I know. It's been over a month since I 'blogged'. But lots has been happening and I've been very busy! Regrettably I did not win ScreeMo and I still have a lot of work to do. Thanks to a very, very wonderful family friend (and now cousin, sort of!) I found myself being the office assistant on a TV pilot for the month of November and was not left with a lot of time to write.
But being in the 'industry' (as we say) is SO COOL!! Now of course as soon as I found out what show I was going to be working on I went home and IMDb-ed the director and writer and lead actress (stand-up comedian Laurie Elliott - see YouTube.) and was completely starstruck when I actually met them just for having seen their names in the big print on IMDb. It was a short show, just five days of shooting and some prep time. Most of the people who work in the Production office are freelancers, so they all come together, set up an office and a company, make the whole thing run smoothly and then shut everything down. They are super efficient and know exactly what they're doing. I, on the other hand, was completely lost and on the first day I showed up and embarrassed myself royally by sitting down in the board room with the producers because I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing. But they started to give me more direction and I started to get the hang of it. They rented a car for me for the month so I did all the running around getting the actors' contracts signed, shopping for the office, picking up payroll, dropping off the daily footage and running errands to and from set. I learned so much about how production worked, it was so encouraging for the writing!
It's funny, though, to work with people who work on every movie or TV show that is filmed in Canada. As it turns out, Toronto is the best place to shoot a movie because it's cheaper than practically anywhere else so even some really big American films, TV pilots and all the horrid low-budget horror movies get shot there. After seeing our 'set' on the streets of Toronto I started to notice production entourages all over the city. One day when I was running an errand I saw a huge line-up of trucks and a few crew-members. I walked by and casually asked, "So, what production are you on?" The guy tells me they're filming Boondock Saints 2. Inside I was yelling, 'Boondock Saints 2!!!!??? WHERRRRE is Sean Patrick Flanery???' But outwardly I oh-so-casually just said, "Oh cool, a sequel after 10 years, eh?"
Back to my office I was spouting about my run-in with the coolest-vigilante-movie-ever-part-deux and they all look at me sort of blankly, "So?" Later, I learned that the accountant was at the party where Edward Norton hired some "female escorts of the night" and was subsequently dumped by Salma Hayek and the production coordinator's good friend invited Renee Zellweger home for Thanksgiving while she was in Toronto filming Chicago, etc. Sooo I learned to 'play it cool.'
Now that the pilot is done, I'm nannying for said wonderful new cousin, we're opening a restaurant and I'm finishing up my screenplay and hope to start getting it read in January. Stay tuned for next... month's... edition.
Love,
Lady Liberty
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
ScreeMo '08
What with all of this NaBloPoMo and NaNoWriMo, I have been inspired by my prolific friends and family and have decided to take part in what I call... NoNaScreeMo. I am the sole participant.
Yes, there is a real script-writing month in April called Script Frenzy but I just felt so left out of all the November writing that I decided to initiate the first inaugural November National Screenwriting Month. This endeavor is not made any easier by the fact that I started working in the production office of a TV pilot (more to follow on this very exciting development) and TV production hours are a little hectic. But fortunately I have a head start. I am on page 37 of my very first screenplay, The Black Sash. I won't give a full synopsis until it's finished lest some blog-wanderer steal my blockbuster (and... there's the fact that I don't quite know what happens) but it is inspired by the organization that I worked for in South Africa and when I found this movie in my head about them that I really wanted to see, I realized I had to be the one to write it! Thus, ScreeMo 2008.
How does one write a screenplay? Well, I'll tell you when I figure it out. But I have learned a few things. If you've ever seen a screenplay you may have noticed the odd formatting. Yes, this is required. There is a reason for this. When it comes time to shoot the movie, all of the different elements (dialogue, action, transition, camera shot) have to be easily identifiable. And each page equates to about a minute of screen time. A screenplay then generally ranges from about 90-120 pages (or longer if you're Titanic) and this is key because different things are supposed to happen at different parts in the movie. So there's a wonderful little program called Final Draft that formats the script automatically. It keeps writing very simple and makes it go quickly.
Now, how to make a plot? Well, play this little game the next time you watch a movie. If the movie is about two hours long, there will be a point about half an hour in that sets up the whole premise for the movie and then with about half an hour to go, there will be the climax before everything starts to come together for the finish. This is a pretty standard format and thus you really plan your plot around what happens on pages 30 and 90. Then you fill in the holes!
Easy? I'll tell you on November 30th. My goal is to make it at least to page 60 by the end of the week and then I should be on track to do 30 pages a week. Wish me luck!
Love,
Lady Liberty
Yes, there is a real script-writing month in April called Script Frenzy but I just felt so left out of all the November writing that I decided to initiate the first inaugural November National Screenwriting Month. This endeavor is not made any easier by the fact that I started working in the production office of a TV pilot (more to follow on this very exciting development) and TV production hours are a little hectic. But fortunately I have a head start. I am on page 37 of my very first screenplay, The Black Sash. I won't give a full synopsis until it's finished lest some blog-wanderer steal my blockbuster (and... there's the fact that I don't quite know what happens) but it is inspired by the organization that I worked for in South Africa and when I found this movie in my head about them that I really wanted to see, I realized I had to be the one to write it! Thus, ScreeMo 2008.
How does one write a screenplay? Well, I'll tell you when I figure it out. But I have learned a few things. If you've ever seen a screenplay you may have noticed the odd formatting. Yes, this is required. There is a reason for this. When it comes time to shoot the movie, all of the different elements (dialogue, action, transition, camera shot) have to be easily identifiable. And each page equates to about a minute of screen time. A screenplay then generally ranges from about 90-120 pages (or longer if you're Titanic) and this is key because different things are supposed to happen at different parts in the movie. So there's a wonderful little program called Final Draft that formats the script automatically. It keeps writing very simple and makes it go quickly.
Now, how to make a plot? Well, play this little game the next time you watch a movie. If the movie is about two hours long, there will be a point about half an hour in that sets up the whole premise for the movie and then with about half an hour to go, there will be the climax before everything starts to come together for the finish. This is a pretty standard format and thus you really plan your plot around what happens on pages 30 and 90. Then you fill in the holes!
Easy? I'll tell you on November 30th. My goal is to make it at least to page 60 by the end of the week and then I should be on track to do 30 pages a week. Wish me luck!
Love,
Lady Liberty
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A Word on our Generation and Politics
My real introduction to American politics were named Monica Lewinsky and impeachment. I've spent the better part of my so-called adult life living abroad in a very anti-American world (Ironically, most of that time pretending to be Canadian) and four years ago when I voted for the first time I was left with a feeling that our generation was completely excluded from the process, and so was the opinion of the rest of world.
Then this guy came along and university students, my foreign friends, professors all took their place standing behind him -- he was our candidate. For precisely that reason, I never truly believed he would win. But then it would seem the stars aligned, and when I sat in a Toronto movie theater and listened to Jon Stewart announce that Barack Obama had just been elected my president, I cried and then I cheered with about a thousand other people of my generation. But these people raucously celebrating were Canadian! Our candidate became everyone's candidate, and such celebration hasn't moved the world since that scene in Armageddon when the meteor that hurtled towards earth to end all life as we know it was destroyed. Remember that? Remember how wonderful and inspiring and mythical that felt?
Until now, it had been a bumpy road for me and my nationality, so patriotism and love of country had always felt cheesy and naive. But they were all I could feel as I listened to our President-Elect speak. And then for the first time in my life, I woke up yesterday overwhelmed with pride to be an American and to claim this fairy tale for my own.
Then this guy came along and university students, my foreign friends, professors all took their place standing behind him -- he was our candidate. For precisely that reason, I never truly believed he would win. But then it would seem the stars aligned, and when I sat in a Toronto movie theater and listened to Jon Stewart announce that Barack Obama had just been elected my president, I cried and then I cheered with about a thousand other people of my generation. But these people raucously celebrating were Canadian! Our candidate became everyone's candidate, and such celebration hasn't moved the world since that scene in Armageddon when the meteor that hurtled towards earth to end all life as we know it was destroyed. Remember that? Remember how wonderful and inspiring and mythical that felt?
Until now, it had been a bumpy road for me and my nationality, so patriotism and love of country had always felt cheesy and naive. But they were all I could feel as I listened to our President-Elect speak. And then for the first time in my life, I woke up yesterday overwhelmed with pride to be an American and to claim this fairy tale for my own.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Happy November 1st! (Now get calling!!!)
With three days to go until the election, I decided (at the prodding of my Canadian husband (...yes it is still weird to use the H-word)) that I had to do something to try to help. So I started calling for Barack Obama! And it's very cool, they give you a list of real Americans (not the fake ones.... like in Canada who can't access Comedy Central links... sorry!) and give you their age, town, polling station and polling station hours so that you can try to get them to go out and vote (for change, of course). I was thinking for a while that I must have gotten the "108-year-old list" because it seemed that every other person I called was listed as 108-years-old. But after speaking with a few very sprite centenarians, I realized that 1900 was probably the default year in "the system" and I'm so glad I figured this out before asking, "Are you REALLY 108?! Because you don't sound nearly that old."
The first two people I got on the phone were totally and enthusiastically voting for Obama, which was so wonderful to hear! I got a lot of voicemails but did my best to very sweetly indicate where their polling station was and that they should get there before 8pm (or 7... it varies in New Hampshire) if they want to have a part in this historic election *cough* CHANGE *cough*. There was of course the odd "I'm-so-sick-of-your-calls" person. I can't even imagine the trials and tribulations of a resident of a contested state! Phonecalls, mailers, very long commercials and lots of speeches? It's rough. Oddly enough, we don't have that problem up here in Canada, eh? I have been seriously lacking in robo-calls.
Then the last person I got tonight asked, "Barack's got volunteers in Canada?" And then I realized I had better find a way to block my phone number before I single-handedly paint Obama as an un-American socialist of all things....
So, if you can, get calling!
Love,
Lady Liberty
The first two people I got on the phone were totally and enthusiastically voting for Obama, which was so wonderful to hear! I got a lot of voicemails but did my best to very sweetly indicate where their polling station was and that they should get there before 8pm (or 7... it varies in New Hampshire) if they want to have a part in this historic election *cough* CHANGE *cough*. There was of course the odd "I'm-so-sick-of-your-calls" person. I can't even imagine the trials and tribulations of a resident of a contested state! Phonecalls, mailers, very long commercials and lots of speeches? It's rough. Oddly enough, we don't have that problem up here in Canada, eh? I have been seriously lacking in robo-calls.
Then the last person I got tonight asked, "Barack's got volunteers in Canada?" And then I realized I had better find a way to block my phone number before I single-handedly paint Obama as an un-American socialist of all things....
So, if you can, get calling!
Love,
Lady Liberty
Monday, October 6, 2008
So this one time, we decided to get married...
As I feel that I've fallen into a Canadian black hole where it would appear neither phones nor internet exist, I thought I would jump on the virtual bandwagon and start a blog. So much has happened in the last few months, I haven't been able to tell nearly as many people as I would like and so this is my earnest, albeit impersonal, attempt to keep those I love up to date.
This year, I got home from an incredible four-month stay in South Africa at the end of April and then graduated two weeks later. After visiting Mr. Liberty in Canada, we decided that I would move to "the Great North" after a nanny stint on Fishers. We parted ways for the month but decided that this was going to be the last time we would spend any considerable length of time apart. Perhaps to make true on his word, Mr. Liberty made a surprise visit to see me and after first asking the blessing of my parents, he led me to my favorite tree (doesn't everyone have one?) and asked me to marry him on a stormy Sunday in July. It was the 27th of July, a year to the day after we first met. Then a month later he turned 27 on August 27th and then a month after that, we got married on September 27th! Coincidence? I think not.
Now how did it come to pass that a girl with somewhere in the neighborhood of 412 close relatives (well... sometimes it feels like that) ended up getting married with a guest list of 33 after two months of engagement? Well I shall tell you. After leaving Fishers, I came straight up to Toronto, and thanks to the referral from a wonderful friend, I began work the day after we got here. Ideally, for an American to work in Canada they must have some skill that makes them more suitable for the job than any Canadian. Well, apart from my ability to speak French, I have no skill. Thus a long game of legal tug-of-war ensued. After a few weeks, the lawyer that my would-be employer so dutifully hired, turned down my case because "he didn't want to steal the company's money." Essentially, if I had had a year of experience at the company's Boston office, I would be qualified enough to work at the Toronto office and have the experience to take the spot of some poor, hard-working Canadian. We were quick to rule out my working in Boston as an option and Plan B was, well, marriage!
So we tossed around the idea of the Carrie Bradshaw-style town hall wedding, but realized that a wedding is a wedding is a, you know, wedding. And no matter what kind it was, our immediate families were going to be a part of it. After deciding on a Wednesday that we were going to get married, we went the "sooner-the-better" road and planned for the Saturday immediately following. Yes, the one three days later. But realizing that, as my dad put it, "the Titanic can't exactly turn on a dime", we decided that we better give my parents a week for it to sink in. Oh and we had to find an officiant! As it turned out, our very small idea for a simple wedding was molded and shaped by lots of loving hands and turned into the wedding of our dreams. On Mr. Liberty's grandparents' farm in rural Ontario we had a small ceremony in front of a two-person chapel that his grandparents had built themselves. Ten days after we first decided to get married and under a light sprinkling of rain, my father walked me over a field to meet my beloved, who looked wonderful dressed in tails, waiting for me at the "altar" of sorts. (I managed to get a gorgeous dressed shipped to me overnight and it fit perfectly!) Then in the cozy, woodstove-warmed farmhouse we had gourmet snacks and champagne toasts while it poured outside. Just as someone offered the idea of moving outside to take pictures, it cleared up magnificently and we did just that. After getting back to Mr. Liberty's family homestead, we ate a home-cooked meal under a beautifully decorated marquis and fairy lights and then danced the night away in a horse stable. There couldn't have been a better way for our families to meet and get to know one another, and there couldn't have been a better way for the two of us to be sent off on our married life. We even had a honeymoon suite! My new brother and sisters-in-law prepared a tent with a plush mattress and duvet, satin pillows, a persian rug and a space heater. After the wedding weekend, we had a perfect little honeymoon in Niagara-on-the-Lake (a gift from Mr. Liberty's aunt and uncle) where we got to sample the best of Canadian wineries. And then finally we made it back to Toronto and to work.
Problems solved? Everything fixed? Not so fast. They would never make it that easy for the wee minions. Lo and behold, marriage is not the insta-cure to working issues... if it was, everyone would be doing it. No, no, the process to be sponsored by one's spouse to become a permanent resident and subsequently have the right to work on Canadian soil takes a solid six months. AT BEST. However, my gracious would-be employers made me an offer to keep me on throughout the whole process and pay me retro-actively with a very generous "signing bonus" (wink, wink) when I was finally able to work. While tempting, we finally decided that it's not so easy staying motivated for a job that you'll get paid for in some undetermined amount of time. Nor would we have the time to attack the mountain of paperwork required of would-be permanent residents if I was working full-time. So I recently said goodbye to the job in order to pursue all the silly things you're supposed to pursue when you're legally unable to work. Painting, screenwriting, blogging...
Now Mr. Liberty and I are nestled in our oh-so-very-cute two-bedroom apartment in downtown Toronto and we're working on the Newlywed-15 to keep us "insulated" for the winter. (Which in Toronto, is like, now... 39 degrees yesterday for all you fahrenheit-minded folk who can think in numbers that high!) We have turned our second bedroom (read: large walk-in closet) into an office where we each have a desk (One courtesy of Aidan and Walter! The other graciously lent by Ashley!) and we work. Mr. Liberty does business plans and music and I do my screenplay writing and... this. And I stare out the window creepily into our neighbors apartments across the way. (I consider it payback for the few weeks that we didn't have window coverings...)
Now that I am fully blog-ready, I promise that I will never let that much happen without telling everyone! It's exhausting just trying to keep up. Nor will any future entries be so long-winded and beleaguering now that we're all on the same page... Thank you for tuning in and we'll see you next time!
Love,
Lady Liberty
This year, I got home from an incredible four-month stay in South Africa at the end of April and then graduated two weeks later. After visiting Mr. Liberty in Canada, we decided that I would move to "the Great North" after a nanny stint on Fishers. We parted ways for the month but decided that this was going to be the last time we would spend any considerable length of time apart. Perhaps to make true on his word, Mr. Liberty made a surprise visit to see me and after first asking the blessing of my parents, he led me to my favorite tree (doesn't everyone have one?) and asked me to marry him on a stormy Sunday in July. It was the 27th of July, a year to the day after we first met. Then a month later he turned 27 on August 27th and then a month after that, we got married on September 27th! Coincidence? I think not.
Now how did it come to pass that a girl with somewhere in the neighborhood of 412 close relatives (well... sometimes it feels like that) ended up getting married with a guest list of 33 after two months of engagement? Well I shall tell you. After leaving Fishers, I came straight up to Toronto, and thanks to the referral from a wonderful friend, I began work the day after we got here. Ideally, for an American to work in Canada they must have some skill that makes them more suitable for the job than any Canadian. Well, apart from my ability to speak French, I have no skill. Thus a long game of legal tug-of-war ensued. After a few weeks, the lawyer that my would-be employer so dutifully hired, turned down my case because "he didn't want to steal the company's money." Essentially, if I had had a year of experience at the company's Boston office, I would be qualified enough to work at the Toronto office and have the experience to take the spot of some poor, hard-working Canadian. We were quick to rule out my working in Boston as an option and Plan B was, well, marriage!
So we tossed around the idea of the Carrie Bradshaw-style town hall wedding, but realized that a wedding is a wedding is a, you know, wedding. And no matter what kind it was, our immediate families were going to be a part of it. After deciding on a Wednesday that we were going to get married, we went the "sooner-the-better" road and planned for the Saturday immediately following. Yes, the one three days later. But realizing that, as my dad put it, "the Titanic can't exactly turn on a dime", we decided that we better give my parents a week for it to sink in. Oh and we had to find an officiant! As it turned out, our very small idea for a simple wedding was molded and shaped by lots of loving hands and turned into the wedding of our dreams. On Mr. Liberty's grandparents' farm in rural Ontario we had a small ceremony in front of a two-person chapel that his grandparents had built themselves. Ten days after we first decided to get married and under a light sprinkling of rain, my father walked me over a field to meet my beloved, who looked wonderful dressed in tails, waiting for me at the "altar" of sorts. (I managed to get a gorgeous dressed shipped to me overnight and it fit perfectly!) Then in the cozy, woodstove-warmed farmhouse we had gourmet snacks and champagne toasts while it poured outside. Just as someone offered the idea of moving outside to take pictures, it cleared up magnificently and we did just that. After getting back to Mr. Liberty's family homestead, we ate a home-cooked meal under a beautifully decorated marquis and fairy lights and then danced the night away in a horse stable. There couldn't have been a better way for our families to meet and get to know one another, and there couldn't have been a better way for the two of us to be sent off on our married life. We even had a honeymoon suite! My new brother and sisters-in-law prepared a tent with a plush mattress and duvet, satin pillows, a persian rug and a space heater. After the wedding weekend, we had a perfect little honeymoon in Niagara-on-the-Lake (a gift from Mr. Liberty's aunt and uncle) where we got to sample the best of Canadian wineries. And then finally we made it back to Toronto and to work.
Problems solved? Everything fixed? Not so fast. They would never make it that easy for the wee minions. Lo and behold, marriage is not the insta-cure to working issues... if it was, everyone would be doing it. No, no, the process to be sponsored by one's spouse to become a permanent resident and subsequently have the right to work on Canadian soil takes a solid six months. AT BEST. However, my gracious would-be employers made me an offer to keep me on throughout the whole process and pay me retro-actively with a very generous "signing bonus" (wink, wink) when I was finally able to work. While tempting, we finally decided that it's not so easy staying motivated for a job that you'll get paid for in some undetermined amount of time. Nor would we have the time to attack the mountain of paperwork required of would-be permanent residents if I was working full-time. So I recently said goodbye to the job in order to pursue all the silly things you're supposed to pursue when you're legally unable to work. Painting, screenwriting, blogging...
Now Mr. Liberty and I are nestled in our oh-so-very-cute two-bedroom apartment in downtown Toronto and we're working on the Newlywed-15 to keep us "insulated" for the winter. (Which in Toronto, is like, now... 39 degrees yesterday for all you fahrenheit-minded folk who can think in numbers that high!) We have turned our second bedroom (read: large walk-in closet) into an office where we each have a desk (One courtesy of Aidan and Walter! The other graciously lent by Ashley!) and we work. Mr. Liberty does business plans and music and I do my screenplay writing and... this. And I stare out the window creepily into our neighbors apartments across the way. (I consider it payback for the few weeks that we didn't have window coverings...)
Now that I am fully blog-ready, I promise that I will never let that much happen without telling everyone! It's exhausting just trying to keep up. Nor will any future entries be so long-winded and beleaguering now that we're all on the same page... Thank you for tuning in and we'll see you next time!
Love,
Lady Liberty
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