Giving up the 'U'

Met some awesome Canuck writers here. Makes me feel less alone.
I miss my Ink Canada groupies. It's nice as a writer to get out once in awhile.

So, during the game that bumped the Canucks into the final round (yay), we had a discussion about the differences between Americans and Canadians, esp in the film world.

One woman vowed she would not give up her 'u' which I loved.

As a writer, how much do you conform, or is this our little way of being patriotic. I wonder if a reader would flag 'neighbour' or 'colour' on your script as a mistake.

Then we joked about the words Americans THINK we say (I swear we DON'T say Aboot!) and words we actually say different. IE: Drama (Draw-ma vs DrA-ma, Foy-yay vs Fo-yer) and it was interesting to see that since we covered, east/west coast and prairies words we actually each say differently.

We do say ZED though - and as Zach kept trying to spell with a 'Z' we realized it's a fast way to confuse Americans.  The phone tech took awhile to catch on but every time Zach would say 'Zed', he'd repeat 'Zee'...just to let us know. 

So, what I took away is this, I'm going to need a lot more practice and relearn my dialogue.
How about it, would you give up your 'U'? 

Getting close....

So I tried to set things up on Wordpress but it’s too technical for me. I couldn’t get it to look nice. So then I moved here. It didn’t work at first but I think I’ve finally got things figured out but bear with me as I get it exactly where it should be!

I’ll also keep things more up to date now and not so lengthy.

I will also try not to brag about the sun, my amazing driving that is improving each day as my confidence of maneuvering on the freeway grows.  I have just over a week to be an expert before my friend Tracey arrives and I’m driving everywhere (including Disneyland! Yay).  

It helps to have Darth Vader on my TomTom (that’s TomTom, the gps, not a Ton Ton, just to clarify) telling me on each drive that I’ve overcome my fears. Of course I’m sure the empire is tired of waiting by now as every trip Darth reminds me every few minutes of this!

The perks....

So far one of the best things has been seeing tons of movies for free, which, considering how much we spend a year on movies, is definitely a perk.  Zach is a member of the WGA and as his ‘spousal equivalent’ we can go to their screenings, which are free for members. Most of the movies are in theatres now and sometimes the writers even give a Q&A. Then there are the agency invites, thankfully at least one of us is repped.  Unfortunately, it’s not me.  Well not in LA…yet.

We’ve seen Your Highness (funnier than I would’ve thought), Insidious (disappointing), and Bang Bang Club thanks to WGA. 

Zach also is rubbing shoulders with film fanatic bloggers who get to go to press screenings so he’s been able to see Attack the Block and Tree of Life.

And then some films are worth paying for. After years of hearing about the Arclight, I finally got to check out this amazing theatre for Hanna, to support Vancouver screenwriter, Seth Lochhead.

So far things have been very good. Getting used to driving here. Trying to remember to read and decipher each parking sign and curb color so that I don’t get towed one day. 

I also tried the famous In and Out burger – probably not as impressed as meat eaters. Their idea of a veggie burger was lettuce on a bun. Considering the place had a (car) line up around the block and more than full inside, I was hoping my fries would be at least somewhat warm.

I need to get in gear and write more but it’s hard when it’s so sunny and I just want to run outside!  But I’m so inspired by so many things around me. I’ll get too it soon!

Writer's Bootcamp Breakfast

I did it. I drove on the freeway.  It’s been my biggest fear of moving here.  Well besides failing miserably.  

So yes, I drove. I got my ass out of bed at 6:45 this morning to attend the Writer’s Boot Camp in Santa Monica to hear Tim McNeal VP for ABC/Disney Development & Diversity, talk about their year long, paid (yes, they pay YOU) programs and his journey up the ranks. I love hearing those stories. 

He worked with John Hughes for two years – John Hughes! If you don’t know who that was you were probably born in the 80’s, not so much growing up in them when John Hughes where everyone was a brain, an athlete, a princess, a basketcase and a criminal. 

Tim gave some great advice for people trying to make it in Hollywood – move to the Palisades.  Apparently that’s where everyone who’s anyone lives there. Well I can’t do that yet so thankfully he had more to say. 

There were so many things that I’ve believed, stressed to others and have had stressed to me and so many people dismiss these things as trivial so it’s great when an executive stresses the same things.  You only get one chance to make a first impression – so make sure it’s a good one.  Most common mistakes and huge red flags – my friend and former teacher Joyce Thierry will love this one – improperly formatted scripts and TYPO’S! I once read a script that had hand written corrections on the page and I just kept thinking that there had to be some saving grace to the script – there wasn’t.  It’s hard enough to keep an exec entertained without giving them a reason to say no.

Tim also talked about making your own path and having initiative. So many people are looking for a handout – why should he help you? It’s your job to sell him and prove what you have to offer him so that when he bets on you, he can back it up. This is something that holds everywhere. Telefilm told me the same thing. It’s about building trust and making them believe that you are going to make them look good. Create your own projects, be an assistant, pay your dues and make the LA move and commit to living in the industry.

Tim’s advice on specs vs pilots – spec 2-3 shows and have at least one pilot. Many people have been advising against specs recently but as Tim pointed out, if you’re going to work in a room you need to show that you can write someone else’s voice.

I’ll end this on my favorite story of the day though was him talking about being the assistant to Ari Emanuel. There were a few snickers when he asked if we knew who Ari was – if you don’t, do your research as Ari is one of the most successful agents in Hollywood. Founder of Endeavor which merged with William Morris last year.  Tim said that ‘he wasn’t looking for a pat on the back’, he just wanted Ari to know he was getting the job done.   My friends wrote a the “Fuck Sorry Manifesto” which is basically about how we, as Canadians, tend to congratulate each other just on getting a job done and don’t even care if it was done well.  I’ve always said, I never want to be hired for any other reason (my ethnicity, my gender, etc) other than I’m good at my job.  I still don’t know if I’m a good writer but it’s the only thing I can do.  And even if I’m not the best out there, I’m going to do the best that I can.  And hopefully someone will give me a chance to make them look good.

We have arrived!

Wow! Already two weeks since we arrived in sunny Los Angeles, after forsaking the rainy pacific northwest – which has been my home for 14 years, after leaving the bitter prairie winters and floods.

There was a point where I couldn’t ever imagine leaving Vancouver – the fresh air, amazing hikes within 20min of the city, scenery to die for – I was in love.  It was in Vancouver I discovered that I could actually make a career out of writing and found some amazing like-minded people who helped me make some really great projects.  But, after a tumultuous few years, I found myself gazing south.

I've made a few visits over the last few years.  Each time feeling more and more at home with meeting some amazing people.

So after finally convincing my partner, Zach Lipovsky, we decided to pack our meager belongings into a small plywood storage, pack as much as we could into my little Hyundai along with my cats, a full bottle of anxiety medication for them and we were off to see what if we could be one of the few that ‘made it’ in Hollywood.

The first few days were spent unpacking and recovering from what's been a hectic few months. We decided in December we were going to move, had to give notice and pack everything up for January, as Zach had a project that would take him out of town for two months, and lucky me, I got to join him in an undisclosed heavenly location.  We were almost ready to leave and Zach got a call to shadow on a tv series, but this time I had to stay home and watch the cats.  But since we had no home, it was really living in my cousin's basement (Thanks Trish!) way longer than she probably wanted.

So we finally arrived.  Zach's already been hitting the pavement and meeting up with his agent, manager, and previous contacts, being social.  I’m napping and catching up on some much needed sleep but almost ready to hit the ground running.  Almost.

I don't know who has it harder, writer's or director's.  I was inspired to come down here after reading some scripts that had some big names attached and thinking - I can do better! I don't really know that I can though because they got theirs in front of someone who was willing to take a chance and that's a really hard thing to do.  Zach has so many people ready to help him out and give him a shot - as soon as he gets a feature notch under his belt. So how do you jump that first high hurdle? Luckily, Zach's got so many irons in the fire that once his first is done he'll have about 9 more to go.  Me on the other hand, I've been so used to trying to do it on my own that I have no idea how to stop being a producer and hand my scripts to my Canadian agent and let him do his job.  I'm so used to this system that I have no idea how to approach an agent or a manager in LA, how their personal preferences dictate who they sign on and whether or not my Canadian-esque themes, including culturally significant stories told in mainstream formats, will even work in LA.  I may need to reexamine what I've been writing and ensure that I've got some good specs and mainstream features in my backpocket.

So we'll be here until Zach's visa runs out and he gets kicked out of the country or until his Canadian feature (which will be EPIC) that's in development goes into prep in Canada.  I vow to network as much as I can, grow as much as I can as a writer and get a script sold – okay maybe I’ll be happy with having it read…and maybe an option agreement.

I have no idea what the next few months will hold for us but hopefully we’ll meet as many people who are as passionate as we are about what we do.  I've had a rough four years, as we all have, with the economy, unsupportive governments (having our arts/film industry government run is a blessing and a curse) and of course I've had a few hard knock lessons in producing which have kicked me in the ass to get out there and find producers who enjoy what they do and may want to work with me on a fun script and take over the hard work so I can just be creative.

So, here's to a new adventure. Hope that this blog will someday end well!