And, as Your President, I Promise to…

 

Okay. Maybe I’m overreaching, a little.

 

You remember that short screenplay competition I entered, through a certain artistic community? Well, I’m in the Semi-Finals, and voting continues in earnest. Till Monday, February 8th.

 

VOTE FOR ME!

 

So, here are the details, if you’d like to

 

VOTE FOR ME!

 

 

 

Talenthouse header

Fewdio.com e-mail header

You and your friends have until Monday, February 8, 2010 (3pm PST / 00:00 CET) to vote for

your script on Talenthouse

. Submissions with the most votes are automatically included in the final selection round.

To vote, text: TALENT 38GD7B to your region’s texting number.

After the Talenthouse community votes, the horror experts at Fewdio will determine the final selection and choose the script they’ll produce through their online outlets as well as on their NIGHTMARE HOUSE DVD series.

Thank you to our partners at Scripped

for supporting this Creative Invite.

View your submission here:

http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvites/show/submission/detail/38GD7B

 

To maintain the authenticity of voting, there will be 99 cent (or currency equivalent) charge per vote – and a restriction of one vote per phone number.

Good luck!

- The Talenthouse Team

lend me your support.

After all, what good is it, having a blog, if you can’t use it for shameless self-promotion, right?

VOTE FOR ME!

Right.

And I promise: no nuclear war.

Peace.

VOTE FOR ME!

Done and Dusted

I did it. Yesterday. Racked my brains, agonized over which of the five was most appropriate – and sent in my entry for that short screenplay competition. Days ahead of the February 2nd deadline.

Then, I patted myself on the back, and reflected on what I’ve learned or gained from the experience:

- A whole new genre, to add to my portfolio

- The ability to put together a short script, in a day

- Becoming an incubator, for new ideas

- Developing titles and loglines, appropriate to a particular package

- Became part of a new artistic community

The contest starts with a voting process, within a certain artistic community. Much lobbying and networking is involved – which opens up a whole new can of worms.

Still, it’s been good, so far.

Peace.

Eggs and Baskets

 

What’s better than having one good idea?  Having several.  That way, you’ve got something to choose from.

In a previous post, I mentioned the short screenplay competition I’m entering – submission deadline February 2nd.  I surprised myself by completing a first draft in a day.  Now, I’ve completed another one.

Different story.  Different characters.  Also not bad.

I’ve got time to let this one cook a little, and improve on it further.

But, I won’t stop there. 

I’ll try to complete another one.  And another.  So that I can pick the best one, to submit for the competition.

Eggs and baskets.

It’s always better to have options.

Till next time.

Peace.

Early Bird

 

I love it, when a plan comes together.

When it comes together early, I’m blissed.

As a serial procrastinator, I set myself a target for the first few weeks of 2010: to put in an entry for a short screenplay competition (I won’t say which one, yet. Wouldn’t want to jinx myself. Hmmm. Memo to Self: Eliminate superstition by mid-year. Touch wood.).

Deadline for the contest is February 2nd. I figured, if I really pushed myself, I could put something together by the end of next week.

Sat down to it yesterday, and… finished the first draft. And it’s not bad. Even got a workable logline – though, like the script, this still needs work.

But, at least I’ve got time now, to make improvements before the submission date.

And all it took was actually sitting down, to do the work. Amazing.

For all of you who haven’t heard it from me, yet, welcome to 2010. Hope you had an excellent holiday season. Let’s get back to work, now.

Till next time.

Peace.

See You Next Decade…

But first, let’s take a moment to reflect on all the great things that happened, in this one.

2000 – 2009, eh? Let’s see, there was….

Okay. That’s enough.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you all the best this festive season has to offer.

Till the 2010s, then.

Peace.

A Shameless Plug…

But one that might put a smile on your face.

Head on over to Powderburn Flash, and check out my story, “The Wrong Bags.”

It came about due to an amalgam of influences: the work of James Ellroy, that old Michelle Pfeiffer / Matthew Modine movie, “Married to the Mob”, and Mob-speak, in general.

Hope you get a kick out of it.

Peace.

Buzz, but No Sting.

If you see a buzzword, step on it. Quickly. Before it has a chance to breed.

Buzzwords are those (usually) invented words or phrases that have made their way into general use, from the language of business, administration, or technology. Supposedly, to describe legitimate processes, and real-life concepts. But…

Paradigm shifts. Synergy. Leveraging knowledge capital.

Adding value. WTF does that mean, exactly? Adding a couple more zeros on a price tag?

And how about “growing a business?” I know people who grow tomatoes in their back yard, for sale at the local market. Does that count? If so, what kind of fertilizer do you need to generate a bookmaking income? Horse manure, presumably.

Horse manure, indeed.

One day – and that day is coming, soon – the world will wake up to the threat. And the meaningless drivel that buzzwords represent. Humanity will once again be free.

Or not.

Until that shining day, I wish you an effective implementation of conflict management strategies, that yields high value outcomes, both for you, and your existing customer base.

Peace.

The Same. But Different.

It’s the mantra that’s drummed into the heads of every screenwriter who’s (supposedly) preparing a fresh take on an old idea.

And it’s especially important, if you’re doing a remake. Or a rebrand / relaunch of an existing franchise.

You have to give the audience what they expect from the brand – what they love, loathe, or fear. But you have to put a new spin on it, to re-engage their interest. And hopefully, pave the way for the new-old franchise to continue.

Not everyone succeeds in this.

I’m sure you can think of numerous examples (right, kids?) where your primary reaction is: “Why did they bother? The original was fine. Much better than this crap, anyway.”

Occasionally, though, someone gets it right.

Director J J Abrams, and the team that gave us “Star Trek,” for example.

I saw the film on DVD recently, and I’m currently picking my way through Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman’s screenplay (diligent screenwriter / eternal student that I am).

It’s all there. The cast of characters we know and love. The technology. The backdrop.

Same.

But it’s not played out exactly the way we remember.

Different.

They’ve achieved this by staying within the conventions of the science fiction genre: An alternate reality, where the same people exist, but their life situations have been altered.

And they’ve assembled a group of actors who are instantly recognizable as the people they’re supposed to be, in appearance and mannerisms. But there are no 1960s beehive hairdos in evidence. Modern-day vernacular. And inter-personal relationships that provide more than enough mileage for Star Trek 2, 3 and 4 (Or however many they choose to make). Where, presumably, we may get to see Klingons, the conman Harry Mudd, and those pesky Tribbles – in different circumstances, of course.

It works. It’s got a good beat, and you can dance to it.

Even if you’re not a devotee of the franchise, the film stands scrutiny as a good entertainment, in its own right.

Have a look at the trailer (or better yet, see the film), and judge for yourself.

Live long, and prosper.

Peace.

A2Z: Letters that Don’t Deliver

An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of another set of words, which it represents. This might be a motto, or the name of an organisation.

In Nigeria, acronyms are what we have, instead of efficiency:

NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation),

PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria; formerly NEPA, or No Electric Power Again. Sorry, National Electric Power Authority),

EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission).

WTF. And I don’t mean World Trade Federation.

Big, important-sounding sets of initials, that act as a cover for big, important-sounding organisations. That do very little.

Still, the letters look nice, when they’re painted up on logos. And displayed on the side of the smart four-wheel drive vehicles they all seem to use.

Acronyms.

I’ve scoured the globe (virtually), to bring you some choice ones. Some are fun; some are just plain silly. Some actually refer to real organistions. I’ll let you decide which.

ATM: At The Moment / Automatic Teller Machine / Another Technical Mistake

BEKTTU: Be Excessively Kind To The Undersized [See also Save The Children]

CIO: Chief Information Officer / Cut It Out

DOS: Defunct Operating System / Denial Of Service

EIF: Exercise In Futility

FUBAR: F***ked / Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition / Repair

GSHIWMP: Giggling So Hard I Wet My Pants

HLVB: Hasta La Vista, Baby

ISDN: International Standard Book Number / It Still Does Nothing

JLA: Justice League of America / Junior Lifeguards Association

KIT: Keep In Touch

LOL: Laughing Out Loud

MBA: Masters of Business Administration / Mediocre But Arrogant

NMI: No Middle Initial

OBE: Order of the British Empire / Overtaken By Events

PUKE: Parents United against Krusty’s Evil [TV, The Simpson's]

QUANGO: QUasi Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation

RHIP: Rank Has Its Privileges

SNAFU: Situation Normal All F***ked Up

TA: Target Acquisition / Teaching Assistant / Territorial Army

UFO: Unidentified Flying Object / United Farmers of Ontario

VSAT: Very Small Aperture Terminal

WTF: World Trade Federation [What The --?]

XYZ: eXamine Your Zipper

YABA: Yet Another Bloody Acronym

ZOPFAN: Zone Of Peace, Freedom, And Neutrality

GGN. [Gotta Go Now].

P.E.A.C.E.

 

A Bad Spell

So, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was taken to task by the mother of a serviceman killed in Afghanistan, over a poorly-spelled letter of condolence.

 

A heartfelt response, from the bereaved mother? Probably.

 

A gaffe, seized upon by a ravenous press, for political purposes? Perhaps.

 

What’s undoubtedly true is that poor grammar, spelling, or punctuation reflect badly on you. Whatever the circumstances.

 

And they’re avoidable.

 

Spell check.

That’s what dictionaries, thesauruses, and those little book icons on your word processor are for.

 

Proofread.                                                                                                                           Look for spelling mistakes you may have missed, poor grammar, and incorrect punctuation.

Get a printout, then proofread again.

You no it makes sense.

Sorry. Cents.

Peace.