But, Margin Call? Eh… I don’t know. I need to read the script, because I watched the film and it wasn’t one of my personal favorite stories of the year.

Work has been going really well as of late. I’m setting out to finish things and actually knocking them out. I have three projects I’m juggling right now. In the past, that type of work load would get me overwhelmed and cause me to freak out. I guess I’ve gotten better at laying out my objectives and creating a realistic daily to-do list.

Right now my line-up is as follows:
1. Queen To Be rewrite – Now it’s time to promote
2. ESTD (feature-length script) outline
3. Breakfast at Gerardo’s short film pre-production

Start up the coffee maker! Let’s go!

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My life lately outside of writing:

Aloe Blacc and Exile at 330 Ritch. San Francisco.

Blu at 330 Ritch. San Francisco.

Veggies and hip hop. My kitchen counter.

Mills Hit & Run Event at Marion and Rose's Workshop. Oakland.

Still, my goal is to get two features submitted into the contests this year, so my next few months will be relatively busy as I work to knock out what I hope to be my best script within those 99 days. The outline of that script is nearly finished and I’m scheduled to dive into the first draft on February 1.

_____________

Congrats to the 49ers for the awesome season. Bummed they didn’t make it to the Super Bowl, but I’m proud they made it this far. Plus, them making it to the NFC Divisional Championships gave me an excuse to make (and eat) football cookies.

I’ve been progressing through my Queen To Be rewrite, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, while simultaneously outlining my next feature-length script. My goal was to make this next script a marketable, not expensive to produce, thus hopefully easy to sell, project. I’ve got one idea that fits the bill, but unfortunately the story that has decided to overtake my thoughts and marinate in my brain is likely to require a relatively high number of locations.

So while continuing the Queen To Be work, I’ve started to develop both of the new story ideas. I’ve found that writing a treatment first works best for me. The story starts forming in my head, so I narrate it down on paper. “This happens, then this happens, etc…” I used to begin the venture by laying out plot points and it would usually end up in a choppy, forced story. Putting it down in a narrative, short story form first helps the story in my brain to come out more fluid. After the first draft of the treatment, then I’ll take into consideration whether it features enough twists and turns to form a successful three act story.

Lots to do.

On a side note, look how cute my cat is:

- til next time – Kim

By eating lots of pizza and getting paint all over myself.

Well, that just took place in the evening and it would be a tragedy not to point out how awesome the entire day was. I was spoiled. There was a surprise breakfast with my wife and best friend. Hanging out in the sun near the enormous Christmas tree in SF’s Union Square. An awesome new hooded sweater. A handmade wine rack. A beautiful new art piece. Cupcakes. New writing supplies.

And yes, in the evening, I was blessed to have some very special people over and we made pizza and learned how to screenprint. Perhaps not how you would expect someone in their thirties to spend their day. Immature? In my mind, it was perfect. And we did have a bunch of wine with the pizza, so it’s all good.

Despite the “child’s activity” b-day party, I was honest when I answered, “Yes,” after my friend asked me that morning if I felt older. Not older, I guess. Besides getting sore after doing more than three pushups now, I still feel young and vibrant. I think I’m just anxious. I’m looking at where I am professionally at this point in my life and I’m not happy with it. I’m 32 years and three days old now and I’m too old to be living for a dream.

I’ve had enough hoping and wishing. I’m making it happen. I’m going to write script and after script after script, and some of them are going to get produced, damn it. I’m officially going off throughout the rest of December of 2011 and all of 2012.

- til next time – Kim

I’ve broken Queen To Be into sequences and last week I finished making notes on how to strengthen and improve each sequence, which will hopefully in turn strengthen the entire project. It helps to look at the script in multiple pieces instead of trying to digest the whole shebang at once. Now that I’ve finished with these notes, I’m going to dive into the actual script of each sequence and rewrite it as necessary. I have 26 sequences and my goal is to finish the rewrite by the end of the year.

Four weeks. Twenty-six sequences. I’m going to (somehow) finish seven sequences this week, then six each during the second and third weeks and seven again during the last week of the month.

Today I went to this place called the grocery store. Now that the fridge and cupboards are full, I can actually have something of quality to eat throughout my long working days.

- til next time – Kim

There’s something about sitting down at my desk after a vacation. An anxiety to get back to work. It’s like my batteries are charged and I’m ready to rip through my freelance work, knock out my personal screenwriting lessons and dive into my own scripts.

So after an early morning run, I plopped down in my chair and my fingers were ready to fly.

Yeah… too bad my computer didn’t get the memo.

It’s now 11:30 on the West Coast and I’m finally able to get to work. Supposedly today was the official update-every-piece-of-software-on-my-computer day. Because the processing power on this baby is so lame, it’s unusable whenever anything is updating. I guess the updates are my computer’s version of a morning run.

So now it looks like my computer and I are on the same page. Hopefully I will successfully avoid all of the Cyber Monday emails flooding my inbox.

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My personal screenwriting development last week featured:

* Watching: Moneyball, The Muppets and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1.
* Reading: The Debt & my friend’s absolutely awesome family action/adventure feature script my friend she sent me over to read.

This week I’ll be reading Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and watching two of the 99 flicks I currently have saved on DVR.

* my wife AJ – who has loved me unconditionally for the last 11 years.
* my best friend Melissa – who supports and pushes me to continue to become a better person.
* my kitty cat Peja – who has developed from a terrorizing ankle destroyer into a little loving guy.
* hip-hop
* that so many people were willing to lend their effort, time and money to the making of Sly Sylvester.
* cheese – most specifically the cranberry-coated goat cheese from Trader Joe’s
* our beautiful house. I love it even though the plumbing may erupt at any moment.
* The Foreign Exchange, who’s albums I can throw on no matter my mood and who I got to see in concert in my home city of Oakland this year.
* Maya Angelou’s Master Class special that was shown on Oprah’s Channel. I have this file on my phone and watch it whenever I’m feeling lost.
* our impressive Navy Seals for taking out Osama.
* the new Ashcroft glasses that I luckily had the guts to try despite that they were originally out of my comfort zone.
* beanies. I have an impressive array of beanies and love each equally.
* the SF Giants. I love watching those guys play with all their hearts.
* my momma – who is always worried I’m losing my confidence and tells me to keep pushing forward
* my daddy-o – who consistently teaches me what hard work is all about
* my sis Bri-nana – who would do anything for me
* my sis Michelley – who reminds me what life is really about
* going to the SF Giants Spring Training for the sixth year in a row
* running. And for Nike for making the Peguses which allow me to run without discomfort (except for the occasional throw-up episode, of which my shoes have nothing to do with)
* those who took the time to read my latest feature script, Queen To Be. Whether they loved it or used it as toilet paper, I appreciate the effort and feedback.
* the Field Notes notebooks that take my beating with ease
* having neighbors who are interested in doing what it takes to improve and develop our neighborhood
* Showtime. Dexter.
* getting to spend 12 days straight with my little sister
* Adele’s album 21 and having the opportunity to see her in concert again. I hope her next album is whatever she’s feeling and not what her new fans and promoters want her to make.
* getting to go to the Austin Film Festival.
* having the opportunity to intern with the SFFS and attending numerous SF Int’l Film Festival events
* meeting Robert Mark Kamen
* meeting John Lasseter
* that I am blessed to be able to work from home and for my own self.

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving weekend.

– is one of the items I decided to include on my to-do list today. Because I scribbled it on my to-do list this morning at 6:50, I better get it done or will go to bed feeling like a failure. There are a number of things swirling around in my head right now, so allow me to brain dump.

* Today marks 11 years that my wife and I have been together. Hi-five to that Kim Kardashian.

* I’m writing. It feels good. Rewriting one project, outlining the next.

* This weekend we’re hosting a small get-together with the Sly Sylvester cast and crew and our close supporters to show the completed film. I hope everyone likes it. Either way, we will be consuming Fat Tire beer and popcorn!

* Speaking of Sly Sylvester, as of today the film is submitted to San Francisco International Film Festival, Sonoma International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and SXSW. We’ll see what happens.

* Last weekend I participated in an all-girls dodge ball tournament. I actually had fun playing sports again.

* My little sister is staying with me for the next two weeks. She’s mentally handicapped and requires full care, so needless to say, my typical daily schedule has been tipped over on its side. I’m excited I get to spend time with her and wouldn’t have it any other way. Plus, it gave me an excuse to watch Beauty & The Beast in the middle of the day today.

* I miss the old Netflix. First you jack up your prices and now you’re suggesting I check out Katt Williams “The Pimp Chronicles Vol. 1?”

* Luckily I’ve gotten really good at talking the folks at DIRECTV into hooking me up with a good deal for Showtime. Thank goodness for Dexter and Homeland.

* Yesterday, my friend Melissa and I headed to SF to participate in iO Tillett Wright’s Self Evident Project. It was awesome, but we missed our friend Julia who put us onto it and then wasn’t able to make it.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll actually have something screenwriting related to share with you.

On a Halloween-related note, Julie Gray ran a single-scene contest last week. I have a soft spot in my heart for her contests. They’re really where I turned when I first got into screenwriting and she’s been nothing but supportive of me from the beginning. This contest required a single page scene, with a beginning, middle and end, which featured the phrases/words “harvest moon,” “pumpkin” and “jewels,” each of which was to be used within dialogue.

She’ll be announcing the three finalists later today. Below is my submission. I am appreciative of any feedback, whether you’re a fan of the work or consider it trash. Please let me know your thoughts.

EDIT: Julie announced the winner. Congrats to Shane Dean for taking the crown.

EDIT: Julie announced that she’s still out of town on her own writing retreat and will announce the finalists around November 7.