THE BASICS – GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS
(*For specifics regarding the digital dust-busting work, see the update video here.)

Ok, if you insist… bad news first.  The film lab in Los Angeles was able to scan only one of the four reels of our movie before they shut down operations, and I can’t get that one delivered until they open back up.

Actually, it’s not so bad because I’m staying busy.  The film game is like the stock market.  If you’re a short timer, you’re going to lose BIG.  If you’re in it for the long haul, then a few set backs are not going to kill you.  In fact, sometimes an unexpected change in events force you to re-think your entire strategy.  I’m not talking about a silver lining, or turning lemons into lemonade.  I’m talking about capitalizing on an opportunity that never would have presented itself outside of a crisis. 

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED:

When the NBA cancelled the season, I immediately applied for unemployment insurance.  Now I’m looking around out there to see what the job market looks like, which I haven’t done in quite some time.  It’s gotten me thinking about my resume and social profiles and also got me an interview with Fox Sports for possible free-lance work.  And, because my schedule got wiped out, I decided to look and see if there were any educational programs out there for me, which turned up a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

After searching at all of the top film schools, I found a professional institute program for TV drama writing (a full summer semester at UCLA.)  I applied and got in!  It’s perfect because I’ve been doing a lot of writing over the last 15 years and have material to work with but it’s in pieces.  I always get stuck in the outline stage for lack of the structure that a support community provides. This pro-level of writing is something that we only got a taste of in undergrad school and now I’ll have just what I need to take my writing to the next level.  How this fits in with our work on The Land? Well, it’s going to provide synergy because when we get into festivals and start networking, we’ll have two or three projects that are “pitch-ready.”  So in preparation, I’m studying the course material, watching TV episodes (don’t roll your eyes at me… it’s homework!) reading scripts and filling out the story analysis forms so that I’ll be ready when the program starts.  Also, I’m working on some sound editing so that I can re-approach the voice-over weaknesses and come up with a rewrite before the summer is over.

So, while life will sometimes pause to rain on your parade, the rain will cleanse and there’s a blue sky on the horizon. 

PS: MORE GOOD NEWS:

One of the major hurdles that we had in recent months was the digital dust-busting system that was under construction.  I’ve recently finished testing and integration of the widgets that do the magic.  It wasn’t easy but, we now have a complete VFX system all setup!  The last piece of the puzzle arrived today and the task of pushing all the puzzle pieces into place is now finished!  For a brief demo of the dust-busting process, you can check out the latest update video.

I hope everyone out there is taking this time to look for your own new opportunities.

Stay Safe (but keep the camera rolling)

-Blake

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