Movies, Screenwriting & Independent Film
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When I was growing up, I surrounded myself with movies and dreamed of becoming a screenwriter and a filmmaker.

But when you’re a young filmmaker, the first order of business is to create a movie production company and a sweet logo.

Step 1: Create Movie Company

One of the first I was a part of was a partnership called Tag Team Productions. Interestingly enough, my old partner is now a producer on our upcoming short film, Strings. (Visit his blog here)

Throughout my two years studying English in University, I wrote several short scripts but never made any movies.  So I decided it was time to create my own company and get started on a short film called: Broken.

I named my unofficial company 3 Twelve productions. 3 because it was my number when I played sports and 12 because it was the number I took if 3 was already taken.

It’s amazing how something as little as creating a fictional movie company can inspire creativity. It gave me a renewed sense of purpose and dedication to filmmaking.

Step 2: Make A Movie

Broken wasn’t the most spectacular short film I’ve ever produced but it taught me one important and valuable lesson: Making movies is fun!

This revelation led to a series of life changing events.

First, I no longer wanted to be an English teacher.  I didn’t want to rely on film so I decided that television would be a worthy industry to try.  So I transferred schools and two years later, I was a professional editor working for a major canadian sports network.  Excellent decision. I now work in a creative medium everyday and it allows me tons of time to work on my screenplays and film projects.

But that’s not the only change that 3 Twelve triggered.  During college, I met up with 2 individuals and together, we started 17 West Productions.

A real company!

Step 3: Repeat Step 2

Since then, we’ve produced 6 short films with 2 more in pre-production and multiple projects planned in the future.

It’s funny how everything worked out.

You have to start somewhere.

17 West Productions Toronto

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The Athletic Nerd

This week happens to be the 3 month anniversary of this website. (The 15th to be exact)  While The Athletic Nerd is still in it’s infancy, I thought I’d talk a little bit about what’s in store for 2010.  It’s been an incredibly fun journey so far sharing my thoughts on movies, television and technology but I’ve got bigger and nerdier plans for the future.

The Athletic Nerd Brand

A while back I wrote a 2 part post called Self Branding.   The branding continues with the new logo I’m unveiling here today.  I think it’s important for a site to establish it’s identity from the beginning so you’ll be seeing those blue and red letters around the site more and more.  It’s a fairly simple logo but it will certainly evolve along with the blog.  (Actually, I guarantee it.  I love revisions and redesigns.) 

If there is anything I’ve learned about blogging during these last few months, it’s the importance of setting yourself apart from similar blogs.  I’ll be dedicating a lot of time and research to continue refining the type of content I create and the audience I want to reach.

In terms of overall design, I think the site has finally found a good look and I’ll be sticking with it until a completely customized site can be designed. For now I want to focus on content and gaining more readers.

Film, TV and Technology from a personal and professional perspective.

This is the style I strive to achieve in my writing.  You’ll never see a post that just regurgitates the news of the day.  Instead, you’ll get a personal look into how the subject inspires creativity.  Over the past 3 months, I’ve introduced a variety of different features that strenghten that idea.

Rainy Sundays – Probably the most popular feature on the site right now.  Once a week, I dig into the past and pull out a movie you could easily watch on those lazy days when you just want to sit back and enjoy a classic.   Throughout 2010, I’m planning to keep adding films to the Rainy Sunday list regularily with a couple added twists here and there.  Click here for more…

What!? – Surprising news. Trailer debuts.  Shocking announcements.  It’s the closest thing you’ll find to a news article on this site but it’s reserved only for those special moments I just have to write about.  Click here for more…

Really!? – A look at the little details about the industry that annoy.  The beauty of the subjects on this site is they can both excite and frustrate.  Films can flop.  Equipment breaks.  Hear about my personal encounters here.  Click here for more…

10 Flicks – A relatively new feature that’s still evolving.  At first, I wanted to have a countdown feature on this site.  As time went on, I decided to take a different approach.  So they are no longer countdowns and instead, will be carefully selected picks that fit the hot topic of the day.  Click here for more…

Spotlight - Many blogs have reviews of popular sites, movies, blogs and technology but many do not detail how it affects their lives professionally and creatively.  Why not give a personal account in addition to the normal review structure.  Here is where I’ll be sharing what inspires me in my career.  Click here for more…

iPhone FX – This is a rare feature that won’t show up often but it’s a fun side project of mine.  Currently, I do not own a video camera and I have a deep obsession with motion graphics.  When I got my iPhone, I saw an opportunity to add some effects to the videos I take.  Once in a while when I have some time to mess around, I’ll be posting some shots with some added style and effects.  Click here for more…

All of these features will remain and a few more will be added in the coming months.  (I’m actually pretty excited about the newest features.)

17 West Productions Returns

17 West Productions

First and foremost, I’m a professional editor at a major sports network in Canada.  Beyond that, I also co-own a production company with my business partner Eric Gamache.  Since The Athletic Nerd launched, there hasn’t been much to report in terms of new projects but that will be changing in a matter of weeks.

I’ll be directing a new short film beginning in January and I’ll be updating daily on the production.  Every aspect of the film will be detailed with behind the scenes videos and stills. 

In addition to that, we have 2 more productions ready to get underway.  One is currently casting and I’m preparing to write the other in January.  Expect regular updates on those projects as well.

You’ll also be seeing better integration with 17west.ca.  The site will be getting a series of updates once these productions begin and I’ll be using The Athletic Nerd as a compliment to the stories on that site.  Head over to 17W for the news and check out this site for rest!

A Screenwriter At Work

A few weeks ago, I started posting more and more about screenwriting.  I don’t claim to be an expert but I will be posting personal accounts while I’m grinding out the pages.  It’s my number 1 passion on this planet.  I love screenwriting.

The Expansion Team

In 2010, you can expect to see contributions from other bloggers and people in the industry.  I’ll be adding posts from a variety of working professionals as well as dedicated fans of film.  Both sides of the industry in one place.

The Goal

The Athletic NerdObviously, the goal is to gain a steady stream of traffic to the site.  The Athletic Nerd is still young but there is a lot of content here already.  2010 will be about generating more and better content for the readers I have and the readers I have yet to encounter. 

This site has given me an excuse to write everyday.  I may not have time to work on my latest script or a new revision but there is always twenty minutes here and there to write about what I love and why I love it.  All the best in 2010.  Visit often.  Tell your friends.

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Earlier, I posted an article called Self Branding.

In Part 2, I included an image I illustrated in photoshop that featured my old basketball net.  I’ve zoomed in so you can see it a little better.

The Creative Ignition

The Creative Ignition

That net will always be extremely special to me.  Growing up, basketball dominated most of my time.  I love to play.  The day my parents put a basketball court in the backyard was literally one of the most influential days of my life.  (Rivaled only by their decision to put in a pool a few years later. My parents kick ass.)

Influential is a pretty strong word to use but I completely believe that.  I spent THOUSANDS of hours out there by myself playing ball.  Somewhere during that never ending game, the court became my sanctuary.  My private place to think.  Any time I had a problem, I would grab my basketball and shoot around for an hour or so.  I could always think clearly when I was out there.  As I began to write more and more, I would use my time on the court to work out stories in my head.  Eventually, I started bringing a notepad with me.  Before I knew it, I would be sitting on the picnic table writing until it was too dark to see.  To this day, those notebooks are close at all times.  I read them often.

It’s another example of how sports fueled creativity in me.  Playing sports inspired me to write, writing keeps me motivated to compete.  It all happened on a gravel basketball court long ago.  I decided to become a writer and a filmmaker on that court.  It also made me a pretty good basketball player.  Dear Mom and Dad…  Good call.

Inspiring Places To Write Screenplays

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17 West Productions

A long time ago, I discovered Kwoon.  Essentially, a group of Kung Fu students got together and made 4 episodes of a martial arts parody… thing.  I think their ultimate goal was to get the series on network television but to my knowledge, it didn’t work out.

Strangely enough, it wasn’t the episodes that caught my attention but rather the extra videos they put on their site. Writer/Director Todd Roy took Kwoon on a massive tour of Comic Conventions and brought a camera along for a ride. (A nifty steady-cam rig no less.)

I bought the DVD as it promised to be packed with dozens of these videos in addition to the main episodes of the show.  As an aspiring filmmaker, what I learned was how much effort you have to put in to promote your films.  Team Kwoon did a pretty phenomenal job getting themselves noticed.  One particular video stayed with me to this day.

It was called No Money Marketing.

In it, Todd humorously demonstrated various marketing tips like writing your website on currency, sticking promo stickers to cats and food items and more…  It wasn’t meant to be serious but he had a point. 

You have to do whatever it takes to gain exposure in the industry and get your projects noticed.

These days, we  have a lot more tools at our disposal than he did. Thanks to the social networking explosion, small production companies like 17W can market themselves for virtually nothing.   The upside to this strategy is limitless and all it costs is time.

Over the last year, I’ve logged a ton of hours building a tiny network for 17 West Productions.

Not to mention our own personal Facebook pages and IMDB profiles.

With every single one of those sites linked back to 17west.ca, I hope that people will stumble upon us and stick around for a lot of interesting content and updates.

I’m the first person to admit that we don’t score thousands of page hits a day.  However, I can sleep at night knowing we’re well represented on the web.

You have to start somewhere right?

PS: If anyone wants an extremely reliable web hosting service, I highly recommend www.startlogic.com.  Awesome customer support for idiots like me and simple to use. (Also mention 17west and we get 10 bucks!)

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