Burnout Shmurnout

Ha! The most unoriginal, uncreative title ever…but it reflects my mood, which is to say that I give the fingah to burnout.  I haven’t come this far to succumb to a little teeny weeny bit of exhaustion.  The worst has passed – today was the strangest day- after working so hard for so long, so many incredible hours, evenings, weekends, you name it, all just trying to stay afloat – well, today I found myself cruising around town running errands thinking I oughtta be home working…but I couldn’t think of anything absolutely impending that I had to do. Don’t get me wrong, I have a list of jobs – two promo videos that I am sort of in the midway point on, but can’t do those til the end of next week for various reasons, a few pick-up shots, one for Dreamers and one for the Drumming doc (not really a pick-up for that, more of a wrap-up), and planning a promo shoot for the Feature Beautiful Jane, plus meeting a few people who have expressed interest in my hockey film, The Healing Place…and wrapping up the budget on Dreamers, but am waiting on Corin from IMAC to provide some numbers. So really nothing terribly pressing, so I even took a few moments to do some laundry and clean the bathroom, plus fixed up a nice roast for the evening meal (even invited my Mom and Dad over – the least I can do as they watch my little cat, Oliver, for the weekend as I ‘film festival it up’ in Halifax. I have TONS of editing to do this Fall, also, but am waiting for my Canada Games National Artists Program paycheque so I can buy a Firewire 800 Hard Drive  to edit on.  In the meantime, my good friend Bill has taken charge of the Dreamers footage (I have back-ups, of course) and next week we will get at it. In truth, I can hardly wait, I can see the movie in my head and we got some beautiful footage and evocative performances, so I am totally psyched to get at that project. But for now I find myself twiddling my thumbs for half an hour, which is so incredibly rare in my life these days. I almost even considered going out to the deck to read or watch an episode of Battlestar Galactica, which I have become more than a little addicted to…but here I write instead, which is also cool, in case anyone out there is actually interested in what I am up to these days.

Yup, the summer was jam packed and it was a bit of a relief to see September arrive.  Shot Dreamers the short promotional film over the Labour Day weekend, with a hearty cast and crew of 31, most of whom worked for very little in terms of wages, seeing as my Canada Council grant ap nor my PEI Arts Council grants were successful. The good news is that CBC Atlantic has purchased the film and so with the original author’s permission I am disseminating those funds out to cast and crew.  Believe me, they deserve it, I can’t thank the local folks enough for coming out to support me in this important project. I think what I look forward to the most as my career develops (and it is starting to, yay!) is bringing others along for the ride, and rewarding those who have shown their loyalty through various projects – especially my single Mom friends – after having been a single Mom for eleven years, struggling to make ends meet, the FIRST thing I want to do is hire my friends (y’all know who y’are). These gals are talented beyond measure in their various aspects of film life and I treasure their friendship and faith immensely.

For those following Christopher’s story, he has made a tough decision and pulled out of Vancouver to live with his Dad in Grande Prairie, Alberta (red neck, anyone?) to find full time work and save money to go back to school. He seems quite set on Sound Design for film, which worries me to a point cause of the lack of work out there, but at the same time perhaps I will have work for him down the road. For now he is doing some editing for me and he loves it, which is awesome. It would be grand to work with my son some day.

In other news, one of the Vancouver Short Film projects I was on (actually, the very first apart from the doc short), has had some success…ok, well not so much the short itself, but our actor Charlie Bewley was cast in the next three Twilight films…it’s kinda surreal cause well y’know Charlie is a really awesome guy, and I am thrilled beyond words for his success. It may sound cliche, but we all knew he had the ‘IT’ factor the moment we met him (well at least us gals did). This is how it went down: he popped into VFS as we were casting for Stuffed, and as the First AC on that show, I didn’t really have a role in being in the room for the audition and so was taking my turn in the lobby greeting actors and taking them down to their audition. Charlie walked in, wearing a white button down shirt and jeans and cool boots, spiked blondish / brownish hair and the most devastating eyes and accent – well, you could feel the magnetism emanating from this man. Above and beyond – he was kind and just looking for a chance to work in film – so I asked him if he was interested in auditioning for our film, Stuffed, which he was not scheduled to audition for, he said yes, we made room for him in the schedule, I led him downstairs, and all the way back upstairs wished I was ten years younger and prayed that he would get the part. He did, he was a lovely guy all round, friendly, talented and just fab to work with, and he I am certain is still quite good friends with the younger guys on the film. Our make-up artist, Priya, was head over heels over him, so I am sure the gals worldwide watching Twilight New Moon who discover Charlie will be equally smitten. Most of all, Charlie I wish you great success and I know you will keep your feet on the ground. It was a real pleasure working with you.

See ya fer now – google Stuffed or Charlie Bewley and you will find our little movie out there in Cyberspace.

Off to pack for the Atlantic Film Festival and to make biscuits for Steve and Mom and Dad and moi (mmmm, love ‘em)…

Cheers -

Susan

To Sail or not to Sail

Hi!

I think my title is a little misleading. I will always sail. However, what I may or may not do is take a round the world trip someday, on a tall ship like Picton Castle. I had the great fortune last Saturday of being escorted via motorized dory (skiff?), camera gear in tow as always, to this stylized, refitted square rigged Barque, where I had the utmost pleasurable two and a half hours grabbing cutaways and inserts and interviews and action shots of ’somebody’s dream’. Cause that’s what it amounted to, somebody’s dream, Captain Dan Moreland’s, in fact. I met the Captain and, being me, was really quite in awe of his presence – this man has been around the world a number of times in control of this vessel which, in turn, is controlled by the seas…well, I know he has mastered nature to an extent, but I think when you are out on the open seas in a large sailing rig you are always somewhat in the hands of destiny. I am sure that, in essence, this man is reminded of this on a daily basis when considering the fate of one of his crew, young Laura Gainey, who was swept off the rear deck of the ship in rough seas a few years back. Still, the man has gotten past this unfortunate ‘destiny’, but perhaps the ship and those who view it haven’t – it was certainly on my mind as I wandered the ship from engine room to galley, camera in hand. But I didn’t ask about Laura and that fateful night and what it has done to Captain Moreland and the existing crew. Instead I wondered if I would feel her presence (I didn’t), although I most certainly remembered it. And instead I filmed young hands carefully caressing a freshly sandpapered spar, and a faded blue canvas sneaker hanging to dry above the heads of crew tarring and mending, and the ship’s striped cat (the only good cat is a striped cat – LMM), and the wonder and exhilaration of our cheerful, kind escort, Maggie, that this is an adventure she chose and stuck to and is now living, warts and all…and all in all, it was just a knock-you-over kinda day, surreal and breathtaking and wonderful and frightening – at the thought that if I could, would I choose to undertake this adventure? I am a fearful sailor, I don’t like high winds and sudden gusts that threaten to throw you into the brink. I am dreadfully afraid of deep water, always have been, musta drowned in a previous life. And yet…and yet…I suppose Laura thought of possible consequences too, and so must these sailors now aboard that lovely, grand pirate-like ship…and yet, there she was, and there they are. And so, one day, perhaps I will put my fears aside and maybe follow the same journey, I dunno. I have always been one for adventure, and sucking the marrow out of life, although it will take me a lot of guts to overcome my fears. But maybe having Faith negates those fears, because if you believe there is a God and a pre-destined path and that you are not alone and that Mary herself is out there watching over you, then what is the purpose of fear? And worry?

Mostly, from the great Captain Moreland himself, I heard (and of course recorded) these words, which I was thrilled to add to my film, Drummerboyz, just after I said something like “Dear God will I ever learn technology and the business of filmmaking and will this project ever come to fruition and oh Lord when is someone gonna see what a great filmmaker I am and what a terrific writer I am etc. etc. etc….”you take on a huge, overwhelming project (like buying a steel hulled ship and refitting her as a square rigger and take on students and travel the world) and you just come at it in dribs and drabs and you learn, bit by bit, day by day, and before you know it – you’ve accomplished something you maybe always believed you could but were never really sure that you could.” Well, that is not an exact quote by any means, but that is the essence of what he said and I just recall leaving that beautiful old lady of the seas with a grand smile on my face, and I probably gushed like the idiot that I always am when it comes to small talk, but innately I knew that I was happy and that I had heard something I needed to hear that day, from an old salt who has had the guts to live his live and who has overcome tremendous obstacles to live, to really live, selfish as many people may think that is, and I just thought ‘well, allright’, this has been a good day. And later, Steve and I went for a sail on the little Tanzer 22 and we were in awe of the crew up on the spars hanging a newly mended T’Gallant sail, and we saluted the solo crew dude who was perched facing the sunset with his feet up on the deck, in apparent ease with his lot in life (was he really? We’ll never know – but we like to think that he was ’cause it made our day), soaking up the extraordinary sunset we are almost always partial to during a late evening sail, and we were content.

It was a good day.

Susan

PS Had I had the funds to go to Scotland, I would have missed this experience. Strange how life comes around when we let it, huh?
PPS Triumph Street is doing well over there without me…a first, a third and a fourth in the Games a week before the Worlds…

Camera Practice

H’lo -

Had a lovely drive yesterday afternoon with the EX3 carefully stowed in the trunk.  Stopped here and there to shoot some footage – and I must say, I am fortunate to be living in PEI, in one of the most beautiful areas of our Country.  I had a grand time playing with the EX3, pretending to be some great camera operator, shooting sea and skyscapes through lupins, trying to find my ’style.’ This weird thing happens when you are out somewhere with a camera – all of a sudden, everything is a frame, and you totally wish you had unlimited memory cards because yup, you would shoot everything.  But then again, think how much footage you would have to go through later – so I guess there’s a reason we can’t shoot everything! So yesterday – the rain clouds broke just long enough for me to shoot for a good few hours – and I found myself playing with rack focus on a statue of Mary behind the iron fence at William Critchlow Harris’ stunning Indian River Church, spying on beef cows happily chewing their cuds with a view of the bay, cruising to French River to pretend I was a tourist, stopping at a lookout over the prettiest little fishing village on the planet, then – well, my addiction set in – looking for espresso in Cavendish. Only ’cause the sand dunes were too hazy to bother trying to shoot. And can you believe there is no expresso in Cavendish??? Like none that I could find, anyway! So, well, I settled for a Frosty Treat milkshake on the way home. Don’t tell Krista of Pump ‘N Burn…or Steve for that matter…

I missed one great shot. I am still regretting it, and may have to wander out later to grab it. Just waitin’ for the sun. It features a lovely red dirt road going…nowhere? Somewhere? Hmmmm…All up to the viewer’s interpretation. Watch for it in Drummerboyz. It has a place there.

Still trying to get my MacBook running properly, and editing going. Looking forward to the day when I can have a real editing suite, with many terrabytes of storage and everything working tickety-boo.  And -ahem- an Asistant Editor to help go through folders and bins and footage and all. To deal with techie problems. Someday! Yeesh. Can’t believe I used the expression tickety-boo. That is so not me. Weird.

Did some shooting at the Moncton Highland Games last Saturday – totally cool how the sky stayed relatively clear while I got some interviews, etc. Then when the Heavens opened, the set-up of the Games field actually allowed me to set up the camera in the beer tent and still shoot the bands. Then as luck or Providence would have it, Sam was on the rank I needed – got a great two shot of he and Gordie drumming away together, the rain dripping off their glens and drums. Got some cool shots to show how determined these young drummers are – they even play in the rain, seemingly undeterred. And believe me, it was torrential rain at one point. Their hands musta been slippin’ off of those drumsticks.

Last week did the PEI Screenwriters’ Boot Camp in Mount Stewart. Wow, it was mind blowing. My Instructor was Tom Shoebridge, who was fabulous – the tv people had Canadian Actor and Producer Jennifer Podemski.  I learned a great deal, and at the pitching session was invited to send my Treatment and a few scenes to Dreamstreet Pictures in Moncton. They are looking for family drama – we’ll see how that goes, but it sure would be nice to get a break in this business. Regardless, I will still cherish the moment when Tom leaned over my shoulder and told me I was a wonderful writer. It negated the moment when I opened a letter from Nimbus Publishing turning down my novel. (you’re not a real writer if you don’t get umpteen thousand rejections, right?)

For now, gotta lot to do today still – planning the short film shoot Labour Day weekend – Dreamers – and planning a promo shoot with Marlane for Beautiful Jane. (Marlane got a role in the new Thom Fitzgerald movie! Yippee! I am so proud of her!  Working with Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker (sp?))!)

I may go out to get some more scenics today – depends on the weather – but this time I will end in Victoria-by-the-sea and hope that their little chocolate shop / cappucino bar is open. Sounds like a lovely way to end the day after a fab afternoon of shooting.

Cheers -

Susan

One of those days

Hi -

There are so many things I need to be doing right now, but alas I have to dump some of my techie frustration somewhere to cool myself off enough to work, so here it is…if anyone’s actually reading this blog, please accept my apologies for doing a little venting! The thing is, I ordered this awesome MacBook Pro for the main purpose of dumping raw footage from the Sony EX3.  It’s this beautiful little streamlined system that allows you to simply pop the Media Card into the PCI Express slot, and away you go. A simple file conversion, and you’re into Avid Media Composer and organizing folders and bins, ready to edit. HOWEVER, the MacBook had resolution problems right off the bat. So, feeling like an idiot, I sent a few hasty emails to people who edit, including a VFS Instructor, and I figured out a few little things that might help with the resolution issue. After all, I have the most incredible High Def camera, and fuzzy images are not acceptable! (And no, these shots are not in soft focus, I got the highest score as a First AD at VFS that my teacher, Ricky Choi, who had been there for 25 years, had ever given a student, according to him personally. I did not EVER have a soft shot on any of the films I pulled focus on)  SOooooo, I go out and buy this nice high-resolution monitor for half price at Staples, great deal, but the Mac won’t pick up the res. Looonnngggg story short, turns out the Mac is a dud, a lemon, the logic board is toast for that series of MACs, and a few weeks and many many lost hours of work and research later, a replacement arrives. Only now:  still won’t pick up the monitor’s res, and yes it is totally supposed to, I’ve done all the research, even Mac agrees it should….and 2, the resolution on the Mac itself STILL bounces back to an old res after setting the high res on its own display….it takes five minutes to boot up – five minutes!!!! No word of a lie….and….get this….IT WON”T READ AVID!!! The other lemon did….this doesn’t…dunno why, unless all the diagnostics the APPLE folks ran me through somehow changed the operating system, cause it turns out that the operating system is the issue here, so hey all you filmmakers, do not get the OS X 10.5.6, Avid will not run on it! So now I have this new replacement MacBook Pro, which is supposed to be the best laptop in the world for visuals and editing, and I am about to throw it out of a window. And worse, I don’t know what to do  – just switch to another or give up on Mac altogether. Perhaps this is one of those times when patience really is a virtue. There are other components I need for editing, but at this point I just need to get a simple system up and running so I can make some dollars doing some corporate web promos, music videos, etc. I tried to explain to MAC how much money I am losing as I waste time trying to fix this problem, but let’s face it, Corporate Apple type folks don’t really need to lose sleep over the fact that I can barely afford a coffee at this stage of my new business. Doesn’t look like getting to Vancouver and Scotland to finish Drummerboyz will be financed by my own business income, at the rate things are going. I sure would like it if Apple would step up to the plate – the worst part is that my regular tech guy (Tony from Texas, a real nice guy) is on holidays and no one else is following through on the ‘we’ll call you within 48 hours thing’.  Guess I should stop blogging and call their regular number again! Sure would like a single grande mocha frappe right about now. That would solve the problem. Or at least give me a breather.

On the plus side, Marlane O’Brien and I are making some headway with Beautiful Jane, one of my feature scripts. She has some connections and we are optimistic that we will have some Development Funds to get started with from private sources by the end of June.  In other good news, I was selected to attend the Screenwriters’ Boot Camp coming up in a few weeks  – I’ll be working on “A Time To Drum” – so I am excited and hopeful about that. I tried to get in a few years ago and wasn’t chosen, so I am really happy about getting in this year. More good news – finished my novel, A Certain Kind of Freedom.  I think it is a bit short, 56 000 words, but I will continue to work at it and expand dialogue, etc, to bring it out a bit. It of course will be re-written a few times anyway, so I am sure it will grow. However, I love it and am really proud of myself and my writing, regardless of what anyone else thinks. There are a lot of things I am not good at, ha ha like tech stuff, and I may not be an exceptional writer, but I do think that I am at least capable of telling a nice story.

No other big news, I don’t think. Except that sailing is good with Steve. Just sailing a Tanzer 22 right now, but it’s sweet, close to the water, and heels over beautifully. Sunday we sailed for three and a half hours, playing in the wind and the waves, almost had the winch in the water at times, then barbecued in the marina cause it woulda been a bit rough otherwise, and it was great. A perfect day. Oh, and I will add that last night was the Mixed Class Summerside Karate Club belt test, and it was a great workout and congrats to all of my friends who moved up a notch and showed the endurance of the human spirit and earned their belts. For me, well, my next belt is brown, so can’t test that in class, has to be a special day with the Moncton crowd, and this was a messed up year for me in terms of karate, being two months into the season to start, and then having to be off for multiple eye surgeries until March, squeezed in a Boot Camp Jan-Feb to train for Karate, then ended the season with an ambulance ride after a day seminar due to Exercise Induced Anaphlaxis (yup, a whammo of an allergy attack, induced by crazy exercise and lots of heat)…so although I got a few more classes in after the allergy attack, I have to admit that it didn’t feel really right last night. Kinda sad. I love karate, even sparring with the guys, which often hurts! But something was missing last night, maybe because I had missed so much of the season and everyone else bonded without me, plus I was away all the year before, or because I was still feeling embarrassed and kinda scared, to be truthful, after collapsing at the seminar, then there’s the fact that I can only see well out of one eye, because I can’t wear a contact lense in the eye with the hole in it, so everything is always blurry on one side and it makes me feel cross-eyed and gives me a headache…plus I wasn’t testing, and I kinda missed that whole adrenaline fuelled exhausted bruised for a week kinda experience. Something about taking your body to its physical limit, to the point where your mind has to take over and finish the job for you. It really is an incredible high. Anyways, hopefully next year will be better, I have a prescription for an epi-pen and plus have some tips to help me stave off another allergy attack like that one…don’t think I can do anything about the eye except learn to live with it, but I am hopeful that if I train real hard, at the gym, pump ‘n burn and karate, that I will go for my brown belt in a year.

In the meantime, good luck to Lesley, who is testing for her black belt this Sunday.

I am off to call Apple back and follow up on a huge list of to-do’s for Beautiful Jane. I am happier now. Thanks for listening (reading).

Cheers -

Susan

A Quick Note

Hi!

As promised, a quick note to say hello and let y’all know that I got lots of great footage last weekend at ‘Summerside Drums ‘09′, featuring World renowned award winning drummers Jim Kilpatrick, Tyler Fry, and John Fisher. Not only did I get great footage, but I had a great weekend getting to know these guys and having my son Christopher and his old buddies around. I gotta tell you, Jim, Tyler and John were super super nice guys who didn’t seem to mind having their workshops invaded by my camera and I, and all of them are just so dedicated to this passion that is drumming that it makes all the difficult, challenging parts of filming ‘Drummerboyz’ all that more worthwhile.  (Eg. trying to find the money to get to Vancouver and Scotland to finish the doc).  Experiencing Christopher’s enthusiasm and excitement as he left as ‘a better drummer’ was priceless, too.  In his words – “Jim fixed my rolls in less than three minutes”. Also, I guess he is in line for some lessons with John Fisher now, who also lives in Vancouver. Christopher felt that John Fisher is “the best drumming teacher in the world”.  Apparently John teaches rock drumming, too…to some rather famous musicians. So Christopher is in good hands, working with someone well connected in the biz. I like John ’cause he told me I looked like Diana Krall…which I probably don’t, really, except for maybe the hair, but hey, I ain’t complaining! I am a huge Diana Krall fan! It occurred to me later that he probably really knows her…so that was kinda surreal. Plus he laughed at one of my questions when I interviewed him – so he has a good sense of humour. I left the workshop also as Tyler Fry’s newest big fan…what a kind soul. And so passionate in his teaching! Not to mention unbelievably musical in his playing. Just a great, great, guy. And I got a hug from Jim Kilpatrick – my son’s biggest hero over the past number of years…look him up on youtube – you won’t believe what that man can do with a snare drum and sticks. Just wow.

So it was such a great weekend of filming overall (I am really getting to know my camera well, it just feels right) that it was no surprise that I had a complete and utter breakdown after putting Christopher on the plane on Tuesday. Went off to Timothy’s for a coffee and then just melted away into the crowd at Victoria Park and edited my novel for a while. Didn’t have it in me to try to smile and be happy and social at karate, so took some me-time and went to hide in the darkness of the movie theatre for the evening. Felt a bit better by the time I drove home to Summerside, but you know something, that ache in your heart when your child flies off to the other side of the Country just doesn’t really ever go away. Hence another reason to make Drummerboyz…it gives me the ability to freeze time for a bit. In the movie, Christopher will always be nineteen, heady and strong, talented, a little arrogant, has the world by the tail…wish he could always stay that way. Me, I am hopeful, optimistic, but tired of struggling all the time. I want to hide behind my camera and make some good art and tell hopeful stories and help change the world a little bit one film at a time. It seems to be my gift, if I can just get past the techno-challenges (I am sure my film friends on PEI are getting tired of me always asking them technological questions! ) and the financial challenges. And some personal challenges.

But we all have our crosses to bear, and it is how we overcome these that is the true test of character, isn’t it? Can we persevere? Can I persevere?  Faith is my answer – faith that the money will come for Scotland and Vancouver, faith that I am on the right path, and faith that Christopher will be okay in that far off city. And faith that Drummerboyz is going to be a wonderful, rousing, entertaining, poignant, passionate film.

Cheers -

Susan

PS Big news – Jars of Clay got an espresso machine.

PPS Bigger news – I gave them my mocha recipe.

PPS Even bigger news – they are learning how to use it. I turned them on to Starbucks vanilla syrup and caramel sundae sauce -I am thrilled!

I luv Saturdays

HI there -

Saturday has become my new favorite day, because I can always depend on Gail and John to be at the Farmers’ Market with a Caramel Latte (or is it a Machiatto? I don’t really know the difference) for me. This seems like a silly thing, but life is really about the small pleasures that comfort us each day. I get so wrapped up in looking forward to that small hot soothing cuppa joe that sometimes I dash out the door of Pump ‘N Burn with my hair flyin’ every which way and my sneakers still melting from Krista’s punishing (but highly rewarding, if you can survive til the end) workout, blissfully unaware or perhaps uncaring of how I look or, er, um, smell…anything for a steaming hot cuppa espresso.

In the chaos that is my life these days – a student loan at age um 43 (well Pump ‘N Burn – and karate – make me proud to be 43 – I feel great and I can take it as well as the rest of them!), a new business that will take time to build, a slow response and faith in me re: investing in / sponsoring Drummerboyz (which I know will be fantastic – I just KNOW), getting to know my man again after being away for a year…well, sometimes a cuppa joe purchased from friends in an environment full of happy like-minded Saturday neighbours is just the thing. Sometimes it is the only thing.

If you don’t like espresso, a purring cat on your lap will also do the trick.

Cheers -

Susan

Happy Birthday Christopher

It’s so surreal not celebrating Christopher’s birthday with him today. I am a sad Momma, but extremely proud of the nice young man my kid has become. Christopher, I love you and support you in all of the tough decisions to come re: school and drumming, and I really hope and pray to God more than ever that I can raise the money to make Drummerboyz and thus get to see you lots this year. I cannot imagine a summer without watching you drum yer little heart out with Triumph Street. Life is short, and precious, and ultimately family ‘rules’, so I do not mind admitting that I miss my kid, especially today on his birthday.

So la. good day. I gotta meeting to prepare for and grants to write.

Susan (aka Chris’ Mom)

Scrambled eggs and snow

Hiya -

Yup, scrambled eggs and snow for breakfast. Not so many eggs, just one, really, but lots of snow, enough to dissuade the cats from venturing outdoors. Funny when they do.  Hilarious watching Oliver’s legs disappear. He lifts a paw so it looks like he is waving to me – ’shut the door, I’m okay’. He is truly conflicted – wants to stay out, but doesn’t like the snow. Kinda like me. Want to do film but feel buried in reams of paperwork, grant-writing, storyboards, scripts, narratives. So I guess the snow is appropriate.

Corin is doing a great job sorting out finances and budgets, agencies to apply to, etc. (for the short film, Dreamers, based on James F. Murphy’s novel They Were Dreamers).  I partnered with VantageBiz Services’ Nancy Beth Guptill to sort out private marketing needs / fundraising for the Highland Games doc, Drummerboyz. I am looking forward to our meeting tomorrow to see where we are at in terms of marketing materials. Nancy Beth is keen and excited about Film…I think she and Corin would complement each other well as Producers…with me on the more creative side…I am hoping they are the partners I have been seeking for all these years, with Mark on board as well as Exec Producer / Overseer / Advisor.

I am also working on a Business Plan / Market Research. Yeah, I know, it’s a bit backwards, but the company won’t make money unless I go full tilt on a few projects, so the cart is kinda coming before the horse. So in between grant writing I am working on Market Research, etc. for bluemountain entertainment.  Might do some corporate or Music Videos as well as work on the Feature projects and short film. Also someday will open a screening room / Indie film cinema with really good coffee. Busy busy busy but that is the way I like it. No snow day for me, unless you count being totally overwhelmed at times.

On the plus side, Boot Camp workouts and Karate are helping to alleviate the stress of starting a business. Feels really good. Exercise is good. You should try it. Even the abs.

So tomorrow is Christopher’s nineteenth birthday. First time he will have a birthday that I will not be present for. I hope he is safe – I hear there is a party in the works in Coquitlam. No driving over Burnaby Mountain with a few drinks in the system, eh, Christopher? Be smart, kid.  I will have cake anyway. Cause I like cake. And cause I will be sad. Really got to get this doc going or I will not see Christopher this year. Good motivation to work hard.

Really weird that that Starbucks scandal over the lady with the peanut allergy happened at my Como Lake Starbucks. Super weird. Small world, I guess. That’s a super busy Starbucks. A real friendly one, actually, great staff, especially one lady who may or may not be the manager. I like her, and she knows how to make your drink the way you like it. Although I feel really badly for the peanut lady and what she went through, the whole ordeal in the press has just made me crave Starbucks more and miss my days at that Starbucks…fresh veggies at the little market there, a Nanaimo bar at the awesome bakery, and a single grande mocha frappe at the Como Lake Starbucks. Usually after church at Our Lady. Once I had a smoke in the parking lot. And I don’t smoke. A friend gave it to me. It was a stressful day, thinking about moving back to PEI after film school and the whole ‘God, am I gonna make it’ thing. Not much has changed – Steve has been great, fabulous even, but I still want my own income, my own business, my own ’space’. I am thrilled with the Film Community in PEI – there are folks here who want to change the industry, awaken it, find some Gov support. But I miss Van, I miss my Como Lake Starbucks, I miss peeking in at Triumph Street practices (God, that band is good. That is what life is about, watching people who have mastered their craft at work), and I miss my soon to be nineteen year old kid.

So I better get to work. Lots to do if I wanna see my son again this year.

Cheers -

Susan

A New Hope

Hiya!

Guess this will be a short note just to say that I am still alive…got really busy there around Christmastime and didn’t take the time to write…but that’s cool, since I am likely my only audience anyway, ha ha!

Got through more eye surgeries, although I suppose two were more like procedures – I will take the liberty to classify them as such because only two involved some kind of sedation as opposed to just a frozen eye…but all involved trips to Halifax, fear, trepidation and mucho anxiety, although I can proudly say that something I dreaded which might become part of my future has now been overcome. So that is a great lesson to us all, and an even greater lesson to moi – that we can overcome our fears. Needles in the eye – pshaw! Let me at ‘er. Ahem. Although I would not truly mind if that is the end of needles in my eye for now. It is simply time to move on…!

So, the Highland Games doc, Drummerboyz, needs to be filmed. Starting now. But things seem to be taking off in a whole new direction. Mark is still talking to Superchannel about possible involvement on some level, and I must say, Cheryl Wagner (PEI’s Superchannel rep) is just a doll and I love her immensely. She is wonderfully supportive…but…all things being equal, the Universe seems to be pushing us towards making an Indie doc and going the straight to DVD route. I actually like the idea, more freedom for us as filmmakers, and perhaps the DVD’s can become fundraisers for the two bands when all is said and done, but…I gotta find the money, and fast. Thing is, I am not great at going after money. It is not an easy thing for me. But if I can overcome eye needles, ahem, I can take on the world! Life is all about learning, right? Getting past barriers and surviving, thriving? Not burying our head in the sand and feeling miserable. I want to exit this life knowing that I have done all that I can do to make this crazy film dream of mine happen. Therefore I better get off this blog and get back to work…

Quick update:

• Working with the incredible, awesome Corin McFadden on getting some bucks and making a short film sometime in April or May, possibly to be used as a promo for one of the features I want to make
• Meetings, meetings, meetings, trying to find the right team to work with and possibly finding that elusive marketing type person who can go out there and get me the money to make these films!
• Meeting with other writers and artists, encouraging each other, providing support and advice
• Christopher is doing well, trying to get through school at Cap in Vancouver, was home for Christmas and is terribly missed by his Momma  every day, I sank into a depression when he left to the point where Steve laughingly asked me if I had taken a poison pill on one particular day. I do apologize, it was hard to see Christopher go back to Vancouver, I miss our chats. Thankfully Steve’s son Gordie is here with us so at least I can stay a bit updated on the teen world!
• I joined Fitchic Boot Camp and am getting back into karate, so am loving myself more and getting back into shape as well. When I asked the good doc in Halifax, Dr. Shuba, about getting back into karate, she asked what would I be experiencing, I mentioned getting hit in the side of the head and her response was “It’s never good to get hit in the head!” We had a few laughs over that and I promised to learn to be better at defense. Would really like to get my brown belt in a few years! (Note: I still have a bruise leftover from green belt testing – which, incidentally, was a few years ago). Anyways, I gotta get used to life with a filtering hole in my eye, such is my life, things could be worse. I may as well just accept it and get back to a normal life, right?

Well, this blog is basically just an update, which I suppose I could have stated in one line – I NEED MONEY!!! For films!!! A recent acquaintance told me to ask the universe…and the universe (God) and I do seem to have some sort of mutual respect and understanding…so here I am asking (trying not to beg – there are people really suffering out there who need God’s attention moreso than I, but then again those are the people I would like to be in a position to help some day…so maybe God doesn’t mind me asking) the universe or God for the money to make these films. The Lord helps those who help themselves, and I am busting my butt to try to make this thing work. So officially I put this question out to the world beyond…”Please, send me the money I need to make these films? Starting with Drummerboyz, the production about following your dreams and hope and life and faith and family and friendship and drumming(!) and MUSIC (the kind of music that makes your blood boil, makes you want to get up and dance). Please, within one week, universe, let me receive the money I need to make this film. It will move people, make them believe in life and what it can offer us. It will be a fitting tribute of sorts to a man who recently left us, without whom my son would not be the happy-go-lucky, successful, talented drummer he is today – Scott MacAulay, founding Director of the College of Piping.” (thank you)

’nuff said. got a script to work on. got funds to find.

Susan

Gotta like that single grande mocha frappe

Hiya -

Yeah, so if ya ever want to get on my good side, just bring me a single grande mocha frappe…sorry about supporting the big corporation, but there’s a reason they’re big – they do it good. Nothing like a mocha frappe with a single shot blended in…don’t forget to sprinkle some cinnamon on the easy whip on top. That and Masstown Market made the last eye surgery bearable. Gotta have some perks, eh, if ya just gotta be awake for an hour and a half under the lights while the doc mashes about with the tissues on your eyeball. I’ve decided it’s all actually kinda neat – you can sorta ’see’ the lights changing as that eye is being worked on…reminds me of those 0ld kaleidoscopes we played with when we were kids and eye surgery wasn’t part of our imminent future. Oh happy carefree days. The bartender was cool…or so they called him…nice guy, he dispersed the good drugs…’course by that I mean the sedation that kept me from flippin’ out and jumpin’ off the table. I liked his story about the guy who woke up during surgery and sat up, smashed his head on the monitor and had to get stitches.

So now it is back to movie making. Got some calls to make today, otherwise still not feelin’ so great and can’t see so great so might not get a lot accomplished today. But my goal is to make some forward strides each day, can’t let one day go by without some movement ahead. I even did some research in Halifax…caught a couple of tv shows, ha ha…we don’t have tv at home so it was a treat to check out some lighting and shots from the comfort of bed while pretty drugged up…everything looks so much better…and Horatio is so cool…what can I say…must be a bitch to shoot and record sound around all those reflective surfaces, though…yup it was CSI Miami…:)  I admit it. Couldn’t tell you what the story was, I was too busy checking out eyelines and shots and actor blocking and lighting and what was likely ADR’d and and and…

Okay, just wanted ta let y’all know I didn’t freak out and run streaking through the hallways of the VG’s eyecare centre. I am still here.

Susan