one, Save the Cat! Falls in Love, about romance in the movies. He also gave a nice plug for the Scriptscene chapter at the end of his talk.

What I noticed the most about all the speakers was their love of what they do. No matter what you write, scripts, books, plays, poetry, you have to love what you do. That passion will translate to the page and make your work that much better.

I’m off to the day job. I’ll post more later on this week.

Until next time…

Cindy

Post conference high

I’m back from San Francisco. What a crazy, busy, productive week. Conference was amazing as usual. I attended some great workshops. Blake Snyder was amazing. If you haven’t seen him speak you really need to. He had some very interesting things to say.

The booksignings were crowded but very fruitful. Of course I brought back way too many books. And I was actually selective this year, only picking up books I thought I would actually read. I guess only time will tell if I get through them all. I started reading Jordan Dane’s book, No One Heard Her Scream on the plane so I’m off to a good start. I have a conference resolution. By next conference I hope to have at least half of the 64 books I brought back read.

I love conference. It’s a chance to meet people I’ve known online for ages. A chance to see friends I haven’t seen for a year. Catch up with chapter members I haven’t seen in a while because I hardly ever make it out to meetings.

I need to go and catch up on e-mail and homework now. I’ll be posting more later this week.

Until next time…

Cindy

Summer shows

So the new crop of summer shows have started. So far I’ve only seen In Plain Sight and Fear Itself. I’m still on the fence about them. But I do like the main character in In Plain Sight. She’s spunky, she has her vulnerable moments but she’s still a tough chick. I’ll keep watching for a while to see how the show evolves. I try not to get too attached to shows these days because networks just don’t give shows a chance anymore. Fear Itself reminds me of The Outer Limits. I did love TOL so we’ll see how Fear Itself does. I have liked the two episodes I’ve seen so far. I’m looking forward to Flashpoint as well. Looks like a decent show.

It’s not a summer show, but I can’t wait for Dollhouse. Joss Whedon is a genius. I’ve waited for a long time for another one of his shows to hit the airwaves.

Are there any other new shows I should be on the lookout for?

Until next time…

Cindy

It wasn’t me, it was him

My friend Brenda and I went to see a movie Friday night. We were in the mood for a light, cheery movie. So we settled on Made of Honor. Cute movie. Somewhat predictable. But entertaining anyway. Kind of like My Best Friend’s Wedding only in reverse.

We were sitting in the theatre before the movie started. The lights were still up. On the screen they had the usual filler to keep people entertained before a movie starts. Movie trivia. The odd commercial. So my Brenda and I were talking, catching up. We hadn’t seen each other in a while. The guy in front of us told us to be quiet. I told him when the movie started we would be quiet. We kept talking. Then he turned around again and yelled at us to be quiet or get out and talk in the lobby. I again said no, the movie hadn’t started yet. When the movie starts we’ll be quiet. So then he threatened to “bop” me. I’m usually a pretty easy going person but I have to say it’s a good thing Brenda was with me because I would have done something that would have at the very least got me kicked out. When other people came in and started talking he didn’t say anything to them. Although he did give them dirty looks.

After the initial anger subsided (took half the movie) I felt sorry for the woman he was with. And I pitied him. I mean, if he can’t even enjoy a movie without talking to his anger management coach he’s got problems.

Until next time…

Cindy

Books into film

On Bravo! we have a television program called Books into Film. Fascinating show. Because there are so many movies out there that I didn’t realize were based on a book or graphic novel. I did an IMDB search with the keywords based on novel and there were over 26,000 hits. Gives me hope that one of my books might get made into a movie.

So, on Sunday night on History Television (at least Canada’s version) they were showing The General’s Daughter. I’d seen it once before and liked it. And we were all too lazy to change the channel after the NCIS marathon so we watched. I liked it the second time too. Good story telling. Fabulous introduction to the General’s daughter when she helped John Travolta’s character change his tire. After seeing it for the first time I actually went out and bought a Nelson DeMille novel. Can’t remember the title. And I haven’t read it yet. I’m going to have to find it and actually read it now. If it wasn’t The General’s Daughter I’ll have to go buy that one too. I’m curious to see how close the movie came to the book.

Until next time…

Cindy

My Bloody Valentine

Yet another remake of a classic. With all these remakes you’d think Hollywood wasn’t getting any new material. Hello! I have some scripts for you. The remake is going to be 3-D according to the IMDB listing. Anyway, I never saw the original. I guess I should before I see the remake. And why will I see the remake? Same reasons I’ll see the Friday the 13th remake, except Jensen Ackles is in this one. I’m a little disappointed they moved the setting from Nova Scotia to Montana but I guess it made more financial sense to film in the U.S. (Pennsylvania) with how strong the Canadian dollar is right now. The plot synopsis is a little thin at the moment. Jensen’s character finds himself being suspected of committing the murders when he returns to his hometown on the 10th anniversary of the massacre. Since it’s still filming I’m sure updated information will be available in the near future.

I do “get” the reason for remakes. Proven franchise reinvented for a new generation. So I will just have to wait and see how it turns out. I know there have been remakes I liked better than the original but for the life of me I can’t remember what they are. Guess even though I liked them I didn’t like them enough.

Until next time…

Cindy