Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Challenge Issued


Over the past two weeks I’ve been exchanging emails with a coordinator for Writer’s Boot Camp. For those of you who haven’t encountered them, Writer’s Boot Camp is a resource for the development of screenwriting, both feature and television. Operating out of LA and NY, the premiere service from WBC is their 22 week think tank where screenwriters develop 3-5 screenplays with script evaluation conferences, script readings, web support, and more. I’m not the best source of information, so for more info check them out at www.writersbootcamp.com.

In the email exchange the coordinator outlined the perks of the program, which I’m sure has helped many writers develop their craft. I was hesitant to sign up, and the coordinator was consistent in his opinion that what the writers receive through WBC is beyond what I have, which at this point is an education in screenwriting from NYU and the support of the screenwriter’s league. My argument, or point rather, wasn’t that I thought WBC wouldn’t help me, but rather that it was an investment, as was my NYU education. I graduated in 07 and in some ways I’m just starting to put what I’ve learned to practice. Not even two years out, I wanted to give my investment a chance to pay off before I determined that I needed to fortify my craft through additional resources, many of which mean spending dollars in a tough economy. I thought it was a fair point to make, and I think the coordinator did as well. In his last email he mentioned that a typical development cycle takes six months and that we should check in around then. Whether or not he intended it to be a challenge, I took it as such, but not the type of challenge where two cavemen bark at one another for the right to club a mate. It was something more elegant, like I stepped on his toes at court and he brushed me across the face with a silk glove.

I think it’s funny how this should happen during a stretch where I’ve been grappling with motivation. It’s just the sort of motivational spring board I’ve needed. I’m fully confident that I can get back into the swing of things and have a well developed product by the time the six month check-in arrives. But who knows, there’s also the chance that I fall flat on my face. One of the things I miss from my time at NYU was that there was always somebody waiting to see the writing, expecting the developed pages. It’s hard for a lot of students to find that when they move on. Even though it’s half a year from now, I feel like there’s someone waiting for these pages. He might not remember me when we get there, but I plan on delivering anyway.

Jim Jarmusch, Atom Egoyan - NYC events with the Museum of the Moving Image

Two amazing-sounding events sponsored by the Museum of the Moving Image were announced today:
An Evening with Jim Jarmusch
Thursday, April 23, 8:00 p.m.
Cantor Film Center, NYU
36 East 8th Street (Between University Place and Broadway)

Jim Jarmusch, whose brilliant and laconic style has made him one of America's most distinctive filmmakers since his debut with Stranger than Paradise in 1984, will participate in a conversation with clips moderated by Chief Curator David Schwartz. In addition to an exclusive look at scenes from his remarkable new film The Limits of Control (being released by Focus Features in May), which was photographed by Christopher Doyle and has an ensemble cast including Isaach de Bankolé, Paz de la Huerta, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Bill Murray, the evening will include scenes from Stranger than Paradise, Mystery Train, Night on Earth, Dead Man, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Warrior, and Coffee and Cigarettes.

Tickets: $12 Museum members/Free for Sponsor-level and above/$18 public. Order tickets online or by calling 718.784.4520.
Jim Jarmusch! Woot.

Aaaand...
PREVIEW SCREENING
Adoration
With Atom Egoyan in person
Monday, April 27, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
At AMC Loews 19th Street 6, 890 Broadway, Manhattan

2008, 100 mins. 35mm print courtesy Sony Pictures Classics. With ArsinĂ©e Khanjian, Scott Speedman, Devon Bostick. The latest film by Canadian director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica) is a compelling drama about family history, technology, and the modern world. When a high school French teacher asks her class to translate a news story about a terrorist who plants a bomb in the airline luggage of her pregnant girlfriend, the assignment has a profound effect on Simon, who imagines that the news item is his own family’s story. In the resulting turmoil, a mystery is solved and a new family is created.

Tickets: $12 Museum members/Free for Sponsor-level and above/$18 public. Order tickets online or by calling 718.784.4520.
Atom Egoyan! Woot #2.

You can purchase tickets for either of these shows here.