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Do You Have A Back Burner Project?

First and foremost, I love to write movies. Having said that, I’m also a massive fan of blogging, writing short stories and creating accompanying images and logos in Photoshop. On a daily basis, I normally have a number of projects I can work on but lately, I’ve been focused on finishing my short film The Climb.

It’s a project we filmed in May of 2010 and I’ve been experimenting with different editing techniques ever since. However, the time has come to wrap up the short so I can reorganize and prioritize my projects in 2012.

XTRA | We have picture lock!

So for the last month, I’ve been completely wrapped up in post production with a couple afternoons of screenwriting here and there.

In all honesty, The Climb will most likely be finished in a few weeks and I’ve spent a lot more time figuring out what I want to create in 2012. It’s always beneficial to think ahead.  Besides two big feature screenwriting projects and a slight 17west.ca redesign my schedule looks like it will be pretty open.

Finally, it looks like Ill be able to put a dent into my…

BACK BURNER PROJECTS

Anyone who enjoys being creative has a couple of these occupying the dusty storage shelves in their minds. These are projects you might get to someday. Unfortunately, many of these projects remain unfinished or worse they never really get off the shelf.

2012 will be the year of the screenplay for me as I don’t have plans to direct another film anytime soon. (Especially with a wedding less than a year away). Its going to be a year of words and two related back burner projects I’ve wanted to tackle for years.

The projects in question are eBooks. Since I began this blog in 2009, I’ve had a number of ideas for extra content to offer and these eBooks represent my first foray into the online self-publishing world.

But when you add up screenwriting, filmmaking, blogging and life in general, taking on an eBook simply didn’t fit into my daily routine. But that’s what a back burner project is! It’s a project you pick away at slowly. Something you work on and think about during quiet moments. I’ve already laid the groundwork and created over 40 pages of content for my first book. I’ve just never really given the project the time it deserves to graduate from back burner status.

Having said that, I’m extremely excited to wrap up a couple things and finally have time to write these projects. They will come in handy when I’m not working on my latest screenplay or blog post.

In my experience, back burner projects rarely get taken off the shelf and dusted off. The only one I can think of other than these eBooks was a children’s book I wrote for my parents years ago. It was something I always wanted to do but regularly put off. There was always something else that needed to be done.  Finally, I got it finished and had a friend illustrate it. The memory I have of giving them copies of the book are precious to me now. I think about that memory fondly and I’m thankful that I took the time to write it for them.

Some back burner projects are meant to rise up. I won’t know if these two eBooks will fall into that category but I’ll never know until I finish them right?

Maybe its time you gave your back burner projects another look?

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The Oscar Stage: Watching & Wishing | Screenwriting Blog | Academy Awards

HOW MANY ASPIRING SCREENWRITERS
LOST SLEEP LAST NIGHT?

This morning, the internet is abuzz with opinions and recaps of last night’s Oscar ceremony.  Who won?  Who lost? How were the hosts?  What about upsets and surprises?

I got my recaps on my favorite blogs Joblo and Slashfilm but if I had to weigh in, I’d say the broadcast was pretty boring overall.  If they want to appeal to younger audiences they have to drop the overly scripted and polished show.  Let the show breathe a bit.  Give us a reason to expect the unexpected.  Understandably, Melissa Leo’s F-Bomb was a bit of a shocker but do you think the producers wanted THAT to be the memorable moment from the telecast?

It’s a well produced and packaged show but they really have to evolve the format.  Take some risks.  Embrace social media.  Every Oscar moment is history, make us believe we are watching history again. Looking back on the classic moments is one thing but don’t forget you have to create new moments as well.

When it comes to awards, deep down, I truly hoped that Christopher Nolan would pick up the Best Original Screenplay Oscar.  I think geeks around the world wanted Inception to win more creative categories.  Going in, Inception was the clear front runner for many of the technical awards and came away with several but I still felt like the Screenplay deserved the nod.

Nothing against The King’s Speech but listening to Nolan tributes shows you how much respect he has and how talented he is.  Perhaps The Dark Knight Rises will, ahem, raise him even higher and get him a golden statue

Note: I went with my heart in the Oscar pool.  That was a crucial two points I missed out on.

Best Original & Adapted Screenplay Dreams

The Oscar Stage: Watching & Wishing | Screenwriting Blog | Academy Awards

The view from my lazy boy was an envious won as the award for Best Adapted Screenplay was given to Aaron Sorkin.  Every aspiring screenwriter out there probably shares my dreams of producing material worthy of such a grand stage.

Every single page you write should be packed with the passion needed to take a stranglehold of audience’s imaginations. Some people may look longingly at the Oscar stage and wonder if they will ever make it…

This train of thought can lead to a pretty depressed state as you doubt your current and future projects.  Are they good enough?

I look at it differently.  To me it’s a challenge.  My next script doesn’t have to be Oscar worthy as long as I’m proud of what I’ve done.  That’s the first step.  Confidence in your own material.  As a result, I couldn’t sleep last night. I was too excited. Too excited to wake up this morning, write this post and fire up my newly upgraded copy of Final Draft.

Inspiration is a funny thing.

Dreaming of making a speech on that stage one day will always be in the back of my mind but for now, I just want to write movies.  I want to write something unique and new.  Something that people will enjoy.  Something that I can be proud of.

More Oscar Coverage

In the week’s leading up to this year’s Academy Awards, I’ve compiled a modest collection of Oscar posts.  Check them out below.

Oscar Sunday vs Superbowl Sunday
A look at two of the biggest days in any Athletic Nerd’s calendar.

Oscar Losers
A 3 part series looking at the notable losers of the Best Picture, Original Screenplay and Editing Oscar categories.

Best Original Screenplay Preview
A guest post I wrote for the LAMB breaking down my favorite award.

Best Picture Reviews

Nerd’s & The Social Network

Cheesy Fries & The King’s Speech

Inception Ignites An Idea

127 Hours, 70 Days Later

Toy Story 3 & The Crazy Laughers

I Showed Up 10 Minutes Late For The Fighter

The Kids Are All Right
Quick Review: Decent 7/10

I have yet to see Black Swan, True Grit & Winter’s Bone

A New Web Traffic Record

I’m truly proud of the fact that Oscar Sunday is now the record holder for most traffic I’ve ever had in a single day.  The record was broken and exceeded and I hope to continue to build on the growth I’ve had in the last few months!


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The Athletic Nerd | The Screenwriting Spark Volume 1

I recently had the opportunity to interview Jeanne Veillette Bowerman. She is one of the co-founders of Scriptchat, a community of screenwriters on Twitter.

While the article tells the story about how Scriptchat began, it’s also about being a part of a community of screenwriters from around the world.

Check out the interview here.

Most screenwriters work alone in a quiet and comfortable place. I couldn’t agree more but it’s also important to continually improve your skills. What better way than to network with fellow screenwriters?  It’s a fantastic way to inspire the creativity within.

When you aren’t working on the next big Hollywood blockbuster, what do you do to stay sharp?

Volume 3

Twitter Sparks:

Recommended Follow: @jeannevb

How to create memorable characters – Film Slate

Send Your Characters to Hell – ScreenwritingU

Bad Writing can Be A Good Teacher – ScriptLab

Write A Screenplay In 3 Weeks – David Anaxagoras

Introduce the Hero on page 1 – The Story Department

Writing Out of Your Realm – ScriptLab

Where’s the Movie – Life, with the dull bits cut out

My Screenwriting Rules Part One – Jonathan Peace

The Screenwriter’s Workbook – Chapter 12 – Story Time

Bored to Death Creator Jonathan Ames Gives Screenwriting Tips – Mediabistro (video)

On The Blogs:

Featured: The Script lab
Blog

If you search screenwriting on Twitter you will definitely come across @thescriptlab.  The site is updated frequently and offers a variety of information and screenwriting tips.

Does your screenplay have a concept? – Indiescreenwriting

Video Interview: Robert Towne – Go Into The Story

Script Secrets Assignment: Character in Conflict – Script Magazine

How I Got My Agent – John August

The Nature of Conflict – Sid Field (Audio)

Featured NERD Post: Shut Up, Sit Down And Write Screenplays!

Submit your screenwriting post or article

Is Final Draft heading to an iPad near you?

The best screenwriting software has yet to release a mobile version.  When will we see Final Draft for iOS?

Click here for more.

FADE IN:

On a day when I had to take a bus, 2 subways, a cab, a boat and a plane to get home, I challenged myself to come up with a new short screenplay while I traveled.  Over the course of the afternoon, I came up with a story, outline and ultimately a 5 page script called Crosstown.

I also shot a lot of footage with my iPhone to document the trip. (Video coming soon.)

Have you ever given yourself a quick deadline to write something? It’s random but it forces your imagination into action and the results are never disappointing.

FADE OUT.

The Screenwriting Spark Volume 1

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17 West Productions Toronto short film

I spent the last few days working with Producer/Director Eric on a pitch package for our newest short film project.

For now, I’m keeping details on the film a secret but with Eric’s demo reel complete, a thousand pages of paperwork ready to go and research nearing completion we are about to officially start producing this thing.

We now turn our attention to budgets and funding with a goal of filming sometime in 2011.

I love the early stages of production when a film’s style starts to reveal itself and you start anticipating the magical first take on set.  I can’t wait to get going on this and our other projects!

More details to come.

In the mean time, here is a teaser poster for the film!

17 West Productions New Short Film

PS: Check out the poster for The Climb here.

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The Athletic Nerd Movies Screenwriting Independent Film Blog

In it’s simplest form, The Athletic Nerd is the home of 17 West Productions.

17W is my production company that I co-run with producer/director Eric Gamache.

Originally, The Nerd lived at 17west.ca and basically existed so people would have a reason to return to our site while we were between films.

It’s not easy getting traffic to a website that no one is searching for.

People didn’t know us.

Back in those days, I wasn’t knowledgeable enough in web design to create a full featured blog. I created each page from scratch and the process became tedious.

The content suffered.

It also became clear to me that our company’s page was no place for my personal views and opinions on movies.

I decided to move the content to a brand new blog. A place to write about filmmaking, screenwriting and of course, the progress of 17W.

The Athletic Nerd was born.

Since then, I’ve worked hard to integrate and interlink both sites together. Daily updates. Traffic.

The results have been amazing thus far with our films receiving far more exposure. Once google found this blog, more and more people made their way to our home page.

I’m happy I made the decision to move the blog to it’s own site.

It gave me the freedom to talk about more than just 17 West.

It allowed me to have fun and write about what I’m personally passionate about.

It gave me a place to share my experiences as a filmmaker with others. To network. To expand my knowledge of both indie film and building a personal blog.

It’s been challenging to develop a unique style but it’s something I continue to work at everyday.

The overall goal is simple.

I love movies and I love filmmaking.

The Athletic Nerd gives me a wonderful place to discuss one while promoting the other.

I can write about the screenwriting craft and how mesmerizing it is to look at a blank page and imagine the possibilities.

Above all else, I love to write about what inspires me. It’s all about the movies we love.

It’s been one year.

I’ve never been more dedicated.

17 West Productions Toronto

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