Crazy Family Feature and Christmas Children’s Story

I'm just plugging away on the outline.  I have, what I believe to be, a strong opening that captures the overall theme of the movie and the main character.  The beginning is set up where the crazy family is encountered for the first time.

Many years ago, my wife and I wrote a Christmas Children's Story.  We really liked it and read it to a few kids that we knew (we didn't have any kids of our own at the time) and had some parents read it to there kids.  We made notes on what they thought worked and didn't and wrote another draft.  But we didn't know anything about the children's market so it was filed away.

We first envisioned it as a picture book, but as we are now well acquainted with how they are structured, we knew that it was too long and wouldn't fit.  We were at the library a few weeks ago to get some prizes for our kids for the summer reading program.  There was this book called, "The Notebook of Doom:  Attack of the Shadow Smashers," by Troy Cummings.  It was a children's chapter book for early readers around 1st to 3rd grade.  I showed it to Eileen and told her maybe our Christmas story would work well like this.

I found the first book in the series, "Rise of the Balloon Goons," at the library and checked it out.  We both read it so we had a good feel for what the structure is like.

She went through and made the reading level easier and made sure our scene changes worked well for chapter breaks.  We started going over it together this week and I think it turned out wonderful.  It had been so long since I've seen it, it was great to read it again.  It's a fun story with a good character arc, and I think it works well for a chapter book.

We also started working on names for the chapters which has been almost as much fun as writing the story.

Back to the Crazy Family Feature

My goal was to write a new screenplay while I had readers looking at my WWII novel.  But there is too much going on right now to start such a big project.  (One of which is I've been working on my Best Man Speech for my brother's wedding.)

I decided to get to work on outlining my Crazy Family Feature screenplay.  It's been a lot of fun to work on a screenplay again since it has been a while.  I have a ton of notes for it, so it's a matter of getting them all organized into scenes.  This will probably take up most of my time for the next couple of months.

Lannie read my "Those Who Remember" short story and made some comments on them.  He had a lot of good ideas, although some of which would expand the story and make it longer.  I'm already at about 6,300 words, so I don't think I want to increase the length.  It's nice he wanted some scenes expanded, but I still want to keep this a short story and keeping it to a length that gives it the best chance of getting published.  I'll have to think about when I'm going to work on this one again.

Gardening Kid's Book Finished

I finished the first draft of my Gardening Kid's Book.  Overall I think it turned out nice, but it definitely needs another draft.  I'll need to go through and see how it would all fit with pictures and read it as if I'm reading to my own kids.  I'm not sure it has the right "feel" to it right now.  I'll put this away for a while (as I always do after finishing a new story) and I'll read some more kid's picture books before tackling this one again.

Gardening Kids book

I've been needing to work on smaller projects lately.  I've started working on my gardening kids book.  It's one that I've outlined a few months ago, so it's just a matter of writing (and re-writing) it now.

My wife and I have come up with a small business idea which has taken up most of my available free time.  I've been able to put into practice a lot of the marketing skills I've learned, but there is a tremendous amount that I don't know.  It's in the very early stages, so I won't be going into any details for several months.

That's really it.  My WWII novel is being read (hopefully) by readers, I need to work on my one page synopsis to work on my next screenplay, and I'll continue to write every day when I have the time.

(I can't believe how early I posted this, it must be a record for me.)

Carjackers Sketch and a new commercial about bank fees

I figured out the ending for the carjackers sketch and a couple of other details/characters I needed.  This would be pretty easy to do, so I'll have to put this up maybe for episode six of, "Just Watch It."  Which of course I don't know when we'll start filming.

I haven't decided really what next project I'm going to work on.  I'm thinking about working on the outline for the crazy family feature screenplay, but there are some steps that need to be taken first.  I wanted to get some feedback from Mr. G about it, but I wanted to also send him a couple of other scripts he was interested in.  But before I send any of those, I wanted to work on my one-sheet synopsis of them.  I found an article about it, but it's actually a video to watch and I haven't had the time to pull it up yet (more on that later).  Ugh.  Maybe I'll get my clone to work on it.

I decided to work on something really short so I wrote up another commercial idea which dealt with bank fees.  This was a nice challenge because I had to make bank fees interesting which I think I did nicely.  It's definitely adrenaline pumping.

Sunday the 17th was the Gluten Free Food Fair that Deby's Gluten Free attended.  I texted Doug to see how it was going and he responded that it was completely insane, but insane is good.  He also said the brochure looks great, so I'm happy he liked it.  I'll have to give him some time and then contact him to see if it resulted in any more business.

Storm Kids book, Those Who Remember, and a new sketch!

I finished the first draft of my children's story about a thunderstorm.  This one was a lot of fun to write since it had a comic book vibe to it.  There was a nice little character change that I don't see too often in a children's book.  My son brings this one up once in a while as something that he would like to make with me.  It's a little more complicated than our monkey kid book, so we'll have to wait and see how this one goes.  As usual, I'll put this away for a while and bring it back out with fresher eyes for the second draft.

I finished another draft of my new short story those who remember.  There wasn't anything too big that had to be changed at this point, just a lot of minor tweaks to make it read and flow better, and just making sure it's a good story.  Most of the characters are based on old friends of mine, so I handed it off to Lannie, who knows all of them too.  I'm curious what he would think of it.

I wasn't sure what to start on next so I chose a smaller project, a new sketch about carjackers.  It had been a while since I wrote any sketch comedy, so it took a little while to get back into that kind of thinking again.  I'm also not sure how it's going to end yet.

R.I.P. Robin Williams

I can't begin to explain or understand my thoughts on the passing of Robin Williams.  I'm at a loss for words on such a great talent dying at such a young age (really, 63 isn't that old), and also apparently by his own hands.  I've read the usual stories of his struggle with addiction, but one never sees the personal side to a celebrity.  You can never know how much of their public persona is an act.  But then, we all put on an act, depending on who we're dealing with.

We may never know the demons that he struggled with that would make him think that death was the only answer.  With such a brilliant and long-lasting career, a new wife, and three children, it's hard to think what he could be depressed about.  He was successful in every sense of the word, and could pretty much do anything that he wanted.

The biggest tragedy is those loved ones he left behind.  What must they be thinking on how he will no longer be in their lives and if there was anything they could have done to help him through this dark time of his?

Anyway, it's a sad day and a shame that he wasn't able to find the kind of help he needed to keep going.  He has left a legacy of film and charity work, and the world is a little bit darker without him.

Next draft of Those Who Remember and Storm Kids Book

The next draft is completed for my short story 'Those Who Remember.'  I took a little bit out, but I added a lot more to develop the conflict better like I talked about in a previous post.  It's a bit longer now with 6,359 words and about 23 pages.  I'll put it away again for about another week and do a final read through and see how it looks.  Then I'll look to see who wants to read it.

My Storm Kids children's book is coming along nicely and I've almost completed the first draft.  I should have it done by next week.  There is some growth for the main character which I don't think you see too often in a children's book.

I've also been continuing to work with Lannie on getting his new website up.  We set up his Google + page, and got some photos up for it and linked them to his website.  We also expanded more on the different pages explaining what groups of people he works with.  I also went over his tri-fold brochure and gave some input with changing up some of the copy for it.  It looks really good.

Storm Kids Book and Those Who Remember

It seems my Storm Kids Book is my go to short project right now.  It's a nice little story that is easier to go back and forth to since it's a shorter children's book.

I took a week off to let my new short story Those Who Remember simmer, and now it was time to start on draft two.  I started with reading it again, then addressing the concerns I had while writing the first draft.  Primarily how I think it needed more conflict.  The main character has a nice internal struggle, but I felt there needed to be more of a physical adversary as well.  There was already a minor character that supplied a little of that, so I just added more scenes with him in it.

I've also been helping Lannie get his personal website up (www.lcpart.com), with a gallery link showing his impressive collection of different forms and genres of art he's been doing over the years.  Take a look around at what he's been up too and look back often for more updates from him.

He has been working hard on getting his art school teaching business set up (www.artforlifeco.com) and I helped him yesterday (Happy Birthday Lannie), on getting a tri-fold brochure designed.  I have some experience now from the Deby's Gluten Free one I set up and it was nice to apply my knowledge to help him out.  This one is geared more towards schools since he's looking at that avenue (and others) for teaching.

Those Who Remember done, Giant Robot Short, WWII novel, Storm Kids Book, and website update

Yes, it's been a very busy week.

First, I completed the first draft of my new short story, "Those Who Remember."  It came in at 20 pages and 5,512 words.  I'll put it away for about a week, re-read it, and go over my re-write notes and begin on the next draft.  Overall I think it works, but it's been a long time since I read any short fiction, so I'm going to try and make some time this week to read a few stories.

Second, I went over my short film, "Giant Robot."  Another draft is done.  There were some tweaks and minor changes at this point, and I think it's still a funny read.  I'll be giving it out to the rest of the One-Eyed Pictures crew and get their thoughts on it.  I wrote it so it would be relatively easy to film and I hope we might be able to actually get this new short film done this year.  Fingers crossed.

Third, I'm getting geared up to ask for some readers for feedback on my "WWII Novel."  I worked on getting my initial pitch ready.  I had my wife go over it since she's been through all this before on her first novel, "Moonfall."  (Working Title)  It's about ready to go.

Fourth, I worked some more on my, "Storm Kids Book" while waiting to re-write my new short story.

Fifth, I've been working with Lannie on creating a new website that focuses on his art.  As I've been helping, I've come across a few things I didn't know you could do before, so I'm making some changes to my website.  It won't be anything too drastic, just some better visibility using page tabs to direct to external websites and adding some more information about us.

That wraps up this full writing week, what will the next week bring?

Tri-Fold Brochure for Deby's Gluten Free Completed

On Sunday, I handed over my finished copy of their brochure.  They chose the color they wanted for the background and they had some minor changes.  But they changed the main focus of it.  They started with focusing on the Saturday fresh fare items exclusively.  Then they decided to think past the gluten free food fair and wanted less a focus on Saturday, and put more of their other products in.

I took a lot of copy off about Saturday and made room for their entree info on the left inside panel.  I made the bagel basket picture smaller on the center panel to make room for restaurant info.  Then I took everything off of the right panel and put on information about their breads and flour mixes.

I sent it back and they decided on a few more changes.  Today I handed over the final copy.  You can see how it turned out on my portfolio page.  It was a great learning experience and a big challenge, but I think it looks good.  The client is happy and that's the best news of all.

Update on Those Who Remember and Brochure writing

I'm on page 18 now with my short story.  I think I'm pretty close to the end, but it will definitely need another draft.  I've been taking down notes for places the story could be improved, I didn't want to go back too much and do some big changes until I have the first draft done.  It will need some more conflict and tenser moments, but the good part is I know what and where I'm going to add them in.

Work continues to progress nicely on the brochure.  I mentioned before how I read that printers suggest using the CMYK color option in Photoshop since it more accurately represents what they can print out.  I've been working on several options for two different colors.  I researched food and colors and found out that red and yellow are the most appetizing colors (hence why McDonald's uses them).  Also, green has a more organic vibe to it.  I used variations of yellow for one and green for another.  I think the yellow one looks better, but I always like to give options.  I spoke to a couple of printers and got some feedback on what they would need to print it out.  I think it's about done and I'll be e-mailing them the options and see what they think.

Continued Those Who Remember story and Brochure work

The story is coming along nicely now and I have 11 pages written.  One scene that I thought would be a few sentences ended up being a couple of pages.  It's funny sometimes when your writing takes off in a way you hadn't expected.

While I was waiting to see what design idea they liked for the business card sized ad, I worked a little more on the brochure.  I tweaked one of the images more, added some new copy, and began working a little on some background color ideas.

They chose the style they liked and picked out what information they wanted to have on it from the five different copy designs.  They wanted a cursive font to make it stand out more.  I thought cursive made it harder to read, but I gave them several options, including a couple that had a 'cursive feel' to it, but was more legible like block text.  They decided on the one that had a 'cursive feel' to it, modified the copy a little more, and I finished it yesterday.  You can find the final designs on my portfolio page.

New short story 'Those Who Remember' and Brochure work

I did a little work on my storm kid's book idea until I decided on what I was going to work on next.

The 'next' is a short story which I had the idea for many years ago.  I did a lot of work on the plot last year so I worked on the story structure, characters, and now I've begun writing it.  It's been a long time since I wrote a short story, and this is a special one to me since I thought it was a great idea from so long ago.  The first page was brutal, and took a couple of days to write, but I'm getting about a page a day now.

The brochure has been put on hold, they get to have a business card sized ad in a flyer, and it's due sooner.  I came up with five different variations focusing on different products and pictures.  I'm just waiting to hear back from them to see what design they liked and which products to focus on.  This will be added to my portfolio as well.

Animated Halloween Script done (again) and Brochure update

The latest draft is now completed.  This might be it for a while.  I've incorporated all that I've learned since the last draft (which is actually quite a bit), so there is a better flow to it.  The biggest difference was taking out a huge scene.  I've read that scripts need to be between 90 to 120 pages with the sweet spot at 110.  Anything over is an automatic strike against it.  It was a little over 120 (but when we read it out loud it moved very quickly), so I took out a big scene.  My wife was a little apprehensive at first, but when I explained it didn't really move the plot forward or add anything to the characters, she realized it needed to go too.  Now it just squeaks by.

I made a few minor changes on my Pyramid Horror screenplay based off of some feedback, so I think that one is ready to go now too.

I'm making some good headway on the brochure.  I added some shadowing to some of the images which really make them stand out more, I got a better copy of their logo added, I got a QR code for them and added on, and worked a little on changing the colors to a CMYK format.  I read when using Photoshop that it's best to use CMYK for colors because it will more accurately represent what a printer can print, unlike RGB, which are brighter and best suited for a computer screen.

Globe Trotting Action Film done, more work on Animated Halloween Movie, and Brochure update

Yes, another draft of my action movie is done.  It's amazing to see how much has changed from the initial idea to the first draft to this latest draft.  It keeps getting better (I think) and I keep getting stronger as a writer (I think).  It's nice to put into practice all that I've been learning the last several years and especially the last year or two.  I'll do another read-through at some point in the future, but it's time to move on to something else.

And that something else is more work on my Animated Halloween screenplay.  Since this is one of my stronger pieces and I think it has great potential with a solid theme that a lot of people can identify with, I decided to go back and do more work on it.

One issue I've noticed is that I had scene headings that were way too long.  I never changed it because I knew how much time it was going to take to fix it (it ended up taking four days).  But I'm glad I took the time to fix it because it looks a lot better now, and it's all about making this look the best it can.  I made some notes on some changes I noticed that needed to be done as well.

I've started on another draft of this one.  I tweaked the opening a bit to be a little more attention grabbing.  There is such an emphasis on capturing your reader's attention in the first ten pages, first five pages, first page, first line, that it becomes a little annoying watching other great movies and seeing the very first scene not a whiz bang opening.  Everything can't be started with an action scene or a 'grab-you-by-the-collar-and-shake-you-silly.'  It's a rough business and art form trying to find that balance.


The majority of the work on the tri-fold brochure has been getting the images Photoshoped.  I found a great template from the Staples website that had all the dimensions and safe area for a tri-fold brochure. I'm trying to get as many of them on as possible so showcase what they have without over crowding it.  The worst part of this is that the images of all their doughnuts and pastries are so delicious looking, it's making me hungry.

I've also done the bulk of the copy writing done.  They wanted to focus on their Saturday morning fresh fare, so I've been pumping up those products.  It's starting to take shape and it looks like a brochure now.

R.I.P. Casey Kasem

I learned that radio legend Casey Kasem died yesterday.  My first introduction to him, like many of my generation, was through the cartoon voice of Shaggy on "Scooby-Doo Where Are You!"  It was my favorite cartoon as a kid, and it still is.  It remarkably still holds up well.

Of course, he is most well known for his "American Top 40" radio show which he hosted from 1970 to 2004.  I remember listening to him in the 80's and turning my clock radio down low as I should have been sleeping, but I wanted to stay up late just so I could hear what that number one song was.

He provided many great memories in my childhood and he will be missed.

I pulled out my copy of the Ben Stiller show, where Casey Kasem was a guest on a sketch and did Shaggy's voice.  I had my family watch it so they knew the man behind the voice.  My kids love Scooby-Doo and it's great to see them as into it as I was (am).

Globe Trotting Action Film and a new marketing project

I'm close to completing another draft of this screenplay.  That's really about it this week, I'll have more next week when it's done.

An old work friend owns a gluten free bakery called, "Deby's Gluten Free."  I had done a marketing analysis on their website a while ago on some changes that I thought would make it work better and some social media sites they should be on.

With better marketing in mind, they decided to be a sponsor for the Gluten Free Food Fair on August 17th.  They get to have a flyer in everyone's goody bag, but instead of just putting a copy of their grocery list, they wanted a full color tri-fold brochure.

I went to their store this morning to get a ton of pictures of the products they wanted to feature.  I brought my video light kit and a gold reflector which I thought gave the pastries an 'early morning glow' to them.  I have a basic idea for it and now a bunch of pictures to go through.

Once this is done, it will be another image for my portfolio, and this time one that is commissioned for!

Pyramid and Work on Globe Trotting Action Film

This latest draft works a lot better than before.  I've gone through the whole thing again making improvements with the character and the writing.  The beginning has been edited down, but I wonder if it needs a little more tweaking.  I'll put it down for a while and get some opinions on it and take another look at it.

I started another draft of my Globe Trotting Action Film.  I've been focusing so far on the first 10 pages, which is very important in a screenplay.  Most readers surmise how good the script will be based on the first 10 pages.  The fist scene takes place years ago, so the main protagonist wasn't introduced until later.  I added him in for a revised opening.  I decided I needed him to be included more so I revised the opening again.  It's a much stronger piece and I added some moments that tie into his weakness later on.

It's rough going doing a rewrite, but it's fun to see the script reading much better.

More Pyramid work

I've been working really hard on this draft and applying all that I've learned since the last draft.  I've cut out a lot of the beginning to get the story going faster.  I've also been working on cutting out a lot of the descriptive words that I don't think is really necessary.  I added a couple of scenes to the beginning that will tie into some later parts of the movie.

Pyramid Horror and the Anatomy of Story

To make sure my script is focused on the main character and her weakness and moral need, I worked out the first few points in the Anatomy of Story book.  Then I began the process of reading through it for another draft and making sure I address her needs throughout.

That's really it.  Now that I'm focusing back on a screenplay, there isn't a lot of different projects going on.  I'll keep plugging away at this one and then move on to the next.

End of Commercials and Pyramid Horror Movie work

I wrote up one more beer commercial using Coors.  This one just came to me during a family get together last month.  It would be fun and pretty simple to do.  I may film this one for a demo reel.  All I need it time.

I had come up with an idea for a retirement savings commercial.  I based it off of an idea I had with a shark mascot, but I didn't know what to do with it then.  I'm planning on making some print ads to go along with this theme.  Look for them to show up sometime on my portfolio section in the near future.

And with that commercial written, so ends my work on commercial spec scripts.  I have twenty five now, so I think that's a good indication of what I'm capable of as a writer.  I'll work on getting a couple of them posted on my portfolio page too.  As soon as I get my clone to work on it.

With the commercial work completed, I set out to do a little re-writing on a past horror script about a pyramid.  I keep learning new techniques and screenwriting tips, so I wanted to incorporate them into this one.  This is an idea that my contact Mr. G was interested in, so I wanted to polish it up a little more before sending it to him.

I'm applying the "Anatomy of Story " information to it.  I'm not working on the whole book of ideas since this is already written, but there are a few things I can rewrite to make it better.  It's all about practicing your craft.

Beer Commercial Week

All this week I've been working on all kinds of beer commercials.  I wrote up two more in my "King of Beers" series for Budweiser.  One of which dealt with Shakespeare.  I had my wife (a huge Shakespeare fan) take a look at it and she thought it was funny.  I couldn't ask for higher praise than that.

I decided to keep with the beer theme and went to work on one and decided to use Coors this time.  I got the idea when my wife was taking off for her monthly craft night with the ladies.  I was home alone with the boys, looking forward to a night of "Batman: Arkham City," and came up with a fun little commercial.  This would be a lot of fun to film, I have a strong visual of how it would look in my mind, but I don't have the budget or the certain skill set this one would require.

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. Dies

Just a quick note of his death.  I mainly knew of him through his voice work of Alfred the butler on Batman:  The Animated Series back in the 90's.  He has a long list of movie and TV credits which I've seen as a kid, but don't remember much about the shows.

I found out his daughter Stephanie Zimbalist was the lead in the Remington Steele TV show with Pierce Brosnan.  Interesting to discover that.

Budweiser Beer Commercial

I had come up with a theme of commercials that deals with their "King of Beers," slogan and their bow tie can.  I'll write up one or two more within the theme and call it good for Bud.

In fact, there are only a few more commercial ideas I'm going to write up for now.  I have twenty commercial scripts written, so I have a little bit more experience with writing commercials, and I need to move on.  I have a nice body of work that can show what I'm capable of, which was the point of writing these.

It's time to focus more on my bigger creative writing projects.  I've been catching up on my e-mails from the writers store, which gives out writing tips and products to buy.  I need to apply everything that I've learned and keep plugging forward on my creative writing career.

With that in mind, I will probably slow down the number of blog entries too.  It's a lot of work and time intensive to keep up with all my social media channels.  I'll try to post something like once a week and see how that goes.

It's time to focus on taking my writing to the next level and start the process of getting my stories out there and see if I can't get paid for all of my hard work.

So long, and keep on writing!

Oh yes, and May the 4th Be With You.

Listerine Commercial - Gum Disease

This is the last I'll do (at least for now) in my mouthwash series.  It's a little different in theme from the last two, but still retains the same branding for the spots.  These were fun ideas I've had for a while and it was great getting them down on paper, or Word.  It's time to move on to another idea, I don't want to spend all my time writing spec mouthwash commercials, I have to keep up my versatility.

Listerine Commercial - Plaque

This is the second in a series of commercial ideas for a mouthwash product like Listerine.  This one deals with a little kid and the horrors of plaque.  These are a lot of fun to write and would love to see them on T.V.

Listerine Commercial - Morning Breath

I had an idea for a series of mouthwash commercials, which I'm using Listerine for my example.  It introduces a recurring character that ties all the spots together.  I'll probably write up a couple of them.  This one deals with morning breath.

Rise for Kids Commercial

I had applied for a job with a company that worked on improving children's education through legislation and finding out what techniques worked best and passing that information along.  I thought it was a great company and decided to do a commercial idea based off of them.  It's a non-profit .org group, so it was a little different in the way I handled it.

It was a more serious piece and tried to convey the information about them mixed with some emotions about helping out children.

Follow That Car Commercial

I had another idea for a automotive commercial so I decided to go ahead and write it up since I'm in the "Auto Zone" right now.  I needed something new and sporty and decided to use the 2015 Toyota Camry as the car.  It looks pretty cool.  There wasn't a lot of concrete details on it yet, so I put in as much as I could find out from the Toyota website and a news article about it.  Here's a picture from the Toyota website.

Car Commercial with Mikaela Shiffrin

I was fortunate with my limited time to watch a smidgen of the Winter Olympic Games.  I was also lucky to happen to see Mikaela Shiffrin (local Colorado hero), during her record breaking slalom title and gold medal winning time.

She almost lost it, but through shear determination, willed herself to stay upright and win.  I thought that would make a nice juxtaposition with a car commercial and wrote down a few ideas.  Over the last couple of days I decided to make this my next writing project.

This was something different since I was writing with a specific person in mind and needed to capture her skiing savvy.  I think the end result works well.

E.D. Commercial

Yes, I'm talking about erectile dysfunction.  It would be for Cialis or other equivalent, but I kept to the same info and tone that Cialis commercials use.  I had to go to their website for some of the information about it and now I'm sure I'll be getting all kinds of pop up and banner ads from their cookies.  Sigh.  But I think it turned out well and is funny.  This would be pretty easy to do, so I'll have to think about filming this one to use as a demo reel.

Oh, and on a totally unrelated note, (way, way, unrelated), Happy Easter!

Sleep Aid Commercial

This is a fun one that I wish I could do.  It's feasible, but I would need a bigger cast and I'm not sure I would be able to get it.  I had my wife read it and she laughed out loud, so I think I hit the mark on this one.  Special thanks to Lannie for lending me his lecture notes.

Grumpy Bird Children's Book

No, this isn't one that I created, rather the recipient of the One Book 4 Colorado for 2014.  75,000 copies are given out to pre-school children to get them to read (and hopefully be infected with a life long desire to read!)

The author, Jeremy Tankard, has been speaking at local libraries and today he was at the Englewood Public Library.  I went to listen to him talk and read the books that he's been involved with.

He was gracious enough at the end to talk to me just a little bit about the industry and how he got started.  He's an artist first, and sent out samples to publishers, and they told him he should put a story together with his pictures so he became a writer too.

He recommended the book, "Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market."  He said the information in there will be a lot more than anything you can get from any author.  It's a great resource with a listing of publishers and agents and what they accept, if anything unsolicited.

I'll be picking up a copy once I'm ready to start submitting my children's stories.  Here's a pic of Grumpy Bird.

 

Board Game Commercial Idea

This is a board game idea that takes place at an airport of all places.  I used the game, "Apples to Apples," for a reference and was able to tie the dialogue into it nicely.  This one would be fun to make, but I don't have access to an airport that I could film at.

Wedding RomCom Feature Screenplay

A few months ago, my wife and I came up with a unique (as unique as any idea can be) idea for a romantic comedy about a rapidly approaching wedding that the bride-to-be isn't ready for.  We wrote down about a page of ideas, main characters, basic plot, main plot points, how it starts and how it ends.

I was at the in-laws and on the road most of the day, so I needed to work on something besides commercials that wasn't going to require research yet.

We worked out a log line and a couple of points for the story anatomy.  I'll try to squeeze in some time here and there to work on it, but it's not a priority right now.  This will probably be the next screenplay that I work on, but it's a long ways away.

Hostel Movie

I will usually try to check out other movies in the same vein or similar genre when I go to work on a screenplay.  Before working on my Crazy Family feature screenplay, I read the script for the remake of, "The Hills Have Eyes."  It was okay, but I wasn't blown away by it.

Over the last three days, (yes that's how long it took me to get through a 90 minute movie, time is scarce here) I watched the movie, "Hostel," by Eli Roth.

I was pleasantly surprised on how much set up and character development there was.  In fact, the beginning didn't have much horror to it at all.  It was a nice change of pace and I did feel for the characters in their hellish predicament.  I have to wonder how the script got read since not much happens in the first five minutes, and I've always read and have been told how important those first five minutes are and you better hook your reader right away.  Basically they hit a couple of clubs looking for girls.

It was a good movie, but certainly violent when the torture happens.  It's not for the weak of heart or stomach.

Credit Card Protection Commercial

This commercial idea came from a credit card company's perspective of keeping a high tech credit card/identity thief away from their customer.  It's high-tech vs. old school knockout.  This would be a lot of fun to see and it was a lot of fun to write.

Night Things Movie

Back in 2007 I helped out on a film friend's first feature movie called, "Night Things."  I did a little bit of everything for them, whatever they needed help with.  It was a blast to work on and even more fun seeing it up on the big screen for their cast and crew premier party a couple of years later.

After much editing, and appearances at several festivals including: Motor City Nightmares Festival, Zedfest, Pittsburgh Horror Film Festival, and Mile High Horror Film Festival.

They also won the Best Fantasy Film Award at the Fear Fete Horror Film Festival. Lead actress Kathryn Gould was nominated for Best Actress.

It's now available on Amazon for ten bucks.  If you like gritty, low budget, independent horror, then this is worth a look.

After her deranged grandfather subjects her sister to a tragic experiment, Alex (Kathryn Gould) finds herself trapped between life and death, prisoner of a bubble in time and space created by a mysterious machine. Here she cannot die. Each accident, each fatal injury, each suicide simply ends in resurrection. She is doomed to live out her days searching hopelessly for an escape and defending the lives of fellow prisoners who have been sucked into the bubble. But a new arrival gives Alex hope. Haley (Joey Thomas), a young physics student, may hold the key to unlocking the secrets of the Machine.

But Alex and Haley are not alone.

In the forest live the Lures, a race of creatures that are learning to mimic humans to insidious effect, and are determined to imprison them until nightfall for the Night Things, beings of amorphous darkness that deliver something far worse than death to those who stray from the light.

For when the Night Things take you, you don't come back.

Car Insurance Commercial

This was a quick little comedic commercial about car insurance.  I went with a good idea/bad idea theme with an amusing outcome.

Subway Commercial Idea

This is another idea I've had for a while and would be a lot of fun to watch.  However, this has some pretty big effects needed, so there would be no way for me to even attempt to shoot this for a demo reel.  It's heavy on the comedy at first, then segues into the more healthy characteristics of their sandwiches.  It made me hungry writing it.

David Letterman is retiring

Image from IMDB, David Letterman page.

I learned that David Letterman has announced his retirement in 2015.  Although I haven't had much time to watch any late night T.V. (or any T.V. really), his Late Night with David Letterman way back when on NBC was a late night staple of my youth.  He was a lot of fun to watch and I always dreamed of the day I would appear on his show as a guest.  It would have been a monumental task as it is since I'm more into writing and writers aren't as visible and well known as say actors, but a man can dream.

With his retirement I guess that's not going to happen.  There's always a possibility of being on whoever takes over his show, but it wouldn't be the same.

Good luck in your retirement Dave, and enjoy the extra time with your family.

Chicken Commercial Idea

No joke, I just finished a commercial about chicken.  It's probably one of my oldest commercial idea's and one I've thought about making, just to show what I can do.  It's an action/comedy theme about who gets the last piece of chicken.

End of the Month Recap

It's been a busy month.  I've written a lot of the outline and plot of the crazy family feature screenplay, and now need to wait for some feedback.

The monkey kid book idea that I've been working with my son on, has been completed and it turned out great!

I read, "Winnie-the Pooh" for the story structure for a new children's story idea that I had.

I read my wife's children's story idea about what happens to a kid when they get a cold.  I gave her my thoughts on it, which was challenging since she wrote it in rhyme.  It took a while to get a handle on it to offer any valuable feedback.

I got Lannie's website/blog Art for Life up and running for his new art classes business.

I wrote two commercial ideas.

Not a bad month for productivity, now on to April!

T.P. Commercial

I've completed a commercial about . . . wait for it . . . toilet paper!  It was an interesting challenge to write a commercial about toilet paper.  I had to get across that it was soft yet strong, and keep it 'clean.'  I went the comedy route on this and I think it worked out great.

Comcast Commercial Idea

I decided to start working on writing some commercial idea's that I've stockpiled.  This one was more recent and deals with Comcast cable during Christmas.  It took about four days and a bit of research on the pros of their Xfinity service, but I think it was worth it.  It's a fun idea.  Now if only I can get it into the hands of their marketing department . . .

Art for Life

Lannie Pihajlic, 1/3rd of One-Eyed Pictures, has recently started up an art business.  It's a great idea where he teaches art lessons, but they are at fun places such as a bar or restaurant.  He's a pro (and so is his partner Nicole), so they help to guide you every step of the way.  It's a lot of fun painting with a group of people while socializing and having a wine or beer.  Check them out here!



I've been working with him on getting his blog set up and other social media sites.  We're also working on a great looking website and putting together a marketing plan.

Crazy Family Feature

So I'm as far as I'm going to get right now.  I finished the story structure and definitely went the way of the fake-ally opponent.  I started to write out the first few scenes, but then stopped.  I need to run the idea by Mr. G and see if he had any other thoughts about it.  I don't want to have the whole movie plotted out only for him to decide something didn't work and have to rework a major scene.

It's time to figure out what project I'll be working on next.

Jungle Kid Book Idea

I've had an idea for a story based off of my son in the jungle for a long time now.  Since I had worked on so many other children's book ideas, I thought I might do a little work on this one.  This wouldn't be a picture book, rather a collection of shorter stories.

I thought it best to read the classic "Winnie-the-Pooh," by A. A. Milne.  It was a fun read and to see the similarities from the books and the classic Disney movie.  It was also interesting to see what stories didn't make the cut, like when Rabbit, Pooh, and Piglet decide to kidnap Roo to get him and Kanga to move out of the Hundred Acre Wood.

It gave me some good ideas on story structure, some length ideas, and a way to go about writing my own stories.

Show and Tell

Top o' the morning to ya, and Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Show and tell went well.  My wife went because she was going to be a chaperon for their field trip.  She said they asked a lot of questions and seemed to be interested in it.

I'm thinking I may tweak some of the writing and see about sending it out to agents/publishers for publications.  That would be a fun story in itself.

Monkey Kid Book Done!

That's right, the children's book that my son and I have been working on for the last few months has been completed.  Overall, I think it turned out really well.  The pictures he drew are cool, and the story flows nicely (in my humble opinion.)

My wife read it as a bedtime story and my mother-in-law read it as a nap story and they both liked it.  Hopefully, when my son brings it to show and tell this Friday, his class will enjoy it too.

He's already talked about the next book we'll do, but I think we should give it some time and see if he's still interested and committed to putting together another one.

Crazy Family Feature Work

The plot is coming along nicely now.  I'm going head strong into the 22 steps of story structure and it's being fleshed out really well.  I came up with an idea for a fake-ally opponent, that totally changes the dynamic of two characters.  Their relationship would be altered, but the more I think about it, the more I think it makes the piece more dramatic and electrifies the conflict.  It's a hard change to make, but it will be a much stronger movie for it.

End of the Month Update

My son and I probably only have a couple of days worth of working on our Monkey Kid Book before it will be completed!  I'm looking forward to it and reading it as a bedtime story.

A lot of progress has been made on my Crazy Family Feature Screenplay.  I've got a lot of the background information done, and I'll be working on creating my organic plot with the twenty-two-steps of story structure.

Monkey Kid Book Update

My son and I have been working on our kid book for the last three days!  We're really getting into a groove which a looming deadline has helped to get him motivated on it.  He has "show and tell" at school in a couple of weeks and he wants to bring it.

He's having a lot of fun and it's cool to think about he likes it so much that he wants to share it with his class.  That's what it's all about, writing a great story and sharing it with the world.

R.I.P. Harold Ramis

(Image from IMDB.com)

I was shocked today when I learned that comic genius Harold Ramis passed away today.  He was only 69.  He had health issues since 2010 that I wasn't aware of, so this took me completely by surprise.

I won't delve into his entire filmography, you can find it on the IMDB here.  But here are some of my personal favorites.

SCTV was a Canadian sketch comedy show which he was the head writer.  It starred the likes of John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dave Thomas, and a personal favorite, Rick Moranis.

Animal House, Caddyshack (which was also his directorial debut), and National Lampoon Vacation which he directed (written by another personal favorite of John Hughes).

Ghostbusters and Groundhog day were simply two amazing films.  They are ones that I've seen a few times and never get tired of them.  Both just brilliant and again, I don't need to go into detail about them, most people know how good they are.

With his passing I wonder if Ghostbusters 3 will ever get made, he was a big part of that, and it would be hard to image the movie without him (and without Bill Murray who has expressed no interest in reprising his role of Dr. Peter Venkman).

It makes me ponder his legacy and what sort of, if any, influence I will have on the film industry.  Certainly, he got off to a much earlier start, and I won't be able to match his creative output, but I hope that I can get a few noteworthy films out.

I need to go, it's getting late and I'm in the mood to watch Harold in action in Ghostbusters.

Continuing with the Monkey Kid Book

My son surprised me when he wanted to work on our Monkey Kid Book idea.  It's been a while since we've worked on it more than once in a month, so it was nice.  We're only about 5 or 6 pages away from being done!

Crazy Family Feature Work

There hasn't been a lot of variety lately in my writing, that happens when I'm working on a feature.  I've been going full steam ahead writing the crazy family feature movie idea outline.  I've mainly been working on the techniques I learned from John Truby's "The Anatomy of Story."  When I come up with an interesting idea, I'll jot it down, but it's mostly fleshing out the character and the story world.

So that's the only update and since I'm working on it so much, there probably won't be too much more to say about it in the near future.  So keep on writing and I'll do the same!

Monkey Kid Book Work

My son and I got a little work in on our kid book.  He's starting to get more into it again and I hope we get a lot more pages done this month!

Vail Commercial Idea

I had come up with a great 1 minute commercial idea for Vail Ski Resorts.  I wanted to use the last couple of days to actually write this one up so I could use it as a writing sample for more commercial writing work.  I wanted this one to be a little longer than usual, it would be something more on their website than shown on TV.  Plus, this one had more emotional appeal to it and I wanted the time to get that across.

Crazy Family Feature Work

After getting a lot of other projects set to go, I'm now ready to put some serious time into this screenplay.  I'll continue where I left off on my anatomy of story outline and keep plugging away on the details such as the premise, the seven key steps of story structure, character, and more.

Those Who Remember Update

I worked a little more on some ideas for a short story that I worked on a little a while ago.  I started using some of the story anatomy techniques that I learned and tried to apply it to this story.  I still have a few things to work out, but I need to get working on other projects too.

Monkey Kid Book

My son decided he was ready to do some more work on our monkey book and I was happy to oblige.  It's coming along nicely now, and it's still a lot of fun working with him and seeing what he comes up with for the illustrations.

Animated Halloween Movie Complete

We finished our read through and we both thought it sounds really good (which we would hope so after all the time and many drafts we put into this).  This is one that I really want to see get made and be able to watch it with my kids.  It has a great hook that most people can relate to, great characters, and an excellent story.  We also finished updating our story pitch after all the changes.  This one is ready to go!

Animated Halloween Movie Update

My wife and I had put this away for a few months so we could take a look at it fresh again after all of the changes we had made.  This is a feature animated movie that we both worked on a while ago.  We should get through it over the next two or three days.

Unusual Dog Kids Book Outline Done

The basic idea is now fully plotted, outlined, and ready to be written.  This is the last of the children's books I will be working on probably for a while (never say never when an idea strikes you).  I've gone through most of the bigger ideas I've had for children's picture books.  It's been very gratifying being able to take all of these ideas that I've had for a while and finally work through them.  It will be a lot of fun once I've finished writing them to read these stories to my own kids (regardless if they get published or not).

Unusual Dog Kids Book Idea

Yes, it's hard to believe, but I've started outlining another children's picture book idea I've had for a while.  This is about a kid who wants a pet, so his parents take him to an unusual pet shop and ends up with an unusual dog.  That's as far as I've got and I'm not going to spill any of the story yet anyway.

Pyramid Horror Movie work

I worked on polishing up the story pitch for this one.  I never re-worked it since some of the scenes were made much bigger and I came up with a better idea for a couple of other scenes that I was never really happy with.  Now it's ready to be pitched, once I have my other projects that go along with it ready.

Gardening Kids Book Outline Done

Another outline is completed and waiting for me to have the time to actually write it.  I've got quite a collection now of outlined stories that are ready to be written.  But it will have to wait.  This might be a good one to do over the summer while the family is out tending the garden.  I have a view of it from my office window and it should give me plenty of inspiration.

Gardening Kids Book Idea

Yes, it's another children's book.  I seem to be on a roll lately with these.  This one is a newer idea that came from a title (which won't be revealed yet).  My wife likes to garden and she's been getting our boys into it a little bit last summer.  They like to help, or at least play like they have their own garden.  I'll be drilling her for information about what she does to get everything ready to plant and see what would work in my story.

Storm Kids Book Outline done

The basic idea has been completed.  This one was fun and satisfying to get fleshed out since it's an idea I've had for a while.  I even asked my son for some input as to what he would do in the same situation.  He even expressed an interest in helping to draw it like our monkey kid book idea (but we need to finish that one first).