ScriptWrite 2.0 Now Available!

The best thing to happen to mobile screenwriting since the release of ScriptWrite... ScriptWrite 2.0 is now available for your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

This is an app that I have developed with my business partner, John Mason, and we're proud to have the newest update out.

You can download ScriptWrite from the App Store for $4.99: HERE

Visit the official site to get more information: http://www.scriptwriteapp.com

My Birthday Fundraiser for O.I.

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (O.I.) is a genetic disorder that is characterized by brittle bones that break easily.

I live with O.I. and I've been blessed to have accomplished many great things even with the disability.  Even after breaking my bones over 35 times in various parts of my body, I have always kept a positive attitude about life and continue to live my dreams.

I want others (most with more severe cases of O.I.) to have a chance to do some great things also!  Let's heal the bones as well as the spirits of those living with O.I.

My birthday was on July 25th and instead of asking for gifts, I put together a campaign to raise $250 to go towards research to find a cure for O.I.

Please take a look at my Birthday Wish and please donate if you can!  

http://birthdays.causes.com/wishes/2584

Every dollar counts and this is something that means a lot to me!

Apple, Dude!

So, some people say that I am a little obsessed with Apple products.

Yes.  Yes, I am.

This is a picture taken in my studio earlier today.

At one point today - actually, this happens more often than not - I was using all four of these devices at once!

Seems a bit silly and overkill to most, but the truth of the matter is I got A TON OF WORK DONE!  And it is with all of these amazing, fantastic, even magical devices that I make it all happen.

Screenwriting Expo 2009

This will be my first year at the Expo.  I’ve been getting back involved with my screenwriting ever since last year when I dove back into it and completed my 2nd feature screenplay, ‘Club Love.’  It’s a very exciting process and now I’m even involved deeper - details will be coming shortly.

As far as the Expo is concerned, it’s an amazing event and I am looking forward to it. Can’t wait to meet some like-minded folks, build the network, and refine my craft even further.

If you are a screenwriter, you should attend the Expo:

www.screenwritingexpo.com

I’ll see ya there.  Oh yeah, purchase the Gold Pass if you can afford it. Completely worth the money!

R.I.P. BLAKE SNYDER

Wow. I'm really stuck for words on this one. I subscribe to Blake's RSS feed from his BLOG and today's update was 'Blake Snyder 1952-2009.' At first, I thought it was a retrospective look at all of his work or something, it didn't register to me right away, but as soon as I saw the news that he had passed away, my stomach sank. That feeling of losing someone too early came over me. It was the same with MJ a few weeks back as well.

I had just got turned on to Blake's 'Save The Cat' last year. I had seen it in past years, but didn't think to read it. Thought it was something that wouldn't help me. Little did I know that after reading it, I would complete the first draft of a screenplay that I had been trying to write for over 10 years. More like 12 years. It was a long time in my head and it wasn't until 'STC' that the story actually opened up for me!

I also had the pleasure of exchanging a few emails with Blake. He was always very quick to answer and always helpful and cheerful.

I thank Blake Snyder for his 'STC' and everything that it taught me. I know that he was working on another book, so I'm hoping that will still be released this year.

You will be missed!

Rest in peace.

WHY DO I LOVE SCREENWRITING?

I think I figured out why I like it - love it - actually. It's because the art of it is something that I can do on my own. I can think of ideas in any situation at any given time. Work those ideas in my head and then hit the laptop, open Final Draft or Celtx, and get to work. And through the entire process, it's just me. Of course, if I'm thinking out loud about any part of the story, etc. talking with various people, it doesn't matter really because I always come back to me.

That's why I like screenwriting. Well, there's more than that, but when it comes down to it, this is one really good reason!

SCRIPTGIRL

Don't let the thumbnails of her videos fool you... she actually has some good information on the weekly about script sales!

www.scriptgirl.net

NO RE-WRITE YET

I'm still sitting on "Club Love" at the moment. Not sure if it's time keeping me from getting into the rewrite or my general misuse of said time. I have other ideas that I want to dive into as well. Some of which I will discuss once I get them rolling.

Watching the Academy Awards on Sunday was a great inspiration. Seeing people get awards for both writing and sound makes me wanna get at it and get going! Give me more work!!! For as much as I like to relax, I'm realizing that this is no time to be relaxin'! Feel me?

Conrats to Dustin Black for winning Best Original Screenplay for "Milk". Great film, great writing.

And to the "Slumdog Millionaire" team of Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty for taking the Best Achievement in Sound... congrats!

I'm working on Treatments and Beat Sheets for two additional ideas that I have at the moment. All I can say about them right now is this... "The Spread" and "Hollywood&Vine"

That's all for now.

MY VOMIT DRAFT

I've done it! Today I completed the First Draft (or Vomit Draft) of "Club Love"!

I am so damn happy and proud of myself right now.

This story has been over 12 years in the making and now it is finally a reality for me!

There was a lot of inspiration when I had joined Triggerstreet.com. Great folks over there, lots of great information and stories from the battlefield!

I also think that ready Save The Cat was a great help. It really gave me a fresh perspective on my writing.

I can finally say, "I have written Club Love" instead of "I'm going to write Club Love".

Wow.

BTW, I am still trying to figure out what to do next. Some people say you should sit on it a while and then head back for the re-write. Some say just keep going and get right into it.

My first priority will be to print it and read it through. I love the feeling of holding it in my hands as opposed to reading the .pdf document on my computer screen.

Then... I'll decide.

I know that I have a few great books on the re-write process, so I'll probably dig into those a bit before deciding as well.

I'm right in the middle of McKee's "Story", which I really got into after the first chapter or so. I know that I want to complete this book before I do anything as well. Great information in there!

Ok, that's all for now!

A COUPLE COOL QUOTES!

The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you don't write - Sol Sacks


Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. -Will Rogers


Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it, and I'm not afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work - and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't. -Lucille Ball

"Story" by Robert McKee

I had seen this book and scanned through it briefly at the bookstore. I wasn't very interested. Seemed like A TON of information so I didn't want to get into it because I felt it would just take my time away from actually writing.

Well, I ended up purchasing the book because I really want to learn more about STORY! About creating a story that will captivate the reader. About the true meaning of what story is all about.

McKee comes recommended highly by many people in the industry, so I will read the book and see what I get from it!

Once I'm done, I'll give an update on my thoughts.

FINALLY, MY 40 CARDS

I had been stuck for a while. Hit page 46 with full stride and then BAM! I just got blocked. I know what my story is but I just didn't have the scenes down on my cards to help me get the flow through the mid-point.

Spent some time out by the pool over the weekend. Laid back, closed my eyes, watched my movie in my mind.

It just started to flow and I wrote down each scene as it did. It happened quickly and I just couldn't help but smile.

I went completely through from the mid-point to my final image!

So, now I've got the map, I just have to go in and write the second half of this sucker.

I truly believe now in the index card method and really getting your scenes down on those before you start writing. I'm sure some people will just write an outline, which may be a method I will try in the future, but the cards are what are doing it for me.

Ok, that is all for now... back soon... hopefully with a heading of "I'VE COMPLETED THE ROUGH DRAFT OF 'CLUB LOVE'"

THE MIKE CHEDA F/U

O.k., so I hadn't heard back from Mr. Cheda on my script idea so I emailed him to follow-up.

Good thing I did.

He said he thought he had emailed and also explained the importance of figuring out his email program.

Anyhoos...

He said that my idea for Club Love wouldn't really be something that the studios would consider. Mostly because the idea centers around a Hollywood Nightclub and most movies that deal with anything "Hollywood" wouldn't work unless it's an established writer creating it.

His suggestion... well, it's just one man's opinion.

"Club Love" is at page 46 and not stopping anytime soon!

Viva la "Club Love"

OUT OF THE SLUMP!

I had talked about being stuck a few posts back.

Well, I just wrote 6 more pages today and I'm at the top of page 43.

My scenes are good to go on the index cards up to the midpoint, so I'm good to go.

Feels very good.

I have to remember that this is the "vomit draft"

Word.

UPDATE ON MIKE CHEDA

Still waiting on a response after sending him MY response to HIS response to my original inquiry.

I know the guy is busy and this is a FREE service, so I'm not sweating the wait time at all.

Still nervous... still excited.

I'll let you know...

AVALANCHE!!!

On Triggerstreet.com, from July 15 - 22, I will be participating in what is called an "AVALANCHE"!

The goal is to write as many pages as possible during this time. You can right 100 pages per day, or you can take one of the days and write 100 pages. Or 400 for that matter. Or even 10! The higher the number the better as there are 'gate-keepers' who will be keeping count.

It's actually very exciting because I really need to pump out some pages this week on Club Love and this is going to kick me in the ass to do it!

Wish me luck!

And "God's Speed" to all the AVALANCHE participants!

Mike Cheda

I had read about Mike in STC. Mr. Snyder spoke highly of him so I visited his website. He is awesome! For FREE, I have emailed him my concept. He is going to do a quick analysis and tell me if it's marketable or not.

After sending him my title, logline, and tagline, he has emailed me back a question. Which is funny, because this is the 3rd or 4th person that has asked this question.

Basically, my logline is: "A heartbroken nerd takes a job at a nightclub in hopes of finding true love."

His question was, "What kind of nightclub? Just a bar or a strip club with lots of naked women doing lap dances?"

My thing is this... I would have said "strip club" if that's what I meant. But I think that there are a lot of people who think "nightclub" = "strip club".

I explained to him that it's a Hollywood dance nightclub and that I want to show the "hollywood" scene and then break it apart to show the not-so glamourous side of things.

So, now I'm waiting to hear what he has to say about my concept!!!

I'm both excited and nervous.

STUCK... KIND OF...

Just broke into two. Fun & Games are underway and I'm stuck trying to get to my midpoint. I have the scenes written out on my index cards, but as I write each scene, it just feels strange. Not sure if it's the sequence of the scenes or the actual scenes themselves, but I really want to break through this so that I can get some solid writing done over the next few days while I'm still on my cruise.

I think that I'm 'thinking' too much right now. I started off strong because I kept my focus from the heart. And I think I have to keep doing that!

What will be the switch? What can I do that will just flip that switch from 'brain' to 'heart'?

When I find out, I will let you know.

PAGE 33

So I just hit page 33 last night of C.L.

There's one thing I'm regretting at this moment and that one things is actually finishing my index cards before I started to write.

I have my main points/plot twists down and I know where my story needs to go. But I just don't know HOW to make it go that way!

My main man just met the 'girl of his dreams' - or is she? - and I've introduced the conflict for the actual club itself. But now I'm not sure which scenes are going to contain and control the story.

I think I have to take a couple days and get some scenes figured out! I know for a fact that I have no clue what scenes will be in Act III, so I might as well sit and think about this for a couple days.

I knew I should have finished my 40 cards. (see STC)

Anyhoos, back to it!!!

Thanks for reading.

MY CURRENT SCREENPLAY

The title: Club Love

Logline: A young, broken hearted nerd takes a job at a nightclub in hopes of finding true love.

Tagline: The wrong place, to the find the right one.

Treatment and synopsis have been registered with the WGA and as soon as I am complete with this one, it will be registered with the copyright office!

The idea for CL came to me about 12 years ago when I was heavily involved in the club scene here in Hollywood. At first, it was coming to me in flashes of scenes from the crazy shit that I have experienced. Then I started to think about the romantic part of what I was experiencing and I knew that I had to combine these two ideas.

Now, my view of things that happen out at the clubs in a bit skewed because I'm not your average club-goer. I'm a nerd. I'm not the "ladies-man". I'm more behind the scenes than actually creating the scenes. I'm a DJ myself, so I like to look at the workings within the machine. And being in this position allows me to see, from a third-party perspective, just how crazy things can get.

Now, my style is to make fun of as much shit as possible. So you know in this movie there is going to be a lot of exploitation on the stereotypes; the drunken club girls, the 'dick' doormen, the popular male promoter that nobody realizes is gay (not even himself), and of course, the DJs (both good and bad)! This is just to name a few of the "regulars" that you will encounter out there in the crazy nightlife world.

So, I had the idea sitting in my head, NOT ON THE PAPER WHERE IT BELONGS! It had gone through many iterations before I actually got more focused this year. The biggest problem was because I knew what I wanted to say, as far as the message of the film, but I didn't have my story. And I didn't have the theme exactly nailed either.

This year, after signing up on Triggerstreet.com, I started to really talk more about the screenplay, the idea, and the story with more and more people.

I have read many books on screenwriting. I've even taking college courses on the topic. But it wasn't until I purchased and read "Save The Cat", that everything changed for me. Not to say that I strictly go by what STC says - in fact, I actually combine a lot of the ideas from the many books that I have read - but STC helped to lighten things up and put things into a new perspective for me. It's toted as "The last book on screenwriting you'll ever need" and I have to say, this could be true! Another great book is the "The Screenwrter's Bible", so STC wasn't the last book I got or needed. Sorry Blake Snyder.

Save The Cat helped me get the logline right! And that in turn helped the theme. And actually, now that I think about it, talking to my wife REALLY helped me get the theme down. And talking to my daughter actually helped me get one of the major plot points figured out!

That's the point! Once you start talking about it, with as many people as possible, you will start to put it into existence!!!

So STC helped with the logline and the BS2 (you'll have to read the book to really understand) got me to "beat out" my story and figure out what the hell my main character is supposed to do! What obstacles must he face? What does he have to go through to reach his goal?

A lot of the events in CL are based on true occurrences, but of course, it's a movie, so there is some fictional things as well.

When it comes to the genre of this film, I always tell people that it's a Romantic Comedy (Rom-Com). But the more I think about it, it's a Coming of Age or Rite of Passage movie since it's really geared towards the goal of my main character. Which is more than just finding true love. It's about finding himself and facing one of his biggest oppositions (club life) in the process.

ANYWAYS... I have finally started to write Club Love. I am currently on page 29 and I am sure that I will be finishing the first draft very soon. I'm writing from the heart and then I will re-write from the head.

There are plenty of laughs and tears to be had at Club Love, so I hope that when this film gets sold and produced, you will go and see it!

More to come as I continue to write this puppy!